The coastal plain at Macari on the north-west coast of Sicily has a rich flora that competes with the tourists for space. The most eye-catching is Sea Daffodil Pancratium maritimum with its clean white flowers, but perhaps this is because it is September after a long dry summer and much of the vegetation is now…
Tag: Sicily
On the edge of Nebrodi National Park
The Nebrodi National Park is at its heart a huge and little modified beech and oak forest that rolls over a long ridge of high hills; it sits only a few miles behind San Marco d’Alunzio. A track from the town winds its way towards the Park boundary and we walk up it through scrubby…
San Marco d’Alunzio’s Wildlife
The Griffon vultures soar over the town circling up from their nests on the cliffs on the far side of the valley; through a telescope from our balcony we can see one downy young at the front of a small cave with an adult in constant attendance. The local pair of ravens have a nest…
Cefalù
This medieval town on the north coast of Sicily is famous for its Norman cathedral or Duomo; it is a tourist honeypot, filled with Airbnbs, cafes, restaurants and an array of smart, little shops. The small beach is picture perfect enhanced by a square of royal blue sunbeds and shades. The place was very different…
Palermo
Palermo has a long, chequered history of destruction and construction; most recently the allied bombing in 1943 did for the historic centre and the unimaginative and massive post-war reconstruction of the outer city and adjacent farmland earned it the unhappy sobriquet or soprannome ‘the Sack of Palermo’. Today, the historic centre of Palermo is a…
San Marco d’Alunzio
The small but perfectly formed town of San Marco d’Alunzio perches precariously on a high hill above the north coast of Sicily; at its peak is a remnant wall of the old Norman castle; below is a maze of medieval streets and steep alleyways that create a confusing lattice of routes up and down and…