It's true, I'm Fifty..

If you have to turn 50, I think my way was the way to do it; have a party with your nearest and dearest before the real event, and when it actually hits you, celebrate in a temperate and interesting locale, with low stress. 

Mum and I spent the day in Napflio, the original Greek capital. A charming town beneath the cliffs, I watched the sun rise (again) over the hills as we arrived, the light catching the old castle in the bay as we anchored out from the town. Our ship is too big to dock there, so we caught the tender boat in, a short 10 minute journey. 

The morning was spent doing a walking tour recommended by our travel guidebook, and then we settled to lunch by the waterfront, where we again made the most of free wifi. I felt the birthday love via Facebook, even feeling a little overcome by the number of people who wished me well. I'm so lucky to have such great friends and family, and all seemed very far away.

 

Mum and I also had an obligatory ouzo, which we both really enjoyed :)

My learning from today was that it is not worth it to lug my zoom lens around, so far my 24-105 has been the perfect all-purpose lens, and if (when) I do this again, I will probably stick to just that, unless I am going somewhere specifically to shoot wildlife (like on my bucket list African safari).

It's a bit dangerous this holidaying malarkey, because the more places I see, the more places I want to see! We have had several conversations with fellow travellers for whom annual holidays are a regular part of life... Of course many are British/ northern hemisphere and don't have to fly from the distant ends of the earth to get anywhere, but it does make me realise that I also want to commit to saving for regular trips, even if it is every two years.

We also found out what a small world it really is today though. A friendly greeting in a back street of this small Greek town made me ask an older lady with a familiar accent if she was from NZ. She and her husband actually lived in Canada, having met in Portugal 5 years ago, and marrying aged 75 and 79. Hope for me yet 😉. Yes she was a Kiwi and used to live at one time in Ohinepanea, not 15 minutes from my parents' place. We all had a giggle about that. Who would have thought?

And to further birthday celebrations. The boat has several dining rooms/restaurant areas, one of which requires additional payment to eat at, and is aptly name the Pinnacle. As we had a voucher from the travel company for a free meal, we chose to use it tonight. Dining with us were our new friends from yesterday Jenny and Mark from Brisbane, and our old new friends Jan and Tom. The food was amazing, the bubbles delicious (thanks Mark) and we all enjoyed a fantastic night! Happy birthday to me. 

This is taken on our wee verandah. We love it and have been surprised to hear some cruisers don't even venture out on to theirs. I'm wearing the beautiful necklace my Mum surprised me with this morning.