My 40th Birthday (2nd May)

On my birthday, we had breakfast at our house (the kitchen had been stocked with bread, ham, cheese, juice and fruit), then went for a walk around the coast. The main path through the village runs through a couple of restaurants. Fishermen bring in fresh fish and octopuses etc, and they're cooked on open stoves in the restaurants.

From this angle, our white hot tub canopy is really conspicuous!

We walked round the headland, and could see the other side of Oia up on the cliffs.

We settled down on the volcanic rocks, and just stayed there for a while enjoying the view.

We then wandered back to Ammoudi, and picked a restaurant to have lunch at. The waiters all just hang out and chat with passers by, and we let ourselves get talking to one, who did his job well, because we had lunch there.

Our seat next to the water (and octopuses)

Scott had chicken and chips, and I went for Octopus and battered courgette! One of the other waiters came up and started chatting - he had seen my camera and wanted to get advice on which camera he should buy.
After the meal we were given a free dessert because I'd said to the first waiter we'd been talking to that it was my birthday.

When we got back to our house there was a lovely bunch of wild flowers tucked in the door handle!

We found out later that John the owner had brought them round for my birthday, and that his little daughters had picked them for me!

We soon got back to our roof top spot! It was so wonderful knowing I could do exactly what I wanted, when I wanted, with no pressure to do anything at all!! It also meant I could totally rest my back.

In the evening we wandered back up to Oia, and explored in the opposite direction from yesterday.

We wandered up and down one of the main streets before choosing where to eat. We had wonderful sea views (you can't see it here), though it was a bit nippy! We both had pasta, which I totally enjoyed.

We then headed to the look out place where people were gathering to view the sunset. There was more cloud around than the night before, and we decided not to worry about staying till the sun set properly, so we continued to wander.

What a lovely way to celebrate becoming 40!

Back in England, there was a Stake Youth Hike, which I was disappointed to miss. I had lots of birthday wishes on Facebook, but my favourite was this video taken by Emma Corre on the hike, of all the youth singing me happy birthday!

Tom had gone to his school friend Rowan's house for a birthday party - he had sorted out a lift there for himself.