By the end of the year, Linguaslossa, a small village of the Catania province, will host the filming of “L’Aquilone sul Vulcano”, a movie written by Michelangelo Antonioni. The Italian director died on Monday July 30. The Sicilian region wants commemorate him and remember his attachment to the island.
At its fifth edition, the Blues & Wine Soul Festival is a big wine and music event: three days dedicated to the big stars of blues & soul in the heart of the Valley of the Temples archeological park in Agrigento, Sicily. While the music vibrates onstage at night, the best wineries of Sicily and Italy present their own products, and professional sommeliers guide the public in wine tasting.
During the day, educational visits to wineries, as well as conferences on safeguarding the environment and viticulture complement the event.
The official web site of the event is www.bluesandwine.com. Some of the participants of the festival are: Soul General’s, Earth Wind & Fire, Ford Blues Band, Sharon Lewis Blues Band, Joe Castellano Super Blues Band, Charles Walter, Hariet Lewis, Waldo Weathers, London Community Gospel Choir, Sax Gordon Beadle & Blue Gadjo, Blue Swingers.
Technorati Tags [ blues & wine soul festival | agrigento | sicily | Soul General’s | Earth Wind & Fire | Ford Blues Band | Sharon Lewis Blues Band | Joe Castellano Super Blues Band ]
A bill from the Sicilian region granted Rocco Forte the right to build the golf course in Verdura, a village nearby Sciacca in Sicily. It has been a long fight so far. The project has been stopped several times. I read from the news that works are already resumed. Hopefully, this is the last call.
Technorati Tags [ rocco forte hotels | verdura golf resort | sciacca | sicily ]
I live in the United States and have been hearing for a couple of years now that Rocco Forte Hotels has a serious interested in building a luxury resort with a golf course in Verdura, a village nearby Sciacca (Agrigento province in Sicily). It also says so on Rocco Forte Hotels’ web site. As a matter of fact, I remember that the group was going to open the hotel in December 2006, then the date was postponed to December 2007 and on… I was scratching my head and trying to figure out what was going on. I was welcoming positively that a group like Rocco Forte Hotels was interested in Sicily and interpreting this as a signal of a new page for the island’s tourism. Now, nobody knows if this is ever going to happen.
I am reading that the resort is going to require a total investment of about € 130 million (€ 40 million would be covered by the Italian government with a project called Sviluppo Italia and aimed to sustain tourist developments in depressed economic areas). Apparently, the project is put on hold because of the fiery protest of environmental groups: they think that the golf course is going to alter the natural system of the area. I do not know all the details and I am not going to argue about the right of these protesters to express their fears. I think it is right to do so. However, it seems to be a trend in Italy these days to block everything that is new in the name of environmental causes, even more so in Sicily (but with not the same fanfare, of course). I am an environmentalist and I think that agreements can be found. I come from Sicily and I know how beautiful Sicily can be, but reality is that it is not many times. It is good sustainable tourism gets more attention these days, but I wonder about the role of politics played in the decision of stopping Rocco Forte Hotels from building.
From an economic point of view, golf could be practiced all year-round in Sicily and attract that type of clientele that does not stay in hostels and always looks for the cheapest deal. Attracting business investments is not a Sicilian forte; it has always been the opposite unfortunately. I hope this is not the case once again and common sense is going to enlighten Sicilian people.
Technorati Tags [ sicily | rocco forte | rocco forte hotels | verdura resort | sciacca | sviluppo italia ]
It is, in part, true that Sicilian men do not make chivalry their main trait while dealing with the opposite sex, but it is hard to digest that the Italian Interior Minister, Giuliano Amato, compared violence of some Muslim extremists to the violence that Sicilian men used against women until the ’70s, calling it a Sicilian-Pakistani tradition. The minister, of Sicilian origins himself, tried to clarify later, but his words opened a controversy and critics from both parties in Italy.
I personally think that violence is violence and violence against women is a man’s habit. It is not Sicilian either Pakistani. It might be called a “tradition”, the one of the strong submitting the weak, but it certainly cannot be defined within specific national or regional boundaries. It would make more sense to condemn violence without reviving old stereotypes.
I have always kept the minister in highly consideration and respect. However, this naive phrase reminds me that Italy has one of the oldest political class of Europe: they just think about the past. Therefore, the age of Giuliano Amato (69 years old) might explain his gaffe.
Technorati Tags [ sicilian-pakistani tradition | sicily | sicilian stereotypes | giuliano amato ]
Carlo Corino, the Piedmontese enologist who made Sicilian wine famous, has passed away. A personality who shied away from the clamor and the spotlight of the Italian wine world, Corino was a top level technician in terms of experience and skill. His name will be forever linked to the success of Planeta with whom, in 1989, he became involved in a collaboration that sparked rebirth of Sicilian wine. Working simultaneously at Cantine Settesoli and Planeta, Corino introduced techniques that, at that time, were completely innovative and even unthinkable for a territory that was so behind enologically speaking.
Reade more at WineNews.it
Hapimag, a Swiss tour operator, took on a holiday resort in Cefalù (Palermo) on the northern coast of Sicily. The resort will first be available as a supplementary accommodation with a fixed allocation of 30 apartments.
About 5 km away from the attractive little town of Cefalù, the resort is ideal for excursions to discover picturesque landscapes, excavations of ancient sites and the impressive nature. The resort has a total of over 149 completely equipped apartments. The two-storey buildings are nestled in a combe that slopes down towards the sea. The site is surrounded by extensive greenery.
