Sicily Guide

Some good news… Taormina, Porto Cervo, Portofino, Positano and S. Maria di Leuca, some of the most prestigious beach resorts in Italy, have started the initiative called Gemme d’Italia (the Italian gems). Their tourist departments have just signed a partnership to cooperate for the promotion of their territory.

Agrigento is not a beautiful city: it is overbuilt and does not offer much. Even to find decent accommodation in Agrigento can be a struggle. Many tourists visit the majestic Valley of the Temples, stay there for a day and then go. The only big event that attracts big crowds every year is the Feast of the Almond. Now Agrigento wants to turn this around and will try to attract more tourists with food & wine itineraries and cultural & architectural tours. Two thumbs up for the initiative!

As all the “good” Italian stories, they never end! ENIT, the Italian Tourist Board, might be put in charge of Italia.it, the Italian web portal that has been in the news for its outrageous costs (45 million Euros!) and closed this past January 31. This is what Marco Bruschini, ENIT communication officer, affirms. I am sure that we will get more of this news soon. Stay tuned and let’s hope that the 45 million Euros (Italian taxpayers’ money) were not spent in vain. In the meantime, admire the “beautiful” (logo on the right) they came up with for Italia.it. I have a friend in Bologna who can do much better for less than 200 Euros!

This week I am in the mood of talking about food… The picchi-pacchi Sauce is a traditional Sicilian sauce. Do not ask me about the origin of the name which is quite curious! I never really tried it before going to work to the other side of the island in Palermo (I am originally from the Messina province). This sauce consists of four basic ingredients:

tomatoes
basil
anchovies
lots of garlic

Click here to get more details on how to make fettuccine with picchi-pacchi sauce.

I still remember those days when my mother was peeling and slicing a few lemons and an orange to make a quick salad for me and a few neighbors who constantly were dropping by. The dressing we were using was as simple as the salad: salt, vinegar and olive oil. Lemons in Sicily are not as bitter as the ones I get here in New York, plus they are bigger.

Today, I came across this recipe on boston.com. It is quite different, but I think it is worthy a try!

One of my favorite travel writers about Sicily, Kate Singleton, talks about the real estate market in Sicily. She is an expert of this topic having moved to Modica in Sicily a few years ago.

Here is a little bit of what you can get on the International Herald Tribune:

When Sicilians claim that their homeland is a continent, not an island, they are not trying to redefine geography. They are simply drawing attention to the remarkable variety of landscapes, microclimates, gastronomic traditions and historical heritages to be found here.

Variety is also the distinguishing characteristic of the Sicilian property market. Prices, which have been rising as much as 20 percent a year, still seem reasonable, especially to north Europeans but even to Italians from Milan and Turin. There are plenty of handsome townhouses with frescoed ceilings, palaces with some original furnishings, country villas surrounded by lemon groves, fortified farmsteads and even the odd castle.
For more, please visit IHT.com

For those of you who think that to spend €200 on a flight within Italy is a robbery, here is a solution. From March 30, Blue-Express - Blue Panorama Airlines’ low cost carrier - is adding a forth daily flight to the current three daily flights it operates from Rome to Catania. Mondays and Fridays, the new flight leave Rome Fiumicino at 11:10AM and Catania Fontanarossa at 1:30PM. The cost of the flight is €29. I guess airport traffic to Catania is increasingly steadily, a good sign for tourism in the island.

For more information, please visit Blue-express.com

Matthew Platania is a friend from Washington DC. He is passionate about Italy and Sicily. Recently, he has launched The Modern Italian Network, a community web site about everything Italian. Modern Italian is free and open to all people passionate about Italy regardless of ethnic heritage. Its members are provided with a robust technology to share their passion for Italy with others, upload limitless photos, join related groups, enjoy discounts on products and services from member companies and communicate with other people in the Network. The community site also includes Italian events across the country, places and resources to learn the language, and information on Italian travel and news. Great job, Matt!!!

Check it out at www.modernitalian.org

According to Goal.com, Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini is tempting Europe’s big spenders to come out and try to lure Amauri away from the Renzo Barbera.

After spending the last few months trying to play down talk of a transfer for the Brazilian, Zamparini now appears to be fanning flames by claiming he will not stand in the striker’s way.

Chelsea, Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid Juventus and Milan have all been linked to the 27-year-old, who has scored nine goals this season and has been a revelation since arriving at the Sicilian club from Chievo Verona in 2006.

Zamparini stuck a €25 million (£18 million) price tag on Amauri’s head, and then told chasing clubs he will operate on a first come first served basis.

The Palermo chief has already pulled a similar stunt during the January transfer window when he told La Gazzetta Dello Sport: “Amauri will go to the highest bidder.”

Read more at Goal.com

116 flights per week to Rome, Linate and Malpensa, 17 daily flights to Rome, Linate and Malpensa. These are the numbers of flights that Alitalia starts operating to Catania starting from March 31, 2008. Catania Fontanerosse Airport is one of the airports with the highest traffic in Italy.

If the link does not open, copy and paste the following url into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5n-Zd3P4_w

Sicilian wines are Sicily’s best ambassador. I will never stop saying that. This time they are present at the Milan Fashion Week from February 16 though 23. Fifty different wineries are presenting their label during the event.

This is the Sicilian paradox: we need jobs, we need to attract investments… When this arrives, we do everything to boycott it. It is the case with Rocco Forte Hotels and Resorts. I have written extensively about it in this blog. Rocco Forte has tried to open a resort and a golf course in Verdura, Sciacca in Sicily for years now. Bureaucracy and environmentalists have stopped the project countless times for a bunch of different reasons in spite of the fact that the government is pouring lots of money to attract investments in this underdeveloped area. This has happened so many times now that Rocco Forte might pull out. At least, somebody is happy now!

The Province of Trapani stated the works to restore the oldest salt-boat in Italy. The name of the boat is Schifazzo - San Giacomo. The restoration is going to take about eight months and will be taken over by local experts.

I am not an expert and would be gladly to be disproved by real facts (you are free to do this here in the comments’ section). Also, I do not wnat to simplify what is much more complex, but my “impressions” are the following:

- A few excellent Mafia arrests during the Berlusconi and center right’s government (5 years, the longest ever in Italy after Mussolini);
- Some excellent Mafia arrests during the Prodi’s government (21 months in office, the shortest ever), plus Cuffaro (the Sicilian governor) accused and condemned of Mafia connections;
- A few days since the Prodi’s government failed a confidence vote in the senate and 90 Mafia arrests happen between New York and Sicily (read below).

Uhm? Any thoughts?

U.S. and Italian authorities teamed up in the biggest mafia crackdown in 20 years in an attempt to cut off renewed ties between New York’s Gambino family and Sicilian mobsters, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Italian prosecutors said.

The FBI, state and local law enforcement forces made more than 60 arrests overnight, an FBI official said, while Italian police made about 30, in an operation called “Old Bridge,” Italy’s top mafia prosecutor Pietro Grasso said in a telephone interview. The last joint mob roundup on this scale was in 1988, when the FBI and Palermo authorities broke up a heroin trafficking ring known as “Iron Tower.”

Read more at Bloomberg News