Sicily

August 2023, ten days with Giulia, my girlfriend, and Simone Caimi. We left at night by car, with the satnav saying 1,335 km and 12 hours to Trapani. “The directions look clear enough to me,” was Simone’s comment. By dawn we were on the motorway, under the sign for the ferry. Our base was a flat near Trapani.

The coast around Trapani

Baia Cornino at sunset on the first evening, then Macari, the Tonnara del Secco and San Vito Lo Capo, driving the coast road with Giulia acting as camerawoman. We spent Ferragosto, the 15 August holiday, sailing from Trapani to Favignana, between Cala Cavallo and Cala Rossa, which, truth be told, isn’t very red.

The next day, breakfast in Erice at Maria Grammatico’s pastry shop, with eight little plates of almond sweets. Then fireworks in Trapani, almost as good as the ones in Lecco, and Segesta, with its theatre and temple in a sun-scorched landscape.

The Zingaro Nature Reserve

If I had to recommend just one thing from this trip, it would be the Riserva dello Zingaro. We walked 14 km along the coast, one cove after another: Cala Beretta, the Tonnarella dell’Uzzo, bays full of boats seen from the path, and turquoise water everywhere.

Palermo and the way home

In Palermo, a light breakfast of two giant cannoli, the Quattro Canti, the Cathedral, and a message from a friend who happened to be around as well: “you’re in Palermo too?”. We broke the journey home into stages: Pompeii, where the Romans already had pedestrian crossings, and Florence as the last stop, with the Ponte Vecchio and a bistecca alla fiorentina at the Antica Trattoria Da Tito.

Practical notes

• The Riserva dello Zingaro is my number one tip: allow a whole day, our walk was 14 km.
• For Favignana, sailing over from Trapani is a great way to get there.
• If you drive down from the north, break up the journey home: we stopped in Pompeii and Florence.