Welcome! I’m Franca.
My first glimpse of Sicily changed me. I was awed by the terrain: the volcanic rock, the arid soil, the scrubby vegetation, juxtaposed to the bright blue of the sea. It was a revelation.
It felt like I home, as though a subconscious pull of the earth, the soil, the sun, and the sky awakened something in me. I fell in love.
As a high school teacher, I looked for ways to connect the subject matter to something with which my students could identify. Sicily Connect is my way of doing that through travel.
My goal is to connect you to the culture, the history, the land, and the food, which, by the way, are all connected to each other. It’s impossible to talk about one without relating it to the other. Much like life. There are always connections to be made and discovered. Allow me to help you Connect to Sicily.
After graduation from Appalachian State University in 2020, I continued to work in the food industry and honed my skills in the commercial kitchens of great restaurants, French style bakeries, and even a butcher shop. Food has always been important to me as has my love of literature. The intersections of literature, food, and travel for me are palpable and I love discovering new connections every day, especially on my favorite island, Sicily!
Krista Gilbert
I have always felt a deep connection to the land no matter where I lived, but especially here amidst the raw, majestic splendor of Sicily, where the land reflects not only the incredible forces of nature, but the power in people, too, to flourish, adapt and forge trust from the chaos, goodwill out of conflict, and adventure from the ashes of discontent. I share these and other essays of longing, purpose and place in our newsletter, The Revelate.
Steve Gilbert
