Dioscuri Bay Palace Hotel, Agrigento
Baia Taormina Grand Palace Hotel & Spa, Taormina Riviera, Via Nazionale Km 39 - 98030 Marina d’Agrò (ME)
Phone: (+39) 0942.756 292/3/4
Day 4 - Piazza Armerina & Taormina
We leave Agrigento and take the drive to the small town of Piazza Armerina, where one of the most amazing archaeological discoveries of the last century was made: a 4th century Roman villa, possibly owned by one of the joint Emperors, which explains its size and richness of decoration. Buried for centuries, you can still see the remains of pastel-coloured frescoes on the walls, but the mosaics, showing animals and hunting scenes, are simply the finest we have from Roman antiquity. This palatial building, complete with its baths, illustrates with great clarity the evident high standard of living of the Roman elite. We have a guided tour of the villa before continuing our drive to Taormina. Taormina is one of the most beautiful towns on the island towering 250 metres above the sweeping coastline below, where we have a choice of three hotels in three different locations, staying for four nights with dinner, bed and breakfast.
Eight kilometres north of Taormina, built in Sicilian style and set into the coastal cliff itself, overlooking the stunning Bay of Taormina, is the luxurious, four-star Hotel Baia Taormina. It is a member of ‘Charming Hotels – Independent Luxury Hotels of the World’ one of the world’s most stylish hotel chains and has also received the following comment from one of the world’s most prestigious hotel guides, Johansens: ‘Four stars does not do it justice; every member of staff, every detail shines with courtesy and excellence. It is an honour to have you in our guide book.’ This superb hotel with its stone-faced walls, terracotta tiles and wide arches has a wonderful welcoming atmosphere. There are two swimming pools, an excellent restaurant specialising in local cuisine with a stylish and romantic ambience (there may also be the opportunity to take dinner on the terrace during your stay); a relaxing bar and lounge and a coffee shop, all set into the hillside making excellent use of the topography. The rooms themselves are extremely well-appointed, tastefully decorated and all face the sea. Should you wish to visit Taormina, there is a free shuttle bus and to avoid the walk, you can take this to the beach too, which takes approximately two minutes.
Outdoor pools are open summer months, weather permitting.
Despite the disconcerting buzzes of two or three mosquitoes, and the wish not to increase the many red lumps of bites, and despite the thumping bass, moderately muted but nevertheless audible, of pop music elsewhere in the hotel till midnight, I slept well, though
Janet didn’t. She got up ca.6.45am, and after using the bathroom, completed what packing of suitcases had had to be left undone last night. We went down to the restaurant near the pool for breakfast, returned to the room, brought down our luggage at 8.30am and took it for loading on the coach, checked out, and left on the selfsame coach at
9.00am.
Saturday 6 June 2015 09:09:18
Views from the coach: Agrigento
Saturday 6 June 2015 09:09:26
Views from the coach: Temple of Concordia
Much of the nearby modern construction was Mafia financed and built without local-government planning permission.
Saturday 6 June 2015 09:09:52
Views from the coach: Temple of Heracles
Saturday 6 June 2015 09:09:58
Views from the coach: Temple of Concordia
Saturday 6 June 2015 09:10:22
Views from the coach: Temple of Juno
Saturday 6 June 2015 10:09:28
Views from the coach
We had a comfort stop en route, and ca.11am arrived at the Roman Villa of Casale, or more specifically a nearby complex of souvenir shops, a cafeteria-cum-souvenir shop, toilets, and a seating area with umbrellas outside. It was a bit early for lunch, but the availability of guided tours — 12.30pm or 2.30pm — determined this: opting for the later tour would have made us very late arriving at the Hotel Baia Taormina. I chose a large slice of pizza from the cafeteria counter and the man warmed it in the oven. Unfortunately it was back underneath and tasted of burnt
toast. There was a guy singing and playing an accordion to recorded accompaniment on a computer. One of the songs, sung in
Italian,[i] was “Speak Softly Love (Love Theme from
The Godfather)”. In fact he sang it twice, among other songs, before we left. The fellow from the nearby souvenir shop, with dark glasses and combed-back black hair, smoking a cigarette, and looking like Michael Corleone in
The Godfather movie, said “Bravo!” both times.
