The Harbour and the Beach of Fano

Fano is a seaside town. It's not a large city,but it's welcoming. Every summer many tourists come to Fano on holiday. The town has two beaches; each with its own features. The beach to the west, the "Lido" is wide and with a semi-circle of fine sand. In summer, in the evening, it is a meeting point for the young. The beach to the east, called "Sassonia" for its pebbles, stretches out for over a kilometre, and, unlike the "Lido" is a quiter beach, less crowded and more exposed to the sea breezes. The two beaches are separated by an harbour-canal flanked by fishermen's houses, crowded with moored fishing boats (Fano is one of the main ports on the Adriatic), little merchant craft and pleasure vessels. In a small shipyard, the caulkeers build fishing boats. And the return of the fishermen is a colourful daily event in the harbour-canal: a fully orchestrated show which, apart from anything else,conjures up a picture of the gastronomic treats to follow, with "roasts", fish soups, ravioli with fillets of sole, squid cooked peasant-style and roast sardines.