We arrived in Marsala on a beautiful, rainy day, after an early morning journey from Rome. We had chosen to visit Marsala due to my great interest in the land: my family’s historical link to the city, and of course, the famous Marsala wine. Therefore, while offseason, we decided to stay at Baglio Donna Franca, an organic winery just Northeast of Marsala. At Trapani airport, a small airport in the city just North of Marsala, we grabbed a taxi at the one exit, and struggled a bit to communicate the location of our abode. The drive was incredible. Apart from an accidental start into downtown, we swerved back toward the wine lands. Open fields of green to begin, great mountains in the background, and distant windmills dotting the skyline took our breath away. Small town buildings rushed away into grape vines and olive trees.
And then, we were there. We pulled into Baglio Donna Franca to see what looked like an old building placed on a sandy clearing, completely surrounded by grape vines around the building. As I stepped out of the taxi, I noticed white roses were placed at the start of each line of the vines, creating a beautiful, unique divider and mark of this winery’s grapes. I strolled to the back of the taxi, grabbed my one Camelbak pack, and stared up at the Baglio building, soaking in the fact that we were then one of a whole three cars in the dusty dirt parking lot. Brandon grabbed his fancy, secured pack as well, paid our taxi driver, and then, standing in awe, we watched him drive away.
With a deep breath, we entered this magical place.
It was about 10am, and our stomachs were growling without any breakfast, and we entered this ancient, silent building.
We figured since it was a resort, we’d be able to find food, but that we’d start by seeing if it was possible to get checked into our room early. The reception area was luckily open, where I met a lovely young lady with vast, brown curly hair similar to mine, a big smile, and an air of humbleness and nervousness. Before leaving for Italy, I had been studying my heart out on Duolingo, the language-learning app, and while I had used a bit of Italian in Rome, it was more for fun than a true communication requirement. Now though, I needed to practice what I’d learned. With the kind lady’s patience, we managed to check into our rooms, and get a brief tour of the buildings.
The building had an ancient air about it – all of the furniture had that old, musty smell, but the kind that gives you a cozy, safe feeling.
One of the cabinets in the shared guest area was full of old Marsala wine bottles.
After checking into our newly cleaned (and therefore smelling highly of ammonia) room, we decided it was best to find some food. But, there were no restaurant signs available, no food markets, no hint at how we would figure it out…so I went back to the kind, curly haired lady who had checked us in. Through my terrible Italian, we were able to learn that dinner was available at the restaurant at 7:30pm (and it seemed they could accommodate my allergies!), but no lunch was available onsite. The only food nearby could be found through taking a taxi into town. There had been some bikes I’d seen as we’d found our room, so I asked if we could rent some bikes and go into the nearby small town instead? Turned out: we could just borrow them! The lady drew me a map of to find the market, and we were on our way!
I think Brandon may have thought me a bit crazy – biking into a small Sicilian city to find food in a tiny market with only my limited Italian proficiency to wield, but he came with me! The bike ride was incredible. It was a bit chilly outside, and the breeze was flying pretty strong, but we warmed up pretty well biking, being nervous and trying to make sure we didn’t fall off our bikes (no helmets!). A couple of cars drove by us, but otherwise, we were practically alone with the wind, the olive trees, the old buildings, the birds, and the view. It’s hard to describe the feel of the wind blowing through your hair, taking deep breaths of clean, clear air, and smelling a new, green, deep, dark, yet organic and natural odor of the plants and the vibrant Sicilian landscape. I had a huge smile on my face. I love wind. I love travel. And I was there with the man I love. What a fun, memorable experience!
We found the little store in town, Crai, and left our bikes in the font, leaning, untied, up against a tree. Inside, we grabbed some apples, canned tuna, tomato sauce, hot dogs, peach juice, almonds, and pre-packaged cakes (for Brandon) and checked out. Everyone seemed to know one another in the tiny store. With only four little rows, and the meat counter in the back, it was very easy to see that we were definitely the ones out of place! But, I enjoyed looking at all of the new products, reading the ingredients, and decoding which ones were free of gluten, soy, and cow dairy. I was just happy to find anything at all!
