ITALY – This summer I spent a week on Pantelleria, a small island off the coast of Sicily. The island is actually closer to Tunisia than Italy, and on clear nights, the lights from Tunisia are visible on the horizon. Pantelleria is the prettiest place I have ever been; every view was breathtaking. The water was clear (and freezing). The island has an interesting history, too. During World War II, the Allies invaded the island and bombarded it from the air because its location was crucial to the Allied invasion of Sicily. Unfortunately, during the attack many of the old buildings and monuments were destroyed, and, for this reason, old architecture is seldom found on Pantelleria. In one of the photos in the gallery is a lighthouse that was heavily besieged during World War II that has not been restored since the attack. Pantelleria is also rumored to be the island that Calypso kept Odysseus trapped on in The Odyssey. I don’t blame Odysseus for spending so much time there; I never wanted to leave either.
photographs by Clio Bersani