Technorati Tags [ sicily | gli Aranceti di Cefalù | hapimag | resort in sicily ]
Another article about the Getty Museum and a possible illecit acquisition appeared on today’s issue of the New York Times. The Los Angeles-based museum might have illegaly bought a statue of the goddess Aphrodite for $18 million in 1988.
In the Aidone Archaeological Museum, which houses artifacts from a nearby dig at an ancient Greek settlement called Morgantina, visitors settle for a large poster at the entrance depicting the statue and announcing a national campaign to bring it back. “This is her rightful place,” said Nicola Leanza, the culture minister for Sicily, who, like many others, argues that the goddess was illegally excavated from Morgantina.
The Getty, which bought the statue in 1988 for $18 million, isn’t so sure. For nearly two decades it fended off the Italian government’s sporadic claims to the sculpture. But as the demands grew more pressing, the Getty acknowledged that there might be “problems” attached to the acquisition. In November it announced that it would study the object and reach a decision on whether to hand it over within a year.
“We are on target to achieve that objective,” Ron Hartwig, a Getty spokesman, said in an e-mail message. (The museum has already offered to transfer title to the statue.) Yet the people of Aidone are tired of waiting. For this town the statue has become a blazing symbol of Italy’s legal and moral battle against foreign museums and private collectors that bought archaeological artifacts with hazy backgrounds, plundering the nation of its heritage.
For decades the Sicilian countryside has been a prime target for tomb robbers and a network of compliant traders.
Technorati Tags [ aidone | sicily | aphrodite | getty museum | morgantina | nicola leanza ]
I have to admit my favorite amaro in Italy is Amaro Florio, a bitter liquor made of a blend of 13 different ingredients among which herbs, roots, citrus fruit peels and spices. You usually drink it after a meal. Amaro Averna comes right after in my favorites…
Joe Ray, a journalist specialized in in food and travel pieces, along with restaurant reviews, has recently visited Sicily and published an interesting article on Amaro Averna and Francesco Averna. It is fascinating how business is lived and seen by a Sicilian. Read an extract below:
Asked about Sicilian preferences for their favorite amaro and Randazzo doesn’t hesitate: the relatively sweet-flavored Averna brand.
Following his lead, I head to the center of Sicily for the tour of the Averna plant in Caltanissetta. Francesco Averna, who runs the plant with his brother, walks from the offices to the bottling plant, pointing out everything from how they’ve modernized the bottling section in the hundred years they have been in business, to photos from a visit by Pope John Paul II, then wrapping things up quickly at their giant, stainless steel storage vats. […] “Averna (a brand that has been around since 1868) represented Sicilian industry; it was a sign of a growing economy,” she adds. “When a man drank this, it was—and still is—a link to that tradition.”
Tradition or not, counting on this sounds like a lack of change that, from the outside, seems like Francesco Averna is sticking his head in the sand. Mention hip beverages like energy drinks or Jägermeister (actually an amaro, and a competitor here) and it’s clear that he doesn’t wish to be lumped into any semi-trendy set. Luckily, the brand’s numbers (and a little collection of spiffy cars in the parking lot) seem to say it’s doing a good job for a medium-sized company: Averna sells eight million bottles of its amaro per year—a million in Sicily, four million more in the rest of Italy, and another three million around the world.
Technorati Tags [ sicily | amaro | amaro averna | francesco averna | joe ray | amaro florio | campari | martini | cinzano ]
My family has always been extremely devoted to the Patron Saint of Pace del Mela (Me): Maria SS. della Visitazione. My grandfather was the treasurer of the brotherhood named after the Madonna. July the 2nd is the day Pace del Mela, my hometown, celebrates its patron saint. It is one of the town’s main celebrations of the summer.
As a child I was awaiting for this feast so badly! I am called after the Madonna and remember feeling like everybody was celebrating me. There is a week-long events preceding the big procession on July the 2nd. The procession starts from the Parish Church in Pace Alta after the mass celebrated at 6PM. We used to have a big meal at my grandparents’ after the procession and then back to Pace Alta to celebrate with the music played by the municipal band and to wait for the fireworks late at night.
I am not particularly religious and I think that just a few are left who truly are, even in my hometown. Religion is lived as a tribal thing in Italy and even more so in Sicily. However, I miss the atmosphere around the event and the trepidation that my grandparents had in getting ready for July the 2nd. I will celebrate the 4th of July here in the USA for the seventh consecutive year now. Still a big celebration with fireworks…
Technorati Tags [ pace del mela | sicily | maria ss. visitazione ]
I do not recall ever seeing it while living in Sicily, but manna is not falling from the sky. According to an article of ABC News online, manna can be found in a remote corner of Sicily and actually drips from the ash tree. When exposed to the hot summer sun of Sicily, this Italian variety of maple syrup solidifies into white stalactites of spongy sugar.
Manna, to most people — if they have heard of it at all — means a windfall, an unexpected gift from heaven. Others recognize it from the Bible as the food sent by God to feed the Hebrews during their 40 years in the desert, a sort of hoarfrost that fell on the land at night and was collected, milled and baked into small loaves of the bread.
Mario Cicero, the mayor of Castelbuono, was listing the cultural and historical attractions of his small town near Palermo, when he told ABC News, “And then, of course, we have manna!”
Of course.
When queried further he pointed down the road to a small shop that sells herbs and local produce on the main street of Castelbuono. It’s run by Giulio Gelardi, the local manna expert and president of the manna presidium of Italy’s Slow Food Movement, which supports the country’s local food heritage.
Technorati Tags [ manna | sicily | giulio gelardi | castelbuono | slow food | palermo | mario cicero ]
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