sicilian tour
Palazzo Beneventano
Sicilian tour – Two professionally presented cookery classes, one at a
farmhouse and another at a Cheese research centre. Others might say the breathtaking Temples of Agrigento and Segesta closely followed by the well preserved amphitheatre in Taormina with Mt Etna as a dramatic backdrop. Then for some it was getting up close to majestic Norman architecture in its cathedrals and castles. For me, looking at a palazzo one night in the Piazza of Ortigia and seeing a row of glittering chandeliers on its first floor and wondering what treasures and history lie within and next day our group being invited by its Baron resident, to that Palazzo for lunch. He regaled us with a story of his ancestors entertaining Sir and Lady Emma Hamilton and the one armed Admiral Lord Nelson. In the Baron’s Ortigian salon we learned that Emma, a pioneer of ‘performance art’ created her ‘attitudes’,
of wrapping herself in sheer (read see-through) swathes of fabric and striking poses to recreate famous mythological figures as painted or sculpted by artists. Her adoring husband assisted in holding a large empty frame in front of her pose, whilst her lover Lord Nelson looked on.
All agreed the landscape and built environment was not what they expected and they came away with a feeling they had definitely gained a sense of having seen something uniquely different from the other regions they had visited in Italy. Each year I like to change the tour a little and have now added Sicilian gardens for 2009.
If you have already visited Sicily or want to discover more of it charms, the Aeolian Islands await. In 2004 my journey took me to its islands by car and ferry. This is where you meet relatives of neighbours in Australia. You could do as I did, or charter a yacht if you are a sailor or hire a skipper. Just as glamourous to fly in by helicopter and use the ferries to island hop between each. My agents in Sicily will handle this and any type of accommodation you need, either in a resort or apartment.
Roz MacAllan
Questo articolo è stato pubblicato il mercoledì, 14 ottobre 2009 alle 08:50 e classificato in What our clients say. È possibile seguire tutte le repliche a questo articolo tramite il feed RSS 2.0. Puoi lasciare un commento, oppure fare il trackback dal tuo sito.