I woke up in the early morning, actually feeling a bit cold, so I got up, turned off the AC, and shut the window. I managed to drift back to sleep and woke up again just before nine, right ahead of my alarm. I was still quite tired though, and took things slow, only making it down to breakfast half an hour before they closed. I kept it light with just some toast and juice while listening to a podcast.
Back in my room, I climbed right back into bed. When Mum texted me, I called her back, and we ended up chatting for an hour, followed by a quick catch-up with my brother Peter when he called right after.
By half past twelve, I finally managed to muster up some energy. I slapped on some sunscreen, grabbed my laptop, and headed down to the pool. I settled in at a table to tackle some admin tasks and mental preparations for returning to reality tomorrow 🙂
It was clearly “turnover day” at the hotel, as the lobby was packed with guests arriving and departing with their luggage. Since breakfast had been rather light, I ordered the linguine pesto for lunch. Once my laptop battery ran flat, I claimed an available sunbed and switched over to listening to podcasts for the rest of the afternoon.
Around five, it was time to wrap up my final pool session. I settled my bar tab, thanked the staff for the great service, and left a tip. Up in the room, I packed my main suitcase to check its weight, and thankfully it was well within the allowance limit. I’ll double-check my carry-on bag later tonight.
After a shower, I set out for my final dinner of the trip. I checked out a nice restaurant down by the docks, but it was quite pricey and heavily focused on seafood—not really my cup of tea. Instead, I landed at Old Story and ordered a mocktail, garlic bread, and a veal cutlet.
After I finished the garlic bread, the waiter asked if I was ready for the main course—yes, please! He first brought out an empty plate (which felt odd), and then a few minutes later, the main event arrived: the meat was served hanging dramatically from a tabletop hook, with the side dishes served alongside it. Very spectacular! In hindsight, I should have asked for some pepper sauce, as it only came with tzatziki, which isn’t really my favourite, but the meal was very tasty and extremely generous (a full 500 grams of meat!).
I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on with the restaurant tout, though. Two different groups sat down while I was eating, but both left shortly after getting into some sort of dispute with him. After paying the bill, I headed back to the hotel to pack my backpack (carry-on) and weigh it. Then I popped down to reception to settle my room bill. However, they needed some time to prepare, so I’ll go by before breakfast tomorrow.
I ended the evening with one final virgin Piña Colada at the bar and thanked the bartender for this week.
