SICILY (ITALY): 6 REASONS WHY TRAVELLING TO SICILY WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER LOVER

Back in 2014 in an Italian magazine I read an article about Sicilians being the most passionate people in Italy. The very thought made me laugh, especially because everybody knows that the world famous seducer is not a Sicilian: it's a 18-century Venetian adventurer called Giacomo Casanova.😍

However, the results of the research clearly pointed out that people living in Sicily pursued love with strong intensity.

Now this thing of being a great (or better) lover is something that sooner or later is a nagging worry of the whole male (and sometimes female) population.

Before my trip to Sicily, I thought that men came from Mars and women from Venus, and my opinion was that you CAN'T become a better lover; you just need to be.

Before touring Sicily I thought men came form Mars and women from Venus

However, during the Sicilian tour last June I changed my mind. Want to know why travelling to Sicily and exploring the Italian island will make you a better lover?

Here are a few factors that you will learn about Sicily and the Sicilian culture that will enable you to become the master of love! (or a at least will give you a grounding in the art).

# 1 SICILIAN CAN'T STOP ENGAGING WITH YOU

Well, this is NOT a sterotype. This is a fact! Sicilians love engaging with people.

I was just looking taking a look around (maybe a bit lost in thought) on the island of Ortigia (Syracuse, Sicily) when a man asked me: "Excuse me, signorina. Have you lost something? How can I help?".

By the way, I'm no longer a "signorina" (unmarried woman) since a long time and the man wasn't trying to flirt with me: my husband Paolo was there, anyway.

"Excuse me, signorina?" Sicilians love engaging with people

We had a long chat about Syracuse, and all the rest of its wonders and beauties followed by a coffee in a near-by bar offered by the guy. He listened and talked to us as if we were close friends for a long time! How fantastic!

Communicating is fundamental for Sicilians, and this mix between curiosity and kindness that exudes out of the Sicilian culture is simply charming. I suppose this comes with the ancient ancestry of Greeks, Arabs and Normans. Let alone Romans!

The past ancestry  in Sicily is everywhere: even in ceramics (Moorish heads from Caltagirone)

With this amazing melting pot of old cultures, would you think that a Sicilian might pipe down? And anyway: isn't communication and listening at the base of a better love relationship and becoming emphatetic with your partner?

And if listening doesn't come natural to you, and you don't take to listening as easily as you might want to, try the old Ear of Dyonisus quarry near the town of Syracuse (Eastern Sicily).

It's a huge cave in the shape of an ear with an amazing acoustics. You might learn how to listen subconsciously!

Ear of Dyonisus near Syracuse

# 2 (SOME) SICILIANS DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH... BUT THEY (ALL) USE BODY LANGUAGE A LOT!

If Sicilians speak a lot and try to interract constantly with you, on the contrary they don't do it in foreign languages, especially English. No way. Well, this IS actually a stereotype. I'm sure a fair number of Sicilians speak English.

Roland, ngrisi parri? (in Sicilian dialect "do you speak English") 

However, in March 2018 "La Repubblica", one of the most important newspapers in Italy, pointed out that during a summer recruiting campaign it was hard to find Sicilians who spoke languages (i.e. English and French) other than Italian (you can read the article in Italian here...sorry about this)!

Well, I must say that this is an ITALIAN problem, not just a Sicilian one, but let's go back to the main point.

Do you think that not speaking the language is a problem in Sicily and will stop a Sicilian?

Sicilians supplement this lack by using gestures (well, all Italians do), moving their hands and breaking the physical barrier with you (i.e. touching, coming closer and closer and patting you on your shoulder) to make themselves understood!

Agrigento, Temple of Concordia hand art display: a tribute to the Sicilian character and nature

Again, with centuries and centuries of invasions and conquerors from all over the world, don't you think that using body language instead of your voice is an excellent way of getting around the language barrier issue?

Sicilians might not speak English, but they do know how to create a physical and emotional bond with you! Learn from them! Touching enhances love and affection... touching is much stronger than verbal communication. In Italy a hug and kiss is regarded as a perfectly common way to say hello!

