Going for a walk?

C’è un momento, quando ripenso a Palermo , che non dimenticherò mai e che riaffiora tutte le volte che si nomina questa città: quando vidi per la prima volta la Cattedrale di Maria SS. Assunta . La gente intorno a me accalcata nella via, decisamente troppo stretta per tutte quelle persone, e all’improvviso la visuale si apre. Non c’è tempo per tirare un sospiro di sollievo per lo spazio ritrovato, perché lo spettacolo che si pone davanti lo toglie di nuovo. Sembra un’oasi, che trasporta in un luogo sospeso tra Oriente e Occidente , al cospetto di uno dei gioielli di Palermo.

A gluten free itinerary along the East coast of Sicily. Where and what to eat in Catania, Taormina, Ortigia and Noto tasting some typical Sicilian food safely for coeliacs. At the beginning of August we’ve gone to  Sicily to see some friends who moved to Augusta. We knew that they would have guided us in a tour of their place and obviously made us taste some typical products. What we didn’t know was that, in reality, it would have been a real culinary tour with steps to check off. Obviously, they knew about my celiac disease , but it wasn’t a problem at all. So, here what they suggested (just the fundamental, eh) in those three days spent with them. Leggi in italiano

Versione italiana This summer, suddenly blown up, is making us gasp here in Apulia. Sometimes a bit of  wind blows and  it seems to give you a bit of relief, until you realize you have welcomed with open arms a rush of warm air.

Versione italiana   Version française There is a huge tunnel in front of me. There are a lot of skeletons in front of me, stand near the walls.  They are all dressed with clothes of old ages: some of them look up, others down and others seem to stare at me with their empty eye sockets. I see some of them that seem to sneer and others seem to scream in fear.  There are skeletons of men, women and even children in this macabre and frightening place.

Versione italiana     Version française Palermo is a town where it is possible to see everywhere the union between the Orient and the Occident, at the point to make me think that it would be a paradise for an Orientalist . Its monuments have a so peculiar style that it is difficult to give properly the idea. For this reason I entrust Guy de Maupassand, who in his La vie errante describes them in this way: After seeing these monuments, which, though belonging to different periods and being different origin still have the same character, the same nature, one can truly say that they are neither Gothic nor Arabic nor Byzantine, but Sicilian; one can assert that there is a Sicilian art and style, forever recognizable, which is assuredly more delightful, varied, more highly colored and full of conceptions.   It seems a marvel, doesn't it? And in effect, it is. With this post, I would like to propose to you a little itinerary to discover some of the most bea...

Versione italiana     Version française Unlike the  other travels I have done, carefully planned and organized in advance, this one to Palermo has been unexpected. Sure, it has been proposed to me a couple of weeks earlier than the actual departure, but then I did not know if I could really go yet. Certainty arrived a week later, 7 days before the departure. Someone might say: "A week is more than enough to get organized". No doubt. But a week was not enough to prepare myself to what I would have met. The old and the new next to each other in the same picture