Sicily Guide

It is emergency in Sicily. According to Italy’s ANSA news service, firefighters continue to battle blazes on the scorching island of Sicily, where dozens of people had to be evacuated. The worst fires were around the northern coastal town of Cefalu’, which was overhung by a huge black cloud, and the port of Messina in the northeast. […]
Arsonists have been blamed for most of the fires that have broken out across large areas of central and southern Italy over past month, claiming the lives of several people and destroying thousands of hectares of woodland and coastal brush.

Suspicion usually focuses on farmers seeking to clear space for agricultural purposes or construction speculators hoping to win permits to build on protected land. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has urged Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio to offer rewards of 100,000 euros to citizens who help police catch an arsonist. Will it be enough? I think laws are in place and it would be enough if police and judges enforced a much stricter respect for them.

Read more at ANSA

Technorati Tags [ sicily | fire in sicily | cefalu’ | arsonists | WWF | messina ]

45 second video of Noto and its cathedral

Technorati Tags [ noto video | noto cathedral | noto baroque | sicily | travel to sicily ]

 44 second video of the saltworks in Trapani

Technorati Tags [ trapani video | the saltworks in trapani | sicily | sicily travel ]

Siracusa, in the Southern tip of Sicily, is a city of magnificent archeological past. It has gone through ups and downs through the centuries, but its quarter of Ortigya is thriving in popularity these days. Watch this 45 second clip to see how the city is changing!

Read more about Siracusa 
Travel itineraries

Technorati Tags [ siracusa video | siracuse | sicily | sicily travel ]

As I have written before, I do not think that Sicilian dialect could be used as an effective destination marketing tool. However, it is nice to see that interest around it grows. An increasing number of articles are published and people ask more about it. The Sicilian dialect is part of our cultural heritage, but it is erroneous to think that there is only one Sicilian dialect. There are many. This is the main reason why I think it is impossible to codify specific grammatical and lexical rules for the Sicilian dialect: it is a popular tradition and belongs to our oral tradition. It is widely spoken and understood at home, but people write in standard Italian.

Here are some interesting links to learn more about Sicilian dialect:

Sicilian for Beginners
Sicilian Phrasebook
Sicilian Proverbs
Sicilian-English Dictionary
Sicilian Literature/Stories About Sicily

Technorati Tags [ sicilian dialect | sicily | sicilian literature | sicilian proverbs | sicilian-english dictionary | sicilian phrasebook | sicilian for beginners ]

I always keep in high esteem companies and organizations that help Sicily’s economy and image. Planeta is one of them. In a very short space of time, Planeta winery has built up a veritable empire of four vineyard sites totaling over 60 ha and two wineries, changing the way Sicily makes wine and putting the region on the map of the country’s finest wine producers.

I do not want to talk about its wines this time, though. The Planeta’s web site is plenty of ideas and traveling suggestions for food and wine lovers and not only. Alessio, Francesca and Santi Planeta share their accumulated knowledge by suggesting a small selection of restaurants, wine bars and wine shops, hotels, bed and breakfasts, trattorias, pastry shops and bars throughout Sicily. If it is the Planeta family to give these recommendations, they must be good!

Check it out at Planeta.it

More about Planeta

Technorati Tags [ planeta | sicily travel ideas | food and wine suggestions ]

Tonight, Liza Minnelli will be accompanied by her 26-piece in the Taormina concert entitled “The Best of Liza” and will be performing live all her best hits that have established her as a true living icon the world over.

Tickets to the concert at the Teatro Antico in Taormina are being sold by RPL at €45 each. VIP seats are available at €150 and €250. Tickets to the after-concert dinner are selling at an extra €50.

Watch a video of Liza Minnelli singing New York, New York together with Luciano Pavarotti

Read more at www.lizaminnelli-taormina.com

Technorati Tags [ liza minnelli | sicily | liza minnelli concert | taormina | teatro antico taormina ]

It is quite the opposite: there is no lack of entrepreneurship in Sicily. According to Italy’s ANSA news service, a formerly unemployed man in Sicily is making a living hawking T-shirts sporting Mafia-inspired designs outside the theater seen in The Godfather: Part III.

Salvatore Trippodo of Palermo says tourists — perhaps influenced by the popularity of HBO’s The Sopranos — are loading up on the items.

Sadly, I have to admit that Sicilians could employ their resilient survival and entrepreneurial skills in a different a more productive way.

Technorati Tags [ sicily | sicily mafia |  mafia t-shirt | the sopranos | the godfather ]

A new book, John Dickie’s Delizia reveals some of the Italian cuisine’s secrets that not even Italians know… For instance, do you know that Marco Polo did not bring back pasta to Italy and ‘pasta secca was present in Sicily at least a century before Marco Polo was born’? Also, when Catherine de Medici married the future Henry II in 1533, she did not take her cooks with her and teach the French to cook. (The influence has always gone the other way; ‘in the 18th and 19th centuries, the nobility of southern Italy and Sicily employed a monsu’ - a monsieur or French-trained cook.)

