Photos of Carnevale Celebrations in Acireale, Sicily
Acireale is a small but pretty town in Sicily, not too far up the coast from Catania, the nearest big city.
This town is known mainly for two things; the legend of the Cyclops, and for having one of the best Carnevale celebrations. I’m sharing some Acireale Carnevale photos today and talking a little about life in Sicily too.
A view along the coast at Aci Castello near the Norman Castle
The legend of the cyclops is actually based in nearby Aci Trezza, where prominent basalt rocks jut out of the sea near the coast. These are supposedly where rocks thrown by the Cyclops at Ulysses landed in the sea, in competition for the love of a nymph.
The basalt rocks of legend along the Ionian coast
I also heard that five rocks which stick out of the sea in a rough semi-circle are said to be the hand of a submerged giant, although geologists will tell you that this is actually the remnants of one of Sicily’s first volcanic craters – the first bits of Sicily to rise out of the Mediterranean due to a bulge in the tectonic plate here.
Another short way down the coast is the photogenic Aci Castello, home to an old Norman castle.
I passed through the coastal towns here and visited Acireale for an evening while I was Wwoofing in Sicily, for ‘il piu bel Carnevale di Sicilia’ – the most beautiful carnival on the island.
Italian flags flying on a pretty building in Aci Castello
Enjoy some photos of Carnevale in Acireale along with a couple of others taken during a sunny few weeks in the winter of 2012. Keep your eyes peeled for the horse meat steak and the Cedrone fruit!
Castello Normanno, The Norman Castle, built in 1076
Someone in Sicily likes Indian food! Glad to hear it.
Acireale Carnevale photos, Sicily
Sun sets as Carnevale lights up
The normally fussy Italians get into fancy dress for Carnevale!
Fairground rides are all part of the Carnevale fun
The Most Beautiful Carnival In Sicily (Il Piu Bel Carnevale Di Sicilia)
The streets of Acireale are full of bodies and giant carnival floats
The cast of characters at Carnevale are bizarre – like Uncle Scrooge!
Berlusconi and his alien freak show. With dancers, of course.
Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy on a camel…
Two pairs of twins celebrating Carnevale on a double date!
Interesting costume…
Don’t forget the Italian Food
An Italian celebration would not be complete without great food and drink! This Roman tradition never got buried, with cheap delicious options at the fairground for hungry revellers. This is also where I ate my first horsemeat in Sicily and didn’t realise until much later. It had a strong flavour and is cut thinly because it’s a little tougher than beef. They like simple earthy flavours in Sicily so horse steak is usually brushed with only olive oil and maybe rosemary, before being barbecued for a couple of minutes and served in a fresh crusty bread roll. So good.
The Italians really know how to do festival food – steak, sausages, grilled vegetables and fresh bread.
Lots of horse meat steak ready to be cooked up!
The sculpture should have given me a clue about the horsemeat! And this was my first sighting of a cedrone – the giant lemon looking thing.
I ate my first horsemeat steak in Sicily completely unawares. Tasted good!
A freaky facebook and google float. No idea what the theme is!
Bill Gates and Windows 7 sit smugly above some kind of ‘broken person’ – a statement about the effect of social networks from what I could gather
Pirates and sharks joins sides to celebrate
Bob Marley and a psychotic looking 4-armed suit
After enjoying the Carnevale celebrations, I drove back to my WWOOF host’s place, a few kilometres up the slopes of Mount Etna. I stopped along the way a couple of times to play with some nighttime photography and got a couple of nice shots.
The dark sea and lights along the coast of Sicily, with some of the abundant lemon trees growing in the rich volcanic soil
Trying out longer exposure photographs on a quiet winding road with my tripod
That’s all of my photos from Acireale Carnevale for now, other photos from Catania, Sicily, and the rest of Italy coming imminently!
Peter Parkorr
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