Feel Like a Woman (Sept 2007)

Photographer-filmmaker Vito Zagarrio is pictured here with Caterina d’Amico and Sally Veillette, Hands-On Sicily founder

People normally think of Milan as the fashion center of Italy, but you’d be surprised what beauty Sicily can bring out in you—of both the inner and outer varieties(!). Italian-American Caterina d’Amico posed for a series of photos with stunning rock and sea back-drops. “I felt so alive,” said Caterina. Some Hands-On Sicily guests enjoy shopping in Ragusa’s city center or nearby Modica. Others enjoy in-room massages, hair styling, and make-up. Barbara Arezzi, goldsmith from Arte Iblea in Ragusa Ibla, makes custom jewelry for our guests, as she did for the Norwegian couple whom we helped elope!. [Elope in Sicily Article] (When people rent Hands-On Sicily villas or apartments, we link them up to local services—for free. It’s our way to serve the community.)

Goddesses, as depicted by Ragusan artist Giovanni Lissandrello

Makeovers in Sicily, you ask? Why not Paris or Rome? Sure, big cities can offer flashy images. But Sicily offers inner results—changes that pull your “inner woman” out. Why not return home with fashion photos with a natural glow?

“There’s something about this island,” claims Pamela Hanson, singer-songwriter from California and frequent Hands-On Sicily guest. “I feel more feminine here than anywhere else on earth.”

Could it be Sicily’s raw beauty? Could it be the way she teases you into losing yourself on her narrow, curvy roads as you go in search of her treasures? Perhaps it’s the meals she serves that draw you out—enticing you to indulge? Or that the ancient island pace that slows you down, letting you take the world off your shoulders, where you can finally—completely, unabashedly and delightfully—relax. Whatever it is, however she does it, Sicily frees you to be a natural woman, at long last.

Pam Hanson sang in a Marina di Ragusa piano bar during her stay

Lissandrello has painted with Hands-On Sicily guests