Travelsicilia

28/08/07 

Milena,

 

Salve! I just wanted to drop you a line to tell you what a

 wonderful week we  had in Sicily!!  With your help, we

 were able to get a wonderful sense of  the country as well

 as see my relatives.

 It all worked out so well.  Janesh and Mario were

 wonderful.  They were so  professional, informative and

 accomodating.   We had a great time together.   The hotels

 were very lovely.  They were very clean and the staff was

 helpful  and courteous.  Each hotel had a unique style

 that made it very interesting.

   I have to say, the hotel in Taormina wins the prize!

 Taormina was my  favorite city.

 The tours and sites were incredible!  I did not realize

 how much diversity  exists in Sicily. The guides were

 great at explaining the cultural  influences.  From the

 architecture to the people, it was amazing!  I am

 convinced I am part Greek, Arab AND Norman!!.....which

 explains so much!!!

 Of course visiting the towns of my family was also a

 wondeful experience.   It was great to get to see not only

 the tourist sites, but also the small  villages.

 Mistretta was beautiful!  The air was so cool and dry

 which was a  great break from the heat.  I understand the

 week before we came was even  hotter.  I can't even

 imagine it!  I guess we were really lucky with the

 weather.

 Even though I was getting tan from just walking around in

 Sicily, going to  the beach at Noto, I wasn't prepared for

 the sun and got a little sunburn.   What a fabulous

 beach!!  I walked out so far and the water was still not

 deep!  Now that's MY kind of beach!  The water so

 incredibly refreshing.  It  was such a great break in

 between sightseeing and visiting with my family.

 It was also so wonderful to meet family members that I had

 never seen  before.  We laughed and had a great time

 together.  My family members took  me to see where my

 parents and grandparents grew up as well as the local

 sites.  (I was so glad that we didn't sit around the table

 eating the whole  time!  That was what I was afraid would

 happen, you know Sicilian  families....)

 Thank you again for all your patience, professionalism and

 input.  It was  the perfect trip that I had hoped for!

 There was no other tour that offered  what your agency

 gave us.  Just to let you know, I found your organization

 on-line after much research.  I would highly recommend you

 market  yourselves, especially in the U.S. New York/New

 Jersey area because there  are tons of Sicilian Americans

 that would love to do what I did.  You were  great at

 pulling it all together for me. You did an incredible job

 with very little time!!  Your boss is really lucky  to

 have such a great worker!

 Thank you again and next time we'll plan what I didn't get

 a chance to see  on this trip!!

 Con molto gratitudine,

 Vita  

By Mary Taylor Simeti;
Le Case del Feudo, where we spent the next night after a day in Syracuse, occupies the former granaries and wine cellars of a large estate of citrus groves and vineyards belonging to Baron Pietro Beneventano del Bosco, who also owns a spectacular palace across from the Syracuse cathedral. Like many Sicilian aristocrats, he has found that the best way to maintain his estates is to welcome tourists: he organizes dinners in the palace and picnics on the Ciane River, and has built bedrooms and small apartments for guests in his baglio, as Sicilian farms round a courtyard are often called.We had one of the smaller rooms, the Camera del Marinaio, with a very small and spartan shower and simply decorated with ship lanterns and seagoing prints. The larger ones are extremely pretty, with stenciled walls, four-poster beds and antiques. In the warmer months meals are served at umbrella-shaded tables in the central courtyard (the next morning, Jan. 5, we sat there in our shirt sleeves and soaked up the sun) and a swimming pool surrounded by deck chairs beckoned from the garden, but what we liked best upon arrival was a lighted fireplace in the big hall next to the dining room, where we could sit with our books until an aperitif was served.

