Last round

The day started off with a sale. Someone came to pick up the scooter. Wow, after all those years riding it in the rain and snow, zooming around the hills in a singlet and bermudas during the warm summer months! Ah, I'll miss my little Vivacity! It's the end of an era for me.

At one o'clock I was booked in for a relaxing massage at Deseo. Thank you Davide for taking such good care of my limbs these past few years - what would I have done without you? Thank you also for all the great parties and for having the most beautiful massage studio I have ever seen.

Following the massage, I was off to vsit my friend Alexandre's photographic studio. I sat on an antique chair, sipping a bowl of Assam while Alexandre displayed his wares on the Moroccan coffee table for me. We bargained a price and I purchased a series of five, large black and white original prints to complete my collection themed on the creative writing processs. They're going to hang in my new house in Melbourne.

In the afternoon I waited on Giovanni to arrive - the darling came all the way from Lausanne, especially, for my party. While I was getting dressed, the landlady came to pick up my house plants. I put on makeup and painted my fingernails a deep, blackish purple to match the colour of my silk shirt. Giovanni arrived with a new CD compilation he'd created, which included three new tracks by The Orb.

The evening was a success: what a night! It started off wiht Nick and I having separate dinners, each with his own circle of intimates. I booked at Tinera, a traditional restaurant that serves Risotto al Gorgonzola and Zabaione; I offered parting gifts to my dear guests. It was quite emotional for a minute.

Dinner was followed by Cioccolata at Oops, Zep's bar, where DJ Dani from Zürich did his thing and kept everyone in good spirits (I was drinking Jack Daniels on the rocks) until one a.m. As soon as Daniela, Giovanni and I arrived (early) we did a beeline for the corner with the 70s lounges, monopolizing the only comfy seating area for the entire evening. Alessandro and Sandra soon followed, so did Samuela and Miline. Giulia arrived all stressed about doing the video display show at the afterparty so I hardly had a chance to speak to her. All of Nick's crowd where there too: Axel and Con, Paolo, Andrik, Sophie and Steward. Zep and Nati were busy serving behind the bar.

After one a.m. the real party began. We all got into the cars and drove to the outskirts of Lugano, where an artists' studio, at the end of an icy dirt road, had been transformed into a fully-fledget night club with a working bar. There was ice and snow in the carpark and it was very tricky getting into the building without falling ass-over-tit. Inside, I ran into some people I handn't seen in the entire time I'd been back in Switzerland but who I used to hang out with back in 1996! I entertained them wtih anectodes from my life-story. Meanwhile some guys were coming up to me telling me they were related to some of the guys who'd stayed at my place when I was living in Melbourne - fishing for an invite, I presume.

Nick and I were like strange creatures on display; the party a ritualistic event in honour of two people about to venture beyond the familiar boundaries of Ticinese existence, going Down Under to start a mysterious new life none of these people can fathom. I lapped up the attention, handing out business cards with our new Melbourne address, while everyone noted (with a tinge of envy) that we were going to live by the beach (178 Beach Road). I was fully aware however, that although Nick and I were the novelty flavour of the night - giving everyone there a pretext to organize a special night out - in a week's time we would be gone and life in Lugano will go on as usual and everyone will carry on seamlessly without us.

We stayed util the bar ran out of booze, Con was doing the "washing machine" on the dance floor, but when they ran out of bottled water we decided it was time to get back home. It was four thirty am. Boy was I glad to get my boots off! Surprisingly, Nick wasn't at all drunk and by the time I washed my face, my make up was still intact.