Having said that, however, you'd better learn this before going to Sicily: "Ngrisi parri?" (in Sicilian dialect "do you speak English?").

# 3 SICILIANS POUR THEIR HEART AND SOUL

During our stay in Licata (south of Sicily) I asked Vincenzo's father (Vincenzo was our BB host) what being Sicilian meant to him. He replied: "living life with all my heart and soul", which meant trying to live life with passion and enjoying every single moment of it.

Taking the time to share moments with people (even strangers!) for the sake of it is something that I learnt in Sicily and from Sicilians who know how to enjoy that to the full.

You can feel and see this every time you stroll around the island in any city or beach or square that you happen to visit in Sicily. Sicilians know how to enjoy themselves, they have it inside their DNA and know how to involve others in this.

In Sicilian dialect there is a word for this: "liscìa" (dialect word from Catania) which means "joking without having an sensible reason for it!. The sunny soul of Sicilians!

Enjoying every second of this fantastic island, Sicily (here in Cefalù port)

For me exploring Sicily has meant meeting hospitable people who -like Vicenzo- took the time to show us around to see the unspoilt coves of Southern Sicily, or Mrs Rosa in Agrigento who went a long way to buy the famous Sicilian pastries early in the morning.

Sicilians show an amazing level of commitment to people which makes you feel pampered, cared for and at ease...

Sicilian landscape has a sunny soul too: Isola di Capo Passero (the  south tip end of Sicily)

Sicilians will spoil you when you visit them, and it will be hard not to be treated as their "picciridda di papa'", that is "daddy's little darling"... you'll be cuddled and courted like a princess or a prince.... Paying attention to the things that make you happy: a key factor to become a better lover!

# 4 SICILIANS SPICE UP LIFE WITH AMAZING FOODS

Food and love has always been closely tied, but what if you happen to be in a region like Sicily with thousands different recipes? Some people say that cooking and preparing foods in complex ways is simply a way to display your great ancestral kitchen skills to a potential partner... and Sicilians always know better!

You are spoilt for choice in Sicily for food: from appetizers to desserts, the complexity of some dishes is a proof of how important the connection between food and love is! Just take the Sicilian "caponata", a mix of fried vegetables including peppers, onions, eggplant which involves various steps to prepare: a way to show off your their innave love abilities????

And anyway, who can say "no" to a delicious pasta alla norma or arancino?

Sicilian arancino: magic love spells assured

After having tried all the heavenly foods and refreshing beverages (granita in Catania, water and aniseed in Palermo, to mention two) in Sicily, don't you think this is another clever way for Sicilians to spoil you?

No frozen or ready made dishes: the rich Sicilian flavours popping up of a perfect hands-on meal will make your partner crave for more (food...of course)!

Isn't that the real way to seduce your partner?  After all, isn't it true that the way to a man's/woman's heart is through his/her stomach?

Sicilian markets  show triumphs of fresh produce

Sicilian know how to spice  up life (try wild fennel on Mount Etna!)

So roll up your sleeves and learn how to cook the Sicilian foods of love: arancini (rice balls), panelle (fried chickpeas), sfincione, pizza or pasta with sardines!

Passion and love: this is the secret of Sicilian food!

And if all that doesn't work, try with Modica chocolate: the feel-good effect is assured!

UNESCO World Heritage town of Modica and its amazing chocolate

# 5 SICILY IS WORTH THE WAIT

I'm warning you: generally speaking, I'm not very patient, but after 10 years of living in Rome, being stuck in the heavy traffic for hours and hours in my car and teaching classes to undisciplined students, I had to learn how to become more patient.

I didn't know (though I should have imagined) that in Sicily I would have to exercise this virtue throughtout my vacation. As a matter of fact, generally speaking, patience is a rare pearl in people, and we tend to want everything immediately and unconditionally.

However, in Sicily you learn that waiting is the rule of thumb.

