By Paddy McCarthy
Hello again to all my Out&About readers, I was away for a week on vacation in Sicily, Italy that I have to say was absolutely fabulous and a dream come true for me. I went with my family on this trip that we’d planned for a very long time and it worked out very well as we had what you would call “everything that we every expected” only better than we thought. Now don’t get me wrong, my heart will always still be in Ireland that I will be visiting later this year.
So here we go with our first stop as we started by flying from JFK to fly to Taormina that is on the eastern coast of Sicily. I am going to give you a run down on our vacation as I was still Out&About, ha ha, with some photos, so here we go and I hope you enjoy it.
Taormina is in the Metropolitan City of Messina, on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy. Taormina has been a tourist destination since the 19th century. Its beaches on the Ionian Sea, including that of Isola Bella, are accessible via an aerial tramway built in 1992, and via highways from Messina in the north and Catania in the south.
Just south of Taormina is the Isola Bella, a nature reserve; and further south, situated beside a bay, is the popular seaside resort of Giardini Naxos. Tours of the Capo Sant’Andrea grottos are also available. The town of Taormina is perched on a cliff overlooking the Ionian Sea.
Besides the ancient Greek theatre, it has many old churches, lively bars, fine restaurants and antique shops. The Santuario Madonna della Rocca is one such church. Located on the slope above the town, it commands an impressive view of the coast and Mount Etna to the south, and is accessible on foot via the staired path, Salita Castello.
Taormina is approximately a forty-five-minute drive away from Europe’s largest active volcano, Mount Etna.
Many exhibitions and events are organized during the summer in Taormina. The exceptional stage for pop and classical concerts, opera and important performances often recorded by television (for example, the ceremony of the Silver Ribbon Award, the Festivalbar, the Kore) is the Ancient Theatre.
Since 1983, the most important performances are realized by Taormina Arte, the cultural institution which organizes music, theatre and dance festivals. Within the program of Taormina Arte there is the Taormina Film Fest, the heir of the Cinema Festival of Messina and Taormina, dating from 1960, which for about twenty years has hosted the David of Donatello Awards. During the Taormina Film Fest, the Silver Ribbons are awarded, a prize created by Italian Film Journalists. Since 2005, in October, Taormina Arte has organized the Giuseppe Sinopoli Festival, a festival dedicated to its late artistic director.
We spent four days in Taormina before driving all the way to the city of Palermo, that was again way above than we expected, just fabulous with a lot of scenery and museums to visit.
So here we go again: Palermo experiences a hot-summer subtropical Mediterranean climate with moderate seasonality. Summers are very long, hot and dry due to the domination of subtropical high-pressure system, while winters are mild and changeable, with rainy weather due to the polar front. Temperatures in autumn and spring are typically warm. Palermo is one of the warmest cities in Europe (mainly due to its warm nights), with an average annual air temperature of 64 °F; it is one of the warmest cities in Italy. It receives approximately 2,530 hours of sunshine per year. Snow is a rare occurrence having snowed about a dozen times since 1945. Since the 1940s to nowadays there have been at least five times when considerable snowfall has occurred. In 1949 and in 1956, when the minimum temperature went down to 32 °F, the city was blanketed by some centimeters of snow. Snowfalls also occurred in 1981, 1986, 1999 and 2014. The average annual temperature of the sea is above 66 °F; from 57 °F in February to 79 °F in August. In the period from November to May, the average sea temperature exceeds 64 °F and in the period from June to October, the average sea temperature exceeds 70 °F… as you can see I’m also becoming the weatherman.
Sicily is the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy. It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and is officially referred to as Regione Siciliana. The island has 4.8 million inhabitants. Its capital city is Palermo. It is named after the Sicels, who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age. Sicily has a rich and unique culture in arts, music, literature, cuisine, and architecture.
Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe; it is separated from Calabria by the Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, and is one of the most active in the world, currently 3,357 m (11,014 ft) high.
The island has a typical Mediterranean climate. Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. This is due to Sicily being geographically on the northern edge of the African Plate.
Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and casts black ash over the island with its recurrent eruptions. It stands 10,922 ft high, though this varies with summit eruptions; the mountain is 69 ft lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 459 sq mi with a basal circumference of 87 mi. This makes it the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, the god of the sky. Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily.
The food in Sicily is something you won’t forget specially its pizza as it is mouthwatering and delicious from every bite. The wine wow, again it’s the best and guess what? It’s not expensive as it is in the USA, don’t ask me why? Maybe it’s the mark up that they put on it here huh?
Sicilian pizza (Italian: pizza siciliana) is a pizza prepared in a manner that originated in Sicily, Italy. Sicilian pizza is also known as sfincione or focaccia with toppings. This type of pizza became a popular dish in western Sicily by the mid-19th century and was the type of pizza usually consumed in Sicily until the 1860s. It eventually reached North America in a slightly altered form, with thicker crust and a rectangular shape. Traditional Sicilian pizza is often thick-crusted and rectangular, but can also be round and similar to the Neapolitan pizza. It is often topped with onions, anchovies, tomatoes, herbs and strong cheese such as caciocavallo and tomato. Other versions do not include cheese.
The Sicilian methods of making pizza are linked to local culture and country traditions, so there are differences in preparing pizza among the Sicilian provinces of Palermo, Catania, Syracuse and Messina. I hope you enjoy my cooking and our chef doesn’t mind, just kidding.
I missed this event last week and you know why? Yes, I was away but I do want to highlight this gentleman James O’Leary, as he deserves a lot of gratitude for all that he does for the community.
As I said, I got this from James letting me know that he is the recipient of Con Edison’s highest honor with this year’s Living Our Values (LOV) Award.
It is an award that acknowledges employee excellence both professionally and personally. He said that he would like to attribute his award to the many things he done in his personal life but also the contributions and collaboration with The Irish Examiner USA newspaper. Now I like that, thanks James.
He also said “I am proud of my Catholic Faith and my Irish (and Italian) background. I champion these things on a daily basis. Many thanks to you and your team at the Examiner for showcasing our employees, our members and our lifestyles. Thank you as always, for everything you all do – looking forward to seeing you at the next event!”
This also came to my attention, a letter that was sent to James from the Archbishop of New York Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan: “Dear James, Sincere congratulations on receiving Con Edison’s highest honor, the Living Our Values Award! Bravo!
“You have consistently kept both your Catholic values and your Irish and Italian heritage at the center of who you are and all you do.
“In so doing, you have not only achieved professional success, but also served as an effective witness to the faith, something that your colleagues at Con Edison have clearly recognized.
“While I regret that other commitments prevent me from joining you as you are honored at the Bronx Botanical Gardens, be assured that you will have a special remembrance in my Mass and prayers that day.
I have to give this letter a mention too from Timothy Cawley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Con Edison. It said: “Dear James, Congratulations! I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected as a 2024 Living Our Values Award (LOV) recipient, Con Edison’s highest honor.
“Every year, the company acknowledges employee excellence by presenting the LOV award to six of our own who best represent our corporate values both professionally and personally.
“Fared Abbassi nominated you for this significant honor because of your contributions to Con Edison and your community.
“Congratulations on this outstanding achievement. Your contributions have made a positive impact on our company and our customers.”
Now you can see how James O’Leary is so appreciated and we here would also like to congratulate James for all the support that he and the Con Edison Emerald Society give to The Irish Examiner USA we that appreciate so much ourselves.
I hope to see you all again next week when I am Out&About once more…