Describing what makes Ragusa special, lifelong resident Liliana Rollo says that the Sicilian people, especially those from Ragusa, are more accogliente (welcoming and friendly) than people in the rest of Italy. As if to illustrate her own point, Rollo repeats several times during a brief telephone conversation, “I hope you’ll come and see me when you take a vacation in Italy.”
Buon Appetito!
Left: photo by Salvatore Ciambra; Right: photo by photo_gram
Sicilian cuisine is famous for a reason. Speaking of her childhood and of her grandmother’s legendary cooking, Marshall says, “When we’d get home from church, I’d help Nonna in the kitchen, and we’d have great Sunday lunches—and that was tradition.” Marshall loved her stay in Ragusa partly because “even the food reminded me of Nonna, and I realized how much she’d kept up the traditions of the food because everything tasted like Nonna’s!” Ragusa has several delicious culinary traditions unique to the province—some are not available elsewhere in Sicily. You’ll find
delicious cannoli (sweet, ricotta-filled fried pastry shells) at Dolcemania in Via Paestum 36. You’ll find arancini, fried rice balls filled with meat sauce, at the Pasticceria Giovanni di Pasquale in the piazza (town square) near the cathedral. L’impanata Ragusana is a creation made with very thin layers of dough wrapped around flavorful toppings like tomatoes, ricotta, and sausage; it’s reminiscent of hand-held lasagna and can be found in most paninerie (bakeries) throughout the city. You’ll also find cassata Ragusana, sweet and simple ricotta-filled pastries. The city’s pizza is every bit as delicious as you’d imagine authentic Italian pizza to be. And the panini (sandwiches made with fresh, grilled meat) are beyond compare, especially at Ziu Pinu’s restaurant. It is well worth taking a trip to Ragusa even if all you do there is eat the local goodies. Ragusa and Ragusa-Ibla, the tiny hilltop village next door, have maintained a food culture filled with rich traditions. The stone pathway from Ragusa to Ibla winds down dozens of stairs and through twisting, crumbling passageways covered with
On an ordinary day in Ragusa, half a dozen fruit and vegetable vendors drive through the streets distributing their goods. The residents know their favorites and head out in their slippers to meet the vendors on the street.
romantic graffiti from generations of love-struck teenagers. Ragusa-Ibla keeps a traditional schedule between the hours of one and four in the afternoon; all shops and churches close promptly at one, and everyone goes home to have a big lunch with the family. A three-course meal, followed by dessert and a long nap, is a rigorously followed Sicilian tradition to this day, especially in towns like Ragusa and Ragusa-Ibla.
Agriturismo For those who want to try traditional home-cooking but don’t feel comfortable inviting themselves to a stranger’s house for lunch, there is agriturismo (agricultural tourism). Agriturismo is more than just visiting farms; it’s putting yourself into the lifestyle of a countryside Sicilian for a few days, but without all the work. This method of vacationing, a few steps beyond bed-and-breakfasting, is steadily growing in popularity in Italy and throughout all of Europe. People escaping from city smog can often rent rooms in renovated farmhouses, which usually have traditional kitchens that are open to curious visitors from all over. Angela and Alessandro of Florence wanted a relaxing holiday, so they tried staying in a refurbished farmhouse called Tenuta Carbonara in the Sicilian countryside. “It was truly unforgettable for us,” they rave in an online comment. But the best part of their stay seemed to be their everhospitable hostess, Nella Tuminello, who runs the Tenuta Carbonara establishment. Nella is a one-woman wonder. She cares for her guests and makes sure they feel at home in a laidback environment. Her traditional, home-cooked Sicilian meals are met with rave reviews by even the hardest-to-please guests. In fact, for those who can’t get enough of her cooking, Nella teaches cooking classes. In these two- to three-hour
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Taking It Slow As its laid-back reputation suggests, Sicily is best enjoyed at a leisurely pace. You don’t necessarily need to go to the town of Ragusa or to the farmhouse at Tenuta Carbonara in order to find that mysterious “it” factor that makes Sicily such a wonderful place to visit. It could be the beautiful Mediterranean climate or the region’s tenacious hold on its traditions. It could be the cracked and crumbling plaster finishes on the houses, the
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I felt more alive than I’d ever felt in my whole entire life.
