Sicily – Llywindatravels 2022

Beachcombing Treasures

A great pleasure of being retired is having the time to dabble. I am a great putterer and after beachcombing extensively in Italy, I wanted to make something of my finds. I took the plunge and bought a Dremel. For the uninitiated, this is a tool that can be used like a drill, a polisher,Continue reading “Beachcombing Treasures”

Good to Know About Italy

It is impossible to generalize about Italy. Every region has its own customs, traditions, holidays, food, music, language. We’ve enjoyed our time in Italy this year, seeing many places that figure in the history and archaeology. The spectacular art in many museums has been wonderful to see.There is a cost to visiting Italy. All ofContinue reading “Good to Know About Italy”

Fall Blows in to Sicily

It’s often breezy at the beach. We got out of the car and crossed the fringe of dunes, arriving at the shore to see small waves crashing and the wind rushing east along the sand. Walking into the wind, we started our beach combing, finding smooth oval pebbles and beach glass. Ow, ow, ow!It wasn’tContinue reading “Fall Blows in to Sicily”

Where the Greeks were

Sicily was the largest colony established by Greece. What that actually means sinks in about the third time you visit a vast, partially excavated archaeological site and find a temple, or several, that appear to be transplanted straight from the Acropolis in Athens. The temples may the most impressive sights, but there are lots ofContinue reading “Where the Greeks were”

Piazza Armerina–Roman mosaics at their best

We didn’t know much about Piazza Armerina until we looked for archaeological sites to visit within driving distance of us in Sicily. The guidebook indicated interesting mosaics at the Villa Romana de Casale near the town of Piazza Armerina. The mosaic floors of this villa, owner unknown but possibly the Emperor Maximian (250-310 AD), areContinue reading “Piazza Armerina–Roman mosaics at their best”

Sicily: Landscape, Beach, Archaeology

Sicily—Week One Having a guest really gets you up and going. With my sister Catherine we hit high spots of the region so that she could take away a sense of western Sicily. Three themes emerged, landscape, beaches, and archaeology.Sicily’s landscape is Dramatic. Huge rocky hills emerge from the sea, yet just beyond are broadContinue reading “Sicily: Landscape, Beach, Archaeology”

Welcome to Sicily

We just moved to our October home, a house outside the town of Sciacca, Sicily. We were met by our host Stefania and her mother, who showed us around and helped us get settled. Our flight from Naples to Palermo was delayed two hours, so we were later arriving than we’d planned, but they wereContinue reading “Welcome to Sicily”