I already told you about our boat trip around Marettimo Island and the fisherman we encountered there. A year later, we went for the day to Favignana Island, just off the Trapani coast, and the largest of the Aegadian Islands.

Marettimo felt much more intimate since it’s so tiny, but I enjoyed all the action on Favignana island, and it felt like there was much more to explore autonomously. The colors, while not as vibrant as Greece, are still a sight to see. Favignana doesn’t have very many picturesque beaches, but lots of areas to do scuba diving and enjoy the view.

While some parts of the island were accessible by public transportation, and the little city Praia was cute, our group decided to rent scooters (motorini), that way we could see more of the island and be free to move on if it was too crowded or we didn’t like it. And you know I love riding Vespa scooters!

I thought I would take more pictures from the bike, but the roads are pretty winding and when you’re in a group, it’s not as easy to stop and snap a picture without losing the rest of the group!

The first stop on our rented scooters was Cala Rossa. It’s not actually red but one of the more picturesque spots on the island. In fact many sailboats were docked there, as you can see.

Some of the rock formations behind us were fascinating. If it hadn’t been so hot I might have explored the nooks and crannies a little more.

Not that many people were in the water at Cala Rossa, which, after making a long trek to an open space on the rocks for our group, we discovered was due to the presence of medusa, jellyfish, in the water. We risked it anyway and jumped just to get rid of the road grime. A few minutes later we spotted a medusa and the party was over. Everyone got out and spent most of the time laying on the rocks. Then we moved on.

Cala Azzurra was by far the easiest water to enter and it was very cold (by Mediterranean standards) which was great because it was blazing hot that day. Here, though, we encountered little “friendly” fish that liked to nip at your legs. I felt quite a few nips before we kept up a constant movement the whole time we were in the water. Funny how we adjust when it’s necessary.

Cala Rotonda was our last stop on the tour around the island. It had quick a rocky “beach” and it was a kilometer or two of unpaved road to get there, but it was a peaceful end to our pretty hectic day.

To top off the afternoon, one of our group members did get stung by a jellyfish here. Luckily it wasn’t me!

Before getting on the boat to go back to the mainland, you can pick up some fish from the local fishmongers. Favignana is one of the few places where they still have tonnare (sing. tonnara) – tuna fisheries, and I recommend picking up a little jar of tonno con olio di oliva (tuna with olive oil) before you go home.

As for buying fresh fish, there are plenty of fishmongers near the ferries, but I can’t guarantee that you’ll be getting a good price. The fishmongers know tourists when they see them.

But it doesn’t cost anything to look.

You may even see a fish you’ve never seen before!

Afterwards, we sat down and had an aperitivo, and enjoyed the scenery in the port town of Praia. I spotted a forno with excellent pizza a taglio, sliced pizza and picked up a few slices as we recovered from our busy day.

After riding around in the motorino / scooter all day, you’ll need a little rest. That’s the mainland of Sicily there in the background.

Read more of my posts about Sicily!

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Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• Ms. Adventures in Italy in 7 Links
• Fisherman and Fishmongers, Marettimo – Favignana, Sicily
• Marettimo, Sicily : A Boat Tour to Remember

Be sure you check out the savoury side of this Sicilian wedding, too with A Wedding in Sicily and a Sicilian Food Feast!!

Despite the fact I am about to show you many, many torte (cakes) that were at the dessert buffet of our friend’s Sicilian wedding, at this point in the evening I was a little, erm, distracted due to the copious amounts of food (see previous post), drinks and toasts (hint: at a Sicilian wedding, all you have to do is end every toast with “A Gli Sposi!” to justify your toast and subsequent drinking), and dancing (yes, I cut a rug like nobody’s business).

So there was more, dear readers. And I fell short photographing it all for you, but that’s why it’s called a vacation, right?

The Sacher Torte, Austrian in origin, but much loved in Italy.

A semifreddo cake. Much like my Chocolate and Pistachio Semifreddo with Cacao Nibs.

A cake covered in Frutti di Bosco – wild (forest) berries.

A cake made with Pan di Spagna – Italian sponge cake.

Lots of fragole strawberries topped this cake.

Another foreign favorite: the Sant’Honoré from France

And yes, there was a classic wedding cake there, too, just in case one of the other cakes present didn’t work for you.

Gelato “dopo cena” (after dinner) in little individual serving glasses. Fruity little cups…

And caffè, coffee-flavored gelato, too!

