Mondello

29th - 31 August

Another beautiful sail. I remembered how much I love this northern coast of Sicily with its rolling hills and high mountains, layer upon layer of mountain range, or so it seems as we pass along near the coast. It was a perfect, lazy afternoon, knowing we had lots of time to get to Mondello Bay before nightfall. Tony wants me to mention that part of our route involved passing Palermo airport, quite close to the runway at one point. One of the planes coming in to land seemed too close for comfort, I crossed my fingers, hoped our mast wasn't too high which, of course, it couldn't have been or sailing boats would not be allowed in that particular area.

Mondello is another of those Sicilian towns that we visit whenever we are passing by. The town developed as a beach resort in the 19th century when rich merchants from Palermo started to build large villas there. The magnificent bathing pavilion that dominates the sea- front dates from that time. Unusually for this region, most of the 2km beach has been taken over by private clubs and access for the occasional visitor seems to be limited, but that is only my impression. I assume that seasonal visitors buy a temporary membership and then enjoy all the facilities that each club offers, from sun loungers to pedaloes to windsurfers and small sailing dinghies and whatever other entertainments the beach visitor demands.

Next morning we went ashore. The small harbour was unchanged, pontoons full of small pleasure boats (most of the harbour is too shallow for anything else), a place on the quay for the Guardia Costiera boat and the tour boat that comes in a couple of times a day and various small fishing boats tied alongside the quay. As usual, we found a place by the steps, tied up the dinghy and went off for our cappuccino and some shopping. As usual, the harbour area was a bit untidy, in need of a good spring clean, but full of life, full of activity.

Our first stop was the main square for coffee. As we approached I thought, oh, there is one of those 'living' statues, and was waiting for him to bow and thank whoever had put a coin in his collecting hat. As with the' Sailor Home From the Sea' in Cartagena, I had been fooled. Here was another of those lifelike statues, this one of a musician, violin at the ready, waiting to join in the music. At least I recognised it was a statue this time, only it was a real one, not someone pretending... Looking round there were several others, sitting on benches, reading newspapers, standing looking out to sea. They all had a 1950s American look to them and later I discovered that the sculptor was from Washington. I noticed that children loved to stop by them and touch them.

A leisurely coffee, well, leisurely by my standards, not leisurely enough for Tony, and it was time to investigate the food shops. There is a fruit and vegetable cum grocer cum salumeria on one of the corners of the square, a shop that has everything but not enough space to put it and too many customers for them to all get in the shop and certainly there is no time to browse, which is a shame because I am sure there are so many delicacies there to discover. Instead, we bought salad vegetables, peaches, grapes, bread, ham, cheese and olive oil before beginning to feel it was time to vacate the shop, make room for the next customer... we went back the same day for more of the same.

And since it was still unbearably hot we went back to Ganymede and passed the afternoon trying to keep in the shade, trying to get cool. We even went for a swim!

On Sunday morning when we went ashore we were met by the sounds of marching bands. We didn't know what the occasion was but there seemed to be three different youth bands marching down the street. Don't you love these bands? Often it is quite cacophanous as each band plays a different tune but all of them playing at the same time. Today was different, as they marched only one band could be heard at a time... although sometimes the others joined in, adding something to the music of the main players at that time. They met in the square, in front of the statue, violin at the ready... and together they played together, brass band music, well-orchestrated, a treat to the ear.

Mondello is renowned for its seafood restaurants and there is plenty of choice of eatery but for some reason we always seem to eat on board Ganymede when we are there. And so it was this time, perhaps because it was so hot we didn't feel much like eating, perhaps because we had eaten out so much when we were in Castellammare. Next time we really must plan it better.

Because, of course, there will be a next time.