We motored into the small yacht marina which was equally unattractive and expensive. We were all tired from our night watches and 388 nautical mile, 72 hour sail from Zakinthos.

So after a couple of hours sleep Jackie, John, Tony and I set off to explore Palermo.  The Rod Heikell pilot book describes Palermo harbour as ‘oily and dirty, the immediate surroundings seedy and begrimed’----sadly it was accurate.

 

There are a few grand buildings,in particular the beautiful cathedral, but generally we found  the city tired, run down and quite dirty with lots of litter everywhere.  We also hit the city on a Sunday, with most places closed, only adding to the grimy facades of the roller shuttered buildings.

 

We suspect that other resorts on the coast and the interior villages may be beautiful but we certainly saw the worst of Palermo.

 

We had a nice local pizza lunch ashore, explored the city and later walked along the seafront to a park area which had a nice family atmosphere with local people ‘Sunday’ promenading.  Sadly the litter around was major.

Amongst the street performers was a guy on a scooter with a ‘makeshift’ mega sound system strapped to a battery on his rear wheel.  The cool dude wore horns and fur moon boots on the hot day, blasting out reggae--- quite a character---more reminiscent of the Caribbean ( see photo).

 

 

We stayed at the marina for one night and had the pleasure of meeting the crew of a stunning 90ft swan super yacht which moored along side us just after dark---dwarfing Tioram in size.

We sampled the local Sicilian ice cream--- got to be done, at midnight, before heading back to the boat for a nights sleep in a ‘still’ boat.

 

The next morning, the 12th we slipped our mooring lines to set sail for Sardinia. The north coast of Sicily, west of Palermo looked stunning from the sea with beautiful beaches and a stunning headland and mountain range.

 

Photos of ---------

 

Approaching Palermo

Cathedral in Palermo

Derelict grand buildings

Cool dude on scooter with ‘makeshift’ sound machine !

Waterfront life/street performers

Swan mega yacht--------- note the position of the fenders were set for the tiny length of Tioram alongside--------- a stunner.

 

Love to all

 

Tina and Tony, Jackie and John x x x