Our group had many laughs during a market tour and cooking experience with Smile and Food. Alessia is always entertaining with excellent tips, like how to peel and cut a prickly pear without getting the thorns in your fingers. That afternoon we descended three stories below the street level to the ritual Jewish baths in…
Tag: ortigia
Stunning Sicily October 2021, Day 4
Ciao from Stunning Sicily, Day 4! Siracusa has one of the largest and most extensive Christian catacombs outside of Rome, and we explored the dark, damp, and mysterious underground pathways of San Giovanni’s Catacombs and San Marciano’s Crypt with our local, expert guide Lucia. After a visit to the Orsi archeological museum to see the breathtaking statue of…
Get Lost Before Breakfast In Sicily
Go out early, before the hustle starts. Wander through the alleyways and get lost before breakfast. What you’ll find will delight you — the simplicity of discovering a place as it wakes offers you a personal magic. (Ortigia around 7am)
Sicily Travel Information Session
Join me for a Sicily travel Q&A Session on Tuesday, July 13 at 7:30PM Eastern on Zoom. During this complimentary event, I, Allison Scola, owner and curator of Experience Sicily, will answer your pressing questions about traveling to Sicily and talk in depth about our 2021 and 2022 Sicily small group tours and our custom…
Angelo Is Waiting For Us In Sicily
“Angelo, arriverò presto!” Italy is now open to vaccinated travelers from the United States, with no need to quarantine when you take COVID-tested flights with Alitalia, Delta, American, and United airlines from New York and Atlanta. Importantly, the mask mandate for outdoors will be dropped on June 28. With about 30 percent of Italians over…
52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #37. Live Classical Theater in an Acient Greek Amphitheater
Attending these performances between May and early July each year, is, as one of my clients pointed out, magnificent: Walking through the historic archaeological park to arrive at the ancient amphitheater, being a part of an equally eager audience, and then, the performance itself. It’s absolutely extraordinary!
52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #29. Ancient Surprises
After being sacked by Arab conquerors in 878 and its Norman-era steeple and stone roof collapsing with the historically powerful earthquake of 1693, the current baroque-style cathedral, dedicated to the Navtività di Maria Santissima, was constructed at the beginning of the 18th century. Still today, though caked with layers of architectural history, Siracusans will point…
52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #5. Be Surprised By Jewish History
During the last 25 years, locals and scholars have begun to uncover what was lost (expelled, really) more than 500 years ago. One of the most extraordinary discoveries was a mikveh, a Jewish ritual bathhouse, excavated one bucket of mud at a time by Amalia Daniele di Bagni and the association Siracusa III Millennio. Pictured…
Sicily Is In An Orange Zone
Sicily is currently at the height of its orange producing season, when many different varieties of this beloved citrus fruit are sweet, juicy, and ready to be eaten right from the millions of trees throughout the island. In addition, importantly, Sicilians have reason to celebrate. Today the region moved from being designated a “Red Zone,”…