Pink flamingos and shimmering lemon groves: exploring Sicily’s Vendicari nature reserve

This wetland south of Syracuse was saved from developers and preserved as an unspoilt haven for migratory birds We rented Il Nido because we thought other people wouldn’t like it. Small and basic, without internet, the property was supposedly beside a beautiful national park famous for its coastline and migratory birds. The online picture suggested it was pressed up against one of those concrete pillars (common around Sicily) supporting a deserted and rotting motorway flyover. I was writing a thriller with mafia connections. My partner wanted to scrape off six months of fumes from her new job

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