We had happened in at a particularly grand moment — there was a plethora of princesses sitting around the long dinner table, lingering after a New Year’s celebration. But the atmosphere was informal, and over pasta con sugo, risotto di asparagi, gamberi and calamari fritti, rollò di carne, and deliciously fresh tangerines, the baron, who is an archaeology buff, regaled us with stories about nearby excavations and with descriptions of the special Syracusan dishes — stuffed pork chops, zuppa di pesce, marinated anchovies with onions and blood oranges — that we could have eaten upon request if we had been staying longer.

The baron himself lives in town, but he comes to the farm daily and is often there for dinner. In his absence Rosalba La Greca, his cook and manager, takes his place with obvious pride and dedication.

We wistfully concluded (our next lesson) that there is not much point in spending just one night in an agriturismo. The possibility of choosing what you want to eat the next evening is perhaps rare, but in the good establishments the atmosphere is conducive to leisurely exploration, savoring the coming and going in a familiar landscape, extending the first night’s acquaintances and meeting local people. The pace is rural, so those who want to do all of Sicily in one week probably would be happier in city hotels.

 

      of pre-classical origin
§   alastra (a thorny, prickly plant native to the Mediterranean region; but also Greek kelastron and may in fact have penetrated Sicilian Sicilian words via one of the Gallic idioms)
§   ammarrari (to dam or block a canal or running water; but also Spanish embarrar - to muddy)
§   calancuni (ripples caused by a fast running river)
§   calanna (landslide of rocks)
§   racioppu (stalk or stem, e.g. of a fruit, Mediterranean rak)
§   timpa (crag, cliff; but also Greek tymba, Latin tumba and Catalan timba).
There are also Sicilian words with an ancient Indo-European origin that do not appear to have come to the language via any of the major language groups normally associated with Sicilian, i.e. they have been independently derived from a very early Indo-European source. The Siculi are a possible source of such words, but there is also the possibility of a cross-over between ancient Mediterranean words and introduced Indo-European forms. Some examples of Sicilian words with an ancient Indo-European origin:
§   dudda (mulberry; similar to Welsh rhudd and Lithuanian rauda meaning the colour “pink”; Romanian “dudă”)
§   scrozzu (not well developed; similar to Lithuanian su-skurdes with a similar meaning and Old High German scurz, meaning short)
§   sfunnacata (multitude, vast number; from Indo-European und/Fund meaning water)
       Sicilian words of Greek origin
§   appizzari - to rot, go bad (as in fruit), ruin (from (eks) èpeson)
§   babbiari - to fool around (from babazo, which also gives the sicilian words: babbazzu and babbu - stupid; but Latin babulus and Spanish babieca)
§   bucali - pitcher (from baukalion)
§   bùmmulu - water receptacle (from bombylos; but Latin bombyla)
§   cartedda - basket (from kartallos; but Latin cratellum)
§   carusu - boy (from kouros; but Latin carus - dear, Sanskrit caruh - amiable)
§   casèntaru - earthworm (from gas enteron)
§   cirasa - cherry (from kerasos; but Latin cerasum)
§   cona - icon, image, metaphor (from eikyon; but Latin icona)
§   cuddura - type of bread (from kollyra; but Latin collyra)
§   grasta - flower pot (from gastra; but Latin gastra)
§   naca - cradle (from nake)
§   ntamari - to stun, amaze (from thambeo; but Calabrese tàmmaru - stupid, comes from Arabic tammar date vendor)
§   pistiari - to eat (from apestiein)
§   tuppuliàri - to knock (from typto).
    Sicilian words of Arab origin
§   babbaluciu - snail (from babus; but Greek boubalàkion)
§   burnia - jar (from burniya; but Latin hirnea)
§   cafisu - measure for liquids (from qafiz)
§   cassata - sicilian cake (from qashatah; but Latin caseata - something made from cheese)
§   gebbia - artificial pond to store water for irrigation (from gabiya)
§   giuggiulena - sesame seed (from giulgiulan)
§   saia - canal (from saqiya)
§   zaffarana - type of plant whose flowers are used for medicinal purposes (from safara)
§   zagara - blossom (from zahar)
§   zibbibbu - type of grape (from zabib)
§   zuccu - tree trunk (from suq; but Aragonese soccu and Spanish zoque).
       Sicilian words of Norman French origin
§   accattari - to buy (from Norman acater, Modern French = Acheter)
§   ammintuari – to mention, nominate (from Norman mentevoir)
§   bucceri (vucceri) - butcher (from bouchier)
§   custureri - tailor (from coustrier)
§   firranti - grey (from ferrant)
§   foddi - mad (from fol)
§   giugnettu - July (from juignet)
§   ladiu or laiu - ugly (from laid)
§   largasìa - generosity (from largesse)
§   puseri - thumb (from poucier)
§   racina - grape (from raisin)
§   raggia – anger (from rage)
§   testa - head (from teste)
§   trippari - to hop, skip (from Norman triper)
     Sicilian words of German origin
§   arbitriari - to work in the fields (from arbeit)
§   vardari - to watch over (from wartên)
§   guastari or vastari - to waste, use up (from wastjan)
§   guddefi - forest, woods (from wald, note resemblance to anglo-saxon wudu)
§   guzzuniari - to wag, as in a tail (from hutsen)
§   lancedda - terracotta jug for holding water (from Old High German lagella)
§   salaguni - willow (from Old High German salaha)
§   sparagnari - to save money (from Old High German sparen)
      Sicilian words of Catalan origin
§   accabbari - to finish, end (from acabar)
§   addunarisi - to notice, realise (from adonar-se)
§   affruntarisi - to be embarrassed (from afrontar-se)
§   ammucciari - to hide (from amagar)
§   arruciari – to moisten, soak (from arruixar)
§   criscimogna - growth, development (from creiximoni)
§   muccaturi - handkerchief (from mocador)
§   nzirtari - to guess (from encertar)
§   priàrisi - to be pleased (from prear-se)
       Sicilian words of Spanish origin
§   arricugghirisi - to return home; (from arrecogerse; but Catalan recollir-se)
§   balanza – scales (from balanza)
§   filiccia - arrow (from flecha)
§   làstima – lament, annoyance (from lástima)
§   pignata – pan (from pinada)
§   pinzèddu – brush (from pincel)
§   ricivu – receipt (from recibo)
§   spagnari - to be frightened ( cross over of Sic. appagnari with Sp. espantarse)
§   spatari - to impede or disarm someone of his sword (from espadar)
§   sulità or sulitati – solitude (from soledad)

