Sicily

The collective whisper of an olive grove’s rustling leaves at twilight, the trees seem to exhale after a day beneath the intense Mediterranean sun; soft, rolling hills, dotted with vineyards, lush and fragrant, the vines hang heavy with clusters of the patiently-ripening fruit; the crystalline waters of the sea, alive with fish and fisherman alike, each playing their age-old role in feeding the

It's official: summer is over (at least it is here in our Seattle headquarters). But what better way to celebrate fall than to use up the last of your summer vegetables, as part of a Sicilian menu? Try out this recipe for Eggplant Caponata as a starter; we recommended enjoying it with a glass of fruity white wine and reflecting back on the long, warm days of summer.

Stately Greek temples. Intricate Roman mosaics. Hot sulfurous lava. Cold Italian ices. A verdant green countryside dotted with yellow blossoms bursting from acacia trees. Spring in Sicily is the perfect time to sail its coastline and savor everything about it that delights the senses. Our Zegrahm voyage in 2011 gave us ten perfect days to explore this historic island.

The history of Sicily is a list of foreign conquerors. The island was a Greek colony, then Carthaginian, next Roman, then Byzantine, followed by Moorish, Norman, and Spanish. It didn’t become part of Italy until 1860.

It is almost a truism to say that Sicily is a colorful place. But until coming here, I never realized how rich and subtly vibrant and vibrantly subtle and, well, Mediterranean the colors would be. So I have made a partial list of the colors I saw today.

Within the sprawling, expansive Valley of the Temples, outside Agrigento, runs a narrow, rocky ridge. The ridge is visible from all points of the valley, and from far out to sea. At one time, long ago, the valley was filled with one of the most lavish cities of the entire Grecian Empire, and the ridge was its centerpiece.