lazy palm trees swinging in the breeze over baroque wrought-iron balconies, or the food culture that causes the streets to empty at midday to allow for home-cooked meals. It could be the sun-dried tomatoes and bottled olives still prepared by hand at home—or the young men sitting right next to the old men playing cards in the park, suggesting that this quiet Sicilian way of life is here to stay. “I came home, and I felt more alive than I’d ever felt in my whole entire life,” Marshall says of her life-changing trip to Ragusa. If you’re looking for
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high fashion, busy people, and a cosmopolitan lifestyle, try Milan or Rome. But if you’re looking not only to meet amazing people and eat wonderful food but also to slow down and be inspired, head down to Sicily. It’s waiting for you. ▶▶
tenutacarbonara.com
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ecodelgusto.com
Also see the novel Eco del Gusto by Emmanuele Lombardo, available in English as well as Italian.
At Tenuta Carbonara, Nella Tuminello’s culinary students watch her carefully. She doesn’t speak much English and doesn’t use recipes.
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Photo by Mary-Celeste Lewis
demonstrations, Nella guides guests through the steps of making cassata Ragusana, l’impanata, or other regional delicacies, like ravioli stuffed with fresh local ricotta. Tenuta Carbonara isn’t the only place you can stay at in Sicily—there are many fine opportunities for agriturismo in the region. Nella and other hostesses may not speak much English, though, so be prepared to watch their demonstrations carefully!
Culture Dharamsala is a colorful Tibetan refuge in the mountains of India.
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Warp and Weft: Legacies of Navajo Weaving
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The Hills Are Alive with the Sounds of Austria
A centuries-old weaving tradition lives on in the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States.
Take in the sights and sounds of Austria—through the lens of music.
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Songkran: More Than Just a Water Fight
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Hanami: Celebrating Transient Beauty in Japan
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Dharamsala: Tibetan Spirit Reborn
Experience the wet and wild holiday of splashing people on the streets of Thailand with ice-cold water.
Discover how Japan commemorates its iconic cherry blossom.
Photo by Rachel Ruekert
Tibetan Buddhist faith and tradition have found refuge in the mountains of northern India.
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Bite of Philly
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Savor the Flavor of the Crescent City
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Basil: Four Corners of the Kitchen
Find the best spots to grab the gooey goodness of a cheesesteak in the City of Brotherly Love.
Experience the spirit of New Orleans all over the world through the taste of Cajun cuisine.
Experiment basil, the world’s most romantic herb, in four recipes from all across the globe.
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Warp & Weft Legacies of Navajo Weaving
The weaver deftly maneuvers the pile of yarn at her side horizontally between the warp and quickly tamps down the red string into sharp lines against the previous row with four rhythmic taps. Preparing to lay down another weave, she separates the strings with a sweep of her hand as if she were playing the harp.
Handwoven blankets are known for their bright colors and soft, silky textures.
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Again and again she repeats this process, each movement quick, precise, and fluid. The woman patiently weaves, knowing that her creation may ultimately take an entire year’s dedication or more to complete.
Photo by DeAnn Peterson
Vibrant reds, indigo blues, goldenrod yellows, creamy whites, and earthy browns connect into wavy bands, angular diamonds, and terraced pyramids in sharp geometric detail. Working thread by thread, the weaver sits cross-legged in front of her loom. The vertical white, woolen warp strings are strung from a beam above, cascading gently to the slowly emerging patterns of color.
