The Sicilian Life Journal | A window into the real Sicily
What nobody tells you about Sicily
I came to Sicily thinking I’d learn its history. I didn’t expect to learn so much from everyday Sicilian life instead.
I’ve started a journal which I share here. It is simply where I write those moments down before they disappear. The conversations that lasted longer than expected. The people who appeared unexpectedly and quietly changed my day. The places that never make the guidebooks but somehow become impossible to forget.
My Sicilian Life Journal is where I write my observations as I explore the island. An encounter with Mohammed, a shepherd from Morocco who brings his herd past my door each day, and once gifted me ten litres of milk that became the best cheese I’ve ever made. A festival I wandered into by accident, and stayed longer than I’d intended. A morning that started with coffee and turned into a story. A small seaside bar and café in the middle of nowhere that’s now my best escape from the tourists, and my favourite coastal secret.
Some journal entries come from joyful events, and others where life can be equally frustrating.
Taken together, these pages become a portrait of the Sicily I’ve come to know—not through sightseeing, but through living here.
Explore our Sicilian life journal
Being Sicilian
The Sicilians are a resilient race of people. Conquered over the years by so many different cultures, they adapted and moved on. They embraced some of the food, the language, the culture even. Which is why Sicilians today don’t see themselves as Italians. They see themselves as Sicilians. They have their own unique language and culture, very different from the mainland that absorbed them into the unification of Italy in 1861. Below are some aspects of what makes a person Sicilian.
Sicilian rural life
The island isn’t only sunlight and lemon groves. I write honestly about rural life here too — the wildfires that tear through the countryside each summer, often started by a careless hand; the fly-tipping that scars the land and endangers the sheep still herded along old grazing routes. And then, there are the Sicilian drivers. This is Sicily, warts and all.
Life on the farm
Notes from our own patch. The hens, the cats who adopted us, our disastrous first olive harvest, a new well that brought up nothing but salty water (and an unplanned reverse osmosis system to fix it), and a lavender venture that didn’t go quite to plan.
Sicilian life and the seasons
Sicily is a huge island, bigger than most people think. While skiers are out on Mount Etna in winter, the western coast is still warm enough for the beach. Each season brings new food, new fruit, new beginnings and, every so often, its own small disasters.
- Selinunte’s port filled up with seagrass→
- Sicily’s citrus groves →
- Sicilian figs →
- The week my house smelled of tomatoes→
Behind the recipes
I don’t want to give you recipes you could already find with a little searching online. I want to give you their history of how they came about, why they’re named as they are, how old they really are, so the next bite of a Sicilian treat means a little more than it did before.
Miscellaneous
If you have a friend who is mad about Sicily and you want to buy her a Sicilian related gift, but don’t know where to start, read our article here that not only gives you 7 thoughtful gifts to give, but many of them don’t cost an arm and a leg, either. In the end, it is the thought that counts.
Why I keep a journal of my Sicilian life
I started writing these observations so I wouldn’t forget them. Somewhere along the way, they became stories worth sharing.
It’s a record, a small legacy of this slice of my life, preserved for my grandchildren, and their children after them, of how their Nana ended up living a life that wasn’t always la dolce vita, but came pretty darn close.
I’ve been fortunate enough to live in places as different as the jungles of Papua New Guinea, the deserts of Arabia, and even the hills of Tuscany. Every place left something behind. But Sicily is the first that has made me want to stay.
I’ve reached a point in my life where I’m happy to settle. I’ve found my home and it’s not just a place I live, but a place that has, in its own quiet way, found me too.
Life still happens here, though, exactly as it does everywhere: good and bad, funny and sad, chaotic and quiet by turns.
The spirit of this journal of Sicilian life is to reveal Sicily – warts and all.
There is always another story waiting
Whether you’re curious about life in Sicily, planning a visit to the island, interested in local festivals, or simply looking for a quiet story to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee, I hope you’ll find something here that stays with you long after you’ve finished reading.
And if you’d like those stories to arrive the old-fashioned way, via snail mail…
There’s always a letter on its way from Sicily which we write every month, delivered to your door, no matter where you live. I hope you will join me on my journey.
Try before you buy – A letter sent to our paid subscribers in August, 2026.