Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Feb 9, 2012, 3:49 am
Sri Lanka Cook Books The practical, puttering tuk-tuk is one of the classic mainstays of Sri Lankan life. Clogging the streets of every city on the island, and found bumping along even the most remote mountain roads, the motorized rickshaw is an unavoidable, and incredibly fun, method of transporta...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Feb 8, 2012, 10:38 pm
Books about Hinduism Found on Slave Island, Sri Subramaniya Kovil is one of Colombo’s most impressive Hindu temples. We were welcomed inside on a balmy February morning, and had an incredible time watching the ceremonies and taking in the atmosphere. When we left, it was with colorful dots on our...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Feb 8, 2012, 7:39 am
Walking around Colombo’s Pettah neighborhood, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d landed in Tehran or Cairo. A bazaar with definite Middle Eastern flair, the Pettah is where Sri Lanka’s multi-culturalism is at its most exuberant. The district has long been inhabited by Muslims, but a stro...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Feb 7, 2012, 9:20 pm
Our Published Travel Books We had only walked about 100 meters into the seaside district of Colombo known as Fort, as far as the colonial clock tower, before having to turn around and walk back out. This neighborhood, the oldest and most historic in the city, has been a militarized zone since 1996,...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Feb 7, 2012, 6:16 am
Cheap Flights To Sri Lanka Although the official capital of Sri Lanka is the nearby satellite of Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, Colombo is definitely the island’s top dog. Boasting by far the largest concentration of people, industry and commerce, Colombo is a noisy, dirty, and vibrantly alive city; ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Feb 6, 2012, 9:09 am
Sri Lanka History Books Originally settled about 36,000 years ago, Sri Lanka has one of the world’s oldest histories. So attempting to condense its long and turbulent story into a “concise” version is a fool’s errand. But we are foolish children of the modern age, and don’t have time for ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Feb 6, 2012, 12:52 am
Hotels in Colombo Sri Lanka, the pendant-shaped jewel hanging off the earlobe of India, has had a number of names throughout its long history. Under British rule, the island was known as Ceylon. Arabs called it Serendib, the origin of the word serendipity, which hints at its beauty. And for the nex...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Jan 14, 2012, 3:43 am
Our first few minutes in Sicily were spent navigating the streets of Messina, after having arrived on a ferry from the Italian mainland. Honking cars, crazy motorbikes and messy urban lawlessness, it was an immediate taste of the chaos which would accompany our 91 days in Palermo; an antipasto to th...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Jan 13, 2012, 10:56 am
Great Hotels in Palermo Food, fire, trash, art and architecture — you get a little of everything on a random walk through Palermo. This city is a lot of things, but boring is not one of them! -Car Rental in Palermo It wasn’t us!
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Jan 13, 2012, 6:58 am
The Albergheria is the oldest neighborhood in Palermo. This is where the Phoenicians founded the city, and it hosts the royal palace which all the city’s rulers have called home. Despite this rich history, today’s Albergheria is one of the most run-down sections of Palermo. Nowhere else is the j...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Jan 12, 2012, 11:52 am
Hailed as one of Italy’s most beautiful villages, the tiny hamlet of Sávoca has a spectacular mountain setting just four kilometers inland from Sicily’s eastern coast. Among the legions of people it’s charmed is Francis Ford Coppola, who filmed the Sicilian scenes of The Godfather here. We t...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Jan 12, 2012, 10:20 am
Hotels in Taormina On the last day of our final road-trip through Sicily, we drove a few kilometers up the coast from Catania to Taormina, the island’s most popular beach resort. Word of its charm had reached our ears from just about everyone we’d come in contact with — friends, strangers in ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Jan 11, 2012, 12:57 pm
Hotels Near Etna Our planned ascent to the craters of Mt. Etna had been foiled due to high winds. So finding ourselves with a beautiful, sunny day and nothing else to do, we hopped back in the car and took a long drive around the volcano. We decided to move around Etna in a clockwise fashion, and ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Jan 11, 2012, 11:33 am
Everything You Need To Know About Volcanoes The eastern coast of Sicily is defined by the looming presence of Mount Etna, the largest and most active volcano in Europe. Though it had just erupted spectacularly a few days prior, we couldn’t resist checking it out during our final road trip on the ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Jan 10, 2012, 1:24 pm
Hotels in Caltagirone About forty-five minutes southeast of Villa Romana del Casale is Caltagirone — one of the island’s oldest cities, renowned for its ceramics and pottery. It was the second stop on our final road trip through Sicily. Still a healthy city of about 40,000 people, Caltagirone ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Jan 10, 2012, 10:27 am
Travel Laundry Paper Soap With one week remaining in Sicily, we realized there were still a lot of sights on the island that we couldn’t possibly skip. So, we rented a car and set out on a final road trip. First stop: Villa Romana del Casale. The world’s most comprehensive and exquisite set of...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Jan 6, 2012, 12:54 pm
Top Travel Gear A sense of faded grandeur permeates Palermo. The stately old palaces which occupy nearly every corner are usually shuttered up, damaged beyond repair, or have been converted for use as art galleries. The Palermitano aristocracy must surely have resided in splendor, but they’ve lon...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Nov 2, 2011, 1:56 pm