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The Navajo Tradition
For more than two centuries, Navajo rugs and blankets have fascinated the artistically minded with their exceptional craftsmanship and stark, stunning beauty. This uniquely American art form fetches high prices and is held in high esteem as one of the finest weaving traditions in the world. But surprisingly, the Navajo have a relatively young weaving tradition. The Navajo began weaving when the Pueblo peoples to the south sought refuge from Spanish and tribal conflicts and brought with them their weaving tradition. Improving upon the Pueblo method, Navajo weavers became universally recognized as the best and most innovative in the West. Rival tribes sometimes risked their lives to trade for a Navajo-woven blanket, which sold for astronomical prices—as much as four years’ salary for an army captain. Despite difficult times and social upheaval, the weaving tradition is still strong today in the Navajo homelands of the Four Corners area in the southwestern United States. Herders still run the now-rare Navajo-Churro breed of sheep in the hills of Four Corners, and weavers still harvest wool, make yarn, and produce striking examples of a vibrant traditional art form.
A Weaving Pilgrimage
This beautiful and storied tradition is far from being just history, and blankets aren’t just found in expensive museums. Contemporary weavers and willing teachers passionately keep this artisan tradition alive in the Southwest. Hoping to experience modern Navajo weaving, 25-year-old Kess Larsen visited Los Ojos, New Mexico—a locus for contemporary Navajo weaving. Arriving after dark, Larsen parked her dusty car in front of the building marked Tierra Wools and introduced herself to one of the friendly owners waiting there. The weeklong weaving course at the small shop and the stay at the owner’s neighboring casita had been a gift for Larsen from her parents. After settling in, Larsen slept comfortably, dreaming of the blanket she would be making the next morning. The next day she learned all about the rare Navajo-Churro sheep herds, the hand-spun and dyed wools, the looms, and the blankets, rugs, and tapestries. After studying the many dyed wools, Larsen was immediately drawn to browns, greens, and dark blues, but the “dusty, rosy pink” she had first chosen “just wasn’t working” in the combination. So she “nixed the pink and threw in yellow and absolutely loved it.” After finding the
perfect shades of wool, she finished plans for her simple banded design and began her work at the loom. With friendly guidance and encouragement from the three women tending the shop, Larsen began to weave, growing in confidence and speed as she passed the shuttle back and forth hundreds and hundreds of times, resting only to take breaks walking and reading in the hardy low hills. At the end of five days, Larsen eagerly detached her small blanket from the loom, held it up, and then wrapped herself in it. She thanked her teachers for an unforgettable experience. “The lady told me I did such a good job I need to find a weaver’s guild in my area,” Larsen reports. “I had so much fun doing it. I really did.” Larsen drove home feeling elated and contemplative. Although the temperature was quite comfortable in her car, she cranked up the AC and wrapped herself in the blanket, thinking of ancient weavers and feeling grateful for her newfound connection to them. “The experience made me want to live a life in a valley somewhere just weaving,” Larsen explains. “I considered dropping everything and becoming a weaver.” ▶▶
handweavers.com
—Dallin Law
The Navajo preserve their generational connection to the past as they continue their centuries-old weaving tradition.
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The Hills Are Alive with the
Sounds of Austria
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Austria is also famous for its modern musical sites, such as the Bösendorfer Piano Factory and various filming locations of The Sound of Music. Because of its rich musical history and culture, Austria provides a unique travel experience for those interested in seeing the country through the lens of music.
Classical Sounds
Composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Schubert called Austria home. From them came many musical compositions—such as Mozart’s “Requiem in D Minor” and Beethoven’s “Für Elise”—that have survived for generations and are performed by musical groups all across the world. Travelers can visit many sites in Austria that are associated with these and other composers. One of the most famous sites is the childhood home of Mozart, the Hagenauer House. Located in Salzburg, Austria, this was home to the
Mozart family for 26 years. It has now been converted into a museum where tourists can see Mozart’s violins, his clavichord, his harpsichord, some of his original scores, and an array of his family’s letters and portraits. Travelers can also visit Esterhazy Palace, the royal court for which Franz Joseph Haydn composed. Located in Eisenstadt, Austria, this palace was home to the Esterhazy family. While Haydn lived in this home, he composed some of his most famous works, such as “Missa in Angustiis.” Depending on the time of year, the palace is open to the public and offers many exhibits. The focus of the exhibits for 2014 is the friendship that was forged between Haydn and Beethoven through music.
