Sicily Guide

The Greek Theater in Syracuse (Sicily), UNESCO World Heritage Site, will stage the classic productions of The Oresteia by Aeschylus Euripides from May 8 through June 22, 2008. Thanks to the Instituto Italiano per il Dramma Antico (INDA), this spectacular setting has been turning into a real ancient action every other year for 44 years now.

If you are in Sicily during that time of the year, I strongly suggest a stop in Syracuse. Even if the performances are going to be in Italian, it does not really matter: the enjoyment of taking being part of such an old tradition will make the visit worthwhile. Tickets start at € 24 (currency converter).

General information:

Archeological Site of Syracuse (Unesco World Heritage Site)
Address: Via Rizzo/Via Paradiso, Syracuse

Tel.: (0931) 662 06

To buy tickets
INDA di Palazzo Greco
Corso Matteotti 29, Siracusa
Phone: (+39) 0931 - 48 72 48
Fax: (+39) 0931 - 48 72 49
http://www.indafondazione.org/

From April 30 through May 4, Comiso is hosting a festival of Sicilian flavors and artisanship. The 10th edition of this festival is called “Isola dei Mestieri 2008″ which translates as the Island of the Misteries 2008.

Read more about Comiso

Almonds have been making headlines in the United States, with health benefits like lowering cholesterol and potential colon-cancer prevention coming to light. However, here in Sicily, the almond’s historic gateway to the Western world, the best minds are more interested in having something sweet. Here is an interesting article by Joe Ray.

Read more at Santa Fe New Mexican

One of my favorite books is The Viceroys by Federico De Roberto. Ironically, I never had the opportunity to read it in school and I read it in a couple of weeks in my subway commute to work. In a few words, I would describe it as a deeper and more accurate novel than The Leopard.

Here is what Archibald Colquhoun writes for the London Magazine: “I vicerè is about the Risorgimento betrayed. Until recent years the aims and results of that movement have been blurred by official rhetoric and a process of falsification which began in the north of Italy and was partly due to the rôle of Piedmont and its dynasty. The piazzas of Italy are still cluttered with some of the less harmful results, those bewhiskered and gesticulating statues of the first King of United Italy, Victor Emmanuel of Savoy. Amid the confusion of motives, idealism, dynastic aggrandisement, social aspiration, it was the south that came off worst. Seen from there the posturing and rhetoric looked suspiciously like cover for failed promises; in time this even became linked with Mussolini’s rodomontades about ‘eight million bayonets’, and the age-old distrust of rulers throughout the south spread next to ‘those in Rome’. Resulting waves of immigration from the depressed areas of Sicily and Calabria took with them the Mafia and Camorra to spread all over the Americas; and, less obvious but perhaps more damaging, the diffusion from Soho throughout the world of that most inadequate and adhesive of national images, the Italian organ-grinder with a monkey on a stick.”

Read more at the London Magazine

Buy The Viceroys - By Federico De Roberto - First American Hardcover Edition

The most basic of Tenuta delle Terre reds from grapes grown on the cool slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily, the 2006 Etna Rosso is a wonderful discovery. Lush and easy drinking, with hints of dark cherries, tobacco and wild herbs, it has an earthiness and texture reminiscent of Burgundy. Everything grown at this high altitude with its changeable weather is hard-won, and Marc de Grazia, one of the most important exporters and champions of Italian wines in the last two decades, brings everything he knows about winemaking to this very personal project.

Read more at Los Angeles Times

Here is an interesting article about the Mafia from BBC News. Too bad that Cuffaro is going to sit in the Parliament now.

The streets of the Sicilian capital Palermo will not let you forget this island’s entanglement with its Mafia, known as the Cosa Nostra.

An incongruous olive tree grows outside number 19, Via d’Amelio, a block of white flats in a residential area. It has low railings and its own porter, who sits in a booth by the gate.

Read more at BBC News

Erico Asimov at the New York Times’ Pour Blog talks about the Cerasuolo di Vittoria, one of my favorite Sicilian wines.

I haven’t had a lot of these wines, but each time I’ve opened a bottle I’ve enjoyed it tremendously. The wines have been fresh and lively, thoroughly refreshing, and while not the most complex wines in the world their lightness and vivacity insistently invite you back for another glass. It’s versatile with food – just last week we opened a bottle with a lunch of steamers, followed by chorizo and pork chops, and the Cerasuolo easily bridged the gap.

Read more at The Pour Blog

Eurochocolate Festival will take place in Modica from April 23 through 27, 2008 this year. The festival is organized by Eurochocolate with the partnership of the city of Modica, Ragusa Province, C.C.I.A.A. of Ragusa, CNA, Confartigianato, ASCOM, Confesercenti, Coldiretti, CIA and Consorzio di Tutela del Cioccolato di Modica. The main sponsor of the event is Pam Supermercati.

Tuesday April 22 at 6:00PM
Palazzo della Cultura - Corso Umberto I