The Wind, The Sea, The Adventure

A final night breeze in Favignana, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Tonight, a Monday night, the town is very quiet after all of the activity of the weekend. The ferries keep coming all day long from different destinations, and the daily visitors walk up and down the streets or rent bicycles. It is a perfect little situation for the local merchants and restaurants. The daytrippers spend a little or a lot of the day here, dropping Euros into the economy and then they get back on the ferry and leave. The people that we have been communicating with tell us that this is the perfect time to visit because the summer gets very crowded and many people from mainland Sicily stay here for an extended period of time.

For us, it is someplace that we will never forget. The people are so friendly and they have grown accustom to us because we hang out so much at the local dives, and seek out places out in the neighborhoods. Each day Aliyah loves to go to her favorite little bakery and buy a few cookies that have a delicious almond paste filling. She is mildly to greatly addicted, and swears that you cannot find these things anywhere else that she has been. We then go down to the local cafe' and order cafe' lattes or tea. It is very easy here, and the store owners know us by now. The cafe's are the mainstay of existence here: You get your cappuccino and sweets in the morning, progress to your midday panini with wine or beer, and then return later for your dinner with more wine and beer. They cover all bases and there must be thirty of them in this little town.

I had a very nice encounter with some retirees from England this morning at our favorite local cafe'. I was sitting at a large table reading when they asked in broken Italian if they could sit at the table with me. I said, "Me speaka no English", so they proceeded to stumble through some primitive Italian phrases, when I suddenly said, " I'm just pulling your leg, I don't speak English, I speak American," and we proceeded to have a good laugh. They asked me what had brought me to Favignana, and I told them I was looking for weapons of mass destruction, and we had another good laugh. I then told them that I really was here to see if Bin Ladin's body had surfaced, and we had another good laugh. You see, I told you I was funny. They were great folks, who lived outside of London. We discussed educational similarities and differences and various and asundry topics, and then Aliyah arrived and they thought she was beautiful. Very nice people.

Today we bicycled up, or walked way up to try to get to the highest point on the island, that is topped with an ancient Moorish castle. It is not the absolutely intimidating or impenetrable fortress like the Norman stronghold in Erice, but it is still pretty amazing. Well, without belaboring the point, we only made it about a third of the way up. It turned out to be the Tour de Death on a bike, and we walked as far as we could, but it was such an intense incline that we would have needed sleeping bags to spend the night if we could have gone all the way to the top. I was proud of our effort, and I was trying to imagine Peter, Rob, and Curtis attempting this, and wondering how far up these peak conditioned riders would have gotten. We settled on a few great panoramic shots of Favignana from up high and headed back to the lowlands. Wow, what a great ride down it was! Now, that was more like my kind of cycling!

We cycled to a beach area, which was one of the only areas we had not been to and found the most beautiful natural wooded area complete with stone bungalows. Everything here is made of stone. The island is actually partitioned by miles and miles of stone walls, and there are endless subterranean quarries, some from ancient times. The island is still full of WW 2 fortifications, which I mentioned prior. Back to the beach- the beach was stunning. The rock formations were easily accessible and we finally got into the water and walked around a bit. The water was crystal clear and had the most beautiful turquoise coloring yet. Favignana's waters are beautiful everywhere, but this area was very special. As we cycled further down the road, we came across the sleepiest little cluster of houses, which were the homes of some of the fishermen in the area. In front of the houses was the nicest little harbor, which housed about twenty-five blue and white fishing boats. Almost every one of these fishermen fit the profile of "The Old Man and the Sea". We just sat and observed this entire Steinbeck scene and listened to the Italians communicate even the most simple phrases with great emotion. This language always has the potential for excitement, no matter how mundane the communication is. I'm beginning to realize why almost everything my Grandfather said to me when I was little ended with either tears of joy, regret, or some Italian frustration, or dire prediction. Aliyah thinks I am so dramatic, but she doesn't realize the epics that play out inside of my head, and the intensity and seriousness of each and every thought and idea. I'm a walking opera! Not many languages have such drama and suspense built right into them; I mean, I love Yiddish and the way there is no end to the levels of disappointment, inuendo, and inference that one can descend to, but Italian is really a beautiful language to listen to, even when you have no idea what is being said.

With all of that said, I will sign on out for tonight. Tomorrow we walk the town and say our goodbyes, and take the hydrofoil to Marsala, Mars Allah, The Port of Allah. We don't drink wine, so we will have to settle for a good bottle of Marsala vinegar and more fresh tuna (tonna). Like everywhere else, Marsala has an incredible history, and the architecture and ruins to back it up. We will post more pictures tomorrow. Ciao.