Just 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. “There’s more beauty, more godliness here than in all the duomos in Italy.”
At the morning market, fishermen squint, roll-ups in mouth, over morning catch like…
