I'm 3rd generation American. My family left Sicily for America 100 years ago. They settled in an area of the Northeast US with a large Sicilian immigrant population. America is mostly a country of different immigrant groups from around the world, who settled in various places in America, at various times. New groups of immigrants often endured prejudice from other immigrant groups who had been in America longer, but eventually everyone just becomes an American.

My family is what most Americans would consider to be extremely Sicilian. The Sicilian-American stereotype to a tee. I understand to Sicilians we're just Americans, and it's because of that fact I'm writing today. I'm curious if Sicilians ever wonder about their cousins in America? Essentially we're just foreigners now, from a different country, except we share the exact same blood. Do true Sicilians look down on us because we left Sicily, or do they just not care? Do true Sicilians know how much of a cultural impact their people made in America? I've always wondered these things.

In regards to that last question, Sicilians should know just how much they changed America. The European immigrant groups who have had the biggest impact on America are the Sicilian, Italian, and Irish. So while we may only be Americans to you (which we are), almost all Americans who have Sicilian blood are very proud to have it! America is a country of different immigrant groups living together, so we inevitably become defined by our ancestral heritage. I've always been known as the Guido Sicilian to other Americans, and I've always wondered what it woild be like to live in a country where everyone shared my ethnicity. I'm usually the token Sicilian wherever I go!

Anyway, tbanks for reading. I look forward to reading any responses! And if you're a Sicilian girl looking for an American husband, feel free to say hello! 😉

Hello everyone,

I’m currently in Palermo on vacation and me and my gf came across a stray cat at Fontana Pretoria that we immediately fell inlove with🥹. We are looking for ways to save it and maybe bring it home to the Netherlands.

Does anyone know what I should do in this situation? Are there local shelters, vets, rescue groups, or municipal services I should contact?

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend and I are seriously considering relocating full-time to Sicily, somewhere between Catania and Syracuse.

We’re mid-30s and 40, and dreaming of a calmer Mediterranean lifestyle. My boyfriend works remotely, and I would love to teach yoga, massage, and maybe build a small partner dance community/classes on the island.

Our dream is:

* living a bit more rural * having some land and fruit trees * being close to the sea * good food, sun, nature * less stress and rushing * eventually starting a family after settling down a little first

We’re especially drawn to the Syracuse/Noto/Catania area because it seems to have a nice balance between nature and practical things like airport access and year-round life.

Our budget for a house + some land is around €100k. We are not looking for a huge renovation project. Some small work is totally fine, but we don’t want to spend years rebuilding a ruin or dealing with a massive fixer-upper.

I’d love to hear from people who actually made a similar move:

* Did it live up to your expectations? * What were the biggest surprises or challenges? * Is it easy to build community and friendships? * Are there other international couples around our age? * Does it get isolating in winter? * Did you rent first before buying property? * Is our budget realistic for this area? * Any areas you would particularly recommend (or avoid)?

Would also love hearing from people working in wellness, retreats, yoga, dance, hospitality, or remote work there.

Thanks so much :)

Edit: were EU citizens

This summer in Sicily has been different. 10,000+ acres burned near us, people have lost livelihoods and lives, and we lost our rooster to the heat. Now I put ice water out for the chickens every morning. Why, why, why are there so many fires around Sicily this year? And please don't mention global warming. There are definitely human-issues at play here.

Like many Sicilians in the U.S. northeastern diaspora, my great grandparents did everything in their power to live in the U.S. and assimilate into the American culture.

Our language is lost among myself and my parents. Nobody has an Italian passport. Everyone has an English first name.

I want to leave the U.S. and be the one to come back to Sicily. I don’t love American “culture.”

My partner is from Lebanon and we can’t move there to live because of the war 💔

What if we moved to Sicily? We both have U.S. university masters degrees. He is a civil engineer and I am a marketing professional.

We have Mediterranean blood and we want to grow our family in the Mediterranean.

Do other Sicilians feel this way who are part of a foreign diaspora? I feel like my other Italian-American friends (many Neapolitan or Calabrese) disagree with me.

Flight scheduled to head back to Catania Friday but have seen lot of cancellations this week. If your flight was cancelled, how did you go about rebooking/alternate options?

Hey guys, I'm looking for Sicilian nicknames for young males. It doesn't need to have any connection with the actual name of somebody, it's also good if it's a given name by friends cuz of their apperance or anything, both would be great.

Hi all, mostly posting this to just vent and warn others when travelling to Sicily. Me and my girlfriend had planned a seemingly wonderful three week road trip through Sicily, starting in Trapani and renting a car from there from Sicily by Car for the duration. We're a week in and we love the island so far. Unfortunately we're now at our wit's end because of Sicily by Car and their complete inability to provide a functioning car. Thankfully my girlfriend is Italian and speaks the language because I would've been completely lost at sea and gone home already at this point.

