The first time I saw Sicily some 25 years ago, I thought, "Now I get why the San Francisco Bay area has always resonated for me." Because the island of Sicily so reminded me of the place I live. Golden hills, mountains, ocean. Ag land. Green belts. Heat and sun. It's very much the same, . . .
You can only imagine how much I missed my Riley. But Sicily was full of dogs--and cats--that seemed to always find the cutest poses. This was one of two adorable puppies that turned up at the Gulfi Wine Estate and made themselves at home. The estate workers made them live outside, which broke my . . .
How do you feel about chocolate? I'm a bigger fan of cinnamon. It's not that I'd turn a piece of chocolate cake down--oh no, I wouldn't! -- but if I had my choice, it would be cinnamon and sugar. Still, I'd never been to a chocolate maker and was interested to see how chocolate was made in famous . . .
Every turn of the head brought another example of the beauty of Sicily. Today, I'm sharing some of the prettiness I saw on my recent trip to Sicily, the land of my ancestors. Whether it's Morocco, India or yes, Sicily, the arch plays a key role in architecture and beauty. Of course, color is a . . .
I love ruins and Siracusa, Sicilia is known for its ancient ruins of a Greek Theatre and Roman amphitheatre. Screw the wine drinking--seeing the Siracusa ruins was going to be one of the highlights of my trip to Sicily. So when I awakened the morning of our visit still running a fever and coughing . . .
When I went down to breakfast the first day we were in Sicily, I saw this on a side-table. Cannoli fixin's, as we used to say in the South. They must be preparing cannoli for tonight, I thought. But then a waiter came around with a plate of tiny cannoli, filled and ready to serve for breakfast. . . .
Women working out--sometimes I think we believe the concept was invented in modern times. It's true that my mother wouldn't have even considered it. Nor my grandmother. So I had to smile when I saw these ancient mosaics at the Villa del Casale at Piazza Amerina in Sicily: Dumbbells haven't . . .
It's easy to forget that I live in a new country, one with only a few hundred years of history. But where I'm from? Where my mother's family came from? Gratteri, Sicilia? That place goes back centuries. It's said to have been founded by the Romans, but its design has many Arab-Medieval . . .
Where there is a blank wall, there is a need to fill it. Obviously, this need to make a mark holds true worldwide, and it seems to be any kind of mark, no matter how unintelligible. Or unintelligent. While some graffiti really does look like what I would call art (although some would argue that . . .
October in Sicily was hot and humid, shockingly so. Our accommodations were out in the country, beautiful old estates with olive trees and grapevines that had been redone to greater or lesser degrees. We were lunching outside at the Gulfi Wine Estate in southeast Sicily (near Noto and Ragusa) when . . .
