Corfu & Constantinople

I guess I had subliminally expected uncontrollable weeping and harps from heaven because I was quite surprised that my 30th birthday came and went in a very pleasant, if not subdued fashion. It was our fourth day on the Greek island of Corfu that the clocked slipped to midnight and I moved from the youth of my twenties to a respectable 30. I suppose that my incredibly sweet husband had not so subliminally thought that I might freak out on this big day, thus he had planned the trip to Greece to prevent any outbursts.

A little rugged around the edges, Corfu offered a genuine Greek experience, complete with a gregarious innkeeper, dancing Zorbas, feta cheese and olives, rolling hills leading to adorable seaside towns and bearded Greek Orthodox clergymen, but all of the interesting stuff happened on the European-style beaches. Having spent the past month in Baku (modest dress, ceaseless horns) I had sensory overload with the English and French retirees in tiny bikinis and Speedos or more oft than not, nothing at all. As a bonus, I don't recall hearing one car horn the whole week.




Maybe it was the carefree attitude of those lacking clothing or the sound of waves that put me in a zen-like state, but as I sat staring out over the Ionian Sea, late afternoon sun on my face and a daiquiri in my hand, a handsome spouse sitting close by, I felt truly content. A feeling that has escaped me many times, always having a to-do list in my purse and a feeling of "what comes next," I shucked all thoughts of anything else and watched the sunset, feeling deeply happy and loved. I could not have asked for anything better. Maybe "aging gracefully" isn't about appearance, maybe it's all about attitude.


No Massie vacation is complete without a little chaos, so we spent one day in Istanbul, Turkey (previously known as Constantinople). A lot like Baku on steroids and with thousands of tourists, Istanbul is one of the world's oldest cities and is currently the fifth largest city, and it sure felt crammed. Home to many famous places of worship, notably Hagia Sophia (once a basilica, then mosque, then basilica, now museum), you could almost imagine the sultans ruling over their empire.

We enjoyed a traditional Turkish dinner of lamb, rice, potatoes and pita served steaming in a terra cotta dish and then headed to the roof of our hotel for a look at the evening skyline. Taking in the lighted minarets of the massive mosques, suddenly, the Muslim call to prayer could be heard throughout the city. The slow, somber song in deep tenor is played from loudspeakers atop every mosque and it's hard to not stop and appreciate the moment. I reached out to hold Kyle's hand and realized that even though it might not be my particular brand of religion, it was an amazing experience to cap off our trip.