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MULTIMEDIA › ARTS AND LEISURE
Addiopizzo Travel - discovering
Sicily in ethical holidays
by Myriam Giacalone
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An Addiopizzo travel guide in Capaci (Palermo), at the point where on May 23,
1/4
1992 the bomb was detonated that killed the judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife
Francesca Morvillo and his three bodyguards (Vito Schifani, Rocco Dicillo and
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Want to be sure to visit Sicily, the ancient Mediterranean island,
without feeding your money to the Mafia's “Godfather”? writes Myriam
Giacalone.
Contact Addiopizzo Travel, a Palermo-based agency that offers 100%
mafia-free holidays.
Founded to fight against the cliché “Sicily equals Mafia,” Addiopizzo
Travel's tours will show you the real Sicily: beauty, arts and culture.
History and crime are not censored at all, but put in historical context.
You will see where Mafia ruled, but also was fought and often defeated
by true-blue Sicilian heroes. Addiopizzo Travel and “mafia-free
tourism” were launched in 2009 by Dario Riccobono, Francesca
Vannini Parenti and Edoardo Zaffuto, the co-founders of the “
Addiopizzo Committee,” an anti-mafia association operating in
Palermo since 2004.
“Pizzo” in Italian means lace, but in Sicily it is the word used for
“protection money,” or the percentage extorted from businesses by the
Mafia. So “Addiopizzo” means “goodbye to extortion,” “no more
kickbacks,” or “farewell to protection money.”
“Our challenge is to combine our values in Addiopizzo Committee with
our jobs in Addiopizzo Travel,” says Dario Riccobono.
Addiopizzo Travel is now officially registered as tour operator and the
group offers holiday packages to discover the “hot spots” in the fight
against the Mafia in Palermo and its surroundings.
Addiopizzo tours cleverly mix the ethical pathos with wonderful
vacation spots. The company offers 24-hour tours in Palermo and the
countryside, and a seven-day package through western Sicily.
You will be combing Mediterranean fishing villages and gazing at
cathedrals. Participants will be awed by Punic, Greek, Latin, Arabic,
Norman and Byzantine monuments, but they will also have a chance
to chat with Sicilians about their everyday life and struggles.
Friendships will be forged forever in a truly personal experience.
Travellers say the trips were crucial to increase our understanding of
the Mafia and what it means.
“People want to know which shops, restaurants and hotels don't pay
protection money, “pizzo” to the Mafia,” said Francesca Vannini.
Addiopizzo Travel directs tourists to brands, labels and organizations
free from any mob connections, neatly showed on a map of Palermo.
“Pizzo free” tours can include excursions to properties confiscated to
Cosa Nostra, in Corleone or Cinisi, towns near Palermo involved in
Mafia affairs.
Where the “latifondo” landed estates laid in ruins, the Mafia neglected
to work on many acres of land. Now there are vineyards, olive trees,
and greenhouses filled with strawberries and peppers.
Participants will learn the history of the resistance against the Mafia,
from union leader Placido Rizzotto, killed right after World War II, to
anti-Mafia prosecutor and national hero Giovanni Falcone, killed in a
car bombing by Cosa Nostra in 1992.
Tours are available in English, French and German. A vacation with
Addio Pizzo is a learning experience, filled up with fun, food, culture
and people. You will go home learning about a land most tourists
simply skim.
Info: www.addiopizzotravel.it
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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