User talk:(WT-en) Siciliangems

Tourism in Sicily is very diverse and it is possible to spend many days on the beaches along its beautiful coastline and be seduced by its warm clear waters.

However, if you care to look a little closer you will find many gems waiting to be discovered round every corner.

Inland Sicily’s landscapes take on a rugged look which have been unchanged for many centuries and as a result the people in the interior are not as used to tourism as the coastal towns.

This can be seen as you take to some of the hill top towns that cling ever precariously to the mountainsides, walking through the streets you can feel the history talking through the walls, giving you an insight into the very heart of its turbulent past.

Sicily today is Italy’s most southern region and one which is rich in culture. Many famous writers and poets along with actors and politicians have made the Island famous through different art forms. When one talks of Sicily we remember the likes of Luigi Pirandello, a Sicilian writer who won the Nobel Prize in 1934 for his substantial body of work. Tennessee Williams was no stranger to these shores and not forgetting Goethe who was said to have noted that “Sicily has colours of the Mediterranean that are so vivid that there is no other place of the like in Europe”. Finally and curiously we mention the famous book known as “Il Gatto Pardo” probably Sicily’s most loved and famous one off writer. The writer in question was the aristocratic Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896-1957) who only sadly found the fame of this wonderful story after his death. This was to be later made into cinematic form and today still remains Sicily’s most beloved read.

As a result the Island proudly welcomes visitors from across the globe. Beautiful as it is, its almost stoic determination to remain independent in the eyes of Europe goes some way to explaining its people and mentality.

Taormina on the east coast of the Island is one of Sicily’s success stories, founded by the Greeks and adored by the Romans it is easy to see that even today the charm of this high town perched above the sea gives the tourists, new and returning, a wealth of pleasure.

Equally Cefalu on the north coast is no stranger to the influx of tourism; it has been for many centuries the destination of the wealthy traveller looking for a slice of peace and tranquillity.

Of course the peace in the summer time in modern day Sicily, has changed somewhat. Now the tranquillity gives way to the many touring companies arriving daily in the summer months.

However the charms still seduce the many and if you're lucky and have your own mode of transport, it's easy to find your slice of quiet paradise.

The Sicilians are, quite rightly so, somewhat suspicious of outside influences and although they embrace tourism they remain in part a little on the peripheries of the rest of Italy.

The Mafia also known as the Cosa Nostra, have influenced the Island for centuries and this is very much intertwined into the history of its politics and people. Modern day Sicily has seen the fall of many of the mobs most notorious leaders and currently there is no sign of anyone stepping back into the breach, yet we know that it stills remains active and locked firmly in the roots of the people’s minds and hearts.

This of course should never deter people from discovering this hidden gem as there is little interest in tourism for the Mafia and on a lighter note has added a little drama to the places and sights that are here just waiting to be uncovered.

Come and discover for yourself !!



(WT-en) Siciliangems 16:52, 12 July 2008 (EDT)