[i] I’m not sure now whether it was the Italian version “Parla Più Piano” that he sang; it seems more likely that it would be the Sicilian “Brucia La Terra”, as sung by Anthony Corleone (Franc
D’Ambrosio) in The Godfather Part III. He didn’t sing it in English, anyway.
Saturday 6 June 2015 11:17:46
Lunch stop at a restaurant near the Roman Villa of Casale
We were divided into two groups, each with its own guide, and opinion afterwards suggested that
ours, Giusy, was by far the better of the two. She was excellent: clear, capable, knowledgeable, and with a good sense of humour. “Allora, andiamo!” (She said “allora” quite a lot, presumably meaning the same as the French “alors”
— then I noticed it from time to time from other people afterwards.) The villa was abandoned in the 12th century after a landslide covered it, and was almost entirely forgotten. The area was cultivated for crops, till mosaic pieces were found, which attracted archaeological interest in the 19th and, especially, the 20th centuries. We walked southwards to the site, and approached the north-west corner of it
first.
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:25:54
Roman Villa of Casale: Furnaces for the “thermae”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:26:08
Roman villa of Casale: Furnace for the “thermae”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:37:30
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the two “caldaria” (hot bathrooms) and between them the “laconicum” (sauna)
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:35:40
Roman villa of Casale: The “thermae”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:40:46
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the “tepidarium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:36:54
Roman villa of Casale: The “tepidarium” with under-floor heating, with two doors from the “caldaria”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:39:44
Roman villa of Casale: Zoomed-in view of a surviving portion of the floor of the “tepidarium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:41:14
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the “unctiorum”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:41:34
Roman villa of Casale: Floor of the “unctiorum”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:41:34 (rotated detail)
Roman villa of Casale: Floor of the “unctiorum”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:44:38
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the “frigidarium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:42:22
Roman villa of Casale: The “frigidarium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:42:34
Roman villa of Casale: One of the niches of the “frigidarium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:42:34 (rotated detail)
Roman villa of Casale: Floor of one of the niches of the “frigidarium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:43:06
Roman villa of Casale: Smaller pool of the “frigidarium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:43:50
Roman villa of Casale: Smaller pool of the “frigidarium”
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:46:50
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the “aedicula” (“little temple”) of Venus
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:46:00
Roman villa of Casale: Floor of the “aedicula” of Venus
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:46:10
Roman villa of Casale: The “aedicula” of Venus
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:47:12
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the “palestra”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:47:36
Roman villa of Casale: The “palestra” (gymnasium)
The floor mosaic depicts a chariot race in the Circus Maximus in Rome.