Religious Sounds
The large number of cathedrals in Austria reveals a religious devotion that is manifest through musical worship. Much classical music is religious, and classical religious music is still sung today in churches all around
Photo by Jason Selby
Driving through the misty Austrian mountains to the small village of Hallstatt was a highlight of Arizona resident Daniel Ostler’s memorable high school choir trip to Austria. Ostler recalls the scene as his choir sang “Ave Maria” in an open amphitheater facing the magnificent green landscape: “I remember how the fog rose as we started to sing. It was so beautiful. It was early in the morning, and people who lived in the village started coming out of their houses to thank us.” Although Austrians’ primary language is German, their second is music, which transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries. Austria is the birthplace of many famous composers and for years has been a site of pilgrimage for lovers of classical music. Churches and cathedrals dot the lush landscape and provide opportunities for travelers to participate in religious services. These cathedrals are structured to amplify the music that is played and sung there. Even the spires of the cathedrals indicate the heaven ward focus of the praise that takes place inside.
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Austria. A number of cathedrals allow visitors to join them in religious services. One example is the Salzburg Cathedral (also known as the Dom), a baroque-style church that houses a 4,000-pipe organ that Mozart frequently played. Travelers can tour the Dom and learn about its historic significance and then stay for a mass. Many classical pieces were performed initially in cathedrals similar to the Dom. No matter your religious preference, singing inside a magnificent centuries-old cathedral can transform the space inside the building and increase your appreciation for its architecture and for the music. This experience can broaden your perspective of classical music for a lifetime.
care Austrians put into creating quality instruments that produce inspiring music, visitors can take a tour of the factory and see the workings of a one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted Bösendorfer grand piano. Another way to engage with the modern part of Austria’s musical heritage is by visiting modern musical sites. The filming locations for The Sound of Music attract many fans of the 1965 musical. Visitors can follow the von Trapp family’s steps on a musical tour of Austria and experience firsthand the inspirations for the film. Those who want to venture on their own can check out the famous gazebo at Hellbrunn Palace or Mirabel
Gardens, where Maria and the von Trapp children can be seen dancing and singing “Do Re Mi” in the film. Austria boasts a magnificent array of ways to interact with others through music. Whether you travel by yourself or in a group, seeking out musical experiences in Austria will enable you to connect with the culture, people, and history on an intimate level. ▶▶
austria.info/us/culture-art
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www.boesendorfer.com/en/ shaping-boesendorfer
—Kylee Buchanan
Photo by Shane Lin
Modern Sounds
The modern music scene in Austria is also alive and thriving, and there are plenty of opportunities to join in. Local musicians can be found in the public squares of every city in Austria. Buskers (street performers) often perform not only to entertain but also to sell their music to passersby. There are many opportunities in Vienna to attend concerts performed by modern genre bands. Travelers have countless underground music venues to choose from. One that draws a lot of music lovers is Flex, which has been a leading indie music venue since the 1990s. With a sound system that is unparalleled, Flex provides a fun atmosphere where travelers can interact with locals and experience a wide array of music genres. Travelers interested in instrument manufacturing can visit the Bösendorfer Piano Factory. Bösendorfer is one of the oldest piano manufacturers and has been making instruments in Vienna since 1828. The spruce wood used in Bösendorfer pianos produces a rich sound that is among the best quality. To gain a greater understanding of how much
Opposite: Complete with flower-adorned decks and colorful houses, the village of Hallstatt lies nestled in the misty Austrian mountains. Above: The Salzburg Cathedral houses Mozart’s baptismal font and the organ he frequently played.
