Sicily is beautiful even when it rains — the island's beauty is not dependent on perfect conditions; even its difficult moments, its grey days, its rain-swept coasts have their own particular beauty. A declaration that love for Sicily is unconditional.
Sicilian rain is a rare and dramatic event, particularly in summer when the island can go months without a drop. When the rains come — in October, November, the short violent storms of spring — they transform the landscape: the dry brown hills suddenly turn green, the rivers run again, the air smells of wet earth and aromatic herbs. There is a particular quality to Sicilian winter rain, falling on orange trees and baroque stone, filling the old cisterns of Arab-Norman palaces, running in rivulets between the basalt paving stones of Catania. This proverb was the Sicilian lover's declaration: I love Sicily not only in its summer splendour but also in its winter rain, not only in its beauty but in its difficulty, not only in its gifts but in its shortcomings.
A lyrical declaration of unconditional love for Sicily using the rare event of rain as the test case. 'Bedda' = bella (beautiful), 'chiovi' = piove (it rains). Reflects the Sicilian capacity to find beauty in unexpected and difficult conditions.
Standing at the window during an October storm in Palermo
Guarda come piove. — Che brutto. — A Sicilia è bedda puru quannu chiovi — senti come profuma l'aria.
Look how it is raining. — How ugly. — Sicily is beautiful even when it rains — smell how the air smells.
Defending Sicily to a visitor who arrived in bad weather
Ha piovuto tutta la settimana e siete delusi. A Sicilia è bedda puru quannu chiovi — venite in gennaio e vi innamorate lo stesso.
It rained all week and you are disappointed. Sicily is beautiful even when it rains — come in January and you will fall in love all the same.
A Sicilian emigrant thinking of home in a grey foreign city
Qui è grigio e anonimo. A Sicilia è bedda puru quannu chiovi — anche la nostra pioggia è diversa.
Here it is grey and anonymous. Sicily is beautiful even when it rains — even our rain is different.
Accepting Sicily's problems alongside its beauty
Sì, ha i suoi problemi, le sue difficoltà. Ma a Sicilia è bedda puru quannu chiovi — la ami con tutto quello che è.
Yes, it has its problems, its difficulties. But Sicily is beautiful even when it rains — you love it with everything it is.