La RosaWorks Sicily Tours & Travel

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La RosaWorks Sicily Tours & Travel

La RosaWorks creates custom & unique tours full of authentic experiences and Sicily's beating heart. Sicily is in many ways, still an island of the Gods.

It is an island that repeatedly saw harmony followed by strife, and where fortunes and leadership were on a never ending roller coaster, and yet, the Sicilians are an embracing, generous, warm, and resilient people. A visit will unveil the contrasts in the spectacular, undulating landscapes, in the freshest food prepared with reverent care, and rich, indigenous wines, and even in the faces of the

people evolving from so many different ancestries. It is harshly wild and fragrantly beautiful. It is this and more I hope to share with you. Newsletter sign up: http://eepurl.com/bMuCUj

06/23/2025

Beat the heat. Stay cool. (It’s actually cooler in Sicily than it is in NYC today!)
Join Rosy and I for a cooling drink by the sea and relax to the sound of the small waves rhythmically lapping at the shore, and the feel the gentle sea breezes caress your face. Beathe deep.

06/18/2025

There was an article in this week entitled “The Reinvention of Catania” and it talked about a gritty city, Sicily’s second largest, that has risen from the proverbial ashes as a tourist favorite. It may still be painted with graffiti (sometimes beautiful, sometimes with words of affection), but it has become a place known for its food scene, entrepreneurial spirit, vibrancy and fun.
Its markets are ancient, colorful and bustling, its Baroque architecture beautiful, the history is dense, and there is a lively spirit that tells you people live and work there.
I spoke about Catania on the terrific .italy podcast series, which you can find online or on the La RosaWorks website.

Look at Catania! She’s waiting for you…..

06/16/2025

We love street art. It’s not as if the Baroque and Norman architecture isn’t enough to look at, but creativity and whimsy always brings a smile.
What would you expect in Sicily but fish!

06/11/2025

It sums up what I feel after returning from each tour. Each time I am in Sicily, and I’ve visited some places many times, I see it anew because of you, whomever you are, traveling with me then. New eyes, curious, appreciative eyes. It always looks fresh. I learn something new. Thank you.

MediterraneanVibes

06/05/2025

Apart from the chaotic and colorful street life, the art in Naples is spectacular. In a hilltop museum that was once a palace, lives a collection of masterpieces that truly amaze. The experience comes with a panoramic view and a peaceful garden, where we finally satisfied our hunger — having already been fed by beauty inside.

06/03/2025

Mozzare means to cut, or cut off, in Italian and it is how we get the word mozzarella. The process of making this delicious cheese involves pinching it and cutting it off from the rest of the large curd. Workers do it with great speed and deftness. In Campania, they use buffalo milk to make Mozzarella di Bufala instead of using the typical cow’s milk cheese. This cheese is more delicate than its counterpart and lower in fat, too, although it certainly doesn’t taste less rich and creamy! If anything, it is silky and smooth, almost melt in your mouth.

The buffalo are treated with great care, like special citizens. They get massaged before they are milked and seem to know the routine well. Once it’s their turn, they walk over to the massage area and when that’s done, they go through a revolving door to await their milking turn. They like to be milked, it relieves the pressure. They stroll out when they’re done and back to their spots where they can lounge in the sun or munch on a little hay. They posed for some photos and let us pet them. New friends!

05/31/2025

79 AD is a date etched in our historical minds because it was the year Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii. It’s a really important date from an archeological point of view because there is little from that period in writing and what remains on the site after years of digging (that’s still ongoing) is a snapshot in time. In this town that once had a population of 20,000, life just ended one day. 17,000 of those people locked their doors and left when they were warned to. 3000 perished.
I was there years ago and the site is even larger now. There are residences, the forum with shops, a theater, brothels, wall frescoes, eateries, fountains, and everything a town of that size would have needed. It’s truly amazing. Today we have wildflowers and unintended views through windows that no longer exist. We dodge other visitors for just the right photo.

