A day on the Lido at Mondello

Last night at dinner we realised once again that we were in the middle of something but had no idea what!  It just happened to be Palermo's biggest annual festival, the feast of Santa Rosalia, who saved the city from plague in the 17th century.  The procession was a cross between Anzac Day and Easter Sunday with the battle of the bands thrown in for good measure.  It was great to witness this local, important celebration, but what was more interesting was watching the locals chatting afterwards.  It is hard to tell whether, they want to kiss or kill each other.  We have seen a minor accident, and a potential workplace issue (in a local bar where we were having a drink) where the local people involved seemed close to coming to blows and someone intervenes to settle things down, but ends up part of the issue, until you can't believe a punch hasn't been thrown!  The last word is everything, even when everything seems settled, a protagonist will arc up one more time.  It is the best free entertainment you will ever see!

Today we had a relaxing day at Mondello Lido.  For 20 euro we had a coach take us to the beach, about 1/2 an hour away which included our umbrella & deck chairs as well as access to clean toilets, showers and a cafe. The Med is warm and the beach, narrow as it was, had sand!  We swam, read and ate gelato.  La dolce vita.
Ciao












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