For the most part, we'll let Tom's photo tell today's story. We spent most of this day at Lo Zingaro, Sicily's first nature reserve on the far northwest corner of the island, and it was spectacular. We hiked a coastal trail high carved into the mountains that fall into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Wildflowers everywhere, blue sky, and waters that ranged from navy to turquoise -- everything sparkled on this beautiful day. It was Big Sur without the road, the Cinque Terre without the towns and crowds, the Amalfi Coast without the tour buses and crowds. Just like-minded hikers and us -- and more than enough beauty for us to share.
A couple of stray notes here, things we've noticed as we're on the road. The first is something we've noted on previous trips to Italy. While the historic town centers are beautiful and atmospheric, the countryside is glorious, and traditional rural villages and towns lovely, most building construction during the last hundred years or so has been decidedly utilitarian and often downright ugly. Whatever the reason -- likely postwar expediency -- the contrast between la Bella Italia and la Bruta Italia is striking.
In prior visits to Italy, especially in the cities from south to north, we have certainly been aware of the presence immigrants from North Africa, typically young men selling trinkets or knockoff designer handbags, often laid out on the ground on tarps that are easily gathered up at the approach of law enforcement personnel. Here in Sicily on this trip, the presence of young North African men in small towns and riding bikes on rural roads is striking. Sicily is very close to Tunisia, and the arrival of immigrants from across the sea is, as we all know a common occurrence. In Marsala, we've noted in African influence in the restaurants and markets. We are seeing the evening news in front of our eyes.
Tomorrow, we leave Marsala to spend one night visiting a site in Sicily's interior before heading to Catania on the southeast coast on Sunday.
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