Sadly, it’s hard to preserve a site that allows in 20,000 tourists a day and that is open to all the elements. Maybe one day they will figure that out.

05/29/2025

It is almost impossible to capture the beauty that is the cloister of Santa Chiara. It is large and verdant, full of hand painted majolica tiles representing natural, historical and allegorical scenes - the elements earth, air, water, and fire. They are staggeringly beautiful and I could have stayed there all day with a good book.

The original church was a Gothic one, built as the Royal Chapel of Robert the Wise and Queen Sancha (Angevins). It was full of frescoes by Giotto. Then it was completely restyled by the Baroque architect, Vaccaro, in the late 17th century. Bombed on August 4th, 1943, the church was brought back to its original Gothic style and there are still some fresco fragments.
The cloister somehow survived the bombing and what we see is the original structure, but the Baroque decorations by Vaccaro.
The oranges still grow, but the grape vines on the trellis’s are no longer. There are still a handful of nuns, the Saint Clares.

05/27/2025

Join me and Margherita Peluso in seeing Marta’s independent film, “About Marta" that takes all of her research about the marvelous Marta Abba, Pirandello’s muse, and puts it into a beautiful film.
Pirandello was from Agrigento. Given that Agrigento was selected as Italy’s cultura capital for 2025, it is the perfect time to see the film.

Details:
Tuesday, June 3, 2025 at 8:15 PM EST
Producers Club, Theater 2 - - 358 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036

About the Film:
In this evocative documentary, actress Margherita Peluso embarks on a transformative journey, retracing the steps of Marta Abba through Agrigento, Rome, and Princeton. Guided by the poignant correspondence between Abba and Pirandello, the film offers an intimate portrayal of their artistic and emotional bond.

Reserve Your Seat:
Tickets are priced at $21.50. Secure yours here: https://lucidbody.com/event/finding-marta-about-pirandellos-muse/

films

05/26/2025

Pasta, pasta, pasta. We never have enough! Some of the best pasta comes from a town named Gragnano, and we went to the best factory to see it - artisanal and bronze cut so the pasta is porous and able to soak up the sauce. There are typical dishes from this area, like the Genovese pasta, made with slow cooked onions and meat. The sauce becomes so sweet and creamy and it’s not heavy. And the Nerano Pasta with zucchini and 3 types of cheeses. Of course, after visiting the factory, we all had to have pasta and we went to the best little place to enjoy them.
The pasta is excellent because of the water from the hills and the breezes from the sea. Until the 40’s it used to be dried on racks on the streets. and one person had the job of moving it around and protecting it from the animals. Today of course there are drying machines with very precise specifications for each type of pasta (they make 150 different kinds!) and we love all of them.

05/24/2025

I love an event and yesterday it was all about Naples and their soccer team. 35 years ago a player named Maradona came from Argentina and changed the city’s life, giving them hope and they won. Maradona is like a God to them. The city was alive in the best way… and for Naples, which is always alive with passion, color, smells, and bustle, that’s saying something. It was a city of blue. It was a lot of fun and I finished the night at the outdoor restaurant next door to our hotel (a whole string of outdoor restaurants) smiling and laughing as people danced, sang, waved flags, and blew horns in celebration of the victory. Great night to be a part of! Diego Maradona, #10 is D10S - DIOS!

05/23/2025

The Greeks came to the area in 600 BC from Sybaris on the east coast. They settled in what we now call Paestum because it was flat land and by the sea, protected by marsh lands. They named the area Poseidonia, and built the first temple to honor Poseidon.

The archeological park we visit today is large and reflects the subsequent Roman presence, as well. When they cams to the area, they tried to erase what was Greek and make it their own.
What surprised me most was that each of these peoples lived here peacefully for long periods of time - 200 years, even, developing democracy. They had temples and senate buildings, a market area, and residences. It was quite sophisticated and what’s left for us to see is amazingly well preserved. It is one of the most extraordinary places to see Greek Temples.

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http://www.larosaworks.com/

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