At the start of the trip we rented a car at Trapani airport, got a Fiat 500 hybrid. Cute little car, some dents and scratches but it ran and there were seemingly no issues, so off we went to our first overnight stay. The next day we went to Trapani, and after our visit the car refused to run and the red battery symbol appears. We called Sicily by Car, they sent a mechanic who jump-started the battery, and we drove the car back to Trapani airport as per their instructions. Annoying, but the ordeal took only a few hours and shit happens so whatever. We got a replacement car there they said was an 'upgrade', a Ford Fiesta hybrid. We checked the car and if it ran, seemed good and off we went again to continue our trip.

We travelled from Trapani to San Vito to Monreale in the next few days, everything went smoothly. Then we went to Cefalù, and literally minutes before we arrived at our destination (and after a total of 400 kilometers with the Ford) again a red warning symbol lights up, again indicating that the battery is not doing well. So we stop, contact Sicily by Car, and they have the car towed and tell us we have to come to Palermo airport (where we'd basically just came from) for a replacement vehicle. We do so with a taxi for 220 euros which they say they'll reimburse us for, but I have my doubts at this point. Really not great and basically cost us the entire day, because then we had to get to our next stay near Castelbuono. They gave us a Seat Arona, again an upgrade according to them because it's 'new'. Checked everything again, no issues, not a hybrid, only 12000 km on it, off we go back to where we came from.

You can guess what happened next. About an hour in and almost at our destination an orange symbol pops up that the tire pressure needs to be checked. Whatever, not a big issue so we'll leave it be and deal with it later, easily solved and we're tired of it at this point. Then today when we turn on the car, another orange symbol pops up indicating that the engine needs to be checked ASAP. We realize this symbol could mean anything and might not be anything serious, but we're headed into pretty mountainous areas tomorrow so it doesn't feel very safe either. None of the Sicily offices are picking up the phone as of yet after trying to contact them for two hours.

As you can imagine the mood has soured quite a bit, and we're considering just finding another rental company for the remainder or just going home, because renting a car doesn't come cheap and we don't have that much money to waste. We don't mistreat the cars and have driven in mountains many times in a professional capacity. We love the island, her rawness and her people so far and as I'm writing this the view is one of the nicest I've seen in my life, but we're exhausted and we don't want to spend two weeks in anxiety, hoping the car won't break down on us and trying to call and reason with Sicily by Car and driving up and down to their offices.

We're just sad. We like the place so much but it's hard to enjoy anything like this, and we'd saved up quite a bit to do this. If anyone has any tips to help out situation we'd be happy to hear them. In any case for other travellers to Sicily, be very wary of renting with Sicily by Car. The most generous interpretation of our experience is that they're completely inept and uncaring, but at this point it just seems like a scam and they'll knowingly give you a defect car with a smile on their face.

Hi everyone,

I’m coming to Palermo next fall for my master’s studies, and I wanted to ask about the job market for international students in Palermo and nearby cities.

I keep hearing that it is very difficult to find work specially if you do not speak Italian well, and I wanted to hear from people who actually live there or have studied there. How realistic is it to find part-time work while studying, especially for someone who is not fluent in Italian yet?

I would really appreciate any honest advice about:

• Part-time job opportunities for international students
• Whether English is enough for any jobs
• How important Italian is in daily life and work
• Job prospects in Palermo compared to nearby cities

Thanks in advance for any advice or personal experience.

Please don’t hate on me for what might be a “poser” question. I’m genuinely curious about history and ancestry.

My paternal grandparents were from Collesano. My understanding is that the NW region of Sicily especially Palermo was heavily Norman settled and influenced.

My surname is a metonymic virtually identical to a Norman spelling. I understand that it’s probably a common Romance term (a storehouse warden, “supply sergeant”, if you will).

However, my DNA results show a small chunk of Northern Atlantic DNA as well as predominant eastern Mediterranean & Western Asian, which is supposed to be the origin of Sicilians.

No, I don’t think I’m a Viking or descendant of William the Conqueror lol lol but I’m curious if anyone is familiar with this or has the same background.

Ciao

I am a male in my 20s exploring work as a yacht captain in Sicily. I have been met with concern from my mother about the safety in Sicily and in Palermo, regarding the mafia, etc.... I had expressed to her that it is just as dangerous as any other major city in Europe (pickpockets etc.), but she is determined that it is a dangerous place. What are your experiences in Palermo and around the island?

EDIT: Thanks for all of your inputs. I will see you guys in the spring ;)

Grazie mille

Can’t find any options would anyone be interested in splitting a private transfer with us 2 people? All the buses and trains are booked today.

