Adagio walk 1:
Sicily

Some stories from our walking trip through Sicily between October 2021 and April 2022.

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The town carved in stone

A Scicli ci arriviamo dall’interno, lungo stradicciole che cingono gli oliveti e gli ampi terreni costellati di mandorli e carrubi.

When rivers get out of bed

Besides admiring its buildings, churches and panoramic views, we were struck by one episode in Modica’s history. It was September 1902....

Collegiate Churches

Entering Modica we found Valerio Petralia, Angelo Cavallo and Paolo Segreto, volunteers of “Via delle Collegiate” cultural organization....

Geology and cities: the Ragusa case

Everyone told us: “it’s the best kept part of Sicily”. True, this place’s got something special. Entering the town of Ragusa we notice...

In African terrain

Here comes the Hyblaean Plateau. Here comes a new chapter of the trip that will lead us through enchanted towns like Ragusa and Syracuse....

Archeology for all

Why does archeology matter? Come to Licodia Eubea and find out. It’s the town of the documentary and archeological communication film...

Geology and architecture

Sometimes there are towns that surprise you unexpectedly. They do not appear in “most beautiful village” awards nor in the suggested...

Geology and ceramics

What if the millenary tradition of Caltagirone ceramics may be due in large part to the nature of the underlying terrain? Walking through...

Mosaic-like cork oak

In Caltanissetta province, a great green patch absorbs the sun’s rays. It’s just a small remnant of the vast expanse of woodland that...

Migrating birds

To cross the Gela Plain on foot is like revisiting its many layers of history, meeting the signs of the present and the past. For a...

Geology and industry: the Gela case

What looks like the long neck of a huge mechanical giraffe is one of the many active hydrocarbon wells of the Gela plain. To see them in...

Clouds

Clouds. What are they? Agglomerates of water particles wandering off the atmosphere. They float in midair, waiting to clash with other...

Leaving a trace

Along the coast we find wide stretches of untouched sand, in which remain only our footsteps and those of birds searching for food. Some...

Coastal erosion

It takes little to notice the fragility of landscapes in which we live; with that little effort so much can be done. For the first time...

Encounters at sunset

Sunset is always a magic moment of our walk. It creates an atmosphere that goes beyond sight and embraces the other senses. On the beach...

Geology and Art Nouveau

Continuing our trip we keep on finding examples of how geology has influenced society and human beings. In Licata, near Agrigento, we...

Landscape and literature

To get to know the true face of the land we must read books. Literature can help a great deal to understand a complex landscape and...

The age of environmental consciousness

We’re entering the age of environmental consciousness. We’ve seen it from this story, too, in which take part a showgirl of 10 million...

Astronomical cycles

White beaches and celestial mechanics. What do they have in common? This picture-postcard scenery of Sicily exists thanks to the peculiar...

Experiential tourism

The thing that fascinated us the most about our trip was getting to know the true face of the land. It’s no coincidence that we crossed...

A little magic

Aldo knows how to bring together a farmer’s experience with an artist’s poetic vision. Staying a few days in the house he built with his...

Encounter with an alchemist

To reach Aldo’s farm is like entering a Hobbit’s house, the dwelling of a druid in the middle of the woods. Inside there are shelves full...

A lucky barrel

Who would have said that in the third millenium you could stir local economies thanks to a walking route? It’s four in the afternoon,...

Geology and theatre

What does a theatre have to do with geology? Little, on the surface, but underneath there’s a story binding them together. The salinity...

Rural colonization

We spent a beautiful morning helping Carmelo to sow ancient Sicilian grains in the backyard of a robba in Milena. What is a robba? It's...

Gypsum mountains

We start walking under the rain and knowing it’ll rain more. A passerby looks curiously at our backpacks and asks: “You pick this weather...

Depopulation

We reach the village of Acquaviva Platani in the early afternoon. There’s silence in the fields and softly falling rain. Three barking...

Merchants of salt

There’s an abandoned factory between the Platani river and the Agrigento-Palermo railroad tracks. It has a faded writing saying “saline...

Oil for all

One thing we noticed in our six-month walk across Sicily is that almost every family makes olive oil at home. It is the first time that...

Ghost towns

Among the wheat fields of central Sicily you could stumble on places like this. Coming out of the wonderful woods of Mount Carcaci we...

A theatre en route to the stars

He was a shepherd who loved his land and dreamt to become a sculptor. One day the sun was setting in the Strait of Sicily and lighting...

In the heart of Sicania

Prizzi, 70km away from Palermo, is the first town in which we stopped for more than three days. We took a break from walking and, at...

Change is in the air

In the heart of Sicily, change is in the air. We met a woman proud to be from Corleone because it’s a land with many values, much more...

Rocks of Corleone

We walk through constant ups and downs, a landscape made of waves of claystone, like the rippled surface of a seaway. In the Sicani...

In enchanted lands

We walk towards Corleone through a semi-mythological landscape of barren rocky mountains hemmed by rolling clayey hills. This is the...

Strangers in the house

“Host strangers in my home? Never!” To the question “would you like to host travellers on foot?”, many would answer this way. Yet, those...

Making mosaics

Monreale’s cathedral has mosaics so gorgeous that people stare at them in awe. It is said that William II of Sicily wanted it “beautiful...

Migrating people of an ancient Sicily

In Santa Cristina di Gela we felt, for the first time, inside Sicily. Villages are perched on the hills and mountains remind of the rocky...

Setting off

Palermo, the beginning of our trip. We stayed three nights in Kalsa, guests at Epifania and Fabrizio, two members of Magweb association....

Earth in pockets

“The hardest thing to see is what’s really there.” - J.A. Baker. This walk begins with the earth. The same earth that refugees carry in...

Branches like roots

“No tree can grow to Heaven unless its roots reach down to Hell.” Carl Jung - Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self. In the...

Adagio walk 2:
Southern Apennines

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Practical tips

Some tips for hiking long trails, based on our experience.

How to pack a rucksack for a walking trip of any duration

In questo post ti parliamo di come fare lo zaino per un cammino, che sia corto, di qualche giorno, oppure lungo, anche di diversi mesi.

How to choose the right backpack for a walk of six days... or six months (a minimalist's guide)

This is the first in a series of practical articles to help those traveling on foot, now brought to you in english too. We are Elisa and...

Adagio walk 1: Sicily