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:47:36 (detail)
Roman villa of Casale: The “palestra”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:47:44
Roman villa of Casale: The “palestra”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:47:44 (detail 1)
Roman villa of Casale: The “palestra”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:47:44 (detail 2)
Roman villa of Casale: The “palestra”
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:48:48
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the porticoed entrance court
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:49:26
Roman villa of Casale: The porticoed entrance court
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:49:52
Roman villa of Casale: The porticoed entrance court
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:51:44
Roman villa of Casale: The “vestibulum”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:51:54
Roman villa of Casale: The “vestibulum” and beyond it the quadrangular peristyle
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:55:14
Roman villa of Casale: Part of the floor of the “vestibulum”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:58:38
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the quadrangular “peristylium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:55:26
Roman villa of Casale: Mosaic floor of the quadrangular “peristylium” and (upper left:) the “lararium”
“The Lar Familiaris was a domestic guardian spirit who cared for the welfare and prosperity of a household. A household’s
lararium, a shrine to the Lar Familiaris, usually stood near the hearth or in a corner of the atrium.” —
Wikipedia
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:57:42
Roman villa of Casale: Mosaic floor of the quadrangular “peristylium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:57:42 (rotated detail)
Roman villa of Casale: Mosaic floor of the quadrangular “peristylium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:57:42 (counter-rotated detail)
Roman villa of Casale: Mosaic floor of the quadrangular “peristylium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:57:52
Roman villa of Casale: The “lararium”
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:58:00
Roman villa of Casale: Fountain with three pools in the centre of the quadrangular “peristylium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:59:42 (somewhat cropped and edited)
Roman villa of Casale: Corner of the quadrangular “peristylium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 12:59:42 (cropped and edited differently)
Roman villa of Casale: The quadrangular “peristylium”, with central fountain and three pools
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:01:38
Roman villa of Casale: One of the capitals of the “peristylium”
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:02:32
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the private entrance to the “thermae”
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:02:50
Roman villa of Casale: Private entrance to the “thermae”
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:02:50 (rotated detail)
Roman villa of Casale: Floor of the private entrance to the “thermae”
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:03:26
Roman villa of Casale: View through to the floor of the “palestra”, with its depiction of a chariot race in the Circus Maximus in Rome
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:04:44
Roman villa of Casale: View through to the floor of the “palestra”
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:05:22
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the first utility room
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:05:38
Roman villa of Casale: The first utility room…
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:05:44
Roman villa of Casale: …and the room beyond it
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:07:10
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the second utility room and kitchen
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:06:24
Roman villa of Casale: Second utility room
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:06:24 (edited detail)
Roman villa of Casale: Second utility room
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:06:32
Roman villa of Casale: Second utility room and door to the kitchen
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:07:42
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the second room of the private flat
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:08:10
Roman villa of Casale: Second room of the private flat, floor mosaic
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:08:30
Roman villa of Casale: Second room of the private flat, floor mosaic and wall fresco
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:11:10
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the third room of the private flat
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:10:56
Roman villa of Casale: Third room of the private flat
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:10:56 (rotated detail 1)
Roman villa of Casale: Third room of the private flat
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:10:56 (rotated detail 2)
Roman villa of Casale: Third room of the private flat
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:14:50
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the fourth room of the private flat
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:12:06
Roman villa of Casale: Fourth room of the private flat, floor mosaic depicting putti (chubby winged figures) fishing
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:12:28
Roman villa of Casale: Fourth room of the private flat, wall fresco
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:15:14
Roman villa of Casale: More advantageous view of the fourth room of the private flat
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:15:14 (edited detail)
Roman villa of Casale: More advantageous view of the fourth room of the private flat
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:15:14 (further edited detail 1)
Roman villa of Casale: More advantageous view of the fourth room of the private flat
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:15:14 (further edited detail 2)
Roman villa of Casale: More advantageous view of the fourth room of the private flat
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:15:38
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:16:04
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:16:14
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:16:26
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:17:44
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:17:44 (detail 1)
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:17:44 (detail 2)
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:17:44 (detail 3)
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:17:44 (detail 4)
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:17:44 (detail 5)
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:17:44 (detail 6)
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:17:54
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:17:54 (detail 1)
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:17:54 (detail 2)
Roman villa of Casale: Hall of the small hunt
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:21:32
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:22:16
Roman villa of Casale: (Below:) corridor of the great hunt; (above:) entrance to the great basilica
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:23:46
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:24:16
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:24:24
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:24:34
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:24:54
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:25:44
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:27:08
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt, looking approximately northwards
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:27:18
Roman villa of Casale: Great basilica
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:27:28
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt, looking approximately southwards
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:28:16
Roman villa of Casale: Great basilica
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:28:30
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:29:10
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:30:42
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:32:48
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:33:22
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:38:38
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the “second service room of the master’s southern apartment, called the room of the Palestrite” (a.k.a. “room of the girls in bikinis”!)
