On day three of our Sicily holiday we decided to take a day trip to the Islands off Trapani - a fun boat ride and then a day swimming in crystal clear waters in the Egadi Islands. At least that was the plan.
We left Trapani Port on a ferry that was to stop at each of the three islands. Our plan was to get off at the second stop, at the largest of the islands, Favignana. There you can hire bikes and ride about the island, exploring the relics of the largely dead tuna-fishing industry and swim in the pretty bays.
The day did not start auspiciously. Amongst the other tourists boarding our ferry we discovered a family all wearing matching fluorescent hats emblazoned with the word "Italy". The hats didn't offer a great deal of sun protection, so the only reason I could think for wearing them was a) to prevent the wearers from losing one another; b) to ensure the wearers and those around them did not forget what country they were in; and c) to advertise to the world that the wearers were, indeed, tourists.
I assumed the family must be from Japan. It's a stereotype, I know, but it seems to be Japanese tourists who prop up the tourist clothing trade and who don't mind being immediately identifiable (even from a great distance) as tourists. The rest of us tend to try our hardest to blend in, hiding our maps and guidebooks and taking great pride in being mistaken for locals. We probably look just as silly, or perhaps more so, as we try to hide our Lonely Planets under our arms, but it's just the way we travel. Therefore, I was shocked to hear the youngest amongst the family, a woman of around my age, say in an unmistakeably Australian accent:
"Dad, we're in Sicily. We can't eat Chinese for dinner again!"
It wasn't a great day for the image of Australian tourists. I suppose it served me right for relying on stereotypes.
After that shock, it was time to board the ferry. I was in such a good mood as I skipped on board that I didn't think to wonder why, as we boarded, there was a friendly ferry employee handing out plastic bags to everyone. Five minutes into the trip and I discovered what the bags were for. That was when the first person started to loudly, violently and repeatedly vomit into his plastic bag. That seemed to set everyone off. It was like watching a row of dominoes fall - one by one, everyone started heaving into their plastic bags. The friendly employee then began doing rounds - handing out more and more plastic bags as the passengers filled them. I don't think I'm exaggerating in saying that 50% of the passengers were vomiting. I came close but, thanks to a loving husband fanning me with his ferry ticket and mopping my brow, I managed to hold it in. Just. So the moment the boat stopped we were out of that boat like a shot. We didn't even stop to see what island we'd arrived at, my only thought was that I couldn't stay in the vomit boat another minute longer. Once I was out on stable ground, I asked a helpful woman at the tourist both what Island we landed on and was told we had arrived at Levanzo.
This is one of the smaller islands and it has very little on it aside from stunning beaches. As it was, we were rather happy with that, and spent the day exploring the beaches, swimming in the crystal clear waters and reading books in the sun.
Thankfully, by the time we were ready to leave, the ocean provided a smoother pathway to the mainland, and we had an uneventful ferry ride back to Trapani. We also spotted the Australian family back on the mainland, still wearing their hats.
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