Palermo - 6 October 2021

The Cathedral

We spent a very comfortable and worry-free night on the anchor. Often when we anchor there is a slight concern in case it is not holding well or the weather changes overnight. On this occasion we were sure that the weather could not throw anything worse than yesterday’s storm at us, and the forecast was for quite the opposite. In fact the lack of wind was the biggest problem, as there was not enough to hold the boat into the waves, and on occasions we were sideways to the swell and rolling as a result. Despite this, we slept soundly.

The building in the centre is like a pier, with a high class restaurant

The forecasts showed more bad weather over the next couple of days, and we have secured a space in one of the marinas in Palermo to see us through this.  We were up and ready promptly, and set off for the short trip to Palermo. We were so far ahead of our plan that we had to slow down to not arrive too early. As we arrived, we could see in the distance, a fleet of dinghies with brightly coloured sails.  More of these later.

The efficient marinaros helped is dock in a relatively tight spot, and we could then relax. Our plan was to arrive early enough to get some of the chores done today and start the cultural sightseeing of the city. We have been here before but it was nearly 20 years ago, and we remember little of the city, other than that we had bad weather then as well. Before lunch we managed a trip to the chandlers to get a couple of things that we need for the boat, and then after siesta time, we headed off. The marina admin guy had equipped us with a map and a list of recommendations of places that we “must see” in Palermo.

There was an event village set up along the quayside towards the town. It transpires that the Para World Sailing Championships are being held here this week, and these were the dinghies that we had seen. There are competitors from about 35 countries, and there is a large parking area filled with wheel chairs for the competitors who are out on the water. The village area is full of people, and the joy, excitement and fulfilment of the sailors is great to see.




Having had no exercise beyond a long walk up to the front of the boat, it was good to stretch our legs and go a bit further in search of some culture. We walked up the Via Vittorio Emanuele, the prime tourist street and came to a number of significant sites. We toured the cathedral, which in part dates back to the 12th century. This had impressive painted ceilings and ornate side chapels dedicated to individual saints.



We walked on to the royal palace, missing it initially behind some gardens, and finding a back entrance. We were told that we could not enter that way, the location of the gate we should use, and that it was going to close in 10 minutes. We will have to go again tomorrow.






We meandered back to the boat through some of the side streets, looking at the mix of architecture. Palermo was one of the largest and most important cities in the world between the 9th and 12th centuries, and has been fought over for years. The town shows the influence of many different cultures, with Greek, Roman, Norman, Moor, and Spanish influences.  We have a lot more to see tomorrow.  

Steve (and Tricia)

Distance today               8 miles

Total distance 2021:   414 miles

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cagliari - 20 September 2021

It was a prompt start this morning. On Saturday we had visited a chandlers, but they did not have what we wanted. They said that they could order it but it might take 2 days to get here, and if we wanted them to do this, we should return early on Monday morning.  We were in the shop by 9:30. There were a couple of things that we needed, the one that required ordering was a spare impellor for the engine. We had used our spare while in Bosa, and we don’t like being without at least one spare. The other thing that we needed was a new controller for the anchor winch. This has been an ongoing issue for some time. We have 2 and had eventually proved that the primary one does not work, and the backup does. However, during the intervening years, the design of the connection has changed and they did not have one of our configuration. After weighing up the possibilities, we concluded that we should replace the fitting on the boat with the new style and get the new controller to this specif...
Read more

Trapani - 30/31 October & 1 November 2021

Image
Saturday would have been the day to go to Erice, if the weather was the deciding factor, the views up to the top were glorious, but this was not in the plan. Chris had to return home and so we spent the morning with him packing while one of the workmen struggled to remove a hatch cover that needs to go away for repair. Then we sat in the sun at a café, having a coffee overlooking the harbour. Trapani has a good bus service to Palermo airport, and is no further away than Palermo itself is from the airport. We saw Chris on his way, which he later said was very picturesque, and then returned to the boat to continue with the packing up. It was dry so the focus was on clearing equipment from the decks while we could.   Everything needs to be cleaned and packed away for the winter. We had a near perfect mackerel sky Sunday and Monday were both more of the same, with the focus shifting to below decks. We won’t go into all the details, but gradually the list has reduced to the extent tha...
Read more

Balestrate 23/24 October 2021

Image
Sundays' weather systems Saturday was a day for chores and preparation for the time with our son, Chris. We ultimately made three round trips into town, climbing the steps up the cliff side each time. We were first to arrive at the excellent laundry, so had our pick of the machines. It did not take too long, and we returned to the boat for coffee, before starting in the food shopping. We had to keep an eye on the weather, as we did not want to get caught in the open during one of the downpours that were forecast. Bread, fruit and vegetables, fish and then on the final trip, supermarket essentials were accumulated. And all without getting wet. Our worries about the replacement of Alitalia with a new airline, ITA, proved to be unfounded, Chris’ flights all ran as expected and landed early. He did receive a text update saying that the time of his flight had been moved forward, but as he was sitting on the plane before the message was delivered, there was no problem. The taxi that w...
Read more