Tag: sicily

  • A Bribe-Free Holiday in Sicily

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    The brave work of the anti-mafia organization AddioPizzo.org was recently brought to my attention. “Addio Pizzo” means “Goodbye, Pizzo,” the latter word meaning the protection money that hundreds of businesses throughout Sicily have had to pay to the powerful, omnipresent mafia. AddioPizzo was formed in 2004 after a group of young Sicilian entrepreneurs, afraid that…

  • Spain Conquers Italy

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    Large parts of Italy were once united under the Spanish flag, with conquests in Naples and Sicily by the houses of Aragon and Bourbon, among others. Even Milan and Parma were under Spanish rule at one point. I confess that I am not an expert on Spain’s influence on Italy, so you may want to…

  • From Mafia Villa to Agriturismo

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    This one comes from the U.K.’s Italy Magazine, which tells us that the Corleone villa of former Mafia boss Salvatore Riina has been turned into farmstay housing, a.k.a., an agriturismo. The Pio La Torre Cooperative, named for a martyred anti-Mafia activist, belonged to Riina before it was seized by the State after his 1993 capture.…

  • 20 Things To Love About Italy: Molise to Veneto

    Part 2 of 20 Things We Love About Italy includes travel ideas for the regions of Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino Alto Adige, Tuscany, Umbria, Valle d’Aosta, and Veneto.