The 30 mile, 4 hour sail from Castellammare Del Golfo to Sicily’s capital, Palermo was warm, sunny and uneventful. The same cannot be said for the experience of mooring once we arrived!

Typically, there having been very little wind whilst at sea, it picked up to gusts of 20 knots as soon as we arrived in the harbour. When we saw a couple of marina guys waving at us from the quay, we dismissed them as surely the space they indicated was not for us as it would be just about big enough:

a) even if there was no wind

b) even if there were not a cluster of rowing boats along the small jetty to our port side and

c) even if there was not an enormous Pirate ship to our Starboard!!

We made a number of attempts to moor but the chances of hitting something were fairly high and Jacques eventually said ‘No it won’t work’ and it is VERY unusual for Jacques to give up! We asked for another spot and the base said that was all they had so we took a deep breath, waited for a moments lull in the wind, threw a line to the Pirates to hold us whilst we reversed, got the rowboats to move out of the way and although quite a squeeze Hey Presto! Jacques did it!!

Well that was enough adventure for 1 day, so a night on board left us refreshed and ready to hit the town the next day. After Trapani I doubted anywhere else could be as enchanting and as we were now in a City I wondered if some of the Sicilian magic might be lost. It turned out to be a different type of magic but magical it was! It has a unique mixture of Norman, Moorish, and Baroque architecture – all equally as stunning and some buildings a mixture of all styles added on over a number of centuries.

First ‘Wow’ moment was the Theatre Massimo which at only 200 years old is very modern compared to the other historic buildings.

There are a number of UNESCO sites in Palermo but none as breathtaking as the Cathedral. I make no apologies for the amount of photos, some taken from the climb (100 slippery marbles steps!) up to and some from the actual roof!

Short stop on our way to the top!

And then ‘Up on the Roof……’

And to prove I was there – one of my special badly taken selfies!

The bells rang for quarter to the hour! Wow they were loud and pleased we made a move down before the hourly chimes started.

We had dinner and drinks, my now customary Aperol Spritz (which I have to say I hated the first time I had it but perhaps because that was in the Cotswolds in February!) and Jacques taking a shine to the local Messina beer.

Our walk back to the Marina took us past other incredible sights….

And lastly, not quite historic just happily quirky, a multi coloured ribboned and bowed caravan!

We only have one more stop before reaching Capo d’Orlando where we say ‘Arrivederci’ to Mossy Joe for 10 weeks. Jacques decided to cheer us both up with this screen shot……

My final couple of posts will be in next few days.

Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend and here’s hoping for a glimmer of Sun where ever in the world you are! xxxx