So, we packed up our baskets on the front of the bikes, and began our trek back to Donna Franca. It just so happened that most of the travel to the store had been downhill…so we got ready for a push uphill…among the olive trees!
Brandon and I were having such a wonderful time. We talked about the nervousness of being in a new place, watched stray dogs run by, felt the air on our cold hands, and tried to remain fully present in the experience. How often do you get to borrow a bike in Sicily and ride around? We were loving it so much that once we made it back to Donna Franca, we decided to keep going along the road and explore the edge of the vineyard.
Ancient Baglios (I will explain more in other posts) can be seen behind Brandon, as well as hundreds of grapevines…without their leaves.
Across from the vineyard of Donna Franca, large piles of plant refuse could be seen in massive piles on the land. In addition, the massive mountains and far off windmills could be seen as well.
Getting hungry, we decided to return “home”. But not without a picture together in front of the winery’s roses and vines…
Being hungry, and having a room smelling of ammonia, we decided to have lunch on the rooftop terrace instead. A perfect decision. The view from the top was almost unbelievable. Standing in one location, it was possible to see the city of Marsala, the ocean, islands, mountains, vineyards, olive groves, rosemary, lavender, the hotel pool, old Baglios in the area, and of course, the courtyard and construction itself of Donna Franca.
We ate lunch partially on the table, partially sitting on the tile surrounding the rooftop – just talking, sharing and appreciating the beauty. It was a little chilly, but the food satisfied our hunger after a long day, and it was peaceful to just soak in the experience. After some time, I noticed the old “bones” of the building, and enjoyed photographing them…as they were in stark contrast with the modern-edging pool behind.
Then, an Italian wasp suddenly gained interest in our little picnic and made the decision that it wanted some of our food. Brandon, disliking wasps, almost went inside…but I wanted to wait a bit more, and hoped the wasp would go away if we hid the food. And, it was then, that a beautiful sound could be heard from on the back hill behind the pool. Bells.
And it was sheep. Hundreds of sheep, two dogs, and a sheepherder begin to make their way across the hill towards the road, and towards our view from the top of the rooftop. The sound of bells was beautiful. It was like cow bells, but a bit more delicate, mixed with the wind, birds, and our own excited breathing. Brandon sat next to me, wrapped his arms around me, and we just sat. Listening. I tried to capture it in video…but it’s just never the same recorded as the feeling of being present in that moment…it was unbelievable.
Brandon went inside to grab my purse and some water, and I went back to the table. Watching the clouds in the distance behind Donna Franca, a storm was brewing: dark clouds were visibly starting to tumble towards us, and it was getting a bit more chilly. Brandon came back outside, and I excitedly was pointing at the sky – telling him that we should stay outside a bit longer, sit, and watch the clouds roll in since the storm looked like it would be there soon. He half-sat down next to me on my left side, leaned in, and said something about wanting to ask me a question since we were there. “Of course!” I said…still staring at the storm clouds coming our way…expecting him to ask something about our plans for the afternoon, our agenda to explore Marsala the next day or about the rest of our Italian adventure. Instead…he bent down on one knee, and I look at him, with a box in front of him, open, with a ring inside, and my mouth, open in shock.
“Will you marry me?”
I wasn’t fully aware of what my face was doing, and just stared at him for a moment, before kissing him, smiling, and giggling.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes, of course, Brandon, I love you!”
…tears flowed, at that point…(only from me, of course!), and I honestly don’t remember very much of what I said. I was surprised, shaking a bit in my hands, and still babbling about the beauty of the storm which was still coming our way. I hadn’t expected him to propose, especially not in Marsala on a rooftop at a winery we were staying at! It was the perfect setting. The most amazing view. The most intimate and secluded spot, where we could just stay in our happy bubble, soak in nature, hold one another, and just be. Presently. Together. And dream.
There is so much more to tell about Donna Franca, the restaurant, the winery, and our Italian travels. But, I wanted to write that down, share the story…and kickoff this amazing opportunity to share our winey travels…with you.
Winey Travelers 