SELECT Magazine Summer 2020 | Page 70

SELECT Experience the best of Italian luxury with a stay at these high-end properties. Plus, you’ll enjoy the bonus amenities available through SELECT Hotels & Resorts. Ask our agency for tips to make the best of your cultural excursion to Italy. SELECT HOTELS & RESORTS Hotel Il Pellicano Hotel Brunelleschi Hotel Eden Rome Vedura Villas Villa La Massa ASK ABOUT OTHER EXPERIENCES WE CAN PROVIDE AT THESE DESTINATIONS MAFIA HISTORY Everyone’s heard of the renowned criminal organization known as the Mafia. Long before Tony Soprano entered our living rooms and Marlon Brando’s Godfather made “an offer you can’t refuse,” real-life gangsters were making back-door deals in Sicily as they took crime and punishment into their own hands. Originating in the early 19th century, the first Mafia families were organized as a reaction to chaotic conditions as the island moved from feudalism to capitalism; it only grew exponentially. Take advantage of a trip to Sicily to learn the real history behind the infamous organization; if you’re brave enough, approach a native Sicilian for a local’s take. If you’re not, there’s a museum dedicated to the Mafia and its impact. The village of Corleone, perhaps in an attempt to change its reputation as a crime center, opened The International Documentary Center of Mafia and the No Mafia Movement (CIDMA) in 2002. Our agency can coordinate trips to famous Mafia landmarks, both in pop culture and in reality — visit Savoca and Forza D'Agro, villages where “The Godfather” was filmed. Or visit the luxurious Palermo villa that notorious mobster Salvatore Riina raised his family in. Read the book, “The Sicilian Mafia: A True Crime Travel Guide” before your trip. Just remember to be mindful of sensitivities from locals, who may want us to fugget about it. 70 | SELECT · 2020