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Songkran
More Than Just a Water Fight During one of the hottest and most humid months of the year in Bangkok, Thailand, Nikhita Bhatia sits in the back of a truck in heavy traffic while the merciless sun beats down upon her head. Beads of sweat slowly drip down the side of her face. As the truck comes to a brief stop, she is bombarded with buckets upon buckets of ice-cold water from the passengers in a neighboring truck, instantly cooling her down and giving her goose bumps from head to toe. But without missing a beat, Bhatia picks up her own water bucket, armed and ready to fire back.
Welcome to the Songkran festival (April 13–15) in Thailand, a New Year’s celebration recognized worldwide for a unique tradition: massive citywide water fights lasting up to six days in some locations. The object of the water fights is simple—get anyone and everyone you see soaking wet. It doesn’t matter if you use a bucket of water, a hose, a cup, or a water bottle— during Songkran, it’s all free game.
Songkran Family Traditions Maliwan Salmon, who grew up in a rural part of Thailand called Yisang, remembers Songkran as a time to spend with family and to splash water on strangers. “When I was young, Songkran festival was when everybody who went to work in the big cities or any other place would come home to gather with their family,” Salmon explains. “Little kids would get up early and have their parents put a big, heavy bucket next to the road so the kids could spray people who passed by.” Today, travelers come from far and wide to participate in the famous Songkran celebrations, where a typical day in Bangkok might include strangers splashing water on policemen, shop owners, motorists, and anyone else who crosses their paths. It’s a day for fun and festivities—but if tourists really want a taste of Thai culture, they’ll have to look beyond the water buckets and hoses.
Songkran’s Religious Roots Motorists endure a cold splash to the face during a full-blown Songkran celebration in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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Though it may be fun to completely soak random strangers, Bangkok native Nirotha Chandee says that traditional Songkran celebrations are
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Left: photo by Wyndham Hollis; Right: photo by John Shedrick
much different. Throwing water is still involved, but the meaning behind it is more religious in nature. Traditionally, Songkran was a Buddhist holiday held to celebrate new beginnings. Throwing water wasn’t entirely for fun—it symbolized a cleansing period and a renewal. “We would have to wear Thai dresses; men and women wouldn’t really touch and would throw water at each other at a really respectable distance,” Chandee says. “It’s not much of a water fight—it’s more like gathering the family and paying respect to our elders. We pour water mixed with jasmine flowers into their hands, wishing them long lives, while they bless us in return.” The elders Chandee mentions can be friends, family members, or monks. To get a true taste for Thai culture, Bhatia recommends that tourists participate in Buddhist cele brations at nearby temples, known as wats, by doing a prayer ceremony and putting some rosewater (a fragrant Thai water) on a Buddha statue. In turn, Bhatia says, Buddha will bless you with good fortune in the year to come. Though the well-known traditions of Songkran involve throwing water, cleansing Buddha statues, and paying tribute to elders, in other parts of Thailand, Songkran carries some
Songkran festivities draw crowds of all ages to the streets to ring in the new year in a wet and wild way.
lesser-known traditions as well. Some carry handfuls of sand to their neighbors in order to represent and compensate for all the dirt they will carry on their feet during the year; others deep clean their house as part of the cleansing period. But throughout the country, the traditional mentality is still the same: the new year is a time for cleansing and renewal. The water fight aspect is still part of the Thai culture; it’s just a more modern take on the holiday. In order
to get a good mix of the celebrations and a true understanding of the holiday, start out by visiting some of the popular Buddhist temples to pay tribute and show respect. Then afterward, grab a bucket, fill it up, and get as many people as possible dripping wet from head to toe with ice-cold water. ▶▶
songkran2014.com
—Sara Phelps
Celebrating Safely at Songkran ▶▶ ▶▶
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Leave all electronics and valuables at home or in your hotel to avoid getting them wet and ruined. It’s nearly impossible not to get wet, so plan accordingly. Wearing a swimsuit underneath your clothing might be a good idea. Since Songkran is so popular, it can be difficult to find public transportation. Be prepared for extra traffic and longer travel times. There are always some people who take celebrating a little too far, so remember to be safe by staying with your group. Grab a bucket, maintain a good attitude, and have a great time!
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