No matter how hungry you are, you wait in restaurants for your the long craved Sicilian foods (especially if you go and eat late),

Marzamemi main square with charming restaurants

no matter how you want the streets in Noto to be empty to take your postcard-perfect shot, unwanted tourists (they'll think the same about you) will always be there spoiling the Sicilian landscape,

Noto (Sicily) busy streets

no matter how tired you are, you wait at the hotel reception after a long day out because your room is not ready yet,


no matter how much you crave for an ice-cream, no way, you have to wait at the stall for long bambini queues,


and even you have to wait when you access water on a wonderful rocky beach because the space to access is too tiny or too rough or for whatever reason... YOU HAVE TO WAIT!

If you can't wait, just jump (Fontane Bianche, Sicily)

On a second thought, waiting isn't such a bad thing: waiting is the key factor to desire and to the actual satisfaction when we get whatever we had been waiting for: for example, a wonderful panorama while waiting for your ferry to a Sicilian island...

Look at the fantastic salt pond landscape while waiting for the ferry to Mozia island (Sicily)

Waiting in Sicily: you are in for the best moments

In fact, I realised that some of the best sights, meetings or chats that Paolo and I experienced happened while we were waiting for something.

Sicily teaches you how to experience a complete immersion in your present time, and no matter whether this might be because Sicilians are infused with the spirit of "slowness", it teaches you that what you experience while waiting is worth more than the actual things you are waiting for!

The art of slow walking around Scicli (Sicily)

This sounds crazy, but I find that love works the same way: you don't want the sprint and get to the finishing line immediately, you want love that you train for, wait for, sweat for and the one that will make you feel really good!

In a nutshell to be good at love... don't wait and live the things in between to the full (they might be even better!).

# 6 SICILIANS HAVE THE BEST ROMANTIC SPOTS

Well, let's be pragmatic. Sicily has an array of the best romantic spots of Italy scattered throughout the island.

READ ALSO:  SICILY (ITALY): 5 AMAZING PLACES WHERE YOU WILL BE OVERAWED BY HISTORY

Be that on a a salty beach...

Scala dei Turchi (Sicily)

...or a rocky spur overlooking the sea;

Fontane Bianche near Syracuse

uphill and watch a Sicilian city's shimmering lights;

Giardini di Naxos-Taormina by night (Sicily)

in a natural reserve while you listen to the flamingoes,

Secluded Vendicari nature reserve

sitting on the steps of a fantastic open air theatre...

Spectacular location of the Greek theatre in Syracuse

... the secluded cold waters of an amazing gorge...

Amazing Alcantara Gorge, Sicily

Do I need to say any more? Definitely the quality to be a better lover is being adventurous, exploring new amazing places and just have a great time together.



So go and try Sicily out! And of course let me know...



MARCOPOLOSPIRIT'S NOTE


This post was written tongue-in-cheek. Sicily will not leave you unaffected, at least it did not leave Paolo and I so: when you tour the island, you will learn more life lessons than any historical or work of art fact.

Its unconventinal beauty, rugged landscapes, cities bursting with treasures and authentic people will sink deep into your heart. FOREVER.

Sigmund Freud, who wrote one or two things about love, once said about Sicily: "the loveliest region of Italy: a stunning orgy of colours, scents and lights... a great delight".

Once you get to know Sicily, you will fall in love head over heels with it and won't stop going back.

And if you are in love with and curious about life which Sicily is bursting with, you already possess the key thing to become a better lover😉.

P.S I don't know whether the Venetian lover and adventurer, Giacomo Casanova, ever visited Sicily during his lifetime, but for sure he must have offered some Sicilian wine to his lovers.

Giacomo Casanova, the Venetian adventurer and lover

MarcoPoloSpirit is a native of Venice, Italy, but has also called Rome, Trieste, Madrid, London and Brussels home.  After graduating and working abroad, finally she landed in Rome for more than 15 years and currently in homeland Venice. You can find MarcoPoloSpirit at @marcopolospirit (Instagram, Twitter and YouTube).