Archive for 'Main Islands'

It's not as though it is difficult to find reasons to go on holidays to Sardinia. The landscape, culture, history and cuisine speak for themselves. However, some dishes shout louder than others. Casu Marzu is a traditional cheese from the island which has become notorious and well-known outside of Italy in recent years. The cheese was featured on the show, “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern”. Made for the American television channel, The Travel Channel, the show introduced foods from around the world that might be perceived as bizarre, exotic or disgusting to an American audience. It became known internationally for the fact that it contained live larvae and the fact that the taste is so strong, it remains for several hours. This piqued the interest of foodies and the adventurous all over the globe. If you want to brave it yourself, or merely soak up the less dramatic aspects of Sardinian culture, find a luxury villa in Sardinia and enjoy this idyllic island.

One hardly needs any other reasons to visit Sardinia. Its beaches, people, climate, culture and beauty alone put at the top of many people's bucket lists. However, the beautiful coastal town of Castelsardo, in particular, is known for its charming streets, distinctive skyline and picturesque surroundings which are characterised by dramatic rock formations. One of the most interesting of these rock formations actually takes the shape of an elephant. Perched by the side of the road just outside the town, the Roccia dell'Elefante, or Elephant Rock, is a surprising little oddity that adds to the character of the town and adds to the heaped pile of reasons to visit. Just find a holiday rental in Sardinia and spend a day exploring this charming town and its unique surroundings.

We've already featured a recipe for granita, a Sicilian semi-frozen dessert but the dish itself is so rich in history and tradition that it seemed a waste not to discuss that at all. This delicious and refreshing dish is made from sugar, water and various flavourings and, while originally from Sicily, is now available all over Italy. It is somewhat like a sorbet or snow cone but has a coarser, more crystalline texture – though the degree of this changes from place to place. There are lots of different flavours but some common and traditional ones include lemon, mandarin orange, jasmine, coffee, almond, mint, strawberry and black mulberry. Chocolate is a particular tradition of the city of Catania.

In the idyllic beauty of Sicily, you will find Syracuse, a historic and lush city and province. There are plenty of wonderful things to do to pass your time on a trip to Syracuse but one of the most distinctive sights in the area is the Ear of Dionysius, or Orecchio di Dionisio, a very particular cave set within the Stone Quarry of Paradise, or Latomia di Paradiso. The cave was named by the great, and troubled, Italian Master, Caravaggio and given due to the lingering presence of a ghost.

Stomboli is a small island to the north of Sicily and contains one of the three most active volcanoes in the world. It has regular but small explosions which cast out glowing lava. This has been taking place for at least 2000 years, with written records going back that far, and is unique among the volcanoes of the world. Due to the reliability of activity and the generally small explosions with a lack of serious danger, it has become a major tourist attraction and draws thousands of visitors each year, hoping to see a volcano in action. If you would be interested in seeing such a thing for yourself, find a luxury villa in Sicily and make a trip out to Stromboli!