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| Today we are off to Favignana, one of the Egadi Islands off the coast of Trapani. But first, our lost bag has arrived....the airline delivered it; I don't know what happened to the special arrangement with the taxi driver, but that drama is over.
It is a beautiful, sunny, warm day--perfect for a sea voyage. At breakfast, our "friends" at the Bar Giacolone tell us that the island is "bellissima". Before we get on the "aliscafi" (hydrofoil), we drive out to the west end of town, where there are two long promenades that stretch out into the sea. We also stop at the market where the fishermen sell their catch...it is jumping on a Sunday morning and the stalls are filled with all manner of sea creatures....octopus, eels, many varieties of shrimp and fish; the vendors all are calling out, telling everyone how good their wares are. The hydrofoil trip is unsatisfactory because you are sitting in a closed cabin with dirty windows....not much bracing sea air. There is one stop at a neighboring island--Levanzo--the port is a small village and the island appears to be rocky and arid. Favignana--five minutes away--is a much bigger town and a more populated island. The famous catching and killing of tuna -the mattanza - took place here, but that now is an occasional June event for tourists. We walk up to the town--an attractive busy little port city--to get our bearings. We decide not to rent a taxi for a circuit of the island, but to walk across to the other side to one of the beaches and have lunch. We have a nice conversation with the lady at the tourist office--Francesca; she tells how much she would like to visit America (she loves American films) but she is afraid to fly. Armed with our map, we start our walk; the guidebooks say it is 15 minutes to the other side. We find a sign that points us in the right direction, but the walk takes us about three times as long. Luckily it is flat and the day is pleasant. When we finally arrive on the other side (Lido di Burriate), we are ready to sit down. Luckily the first sign we see is for a restaurant called La Playa. We walk out to the beach side and find tables set out on the beach with a view around the bay. Our lunch plans are set. We have a good lunch....We split an assortment of smoked fish (she likes the salmon, I like the tuna) and a superlative caprese--the tomatoes are perfect. We have two different varieties of seafood pasta....both very tasty--mine has a taste of cinnamon. We eat, soak up the sun, look at the very blue sea, and people watch.....idyllic. After lunch, we ask them to call a taxi but one of the waiters volunteers to be our driver and five minutes later we are a back at the port. After a quick gelato, we get on the hydrofoil back to Trapani.....thirty minutes later we are back in town. After all the sun we had, we head back to the hotel and take a rest. About 6 pm, we head out for the old town for the "passeggiata." It is a little early but we join the Trapanese in a leisurely stroll up and down the main shopping streets. We pick up some hard candies made by an old man set up in a storefront with a heating element, a pot, lots of sugar and flavorings. The candy resembles salt water taffy but it is not chewy. One of the other customers told us that he is the last person in Sicily making this kind of candy. We also stop at the bakery where they are supposed to have the best cannoli in town. We split a piece--and it is good; the shell is exceptionally crisp and tasty, but the filling is still too sweet for me. Dinner time is approaching and tonight we decide to go to the highly recommended pizza place in the old town--Calvino's. However when we arrive at about 9 pm, we are told that we will have at least an hour wait, so we move on. On our way, we pass another restaurant we had been planning to try, so we go into Da Beppe. It is a small restaurant, walls crammed with paintings. Diana has a pizza di Parma, which is quite good--we are not usually big fans of pizza in Italy and I have a forgettable Caprese, but a great plate of spaghetti alle vongole--the clams are delicious and the pasta is dressed perfectly. A good meal when we least expect it..... A quick drive back to the hotel.....tomorrow we drive to Castelvetrano to have lunch with the producers of a luxury Sicilian olive oil--Olio Verde. |
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