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Sicily Travel Blogs

Background: Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI established a Fascist dictatorship. His disastrous alliance with Nazi Germany led to Italy's defeat in World War II. A democratic republic replaced the monarchy in 1946 and economic revival followed. Italy was a charter member of NATO and the European Economic Community (EEC). It has been at the forefront of European economic and political unification, joining the Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. Persistent problems include illegal immigration, organized crime, corruption, high unemployment, sluggish economic growth, and the low incomes and technical standards of southern Italy compared with the prosperous north.

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By soxfanpaul
May 4th 2009

Sicillian Honeymoon! Europe » Italy » Sicily » Messina

P1040673

We arrived with good hopes. As I was stepping on board our transfer flight from Milan, I received a call for a job interview to be held when I got back. The weather was perfect the whole time and after a nearly fruitless search, we found the bed and breakfast which overlooked the ocean. We stayed in a small village of Piraino! [View Full Entry]

By The McDermotts
May 2nd 2009

6 days in Sicily! Europe » Italy » Sicily » Siracusa

Easter begins a day early

We decided to head south for Easter. Sicily seemed the perfect place: warmer, way older, and friendly sicilians! We rented a car and drove wherever we wanted....when we got tired, we found a hotel. The children really enjoyed the trip...we all loved loved loved Siracusa! [View Full Entry]

By Alfred R
April 28th 2009

Sicilia, A Southern Surprise Europe » Italy » Sicily

Sicilian Flag

So I’m sitting on a train, packed in a cabin, it's 1 am, I got a presentation to make in 9 hrs, and we’re stuck in the middle of a thunderstorm. Sounds terrible huh? Aside from my present accommodations and lack of sleep, it has been an awesome trip. Let me start by saying that it’s Laura’s and mine first trip abroad alone which has been a long time in the making. So about the trip… We arrived at Fiumincino with plenty of time to spare and ran into Simone (my ISC) who we talked to while we waited for our [View Full Entry]

By redclay
April 8th 2009

Tyrrehenean Sea Europe » Italy » Sicily

Castellamare del Golfo

Before we start into the week’s activities, let us say we are fine and many hundreds of kilometres from the devastation in l’Aquila which is in a deep valley between two spines of the Appenine range. The news is on Italian TV all day and there is still much to do to get to the outlying villages reachable by narrow roads that are blocked. Our hearts go out to the people and families of the area. In the meantime we have travelled by sea from Sicily to Tuscany (Pisa, Wednesday night) and the news is still of aftershocks in the area [View Full Entry]

By Dynamo Dave
April 6th 2009

Only 3 days left Europe » Italy » Sicily » Palermo

What ho and top of the morning to all - feeling chipper as just back from a great gym workout. I really must keep this up when I get back (famous words......) - I think over 60's get good gym deals as there aren't many applicants, or, perhaps, survivors. I'll need to fill the time up somehow. In the middle of the Med currently, in Palermo tomorrow where I've booked a coach trip. I think there's more to Sicily than a volcano, - Mafiosi and machine guns if the rumours are right. Let's find out. This is the 6th sea day [View Full Entry]

By Jbrewco
April 3rd 2009

Days 14, 15, & 16 - Sea Days and Palermo Italy Europe » Italy » Sicily » Palermo

At Sea

Tuesday was an at sea day so we were able to relax on ship and take in some of the activities offered. The ship is very nice and in comparison to other ships we have been on, the Brilliance of the Seas has a much different layout. Even though the ship was sold out it feels like most of the passengers are staying in their rooms. We both entered the slot tournament but only Lisa made it to the final round. She did not win the big prize but did get a t-shirt. Later in the day the casino held a [View Full Entry]

By redclay
April 1st 2009

Traveling in Sicily Europe » Italy » Sicily » Ragusa

Fire & Ice

Fortunately, the weather forecasters in Italy are no more accurate than our own back home. Monday was supposed to be cloudy but we did not see one all day - unless you want to count those ones hovering around the peak of Mount Etna, and they were probably the result of steam from snow melting on lava. We had hoped to climb the lower foothills of Etna and hike around her horizontally but the snow on Sunday made that idea ludicrous even for Canadians trying to escape winter. We drove up, anyway, to see what we could see: snowplows, snowboarders, chairlifts, [View Full Entry]

By redclay
March 25th 2009

Adopted In Sicily Europe » Italy » Sicily » Taormina

Greek Theatre, Syracuse

We were awakened by a lot of noise and talking at about 3:00am on Monday morning. A few hours later the delicious smell of fresh bread wafted in our window. Later, when it got light and we looked out we realized that one of our neighbours across the narrow street is a bakery. If I can make it over there in my pyjamas by 6:30am I can get a crusty loaf for 1 euro. We drove the 5km along the shore to where the cable car will take you up the cliffs to Taormina. This is a swanky town with glitzy [View Full Entry]

By Clare Bear 357
March 15th 2009

Hey, let's fly to an island for the weekend. Europe » Italy » Sicily » Palermo

TICKETS

Cioa Tutti! Oggi, io sono stanco perche io ho viagato a Palermo, Sicily esta settimana. Palermo è interesante. Palermo è grande e ha multo personas. Io ho comita ranciolo è gelato. Il mar è bellisimo. Io ho nadato in il mar e ho aveto il sol. I just thought I’d try out a little of my Italian. Our travel adventures just keep getting earlier and earlier. Friday morning, we headed out at 6:10 to catch the bus to get us to the train station. We had a flight to Palermo, Sicily at 11:05 and had to get to the Pisa airport(about [View Full Entry]

By kjennrich
February 26th 2009

The Beauties of Sicily Europe » Italy » Sicily

Sunrise - Palermo

Ah, Sicily. The newest love of my life. I cannot begin to describe how amazingly beautiful this little island is. There are mountains and valleys, capes and ports, rolling hills and cliff towns. From one town, you could see the sea, Mount Etna (the still active volcano) and the green hills in the distance. Everywhere we went was breathtaking. However, getting to Sicily wasn’t as breathtaking as the sights themselves. We first took a train Thursday night from Rome to Naples and then walked through Naples for about a half hour to get to the port. Fortunately Sander relatively kne [View Full Entry]

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