WELCOME TO TAORMINA:
◼︎ Taormina is a picturesque hilltop town on the east coast of Sicily. It sits near Mount Etna, an active volcano, and it’s full of gorgeous beaches and fascinating places. A narrow stretch of sand connects to Isola Bella, a tiny island and nature reserve located in the center of the beach.
Krakow - June 2019
THE SICILIAN TERRITORY:
◼︎ Economically speaking Sicily is one of the poorest regions Italy. Here an average wage is a little less than half of what’s the regular up north, the official unemployment rate is double of the national average, and the territory is mostly rural with the classic signs of an agricultural region with thousands of years of man-made deforestation. However, classic statistics don’t make much sense here since almost nobody really applies state regulations or legal contracts, and most work deals are made by a shake of hands. Old school!
Krakow - August 2019
COAST OF CAVES:
◼︎ Taormina cave hunting.
How are you this morning strangers?
Krakow - June 2019
HISTORY QUOTES:
◼︎
“In all human history no country or no people have suffered such terrible slavery, conquest and foreign oppression and no country and no people have struggled so strenuously for their emancipation than Sicily and the Sicilians” - Karl Marks, NY Tribune 1860
Tropea - June 2019
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
◼︎ “To make any future that we dreamt up real requires creative scientists, engineers, and technologists to make it happen. If people are not within your midst who dream about tomorrow - with the capacity to bring tomorrow into the present - then the country might as well just recede back into the cave because that's where we're headed.” - Neil deGrasse Tyson .
Tropea - May 2020
CASTELMOLA :
◼︎ With a population of roughly 1,107 souls and an area of 16.4 square kilometers Castelmola is a municipality in the province of Messina just above the beautiful Taormina, located on the top of a peak overlooking the Ionian Sea and with a history that dates back to the pre-Hellenistic period, it is listed in the most beautiful villages in Italy. ⠀
Tropea - May 2020
A LOCAL TREAT :
◼︎ The Almond Wine is a dry white wine flavored with the best quality alcohol infused with almonds, citrus essences, Zibibbo, caramel and local herbs. The inventor of the Almond Wine is Don Vincenzo Blandano, founder of the first restaurant in Castelmola, Taverna San Giorgio so named in honor of the patron saint of Molise, then only later called Antico Caffè San Giorgio. Don Vincenzo Blandano used to offer it as a sign of welcome to guests who climbed up the hill of Mola, and can therefore be considered the inventor. He created this flavored wine using ancient Greek infusion techniques and called it "Blandanino", a dark amber liqueur in which different smells and flavors of his Sicily were melted.
Tropea - May 2020
SICILIAN TEXTURES :
◼︎ Always watch the bigger picture of any situation if you want to deeply understand it, but you gotta watch in the little details in order to really make it part of you. Texture hunting and quantum mechanics of a culture.
Tropea - May 2020
THE ETNA VOLCANO :
◼︎ Enjoying a lovely view near the Castello Di Monte Lauro located on the slope above town. How could you not be inspired by this lovely place, by the amazing smells in the air or just by that incredible volcano in the background? True life vibes.
Tropea - May 2020
WALKING AROUND:
◼︎ Late night street photography session in Taormina.
I love how much related time & places are, because you can’t really understand the different dynamics of a single place changing thru the different stages of a solar day, except when you become really familiar with all of them.
Tropea - May 2020
THE LOCAL ENERGY :
◼︎ Need inspiration? Get yourself to the south of Italy and recharge your primal feelings back to normal. Sicily helps your soul, especially when you need a reminder on how to live your life, bringing back in you those lost feelings & sensations that got diluted thru your regular city.
THE VIEWS:
◼︎ Night street photography session around Taormina. How are you tonight strangers?.
Tropea - May 2020
THE CHANGES:
◼︎ Morning street photography session around Taormina. How are you this morning strangers?!
Tropea - May 2020
THE WATERS:
◼︎ Dear folks, what is you favorite summer destination ever? I’m curious to know where you would love to be right now if you could. No matter how far or expensive it is, what’s your best choice strangers?
Tropea - May 2019
HISTORY QUOTE :
◼︎ “The loveliest region of Italy: a stunning orgy of colours, scents, and lights...a great delight!”
- Sigmund Freud.
Tropea - May 2019
CONNECTIONS :
◼︎ “To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything.”
- Goethe.
Tropea - May 2019
QUITE & BUSY :
◼︎ “I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Tropea - May 2019
SEA & AIR :
◼︎ Red corals grow on rocky seabottom with low sedimentation, typically in dark environments like caverns or crevices, exactly like this beautiful Blue Grotto in Taormina. The coral itself is made by thousands of marine organisms called polyps, which secrete calcium carbonate to form the distinguishing hard red skeleton.
Krakow - June 2019
NIGHTLIFE :
◼︎ “It is time to get drunk! So as not to be the martyred slaves of Time, get drunk; get drunk without stopping! On wine, on poetry, or on virtue, as you wish.”
- Charles Baudelaire.
Krakow - August 2019