The Hotel's Bright, The Hotel's Orange

Saturday, 18th October

We got off to a flying start to the grand tour, largely by not having to get up early for the flight.  We dropped the car off at the valet parking (love it), and went to the Speedy Boarding Plus check-in.  One day, everyone will cotton on to Speedy Boarding, and then we will all be back to square one.  Lots of screaming infants on the plane, mercifully none near us.  Our hotel in Palermo was a little bit weird, not least of which being that it wasn't actually IN Palermo, and the fact that it was more than slightly orange.  Serves us right for booking through Easyjet.

We found a little restaurant near the hotel, which was very much in the ‘you’ll eat what you’re given’ mode.  We had ‘Frutta di mare mista,’ and ‘pesce grigliata.’  There was a little debate over what sort of pesce it was.  I thought it might be bream, and the waiter told us it was a ‘sarago.’  Online, back at the hotel, I googled it.  Bream, bingo!

Sunday, 19^th October

A reasonably early start, leaving the Palm Beach Hotel at nine.  Breakfast was dominated by French Saga louts, all wearing shorts –revealing distinctly dodgy, wrinkly knees.  It was hard to work out who were the chavs, and who the chav-nots.  We had a moderately hair-raising journey to Palermo Stazione Centrale.  The train took two hours and twenty minutes to reach Milazzo, and we were taken to the hydrofoil by an ageing hippy.  We are struggling with the local dialect.  And the locals are struggling with our Battersea-isms.  My Italian is a grubby mix of French, Latin and Spanish, but we are coping.  We took the hydrofoil to Lipari, just making the onward connection to Salina by the skin of our teeth, or – la pelle della nos dente.

The hotel is charming, a rustic triumph, with an infinity pool and a spa.  Xanthe has declared it the best hotel she has ever stayed in, as usual.  We sat on the main roof terrace, and drank cocktails before supper.  Unfortunately, the mosquitoes here are vicious.  Some of the worst I’ve encountered.  Ever.

Monday, 20^th October

Troy and I were up remarkably early today.  Considering.  Considering we didn’t have to be.  Actually it was quite nice for a change.  We all hit the spa this afternoon.  We steamed (in a traditional tholos), Jacuzzi-ed, kniped and hydrotherapied with the best of them.  Supper out of the hotel tonight, and then off to Napoli domani.