Vendicari Nature Reserve in southeastern Sicily is considered a faunistic oasis because it is a bird sanctuary. That’s true, but for me, it is not only that. During a walk through part of it last week, it offered the perfect scene for a moving meditation. A spiritual oasis! The quiet, the salty air, and the…
Tag: noto
Sicily’s Grand Canyon
When Vittorio, my Italian teacher, told me about Cave Grande, a nature preserve in southeastern Sicily with fresh water swimming holes only accessible by hiking, I immediately wanted to go. That was about four years ago. A couple of weeks ago, I was giddy when hiking with a friend, and a clearing revealed the spot…
Noto’s 2019 Infiorata: Sicilians In America
Last year’s Infiorata in Noto (pictured) celebrated Chinese culture. This year’s flower carpet festival, which takes place this weekend, has the theme of Sicilians In America.
Infiorata di Noto, A Dream Realized
After years of admiring it from afar, last night, my cousin Giulia and I experienced the Infiorata di Noto, the Baroque town of Noto, Sicily’s annual flower festival. In order to arrive, we sat in a traffic jam of coach busses and cars stuffed with families. I wondered if it was worth it, and asked…
Let’s Have Lunch
Your table is ready. Marzamemi, Sicily
Long Live Santa Lucia!
Viva Santa Lucia! December 13 is the Feast of Santa Lucia. Devotees wearing green caps process her priceless silver statue and sacred relics through the streets of Oritgia, Sicily. Throughout the march, faithful sing a call-and-response in reverence to their patroness: Viva Santa Lucia! Viva Santa Lucia! (Long Live Santa Lucia!) (Statue of Santa Lucia…
Long Live Santa Lucia!
Viva Santa Lucia! December 13 is the Feast of Santa Lucia. Devotees wearing green caps process her priceless silver statue and sacred relics through the streets of Oritgia, Sicily. Throughout the march, faithful sing a call-and-response in reverence to their patroness: Viva Santa Lucia! Viva Santa Lucia! (Long Live Santa Lucia!) (Statue of Santa Lucia…
Colors in Noto UpcloseÂ
One of this year’s flower carpets from Noto’s Infiorata up close. (Photo by Experience Sicily’s local guide Sebastiano Garifo)
Dreams and Colors in Noto
This weekend is the 38th annual Infiorata di Noto, or Noto Flower Festival. This year’s theme is “Sogni e colori del Principato di Monaco” or “Dreams and Colors of Monaco.” Over the last two days, along the Baroque town’s via Nicolaci, different art-school groups have been laying out their mosaic designs of flower petals and…
Saint Martin in Noto
Each province of Sicily celebrates San Martino a bit differently. In Noto, they eat both sweet and savory crispelle, such as the ones pictured, photographed by Niki Masino of GelsominoImports.com, along with cooked wine.