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:39:20
Roman villa of Casale: “Room of the girls in bikinis”
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:39:20 (straightened-up edit)
Roman villa of Casale: “Room of the girls in bikinis”
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:39:48
Roman villa of Casale: “Room of the girls in bikinis”
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:39:48 (straightened-up edit)
Roman villa of Casale: “Room of the girls in bikinis”
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:39:58
Roman villa of Casale: “Room of the girls in bikinis”
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:43:36
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt, southern end
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:43:46
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt, southern end
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:43:54
Roman villa of Casale: Corridor of the great hunt, southern end
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:51:08
Roman villa of Casale: Ovoid peristyle, leading (in the opposite direction) to…
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:51:36
Roman villa of Casale: …the large “triclinium” (showing its northern apse)
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:51:42
Roman villa of Casale: …the large “triclinium” (showing its eastern apse)
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:51:50
Roman villa of Casale: …the large “triclinium” (showing its southern apse)
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:52:16
Roman villa of Casale: Part of the ovoid peristyle
Plan of the site from Wikipedia (the work of Bernhard J. Scheuvens aka BJS), with my own labels
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:52:40
Roman villa of Casale: On the way to the master’s southern apartment
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:54:34
Roman villa of Casale: On the way to the master’s southern apartment
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:54:40
Roman villa of Casale: On the way to the master’s southern apartment
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:56:00
Roman villa of Casale: “Cubiculum” of musicians and actors
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:56:08
Roman villa of Casale: “Cubiculum” of musicians and actors
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:57:22
Roman villa of Casale: Vestibule of the little circus
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:58:24
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the semi-circular portico
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:57:48
Roman villa of Casale: Semi-circular portico
Saturday 6 June 2015 13:58:48
Roman villa of Casale: Semi-circular portico, floor mosaic depicting putti fishing
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:04:10
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the vestibule of Eros and Pan
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:03:40
Roman villa of Casale: Vestibule of Eros and Pan
Someone has lost his hat.
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:04:34
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the “cubiculum” with alcove
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:04:46
Roman villa of Casale: “Cubiculum” of young hunters
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:04:46 (straightened-up detail)
Roman villa of Casale: “Cubiculum” of young hunters
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:05:20
Roman villa of Casale: “Cubiculum” of young hunters and alcove of flowers
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:05:20 (straightened up detail)
Roman villa of Casale: “Cubiculum” of young hunters and alcove of flowers
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:06:34
Roman villa of Casale: Information about the “diaeta” (living- and dining-room) of Arion
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:06:20
Roman villa of Casale: “Diaeta” of Arion
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:06:20 (somewhat straightened detail)
Roman villa of Casale: “Diaeta” of Arion
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:06:48
Roman villa of Casale: “Diaeta” of Arion
Arion with his lyre enchants the inhabitants of the ocean.
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:06:48 (straightened-up detail)
Roman villa of Casale: “Diaeta” of Arion
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:06:58
Roman villa of Casale: “Diaeta” of Arion
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:07:06
Roman villa of Casale: “Diaeta” of Arion
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:08:08
Roman villa of Casale: Our guide Giusy
We said goodbye to Giusy at the entrance to the souvenir-shop complex — I think I gave her a €5 note that I managed to get off someone in change for a larger note — and waited for the other party to join us. It was very hot and sunny. Then we proceeded northwards a short way to the extensive parking lot where the coach was waiting. We went to the nearby Piazza Armerina and stopped at a vantage point for a panoramic view of the
town—
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:50:06
Piazza Armerina
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:52:40
Piazza Armerina
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:52:50
Piazza Armerina
Saturday 6 June 2015 14:54:42
Viewpoint overlooking Piazza Armerina: Looking in the opposite direction
—before continuing our way, with views of Mount Etna much of the way on the left, both before and after we went through Catania, to the cliff-side Hotel Baia Taormina about five miles beyond the actual town of Taormina. (We bypassed Taormina without seeing it, because it was high up in the hills to the left of the
road.)
