Spend off-season quality time in Sicily

Have you thought about leaving the daily routine for a few weeks or months and enjoying some time away? After all the lockdowns and changes in our habits and lifestyle, maybe it is a good time to stop for a while and have a re-think about a slower pace of life. 

Funnily enough, in Italy we say “non tutto il male viene per nuocere” (not all bad things come to harm you). In fact teleworking often enforced by the Covid issue has also created many digital nomads and with that the possibility of working from remote places. Well, if you are already retired, you can finally do what you were dreaming of anyway.

Having, myself, travelled for work a lot and then been forced to take a pause for the “Covid Stop”, I’ve actually benefited by returning to my origins, living in my small village. Its warm community helped me reignite my soul and rediscover the simple things that I had forgotten, not to mention the possibility of practising more healthy habits such as sport, eating healthy food, daily meditation, in general an overall healthier lifestyle.

I always end up telling my friends or colleagues in Europe, with whom I work every day, about my experience, explaining that a healthy, happy employee is good for any company, but I guess a “happy person” is always successful and helpful to the people that surround them, whether a spouse, their children or friends. My final question is always: why don’t you try it?

In fact, a couple of years ago, I refurbished a nice charming apartment, built by my grandfather. It’s actually part of an entire building where all my family live just next to the former route of the famous Targa Florio race. I wanted this to be a nest where I or my kids in the future could always come back to, so we could be in touch, not only with the place where I grew up, but also with a place ideal for recharging the batteries.  I have finally started travelling again and moved back to the city of Palermo, where my kids live, so my refurbished apartment is available for Times of Sicily readers to rent.

With this in mind, I’d love to continue writing about my experiences here in more detail, like yoga on the beach and surf or paddle boarding 365 days a year. Of course, there are trips to the local market and you would have the opportunity to learn and practice your Italian or Sicilian, buy the local food and get to know the local people from my town, Campofelice di Roccella. Why not try skiing in Sicily!? Would you believe it? Stay tuned!!

I have already written about certain attractions such as going to an Opera – in my case seeing Cavalleria Rusticana in one of the most beautiful Opera houses in the world, the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.

I’ve also mentioned making pizza with my son, using olive oil from my land. By the way, I suggest you visit during the olive oil season which is also a nice time to go trekking in our Madonie mountains, see my clip here. 

Besides having all you would need for these experiences i.e. yoga @ home or watching films, listening to nice music or indulging in culinary adventures, Campofelice is also well placed to get to the ski pistes or to go walking in the mountains (30 min) or, further afield, Etna (2h). It’s about 10 minutes from Buonfornello junction, where three motorways connect to the main cities in Sicily, like Palermo, Catania, Messina, Trapani etc

I recently added my apartment to Airbnb, take a look if you would like to get a real feel for the place. If you want to make a booking, you are very welcome to contact me directly and I can assist you personally. 

mailto: ing.giovannimorreale[@]gmail.com (remove the [] signs)