The beginning of November has traditionally been a time for remembering the dead in Italy. A mix of somber religious reflection, modern costume parties and bittersweet remembrances of deceased family members, the Italian celebrations have roots which stretch back centuries, but which have also been ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Nov 2, 2011, 4:00 am
The hardest part of moving to a new city every three months is finding a suitable apartment. But we really lucked out when planning our stay in Sicily, and discovered Casa Zatlò over the excellent website VisitPalermo.it, with almost no effort. We couldn’t be happier with our new temporary home, ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Nov 1, 2011, 9:31 am
Nativity Scenes From Italy From the regal statues of the Quattro Canti, to the delicate stucco work inside the Oratorio di San Lorenzo, it’s apparent that sculpture has always played an important role in Palermo’s art scene. We had the chance to meet one of the city’s modern sculpture artists...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 30, 2011, 3:16 pm
Grind Your Own Coffee As we were leaving the Santa Caterina on Plaza Bellini, eyes still bruised by the church’s baroque extravagance, another of our senses came under attack. Like Micky Mouse following the scent of cake, we became captive to a strong whiff of coffee. Powerless to resist, we were...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 29, 2011, 2:59 pm
All Churches We Visited in Palermo and Sicily Although it’s tucked into the maze-like alleys of the Albergheria, the Casa Professa (or the Chiesa del Gesù, as it’s more officially known) isn’t difficult to find. Just head towards that beautiful green and white tiled dome, visible over most o...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 28, 2011, 1:36 pm
Our Buenos Aires Travel Book “Coriandolo?” The market seller was looking at me with a strange expression, and I thought maybe I was just pronouncing it wrong. “Cori-AN-dolo? Cilantro?” Apparently, cilantro isn’t an herb much used in Sicilian cooking. The stand in the Vucciria Market had ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 26, 2011, 1:24 pm
Read About Italian Wines This might be common throughout Italy, but Palermo is the first time we’ve encountered a store that sells wine by the liter, as though it were gas. Pumped from a tank, through a nozzle into a large plastic container, with a ticker racking up the price, really as though it...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 26, 2011, 8:14 am
Book your Hotels in Sicily here Almost every day, it seems like another massive cruise ship docks at Palermo’s port, and thousands upon thousands of tourists pour out like molten lava. With only a few hours to see everything Palermo has to offer, they’ll hop on the big double-decker sightseeing...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 25, 2011, 1:08 pm
Everything You Need To Know About Italian Ice Cream The first time I saw someone walking down the street in Palermo, eating ice cream in a bun, I thought, “What a weirdo”. The second time I saw it, I thought, “Is that some sort of crazy Sicilian specialty?” The third time I saw it, I thou...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 24, 2011, 2:41 pm
Receive our articles straight into your inbox! One of the best birds-eye views of Palermo can be had from the top of the Torre di San Nicolò, near the Ballarò market in the Albergheria. The late-Gothic tower was constructed in the 13th century for defensive purposes, and now belongs to the adjoin...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 23, 2011, 12:40 pm
Buy The Sicily Flag Here What do Medusa, heads of wheat and human legs all have in common? Surely not more than this one thing: they all appear on the flag of Sicily, which must be one of the strangest flags in the world. The three-legged symbol is known as the trinacria, and has represented the i...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 19, 2011, 4:16 am
Nearby: The Oratory of San Lorenzo Tucked into a small plaza just south of the Corso Vittoro Emanuele, is the church of San Francesco d’Assisi. Originally built in 1260, the church has undergone many transformations in its 750 years of life, and still plays an important role in Palermo’s religi...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 17, 2011, 4:48 am
Palermo History Books Separating Northern Africa and Europe, and providing passage between the Orient and the West, the Mediterranean Sea has always been one of human history’s focal points. Sicily is set in the middle of the sea and, as you might expect, its capital city has seen a fair share of...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 16, 2011, 8:04 am
Everything You Need To Know About The Mafia Although their presence is practically invisible to tourists, the Mafia is very much a reality for the residents of Palermo. One of the most tangible nuisances is the pizzo: the “protection fee” that Sicilian business owners are compelled to pay to th...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 15, 2011, 9:49 am
Sicily Guides A thirty-minute bus ride from Palermo’s Plaza Politeama brought us to the seaside town of Mondello. Settled between two rocky hills which jut into the sea, and with a beach that has the bluest water this side of the Caribbean, Mondello makes an excellent day trip from the city. Tra...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 13, 2011, 7:15 am
Order Pasta Online Reading that one of Palermo’s favorite dishes is pasta con le sarde, spaghetti with sardines and fennel, didn’t exactly set my stomach on fire with unquenchable desire. But after seeing plate after plate being ordered at Ristorante Amato, near the Teatro Massimo, I figured th...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 10, 2011, 6:55 am