Saturday 6 June 2015 15:09:30
Views from the coach
Saturday 6 June 2015 15:21:22
Views from the coach
Saturday 6 June 2015 15:57:40
Views from the coach: Mount Etna
Saturday 6 June 2015 16:06:06
Views from the coach: Mount Etna
Saturday 6 June 2015 16:56:36
Views from the coach: Mount Etna covered with clouds
Saturday 6 June 2015 16:58:46
Views from the coach: Mount Etna covered with clouds
Saturday 6 June 2015 17:10:10
Views from the coach: Town atop one of the coastal hills not far from our destination
The driveway to the hotel joined the road from the left at too acute an angle for the coach to turn into it, so we went nearly half a mile beyond, where there was a junction with a road off to the left where the coach could turn back. This was just to the left of a high hill forming a headland, on the top of which was a fort with a round keep from Arab
times.
Saturday 6 June 2015 17:22:20
Views from the coach: Promontory fort from the Arab period (9th–10th centuries)
We left our suitcases on the coach, and they were brought up later by porters.
We’d been upgraded to “executive” class rooms, because the hotel was so fully
booked. One of the staff escorted us to our rooms, for the way up required three lifts with walks between them. The hotel is built into the side of the mountain in stages, hence the need for three lifts. Our luggage was delivered shortly after we got to the room. Checked e-mail (18:26).…
Wished [two people] “Happy birthday” on Facebook (19:03)… The lighting in the bathroom was quite dim, so I wondered, “Where can I set up to shave?” For that I need bright lighting and the means to stand up the magnifying mirror, which won’t stand up on its own without somehow being propped up. I was able to do it at the desk, which has a desk lamp on the left and a standard lamp on the right. I improvised a contrivance to support the mirror. I successfully tried out the arrangement, even though I’d shaved this morning. (Actually, I later discovered that the light in the bathroom near the mirror had a dimmer switch, and could be turned up quite bright.)
Saturday 6 June 2015 19:09:36
View southwards from the balcony
The road by which we approached the hotel was the lower, winding one just by
the coastal railway line.
Transferred 129 items, 128 photos and one video, from the camera to the WD Elements HDD (19:13–19:17). Rotated 17 photos that needed it (19:19–19:25). Just after 7.30am,
Janet and I managed to find our way back to the ground floor, to the bar where
it had been arranged that we meet together with Denise for dinner at 7.45pm. I ordered a
Coke Zero for Janet, and a Campari and soda for me — perhaps my last, for it was €9!
Between the bar and the restaurant was a lounge, which served also as a corridor between the entrance door and the door to reception, and we sat there. (I also have the impression of welcome drinks — glasses of prosecco on a tray — in that location, but that may have been when we
arrived.) We all went for dinner to the adjacent restaurant. I followed the pattern of “antipasto” from the buffet (which didn’t seem to be that much more comprehensive than the “antipasti” at the
Dioscuri Bay Palace Hotel), “primi” (I went to the “spaghetti corner” where a chef heated the sauce of my choice and spaghetti in a frying pan; I eschewed the clams and mussels that were available, though), and “secondi” (there was a pair of chefs outside grilling veal, pork and sea bass over charcoal fires; I chose veal in a lemon leaf and a piece of plain veal, which were served with a slice of lemon, then went to the buffet and selected some roasted potato pieces and cold sweet corn from the “antipasti”). I ordered a bottle of Sicilian red wine for €15, drank half of it, re-corked the bottle and took it back to the room when we returned
ca.9pm.… Janet wrote “It’s now 11pm and I’m off to bed”, but there’s no mention of whether I preceded her, went to bed at the same time, or stayed up till
later.
