Ok, I am ticked off. Very ticked off! For months now I have been hearing about this “great book” that shall remain nameless, and how the author shares her amazing, mystical and gastronomical experience in Italy and other countries. I picked it up by accident and immediately went to the Sicily section of the book. I was appalled! The author talks about poverty, corruption and how there is a HUGE difference between the North and the South of Italy (and not a positive one). I am not sure what areas she went to or who her tour guide was, but one thing is for sure: THAT IS NOT THE SICILY THAT I KNOW!
Although I was born in the US, I was raised in Sicily, Italy and returned to Los Angeles when I was 13 years old. I go back to Sicily very often and was even married on that beautiful island (my entire family still lives there).
I understand that Sicily has a bad reputation. Movies portray Sicily as a mafia infested island, and I have actually encountered many people that are scared to go to Sicily precisely for this reason. This is nonsense.
Yes, it’s true –Sicily does have an issue with the mafia. However, in all the years that I have been back and forth to Italy I have never even met a member of the mafia. And if I did, I was totally unaware of it. And that’s the whole point: the mafia doesn’t exactly walk around with t-shirts that say “mafia member here”, nor do they walk around with guns and shoot each other all day. But most of all, they never mess with tourist. They could care less about tourist. Without getting into too much detail and bore you to death, the mafia has to do more with government and politics than anything else. Again, THEY DO NOT ROBB, KIDNAPP OR SHOOT AT TOURISTS. Say it with me!
And poverty-stricken? They make Sicily sound like Tijuana. Sicily has some gorgeous picturesque towns such as Siracusa, Erice and Palermo and some jaw-dropping sea towns such as Mondello, Cefalù and Taormina just to name a few. No poverty there. You can stay at some amazing five star hotels in these towns that will leave you breathless. I know that most folks are obsessed with Florence, Venice and Rome however; Sicily has so much to offer for half the price.
The delectable cuisine will amaze you! Fresh seafood, delicious red-sauce pastas (we don’t eat cream sauce in the South), amazing desserts and some of the best wines in the world. It’s worth to travel to Sicily for the food alone.
The people are friendly and there is so much to do; from shopping, to eating, to visiting ancient ruins, to touring world-famous wineries, to touring castles, to visiting the countryside, to bathing under the warm Sicilian sun you will not regret going to this amazing island. This is the real Italy. And even around Sicily there are smaller but nonetheless AMAZING little islands: the Aeolian Islands and Pantelleria. If you would like to feel as if you just died and went to paradise, I recommend you making a visit.
So, poverty-stricken? No! Mafia messing with tourists? Negative! HUGE difference between North and South? YES!!! We are friendlier, the food is better and there is more to do. Perhaps I’m biased, but hey –it’s my blog and I get to say what I want.
Although I was born in the US, I was raised in Sicily, Italy and returned to Los Angeles when I was 13 years old. I go back to Sicily very often and was even married on that beautiful island (my entire family still lives there).
I understand that Sicily has a bad reputation. Movies portray Sicily as a mafia infested island, and I have actually encountered many people that are scared to go to Sicily precisely for this reason. This is nonsense.
Yes, it’s true –Sicily does have an issue with the mafia. However, in all the years that I have been back and forth to Italy I have never even met a member of the mafia. And if I did, I was totally unaware of it. And that’s the whole point: the mafia doesn’t exactly walk around with t-shirts that say “mafia member here”, nor do they walk around with guns and shoot each other all day. But most of all, they never mess with tourist. They could care less about tourist. Without getting into too much detail and bore you to death, the mafia has to do more with government and politics than anything else. Again, THEY DO NOT ROBB, KIDNAPP OR SHOOT AT TOURISTS. Say it with me!
And poverty-stricken? They make Sicily sound like Tijuana. Sicily has some gorgeous picturesque towns such as Siracusa, Erice and Palermo and some jaw-dropping sea towns such as Mondello, Cefalù and Taormina just to name a few. No poverty there. You can stay at some amazing five star hotels in these towns that will leave you breathless. I know that most folks are obsessed with Florence, Venice and Rome however; Sicily has so much to offer for half the price.
The delectable cuisine will amaze you! Fresh seafood, delicious red-sauce pastas (we don’t eat cream sauce in the South), amazing desserts and some of the best wines in the world. It’s worth to travel to Sicily for the food alone.
The people are friendly and there is so much to do; from shopping, to eating, to visiting ancient ruins, to touring world-famous wineries, to touring castles, to visiting the countryside, to bathing under the warm Sicilian sun you will not regret going to this amazing island. This is the real Italy. And even around Sicily there are smaller but nonetheless AMAZING little islands: the Aeolian Islands and Pantelleria. If you would like to feel as if you just died and went to paradise, I recommend you making a visit.
So, poverty-stricken? No! Mafia messing with tourists? Negative! HUGE difference between North and South? YES!!! We are friendlier, the food is better and there is more to do. Perhaps I’m biased, but hey –it’s my blog and I get to say what I want.