Blogarama

Set in a village outside Palermo, this magnificent Norman cathedral is a fusion of Arab and Christian art. The Benedictine complex is a tribute to Byzantine craftsmanship, Arab imagery and Norman scale, reflecting the cosmopolitan nature of the Sicilian court. The cathedral contains

a tapestry of mosaics which is unequalled in Europe, while the cloisters are masterpieces of Islamic art. In the words of a local proverb, “He who goes to Palermo without seeing Monreale leaves a donkey and comes back an ass.”

This red-domed church is dedicated to St John of the Hermits and is an intimate, quintessentially Sicilian hybrid, a Benedictine abbey and basilica

incorporating a mosque with Norman cloisters and jasmine-clad gardens.

 

 

Opening times 9am–7.30pm Mon–Sat

Just down the road, we wander into San Giovanni degli Eremiti, a ruined Benedictine abbey and

red-domed mosque surrounded by an exotic garden of jasmine, dwarf palms and kumquats. The cloisters are entwined with tendrils of acanthus leaves, echoing those encrusted on the

Romanesque columns. To nostalgic Palermitans, the spell is of an Arab ‘garden of delights’. Under Arab-Norman rule, the city welcomed 300 mosques and was ringed by pleasure palaces, palms, citrus groves and vineyards. In the 9th century, the Arabs ran a liberal regime and employed Greek craftsmen here, heirs to the Byzantine tradition.