Need more? Check out my “Discovering Food“ or “Discovering Italy” for more food-laden or Italy-laden posts!

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Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• A Wedding in Sicily and a Sicilian Food Feast!
• A Pugliese wedding in Abruzzo at Castello di Septe
• A Pugliese wedding in Abruzzo, Italy

One day I’ll post some pictures of the actual wedding, but for now, I thought I’d share some pictures of the food. I mean, because let’s be honest, you’re just here for the food porn, right?

L’Agora di Segesta where they had the reception had a lovely view of the Segesta Greek ruins just on the other hill. We got there late enough that I only got one picture of the ruins before it was too dark.

They had a buffet di antipasti, a big buffet of appetizers outside while the sun went down. There were trays of bresaola with shreds of parmigiano and arugula with slices of lemon, insalata di mare with octopus and calamari marinated in lemon juice, marinated artichoke hearts garnished with slices of lime, slivers of salmone e pesce spada affumicata -smoked salmon and swordfish, shrimp salad tossed with cubes of mango and kiwi, prosciutto being sliced directly off the hock, along with beef roast.

It makes our own light Pugliese lunch reception (antipasti and first plates) after returning from the wedding in California seem rather tiny by comparison!

Here’s a tower of speck and prosciutto with chunks of melon and parmigiano reggiano cheese.

Fresh Oysters ready to be shelled and eaten at any moment!

Cubed mortadella that was perfect for snacking when you weren’t on the dance floor. With a toothpick, you had a meal!

One of my favorite displays ANYWHERE in Italy – a big wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano (in this case) chunked up and ready to be eaten. A chunk or two would always clear up my palate a bit between all the different flavors. And, it tastes great with whatever you’re drinking.

One of my favorite seafood appetizers, that we had at our lunch reception, too – cozze grattugiate – breaded mussels!

I was pleasantly surprised to see some watermelon art at the wedding – not so different from the carved watermelons I saw at my friend’s wedding feast in India (but no pics, sorry).

After a big buffet of antipasti, of course that meant there were still 2 first plates AND 3 second (fish) plates to eat. Here, perhaps my favorite dish of the evening – unfortunately even this small amount I requested I wasn’t able to finish: Tagliatelle in Vellutata di Crostacei / Shellfish sauce. Yum!

There was also a risotto al gambero rosso – big shrimp similar to crayfish. I didn’t get any pictures of the grilled shrimp, or the grouper, but they did make the rounds at our table.

This was my favorite part of the night – what a display! A flaming roasted sea bass fish brought out for everyone to enjoy. If you look closely, you’ll notice the bridal couple standing behind it.

I didn’t forget about the desserts, though. Did you?

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Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• A Wedding in Sicily and a Sicilian Food Feast: The Desserts
• A Pugliese wedding in Abruzzo, Italy
• A Pugliese wedding in Abruzzo at Castello di Septe

Last year, there were many wildfires and so we were unable to go to one of the most beautiful spots on the Sicilian coast, Lo Zingaro Nature Reserve.

Lo Zingaro is on the Castellammare coast and has 7km of coastline which is all unaccessible via roads. Some of the beaches are only accessible via the water, or perhaps in another way like you can see below: by horse.

We had left our horses in our other pants, so we decided to make our way to the first beach, more than 1 kilometer away, on foot. Walking through the tunnel towards the beach. Inside the tunnel there was a traditional Sicilian cart but it was too dark to get a good picture of it.

There are some beautiful views on the walk, especially of the Castellammare coast. In the background, on the other side of those mountains is Palermo.

Getting closer to the closest inlet after the reserve entrance, Cala della Capreria.

A view of Cala della Capreria from above. The place was packed full of people, but it didn’t matter much seeing as how you were in the water most of the time.

If you’re thinking of going to Lo Zingaro, I recommend getting there as early as possible as they often shut down the entrance if there are too many people admitted. Also, if there are high winds or wildfires, they may also stop admitting people for safety reasons (as it happened last year). Wear some decent shoes as you’ll be trekking over a little bit of terrain and definitely bring water and something to eat as there are no services inside the reserve.

There is a small fee to enter.

The Official Lo Zingaro site (in Italian) www.riservazingaro.it and some information in English from the Comune di San Vito website.

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Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• A Wedding in Sicily and a Sicilian Food Feast: The Desserts
• The Client’s Response
• Eating humble pie