The summer is always packed with fun and adventure. Click HERE to see 2024's trip to Europe, HERE for photos from 2023 (Sicily, Paris), .HERE for photos from 2022 (Amsterdam and Abruzzo), HERE for photos from 2021 (Scotland, Paris, Kent), HERE for photos from summer 2020 (Calabria and National Trusts), HERE for 2019 (London and Abruzzo), HERE for 2018 (Budapest, Le Marche, and Northern Ireland), HERE for 2017 (Paris and London), HERE for 2016 (festival and chaps), HERE for 2015 (reunion and wedding), and HERE for 2014 (meeting the stars).
Less than two months after celebrating my birthday in Sicily, I took a group back to the island to perform a series of concerts and visit ancient sites.
Our first concert was in Piana degli Albinese, a town that was settled by Albanians and is now the most important centre of the Arbëresh community of Sicily. The town was full of street art and photogenic doorways. We performed on stone steps just to the left of the church, with townfolk sitting on the steps and watching from their balconies.
The restaurant meal we had was amazing, with cheese and salami to start, pasta, and cannoli.
The Cretto di Burri is a landscape artwork undertaken by Alberto Burri in 1984, built on the ruins of the town of Gibellina. The layout of the artwork is based on the layout of the old city of Gibellina, which was completely destroyed in the 1968 Belice earthquake. Due to the seismic instability of the original town site, Gibellina Nuova, was built nearby. Both places influenced Movement II, New Beginnings, of my composition, Voices from the Past. .
Fellow teachers and the view of the Cretto di Burri
We had lunch at the restaurant above and explored the art, both on the town's streets, and at the contemporary art museum
Performing at the church in Gibellina Nuova was very moving for me.
It was a hot day in the Valley of the Temples, but we managed to find shade, granite, and water to dunk heads under. .
It was a challege taking these photos without other tourists in them. Cute Dad got in the way a couple of times.
Sambuca di Sicilia, where we performed our second concert, has a fascinating history. Until 1928 the town was called Sambuca Zabut, after its Arab Muslim folk tradition. In 1928, Benito Mussolini removed "Zabut" and added "di Sicilia".
Street art and ghosts can be found in the streets of Sambuca di Sicilia.
Selinunte was only eight minutes' walk from our hotel. The had the ancient temples to ourselves much of the time..
We were posing like teenagers in the photo, bottom right.
There was modern art scattered around the site, as there was last time. It was hot enough to wear one's smallest running shorts.
We took the cable car up to Erice, where we headed straight for Maria Grammatico's pastry shop.
The view from the castle was splendid. The kooky sculptures by Philip Colbert were dotted around Eric, depicting updated myths and creatures, such as the centaur.
We serenaded the workers in Segesta's theatre. Back in our town, we visited the beach and did a flash mob on the jetty.
Some of our group were too tired (or lazy) to even see the temple. I couldn't have missed it!
Our last stop was Monreale, which I knew well from 2023. We had lunch in the familiar pasticceria.
The cathedral and its mosaics never fails to impress. I think they ran out of shawls after distributing them among the under-dressed in our group.
We're planning to come back to Sicily for Christmas in 2026. Ciao for now!
