Sicily Guide

The hotel is called One and is built on a steel, L-shaped frame, with micro-holed plates forming a metallic cage around concrete walls. An elevated entranceway opens to an elegantly furnished lobby in which traditional reception desk has been replaced by two minimalist totem poles made of lacquered metal. From them, a long, lit runway leads to the fitness room, underground spa and clinical beauty area.

Read entire story at Design Taxi

Stefano Ponari, Expedia online marketing manager, affirms that Sicily is the European area with the highest growth on their portal. Expedia has sold over 100.000 room nights for Sicily this year. This is a further confirmation of the unleashed power of the Internet for travel destinations.

Italy keeps losing its glamour year after year now according to FutureBrand, a marketing research company that establishes the appeal of a country. First until three years ago, Italy reached only the fifth place after Great Britain this year. Apparently, Great Britain offers a better mix of tourist attractions and modernization.

Read more at www.countrybrandindex.com

Cammarata, the mayor of Palermo, announced that Gesap is going to continue being in charge of the Airport Falcone-Borsellino in Palermo for the next forty years. The mayor introduced the news as a very good thing. I am not familiar with the details, but so many things can happen in forty years that I do not see the point of giving the management of an airport to a company for such a long time. It is like guaranteed employment for life. Does anybody know more about this?

I am not really into soccer, but I have to admit that I like the idea of having some Sicilian teams playing in Serie A. Palermo has done well so far, but it has not been the case lately: it was trashed 5-0 by Juventus in the last match. So, the president is hiring back the former coach Francesco Guidolin. The first question in my mind was… Why did he let him go in June? Do you know? Anyway, let’s hope that Palermo will show some pride soon. Let’s go, guys!

Cronache di Gusto just published its list of the Best in Sicily for 2008.

This year winners are:

Best wine: Francesco Maurigi (Tenuta Budonetto - Piazza Armerina, Enna)
Best olive oil: Silvia Di Vincenzo (Mandranova - Palma di Montechiaro, Agrigento)
Best cheese: Salvatore Passalacqua (Castronovo di Sicilia, Palermo)
Best restaurant: La Madia (Licata, Agrigento)
Best bar: Palazzolo (Cinisi, Palermo)
Best pizza: Calvino (Trapani)
Best pastry shop: Caffè Sicilia (Noto, Siracusa)
Best hotel: Palazzo Failla (Modica, Ragusa)
Ambasciatore del gusto nel mondo: Santo Natoli
Best city: Modica (Ragusa)

The Times Online lists the Aeolian Islands as an ideal destination for those honeymooners that want to escape the ordinary…

The Aeolians, tiny pimples off the coast of Sicily, have become high-end honeymoon hot spots, but the “mainland” is large, varied and, for many, intimidating enough to disappear into and track down true peace in. The interior of the southeast of the island is considered the thinking visitor’s Sicily, with baroque hilltop towns linked by serpentine roads through genteel, uncluttered countryside. Find yourself an isolated farmhouse, pop to the local market for supplies – and relax.

More at the Times Online

About two million visitors (Italian and foreigners) visited Sicily from July through September this past summer. According to Uniocamere Sicilia, the island is rated among the top 20 favorite destinations in September.

I am traveling today. I am at my friends’ in Washington DC. This is my 7th Thanksgiving in the US. It is an American tradition that connects me more to my adoptive country. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Every year Wine Spectator, the wine bible for most of the people of the industry, publishes its special Top 100 at a Glance (see list). This year the French wines rock, Italian wines such as Tignanello (4) e Ornellaia (7) are placed in the first ten. The only Sicilian wine listed is Planeta Chardonnay Sicilia 2005.

From the Vinositeshop.com

Planeta’s 100% Chardonnay put the winery on the map when it was first released in 1994. Fermented in small French oak barrels, this wine showed that Sicilia offered an ideal environment for the production of modern-style Chardonnay: great weather and lots of sun. Today, Planeta and its Chardonnay continue to lead the Southern Italian wine revolution, producing approachable, fruit-driven wines that it offers to modern-style lovers at a reasonable price point.

To buy, please visit http://www.vinositeshop.com/product-exec/product_id/910/nm/Chardonnay_br_2005_br_Planeta

The sixth edition of Medifood, the Mediterranean food show in Catania, awarded the best Sicilian wines.

Red wines: ‘Nozze d’oro’ 2006 by Tasca d’Almerita
‘Saro’ 2005 by Rudinì (Pachino)
‘Grecanico’ 2006 by Settesoli (Menfi)
‘Cygnus’ 2004 by Tasca d’Almerita,
‘Caro Maestro’ 2002 by Fina Vini (Marsala)
‘Coda della Foce’ 2005 by Cantine Barbera
‘Amongae’ 2004 by Maggio Vini
‘Re Noto’ 2006 by Feudo Maccari
‘Kaid’ 2005 by Alessandro di Camporeale
‘Primarosa’ 2006 by ‘Primaterra’ (Randazzo)
‘Mandrarossa” Furettà 2005 by Settesoli (Menfi)
‘Rina Ianca’ 2006 by Feudo di Santa Tresa;

Special red wines:
Avulisi 2004 by Feudo di Santa Tresa

Dessert wines:
Marsala vergine riserva 1980 di Carlo Pellegrino
Nes 2005 di Pellegrino-Duca di Castelmonte
Diamante d’Almerita di Tasca d’Almerita.

Peter Moore writes about his trip to Sicily on a vespa.

I CAUGHT an overnight ferry from Sardinia to Sicily. It was called the Emilia and was a floating version of a rundown tenement building in the Bronx.

The lower decks were dark and dingy. The cabins were cramped and worn. And the hallways echoed with the muffled sounds of men fighting, babies crying, dogs barking and couples cuddling.

I half expected to get a knock on my cabin door from someone called Jimmy “TwoFingers” Ragatoni, asking for a pizzo – a small bribe – to ensure nothing happened to me on the crossing.

Most of the Italian passengers were out on the deck feverishly thumbing text messages and making frantic calls on their cell phones. At first I feared that I’d missed an announcement to abandon ship.

Read more at News.com.au

Sicily, Italy
Score: 68

“Remarkable for its natural landscape, azure ocean, and historic and archaeological sites from Greek, Roman, and Norman periods, as well as for its baroque art and architecture. Its resort towns are charming and full of life, while the more remote islands offer secluded vacation spots.”

“An island of considerable contrasts, with terrain-altering human habitation going back thousands of years. You can find a petrochemical plant standing next to an ancient amphitheater.”

“Loads of history and traditions to be discovered. Diverse landscape, good food, nice beaches. Overall, extremely rich heritage. Tourism is well-managed. They have a nice quality of life, but constantly contending with crime issues, from pickpockets to more serious things. Poverty in degraded urban areas is also a problem.”

“Tourism impacts are dwarfed by the activity of Mt. Etna.”

Sailors and other employers of the boats operating on the Straight of Messina will go on strike on Monday November 19.

A journalist of the Seattle Post Intelligence published a nice article about the airport in Palermo.

What won’t I do for my readers? I was in the Palermo airport in Sicily, ready to scoot off to Tunisia, when I realized my misadventures had prevented me from snapping famous treats.

Luckily, Palermo has the world’s best airport food. How about these two bella cassata? A layered affair filled with ricotta and candied citrus peel, this sponge cake is said to be so tasty that religious authorities once banned nuns from making it during Holy Week because it distracted them from their duties.

To read the full article, go to SeattlePI.com