IL PARADISO
ust off the west coast of Sicily, the glossy Italian fantasy runs out of breath amid spawning bluefins and African winds. Instead, the Egadi islands are feral in-between lands of phantasmagoric rock and chameleonic waters, set in Europe’s largest marine reserve. Isles that feel so far out… and yet, Favignana, the largest, is only a half-hour hydrofoil ride from Sicily’s Trapani. Through lace curtains, it comes into view, its sudden dromedary hump carrying the ruined fort of Santa Caterina like a saddle. “There are miracles in these waters,” says the old priest next to me as we motor into the skirt of chlorinate blue.
