Day 18 - Friday 26th April

Today we would be leaving our cruise ship in Amsterdam and flying to Palermo in Sicily via Milan. The rain can cleared overnight but it was still cloudy. The temperature was 9C.

Our departure time was organised for 9am and we needed to have our bags outside our room by 8:15am.

I got off to a bad start when I got out of bed to turn off the alarm. We had packed our bags yesterday ready for our departure this morning and they were on the floor at the end of the bed. I tripped over my bag and fell heavily. My right side was very sore and remained sore for the rest of the day.

As usual, the APT systems worked well for getting everyone off the ship and on their way to various locations such as hotels, the airport and the railway station at different times. For us there was a black Mercedes van that we shared with three other people from the cruise.

It took about 30 minutes to get to the airport. Security screening was very different from what I'd experienced at other airports. Instead of a conveyor belt that took your items through a scanner, you were shown to individual counters where one of the staff looked after you.

There were plenty of security staff and they spoke good English. They were very thorough with their checking. For example, I had a bag full of cables in my carry-on bag and they wanted to empty it and check it.

By the time we got through security etc, it was after 10am and so we still had plenty of time because our flight wasn't due to leave until 11:50am. As it turned out, the incoming flight (Alitalia) was late and it was after 12noon before we got away.

The first leg of our flight was from Amsterdam to Milan and was due to land at 1:30pm. However it didn't get there until about 2pm which was a worry because we had to make the connection with the flight to Palermo.

The connection wasn't the only problem. There was turbulence for most of the flight. It's the only flight I've had where the fasten seat belt sign was on for the entire journey. At times it was scary. I was very relieved when the plane eventually landed and we got off.

Besides that, the flight attendants were unfriendly and uncooperative. For example, a few of us wanted to go to the toilet but the food trolley was blocking the aisle. There was no way they were going to move the trolley out of the way until they had finished serving everyone.

What they were serving was just a soft drink and a small packet of biscuits.

As it turned out, the connection time wasn't a problem. When we got off the plane, we couldn't see any displays telling us which gate to go to. Instead, after walking less than 100m, we came to a gate which said "Palermo". This also gave us more confidence that our bags would get from one plane to the other plane which was almost next to it.

This flight was much smoother and the flight crew even smiled.

The travel agent for our tour in Italy had given detailed instructions about baggage before our flight. They said to put two days of clothes in your carry-on and to put another set in your partner's suitcase. It was clear that they'd had problems in the past with lost baggage. However when we got off at Palermo, our bags came through successfully. What a relief!

Our driver was waiting in the terminal carrying a sign with our name on it. The journey to our hotel took less than 30 minutes. Most of the trip was on a motorway and we could see tall barren hills on both sides.

This trip was a reminder about driving in Italy. For a start they drive fast. Second they don't take any notice of pedestrian crossings. Close to the hotel, our driver took us down a street that seemed to us to be one-way in the opposite direction.

The Grand Hotel Wagner is indeed a grand hotel. You enter via a set of stairs with red carpet. The walls are lined with timber panelling and there are chandeliers everywhere. It has old world charm.

Our room was on the second floor overlooking the street. The bedroom and bathroom are quite spacious. There is a desk for my laptop and good WiFi. Surprisingly there were only four hangers in the wardrobe.

After settling in, we set off to find a mobile phone shop to get an Italian SIM for our mini WiFi. The TIM store was only a few blocks away. One of the staff spoke a little English and she was able to organise the SIM for us. It was 25 Euros for 20GB - good value.

It was now about 7pm and we were feeling hungry - partly because we hadn't had any lunch. The hotel had recommended a restaurant nearby called Locale. Walking in, it looked more like a trendy wine bar but upstairs they had tables and chairs like a restaurant.

The staff spoke a little English and we managed to order our food and wine. We chose a Sicilian Syrah wine.

This restaurant opens at 6pm which is early for most restaurants in Italy. When we were leaving, the owner explained that he caters for tourists like us for the early part of the evening and local people come late after 8pm.

When we returned to our hotel, the facade was lit with coloured lighting. We explored the lounges on the ground floor and found a bar were I ordered coffee and Suzy had a limoncello.

We used the local SIM we had bought tonight. It was the first time I'd been able to do our banking safely for more than ten days. It was a relief after the disappointment with the Vodafone SIM we'd purchased in Hungary.