Last month, I turned 50. It hasn’t been a smooth transition… some grumpy moments, some stressful moments, some anxious moments, and quite a few (and possibly ongoing) “I’m not ready for this” moments.

But when I decided to embrace my big birthday, I’ve had a lot of fun – the celebrations have certainly stretched out over several weeks.

There have been cocktails, cakes, catch-ups and crazy golf (I got a hole-in-one). I went paddling in a Norwegian lake, and walked on the beach in the Netherlands. I was inspired by the creativity of Edvard Munch, M. C. Escher and Louis Delacenserie (the architect who designed the railway station in Antwerp). We ate waffles and ice cream in Brussels and Italian food in Den Haag. We drank some more cocktails. We followed the crowds to see the Mannequin-Pis statue – it really is that small – and escaped them with woodland walks and cosy cafes. We had a room with a view and ran round some parks.

And there have been plenty of opportunities for reflecting…

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When it came to my actual birthday, there were almost all of my favourite things – I woke up late a quirky hotel in Antwerp (it used to be a bank and the old vaults are still on view in the basement). We lingered so long over breakfast, it turned into lunch. I got to go shopping at C&A, where I spent so much of my birthday money as a teenager… who remembers Clockhouse?

We did some exploring – crossing under the river using the foot tunnel and coming back again by boat. I people-watched by the river, enjoying a mid-afternoon Aperol spritz! We came across a fancy shopping centre with it’s “next-level” toilet experience – impossible to describe – to be seen to be believed.

We had a couple of liquorice panna cotta moments too… the crazy golf on the other side of the river was closed (possibly permanently given the overgrown nature of the course) and the cocktail bar we’d picked out was inaccessible due to floods along a dug-up road. But that gave us the chance for some grapefruit wheat beer opportunities – like playing dominoes and Yahtzee in a board game cafe down a little side street whilst a thunder storm raged and the streets were flooded. We found somewhere unexpected for dinner – and sampled a Flemish-themed tapas!

It was just the kind of day I love.

Perhaps being 50 isn’t too bad after all.

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50 for 50 #1: 50 posts for my 50th birthday to be posted before I’m 51.