Day #228

Typing my last blog post from Paolo's place in Hamilton.
I'm all packed. House is clean and even though I'm afraid they're going to give me a hard time on the weight of my luggage tonight, I think I'm all set for a new chapter in my australian adventure.

This morning I went back to the restaurant to hand over my uniforms and say goodbye to Tony and Davina. Trattoria was kind of busy then and I didn't want to bug them more than necessary, not to mention that I set to meet with Claire right afterwards, so I stayed there no more than two minutes.
My voice broke when I spoke with Davina, but I managed not to get teary because it wouldn't have been proper for two women of sense like the two of us to start crying behind the bar counter as two little girls. I couldn't stop myself when I hugged Tony, though, and even typing now about it kind of makes me sad and melancholic already. I had my ups and downs at the restaurant, but Tony and Davina are good people and I'm going to miss them and the general atmosphere of working Trattoria Italiana, despite the hard task of mopping the floor and all.

I also had a send-off breakfast with Claire at Max Brenners in Portside. I hadn't been eating since the previous evening at 6:30 - as I had gotten rid of everything in the fridge - and by 11-ish when we got there, I was starving. I had waffles with strawberries, banana and icecream. 
Claire gave me a good-luck-have-a-safe-trip-I'll-miss-you card and I wasn't expecting it at all! I mean, I love them, obviously, and I loved that she got me one, but usually it's me writing cards for people - because I have always something to say, because I want to thank people who walked alongside me in my adventures, because I can't help but grow attached to them. [As a matter of fact, I wrote and gave out four cards these days: to Tony and Davina, to Claire, to Paolo and Sabrina and to Karen, Tony, Ashlee and Casey.]
Shows you how much Claire knows me by now the fact that she thought of getting me a send-off card. And she even wrote it in English for me! The precious!
Couple of minutes later I got a text from Davina, saying what she couldn't say at the restaurant. It made my smile and feel extremely proud of myself.
Have I already mentioned how grateful I am for the people I met in Oz so far?

In the afternoon I dedicated myself to finishing packing my luggage and cleaning my share of the house. Now I'm waiting for Karen and Tony to pick me up. We are going to have an early dinner at their place and then we'll drive from there at the airport. My flight is at 8pm.

Scrivo il mio ultimo blogpost da casa di Paolo in Hamilton.
Ho preparato tutto, la casa è pulita e, anche se temo mi faranno storie per il peso della valigia questa sera, sono pronta per un nuovo capitolo nella mia avventura australiana.
Questa mattina sono passata dal ristorante a riportare la mia uniforme lavata e a salutare Tony e Davina. La trattoria era abbastanza affollata in quel momento e non volevo dare troppo fastidio, per non aggiungere che mi ero messa d'accordo per trovarmi con Claire subito dopo, quindi sono andata via dopo un paio di minuti.
Mi si è rotta la voce mentre parlavo con Davina, ma sono riuscita a non far scappare neanche una lacrima perché non sarebbe stato appropriato.