Read more at The Guardian Unlimited

Technorati Tags [ sicily food |  sicily | delizia | john dickie | italian cooking and eating ]

When I woke up this morning, I turned on my Blackberry and received a nice message from my friend Dave. He lives here in New York City, but left for Sicily this past Thursday to spend almost two weeks vacationing in Sicily. I gave him some advice on where to stay and what to do. This is his first time there…

 “sicilia e che bella!!!
tonnara bonnagia e stupendo!!
albergo e pefetto!
e ristorante salenca qui e molto buono!!
oggi andiamo capo faro in isola di salina!!”

Not perfect Italian, but I give him lots of credit for the effort. His short email sounds pretty much like this: “Sicily is beautiful. The Hotel Tonnara di Bonagia is wonderful. The hotel is perfect. The restaurant Salenca is very good. We are heading to Capo Faro in Salina today”. I was happy to hear this news, but I could not help from feeling a bit sad for not being in Sicily this month of August. Now, Dave is heading to Salina and staying at Capo Faro the next couple of days. He will go to Taormina, sleep at the Hotel Timeo and end his trip at the Eremo della Giubiliana in the Southeastern tip of Sicily. This is my dream vacation!

New York is empty and rainy. Yesterday, I went to an artificial beach in Brooklyn with some of my friends and the hope of sunbathing a little bit. It started raining just when we arrived

OK, I am officially jealous that Dave is in Sicily and I am here, but I will be there in September. Then, it will be my turn to email him and make him jealous…

Technorati Tags [ sicily | sicily travel |  tonnara di bonagia | eremo della giubiliana | capo faro | salina | hotel timeo | ristorante salenca ]

An 4.0 magnitude earthquake shook Sicily at 4:04pm on Saturday August 18. No damages or injuries were reported, but panicked people ran out from their homes. According to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Catania, the epicenter of the quake was in the Tyrrhenian Sea between the towns of Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and Milazzo in the Messina province.

Source: ANSA

Technorati Tags [ earthquake | sicily | earthquake in sicily | quake | barcellona pozzo di gotto | milazzo | magnitude ]

Considering what I am reading on the news these days, the answer is yes. The mafia is always to be linked to the Sicilian mafia when it involves Italians. I condemn the blood feud happened in Duisburg (Germany) a few days ago. However, the foreign press involves Sicily even in this tragic event (see this article). Nowadays, the Sicilian mafia is much more sophisticated than a family blood feud. It has strong political ties and international connections. It works exactly like a corporation.

I cannot deny that organized crime is the cancer of Southern Italy, even more so in Sicily. It acts like a vicious circle in people’s daily lives and becomes part of the system. In Campania and Calabria, it is called camorra and ‘ndrangheta.

My thoughts are with those honest Italians living abroad and working hard every day. They are the ones defying stereotypes with their actions. Unfortunately, the 70 bullets shot in Germany on August 16 wipe out all the good actions done everyday by industrious men and women who left their country for a better life long time ago. I hope it is just momentarily…

The problem is big and nobody expects to be solved overnight. However, the Italian government should do more than ringing the bell only after something happens and the Sicilian Tourist Authority should employ a good international public relations firm instead of opening (and closing) more Case Sicilia abroad!

Technorati Tags [ sicily | sicily mafia | sicilian mafia | mafia | camorra | ndrangheta ]

Apparently Kals’ Art event listed in the August 15 post Sicily Events in August has not been confirmed yet. If I receive any information about this, I will post it promptly.

Technorati Tags [ kals’ art | palermo | sicily events august 2007 ]

I rarely mention Sicilian white wines. Summer is the ideal season to sip some delicate white wine. An amazing value from Sicily, the Planeta La Segreta Bianco 2005 is a blend of 60% Greciano, 20% Chardonnay, and the rest equal parts Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. The wine has terrific aromatics of white flowers and minerals, and, on the palate, it is clean and balanced, with mango and pineapple flavors and refreshing acidity. Full-bodied and rich, La Segreta is perfect with sushi, fresh octopus, and other fresh seafood or veggie dishes. Enjoy!

Watch the Planeta La segreta Bianco 2005 tasting video below…

Technorati Tags [ sicily white wine | planeta 2005 la segreta bianco | greciano ]

Corriere della Sera, the main Italian newspaper, asked its readers to send pictures to document the way they spent their Ferragosto. Many of the pictures are from Sicily…

Ginostra (Stromboli) by Massimo D’Amore
 

Cornino Beach (Trapani) by Gino Tacconi
 

 Addaura (Palermo) by Gianfranco Fierotti

Capo Peloro (Messina) by Francesco Giacobbe

Favignana (Trapani) by Dino Faralli

Pantelleria by Manuel Gentili

Source Corriere della Sera

Technorati Tags [ sicily | ferragosto in sicily | sicily photos in august | sicily photos in ferragosto | pantelleria | stromboli | ginostra | capo peloro | addaura | palermo | cornino | trapani | favignana ]