Dolce far niente: What Sicily taught me about doing nothing
Everyone knows la dolce vita. Fellini gave it to us in 1960: Anita Ekberg wading into the Trevi Fountain, Vespas, sunglasses, champagne at three in the morning. The sweet life is glamorous, a little reckless, and best lived in Rome. Here in Sicily, people talk more about something quieter: dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing. They sound like cousins, but they’re not the same thing. La dolce vita is about having. Dolce far niente is about being. One needs a nightclub, and the other needs a chair in the shade. An old idea The idea is much older than the cinema. Nearly two thousand years ago, Pliny the…
When Selinunte’s port filled with seagrass
Selinunte is the kind of place we go when we need to remember why we live here. It is not a big town. It does not try very hard. It simply sits there, sunlit and sea-faced, with the temples nearby and the scent of salt always in the background. We go for a meal out, a change of scene, a small and easy escape from the farm. But Selinunte is not just a pretty coastline and a few tables set out for summer. It has a small working port. And when a port stops working, the whole place changes. This year, following the arrival of Cyclone Harry in January, Selinunte’s…
Driving in Sicily: Expect the Unexpected
I was reading a Reddit board the other day and had to smile. An American tourist was questioning the way people drive in Sicily and asking whether bad driving was prevalent, or whether he had simply been unlucky. He had been on holiday here for two weeks and, during that time, had almost had three serious accidents. Someone replied: “Only three? Rookie!” Welcome to driving in Sicily! So, what is driving in Sicily actually like? Having lived in seven different countries around the world, I can honestly say that driving in Italy, and Sicily in particular, is definitely not the worst I have experienced. That particular honour goes to the…
Futtitini: A Sicilian answer to modern stress
I have a favourite Sicilian word. It doesn’t translate nicely into English, but here’s my best attempt: f*ck it, don’t worry about it. We have sayings in English that are a little milder. ‘ There is no point crying over spilt milk.’ Or, ‘There is no point shutting the stable door once the horse has bolted.’ The Sicilians are more economical with words for this sentiment. Futtitini. Said with feeling, often with hand gestures unique to Sicilians and Italians in general. It’s stronger than “don’t sweat the small stuff.” It’s more final than “let it go.” It means: this problem is not worth what it is currently costing you. Put…
