Holiday to Sicily in Apr 2026: Day 1 – Home to Heathow

By Nige on April 12, 2026 at 8:49 pm
Type: Post
Story: Holiday to Sicily in Apr 2026 Category: Travel
Tags: Holidays | LHR | London

It was a nice and easy start to the day. Another early start for me, and I had to hold off the cats from getting their breakfast too early.

We had kept them on GMT rather than adjusting for the loss of an hour in the day at the end of March, on the basis that our cat carer for this trip may not be able to tend to their breakfast needs until much later than we normally serve them.

So the one hour delay would help mitigate the impact of the later-than-usual catering.

It was a fairly bright and sunny start to the day and we enjoyed our normal coffees in the cafe with the pussies in close attendance.

We left for Heathrow at around 4pm, having waited at home in the hope that we may have our painted fridge freezer doors delivered. That little project has been ongoing since November 2025, but has been such a worthwhile enhancement to our home.

The drive to Heathrow along the M4 was fairly busy, but there were no specific hold ups along the way.

Parking at the Hilton T5 wasn’t too challenging and we checked in using the Hilton Digital Key system. However, I checked with the front desk on arrival and without a physical key, you can’t put the lights on. What is the point of having a digital key system if you have to wait for the front desk anyway?

We had a drink in the bar downstairs and then headed into the Gallery restaurant at the hotel for dinner. We don’t normally use the in-hotel facilities, but there are not that many alternatives within walking distance of the Hilton T5.

We had to wait a long time for any food. We received warm plates for our starters quite quickly, which gave us hope. But we continued to wait impatiently as our plates slowly went cold.

We started with two dishes to share. The first was a fabulous dish of Aloo Tikki, which comprised potato patties filled with garden peas & served with a tangy chickpea, yoghurt & tamarind chutney. Gorgeous.

The second was less inspiring but still fairly tasty: Murgh Tikka – chicken thigh pieces marinated in yoghurt, traditional tandoori spices and char-grilled.

Main courses were even better. Vick went for the slow cooked baby aubergine, which she was really happy with. Roasted cauliflower puree, herbed tricolor quinoa, grilled baby leeks, toasted pine nuts, cumin spiced cherry vine tomato and red pepper salsa.

I enjoyed the Kadhai Murgh with a garlic naan. Tandoori grilled chicken tikkas, simmered in buttery fresh tomato sauce, sweet peppers, onions, flavoured with fenugreek & finished with cream.

Our room was freezing when we got back in.

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Holiday to Sicily in Apr 2026