Tag: Palermo

  • Celebrate Santa Lucia Online With Us Sunday

    Sunday, join us for Santa Lucia! At the dawn of the 4th century, practicing Christianity in the Roman-ruled city of Siracusa was illegal. Already though, inspired by nearby Catania’s Patron Saint, Sant’Agata, who lived just a few decades before (from 231 AD – 251 AD), the young and beautiful Lucia devoted herself to the new…

  • Learn To Make Rice Balls For Santa Lucia

    Let’s make arancini next Sunday for Santa Lucia! Although we can’t meet in person to celebrate la Festa di Santa Lucia this year, we can meet online! Together with my friend and colleague in Sicily, Alessia of Smile and Food, we’ll be teaching you how to make rice balls (Arancini) and cuccia (sweet farro traditionally…

  • Sicilian Tarantella Is Old School Speed Dating

    If you’ve ever square danced in the United States, then you already have a glimpse into the culture of Sicilian tarantella folk dance. This scene filmed in 2019 at a party I attended is of rehearsed choreography, but if done traditionally, Sicilian tarantella has specific steps that dancers know, and they follow a caller while…

  • Drinking Sangue In Palermo

    Yes, “Sangue,” meaning blood. It’s a sweet wine typical to Palermo–a cross between Marsala and Zibibbo. The locals drink it at the Taverna Azzurra in La Vucciria market. And here, Eric and I are raising a glass–definitely to a sweeter time. Hang in there, we’ll get through this! I got through drinking Sangue, after all.…

  • The Red Domes Of Palermo

    Whenever I see the church of San Cataldo, I feel Palermo is welcoming me home. The red domes of this ancient church overlook Via Maqueda and Piazza Bellini. San Cataldo was built during the early-Norman era in the 1150s by Maio of Bari, William I’s top emir, or commander. Its cherry-on-top domes and elegant window…

  • Share With Me Your Sicily Travel Dreams

    Share with me your Sicily dreams. Today is Small Business Saturday, and according to the emails I’ve received from other tourism companies, I’m supposed to be selling. I’m supposed to be offering deals on upcoming Experience Sicily tours and illustrating to you the benefits of why I should be your trip curator. But I don’t…

  • A Stroll In Termini Imerese, Sicily

    The Duomo di San Nicola di Bari as seen on a stroll through Termini Imerese with Monte San Calogero in the background

  • The Sea At Cefalù, Sicily

    The sea at Cefalù, Sicily

  • An Ancient Golden Platter In Sicily

    The extraordinary Phiale Aurea (or gold platter) of Caltavuturo (a village at the foot of the Madonie mountains of Palermo province) was created by an exceptional Greek goldsmith between the late 4th century/early 3rd century BCE. A bowl such as this one pictured was used during religious rites in ancient times for libations and offerings…