Sicily Guide

The villas are set in the Sicilian hills, with spectacular views over the Mediterranean. Your future neighbours could be celebrities such as Peter Gabriel, the Genesis singer, and Massimo Moratti, the owner of the Inter Milan football team.

And then there is the price: a tidy one euro apiece.

The catch is that you have just two years to restore the homes, which were abandoned after an earthquake 40 years ago.

Vittorio Sgarbi, the colourful Mayor of Salemi – just 72km from Palermo – hopes to attract buyers who had “both the aesthetic sensitivity and the economic resources to take part in this adventure”.

More at TimesOnline.com

A British tourist on Wednesday complained to police after being presented with a 30-euro bill for three sandwiches at a bar in a Sicilian seaside village.

The tourist had been with six other people - including two native Sicilians - at the bar, which is set back from the sea in the village of Tusa on Sicily’s northern coast.

”We ordered something to drink and three small rolls - two with salami and mozzarella and one with ham and Swiss cheese,” explained another Italian from the group, adding that there had been no price list in the bar.

The bill, which came to 43 euros, listed the sandwiches at 10 euros each.

Then, they wonder why tourism is down!

Read more atAnsa.it

Southern Italy’s well-known port city of Palermo, located on the island of Sicily has been undergoing a transformation in recent years, making it a popular place for travelers, tourists, and now international property investors. This city has a long and historic past and has recently been working to bring new interest into the city and island.

Over the past several years, roads have been repaved and rebuilt and a new found pride in the city is being seen and felt. This is partly a result of the EU working to tone down the infamous corruption on the island, and partly a result of the growth of travel and tourism in this part of the world.

Read more at HomesGoFast.com

It is a record: 16 Sicilian athletes will be attending the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games! Forza, ragazzi!

Here are their names:

Giorgio de Luca (weightlifting) Palermo
Anita Pistone (athletics) Catania
Vincenzina Calì (athletics) Palermo
Gian Nicola Casale (judo) Messina
Fabiana Sgroi (canoe) Palermo
Carmela Incerti (athletics) Bagheria (PA)
Silvia Bosurgi (water polo) Messina
Maddalena Musumeci (water polo) Catania
Cinzia Ragusa (water polo) Catania
Chiara Brancati (water polo) Catania
Genny Pagliaro (weightlifting) Caltanissetta
Antonio Scaduto (canoe) Augusta (SR)
Valerio Vermiglio (volleyball) Messina
Mauro Maugeri (water polo) Catania
Claudio Licciardello (athletics) Giarre (CT)
Luca Marin (swimming) Vittoria (RG)

Other eight athletes are already part of the Olympic Club:

Alessandro Cavallaro (athletics) Paternò (CT)
Giuseppe Gibilisco (athletics) Siracusa
Anita Pistone (athletics) Mascalucia (CT)
Simona La Mantia (athletics) Palermo
Vincenzina Calì (athletics) Palermo
Rosario La Mastra (athletics) Raddusa (CT)
Emanuele Di Gregorio (athletics) Castellamare del Golfo (TP)
Domenico Rao (athletics) Catania

For a complete list of all the Italian athletes at the Olympic Games, visit http://au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/athletes/?c=ITA&p=1

The Italian government was ordered to pay $160,000 to a gay man who received a driver’s license for the disabled after he volunteered information on his sexual orientation to military authorities, the man and a gay-rights group said Monday.

Danilo Giuffrida, 27, said he told officials about his homosexuality when he took a physical after being called up in 2000 for Italy’s mandatory year of military service, which has since been abolished.

Giuffrida told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his hometown, Catania, that he had hoped to avoid service and keep working to help support his family. Giuffrida was disqualified for psychological reasons.

Read more at The Associated Press

Enel has deposited the project design for one of the first off-shore wind farms in the Mediterranean Sea. The request for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been delivered by Enel to the Ministry of the Environment and the Region of Sicily.

Italy’s first off-shore wind facility will foresee the installation of 115 large generators with a capacity of between 3 and 5 megawatts each in the waters of the Gulf of Gela at least 3 nautical miles off-shore, between the towns of Licata (in the province of Agrigento), Butera and Gela (both in the province of Caltanissetta).

Read more at YourProjectNews.com

Eni SpA has made “a new, significant” natural gas discovery off the coast of Sicily, the Italian gas and oil company said Tuesday.

The find was made in the Cassiopea 1 field in the Sicilian Strait 22 kilometers (14 miles) off Agrigento. The field is 60-percent owned by Eni and 40-percent by Edison.

Read more at IHT.com

This Summer, construction works for the Sicilian railroad will go on for a much needed make-over. These are the locations affected during weekdays: Ragusa and Modica; Campobello di Ravanusa and Licata; Scordia and Caltagirone; Roccapalumba-Alia e Caltanissetta Xirbi; Avola and Rosolini; Palermo-Punta Raisi.

San Vito Lo Capo si one of the first Sicilian resorts to ease the access to the beach for disabled people. This year the city is financing a project to introduce special wheelchairs on the beach for disable people. Two thumbs up for the initiative!

The name of the new science museum, the only one of this type in Sicily, will be Domus Archimedea. The museum is dedicated to Archimedes and will be located right in the heart of the city of Syracuse, next to the Archeological Museum. This project is financed by the Sicilian Region.

The center-right is ahead all across Sicily in provincial elections. The first figures, though only partial, see the Pdl and allies Udc and Mpa winning the majority in all eight provinces were voting is in progress. In Messina they reach a peak of 83%, followed by 81% in Palermo, 72% in Agrigento, and then Caltanissetta (65%), Catania (77%), Siracusa (70%), Trapani (68%). In Enna, where counts have just begun, the Pdl is winning ‘only’ 56% of the vote.

Source AGI

The world’s longest suspension bridge — a link with Sicily and the Italian mainland — is back on track and may open as early as 2016, a state official says.

Pietro Ciucci, head of Italy’s road-building agency, told ANSA that the project would be able to restart smoothly despite being shelved by the previous Italian government. It is one of the keystones of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s public works program.

Ciucci said the groundwork would start again by the end of the year with actual work resuming midway through 2010.

More at InsuranceNewsNet.com