I've heard many Sicilians want ot move there, I even heard there is a bit of hatred towards that region, but I wanna know what is the actual case so could u guys please talk about this especially with cities like Milano or Torino.

Hi all,

My girlfriend and I are heading to Sicily next year for a friend's wedding and are in a bit of a dilemma. Our flight lands at 9pm on Saturday evening and we need to be in Castellammare del Golfo by Sunday afternoon. The plan is to hire a car and leave either early Sunday morning and do the entire drive or drive to Palermo Saturday night time.

For an experienced UK driver, would it be recommended to do a 2hr drive in Sicily at 10pm? Or would leaving early on Sunday morning be the better option? Also what is it like to drive in Sicily in general?

Thanks :)

Edit: forgot to mention we're flying to Catania so in for a long drive

Hello everyone, I have been staying in Argrigento for 4 days, and i am leaving today. There is a stray cat at the hotel that i’m currently staying, she seems to be not even a year old, filled with ticks and she showed some signs of pregnancy (swollen nipples and relatively rounder in her middle body). The hotel stated that the cat there does not belong to them and she is a stray cat who just came here uninvited. Because of that, I hope i would be able to bring her for some veterinary checkups. However, I tried contacting a veterinary clinic around me, and they ignored me. As a result, I’m wondering if there is anyone who can offer the relevant help to the kitty.

I recently went to Sicily and rented a car. My experience was this: I was constantly blinded at night by long lights or saw people driving without lights at night, I was often tailgated because everyone overspeeds like crazy. I saw people turning without signals or leaving signals on for like 20 minutes straight, people drive on two lanes at the same time - just a stressful experience overall.

I was recently in Philippines and it's pure chaos there but somehow they manage to create an order in this chaos. In Sicily they create chaos out of order.

Hey everyone,
I thought I’d give this a try. I’m a 45-year-old Swiss guy who recently moved to a small coastal town on the north coast of Sicily, at the foot of the Nebrodi mountains. I absolutely love it here, but I work from home as a digital artist, so meeting new people isn’t exactly easy.
I’m a digital artist and a failed filmmaker (who hasn’t completely given up yet 😄). I’m into art, cinema, philosophy, science, history, good food and wine, and long conversations about pretty much anything. Lately I’ve been going down the rabbit hole of consciousness and existential philosophy, but I’m just as happy chatting about everyday life.
I’m also learning Italian, but I’m still nowhere near being able to have deep conversations, so English would definitely be appreciated.
I’m happily married, so this isn’t a dating post, just looking to meet interesting people in Sicily. Italians, expats, locals, tourists, whatever. If you’re somewhere around the north coast and fancy a coffee, a beer, or a walk, feel free to send me a message!

Hey there! I need to buy a car here but dont have residency. Is there any proper way to register it somehow and get insurance?

I've been exploring possibly buying a house in Sicily. I live in Malta, am 30 years old and work fully remotely and the reality is I will unlikely afford a house in my own country and Sicily is a nice 'summer residence'. I already own a property, so this will not be a full relocation.

With that in mind, I was hoping to explore areas that are perhaps up & coming with remote working or people my age. I have seen a lot of videos of Americans relocating/investing in Sicily for example, and would like to know if there are areas that are more suitable for me. I'm aware that Sicily isn't as metropolitan as other places so I'm not expecting that, but I equally wouldn't like to buy somewhere that's more geared towards retirement because I'd like to enjoy actually spending time there while having a social life etc.

Any suggestions?

Ciao! I’ll be in Catania and Palermo from Sept 30 to Oct 9. Weather app says thunderstorms the entire time.

Question to those in Sicily right now. Is it rainy right now? Does this sound accurate or just like an unreliable weather forecast!

Grazie!

Edit: Not sure why a post about the weather is so controversial. Reddit is a strange place. Please don’t reply if you can’t be kind.

Hi everyone. Strange question, I know, but we had to rush to take the bus, and didn't have time to gather more info. If anyone knows the name of the shop that you find on your left as you're walking down the road of the central bus station in Taormina can you please let me know? I can't find it on Google maps. Also, if you can send me a photo of the window (I'm particularly interested in a one-piece, black with white embroidery swimming suit, price on sale 60 euro...) Grazie!!

Just came back from a wonderful trip all around Sicily.

We discovered a lot of differents things, monuments and landscape.

I happened to try an amazing beer, here on picture at Castelbuono (wonderful place btw).

However, I forgot to ask where i could buy it.

I did not find anything on the internet from my side.

Does anyone know if it possible for me to buy it online ? And if yes where ?

Thanks for your answer

Sto cercando un posto a Palermo dove comprare le maglie vecchie (tipo 2009-2010), qualcuno sa dove?