Our Asturias eBook Next to the church of San Francisco d’Assisi is the equally impressive Oratorio di San Lorenzo, built in 1569 with a snow white interior of stucco by the great Palermo artist Gicaomo Serpotta. The oratory was a place of prayer for the convent of San Francisco. Nothing more tha...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 5, 2011, 7:14 am
Incredible Masks from Bolivia Pinocchio and Gepetto may have been from Florence, but the romantic image of a kindly, old man carving a puppet from wood is a distinctly Sicilian one. The art of puppet theater, or the Opera dei Puppi, has especially deep roots in Palermo. The glory days of puppet th...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 3, 2011, 9:24 am
Learn About The Sicilian History A few days before we moved to Palermo, we filmed a segment for Televisión Española’s new program, Más Gente. It makes us cringe to listen to our Spanish, but they did an excellent job with the clip! And if you’ve ever wanted to see our frequent-flyer dog, Chu...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 2, 2011, 7:14 am
Book A Rental Car For Sicily Here Charming, horseshoe-shaped La Cala was the main fishing port in Palermo, until the 16th century when it lost most of its size due to receding waters. The spot has played an important role in Palermo since the days of the Phoenicians, and it’s not surprising that ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Oct 1, 2011, 10:24 am
Pre-Order The New Kindle We’ve been here for about two weeks, and are just starting to adjust to life on Palermo’s streets. On the chaotic alleyways of this city, scenes of ancient beauty are as common as out-of-control mountains of trash. But somehow, old elegance and modern grime work togethe...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Sep 29, 2011, 3:16 am
Buy Italian Pasta Online Here Whether winding through the narrrow alleys of Il Capo, or pushing past tourists along the claustrophobic Vittorio Emmanuel, the massive Cattedrale di Palermo appears suddenly and always comes as a shock. Originally built in 1185 by the Normans, the cathedral has under...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Sep 28, 2011, 4:18 am
Sicilian Recipes On the streets of Palermo, the only things which stick out more than the ancient palaces are the big Sicilian bellies. The sight of obese men puttering around on Vespas is a daily amusement, and even the toddlers have a few pounds on me. Of course, it’s all perfectly understanda...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Sep 27, 2011, 5:04 am
Book Your Palermo Hotel Here Stepping into the neighborhood just behind the somber bulk of Palermo’s Cathedral feels like entering another country. An Arabic one, to be precise. Il Capo is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, and has managed to retain a distinctly Moorish influence in its st...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Sep 25, 2011, 3:31 pm
Travel Guide For Your Kindle Near Palermo’s Quattro Canti is the Church of Santa Caterina, whose modest exterior belies the Baroque magnificence waiting inside. Construction on the church began in 1566, but the interior decoration dates from the 17th and 18th centuries, when Baroque was at its h...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Sep 24, 2011, 10:55 am
We’ve been here almost a week, which is more than long enough to have come to some brash and ill-informed conclusions about the city! Palermo, at least the port-side Vucciria where we live, is loud. There are times I can’t believe the noise. Music is played at incredible volumes by all our neig...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Sep 23, 2011, 9:04 am
Short Term Rentals in Palermo North of the Piazza Verdi, the impossible alleys and medieval monuments of Old Palermo give way to New Palermo, which feels like an entirely different city. Modern buildings, wide streets, usable sidewalks, fashionable shops and trees. In the ancient center of Palermo,...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Sep 21, 2011, 1:32 pm
For Sicilian Cookbooks Click Here There are things in life which you shouldn’t form an opinion on until after you’ve tried them. A new city, perhaps, or a job. Movies, new acquaintances. Things that require familiarity before a sound judgement can be made. Arancini, however, do not fall into th...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Sep 20, 2011, 2:04 pm
Please Like Us On Facebook The uneven, twisting alleyways which dominate the ancient center of Palermo are charming, but a navigational nightmare. Funny, then, that the dead center of the historic district is an impeccably laid-out intersection, and one of Europe’s earliest examples of urban plan...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Sep 19, 2011, 10:44 am
Great Car Rental Prices in Italy Rather than have our ten-year-old French Bulldog, Chucky, endure another plane flight alone in the cargo hold, we decided to drive from Rome to Palermo in a rental. It was a long haul, but allowed us to see the verdant mountains of Calabria and the northern coast of...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Sep 19, 2011, 4:13 am
Sicily Travel Guide The second year of For 91 Days is underway. Jürgen and I pulled into Palermo at 6pm on Saturday evening, and were seated at a pizzeria exactly seventeen minutes later, fork and knife in hand, napkins tucked carelessly into collars. Unpacking suitcases would have to wait. We’...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Aug 18, 2011, 11:12 am
Hotels and Hostels in La Paz (Book Online!) We’re at the end of our three month stay in Bolivia: one of the most incredible periods in our lives. In the past 91 days, we’ve seen more amazing places and done more exciting things than I could ever have anticipated. It’s been an experience that ...
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Vincente H. posted an article on Hola Valencia - Aug 18, 2011, 3:37 am
Follow Us On Twitter Santa Cruz is in Bolivia’s Amazonian Basin, surrounded by jungles, with the hot, humid climate of a rain forest. So the existence of a massive field of sand dunes just sixteen kilometers south of the city is a geological marvel. On our very last day in Bolivia, we visited Las...
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