Tuesday

Tuesday was a rest day. Jay had booked in to play golf at the Waldorf Astoria next door and I was planning a day of serious nothingness.

The pool area here at the Hilton is well designed to keep kidlets busy with watery fun all day; there is a lazy river which meanders around the entire pool and a decent water slide.

I didn't see them for the first three hours at all (apart from when I'd make a point of picking out their heads bobbing along as they went around the lazy river for the 500th time).

This meant it was just me and Dawn French (well her delicious novel "A Tiny Bit Marvellous") in the sunshine. Oh, wait...just me and the loudmouth ignoramus who had plonked himself on the sun lounge next to me and proceeded to make and answer a gazillion phone calls during which he swore, yelled and generally abused his employees, colleagues and family in a very broad (what turned out to be) Long Islander accent.

Talk about disrupting the peace! If I had rolled my eyes any further I would have been in danger of losing them inside my skull forever.

After a while he disappeared to spend "quality" time with his unfortunate offspring but would periodically re-appear to yell at some other subordinate. [Later in the day Jay returned from golf and, as he does, engaged Mr Dropkick in chit chat prompting me to break out in a cold sweat at the thought of an imagined dinner invitation. Luckily he wasn't charmed by Jay's Aussie style and told us in no uncertain terms that Australia was "too far away" and was in no danger of him visiting it anytime soon. Lucky us!]

Anyway, apart from the occasional unpleasant distraction from the sun lounge next door it was a totally idyllic day. At about 1:00pm the water logged kids emerged and requested food. I just love poolside dining: momentarily a tray appeared with burgers, Shirley Temples and one very toxic looking (but delicious) frozen Blue Lagoon.

The afternoon saw me in much the same position as the morning but I did drag myself from the Kindle for 15 minutes for a refreshing swim.

Jay returned not totally happy as he ended up playing the round on his own (two others booked in to play with him had not turned up - possibly his hole-in-one reputation had preceded him?). It was a shame as he had really been looking forward to playing on this immaculate course.

That evening we had an average buffet dinner at the main restaurant, the highlight of which was the informative chatter from our waiter.

Then a family movie in bed. Oh! Bed! I love these Hilton beds and bedding - its like sleeping on a cloud. The pillows are heaven and I will need to source some at any cost upon returning home because the thought of my old Tontines at home fill me with dread.