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Lesley Peterson is a Toronto-based writer specializing in travel, art, culture, history and legendary landscapes. She has a degree in Art History from the University of Manitoba and is a member of NATJA (North American Travel Journalists Association). Catch her on Twitter as @culturetripper or contact her at lesley@culturetripper.com. All content by Lesley Peterson copyright © 2009 - Until the Present. All photos by Lesley Peterson except where other credit noted.
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International Couscous Festival, San Vito lo Capo, Sicily
Sicilian cuisine, like its history, is a stew of cultural influences. Closer to Africa than Rome, and under Arab rule for 200 years during the Middle Ages, it’s not surprising to find couscous on menus in Sicily, especially in the western end of this Mediterranean island. Each September, the beach resort of San Vito lo [...]
11.09.2012 · Filled under: Europe, Festivals & Events, Food, Italy · Tags: Beaches, EAT, Italy, SICILY · 8 Comments »
Sicily’s seductive beaches and strange symbol
More than 2,000 years ago, Greek sailors sailing the Mediterranean around Sicily gazed upon its golden shores and likened them to the alluring legs of a woman. They called the island Trinakria, or three pointed, identifying it with the Thrinacia mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey. I love to wander Sicily’s beaches in the off season when [...]
08.12.2011 · Filled under: Europe, Italy, Legendary Landscapes, Myths & Legends · Tags: Antiquity, Beaches, HISTORY, Italy, SICILY · 8 Comments »
Strait of Messina, Italy: myth, magic and a much-needed bridge
When Odysseus sailed the Strait of Messina he had a tough decision to make. Sailing too close to Calabria would mean passing Scylla, a sailor-snatching sea-nymph with a body composed of ravening dogs. Too close to Sicily and the whirlpool mouth of Charybdis could suck down the entire ship. Navigating the water between mainland Italy [...]
16.11.2011 · Filled under: Legendary Landscapes, Myths & Legends · Tags: Italy, SICILY, water · 5 Comments »
Changing Sicily
Having married into a Sicilian family and visiting the island often enough to consider it my second home, I still succumb to Stendhal syndrome within an hour or two of arrival, a willing victim of its beauty and exoticism. At the crossroads of the Mediterranean but on the fringe of Europe (it’s closer to Africa [...]
17.10.2010 · Filled under: Destination Guides, Europe, Italy, Legendary Landscapes · Tags: Antiquity, Carnival, Italy, SICILY · 3 Comments »