OUR GOLDEN WEDDING DAY

The day has dawned, at last, bright and fair - and I might add, a good deal warmer than it was on the 6th March 1968, when it was very cold and windy.  

As this is our last full day in Saigon, we want to make the most of it, and hope to meet up with Jules for coffee and a bite to eat later this morning.

I realise that some of the pictures in today's collage weren't actually taken today, but I'm sure you will indulge me on this special day - however I have put a “selfie” of us in as an extra, now we’ve had our shower and are dressed!

We met up with Jules last night and decided that we would like to treat him to a meal so went back to Noodle Noodle and had a good meal and a lovely time.  We have tried to make the most of our time together, and will have lots of memories to sustain us in the coming days, weeks, months and perhaps even years until we see him again.  We will be sad to say "Goodbye" to Jules, but knowing that he is happy here in Vietnam means a lot to both Mr. HCB and me - so we leave with thankful hearts that he has made a life for himself here and is well thought of, particularly in his alley.  We love all his friends there because they kept saying that we didn't look old enough to have been married for 50 years!

Mr. HCB and I still can't take in the wonderful surroundings and everything about this hotel - it is just so beautiful and we shall treasure the memory of what our family has done for us.

We decided to enjoy being in this beautiful place so had room service yesterday afternoon, and the hotel gave us a bottle of Prosecco, so we sipped that with our meal and got quite squiffy, but it would have been a shame not to drink it, I'm sure you will agree.  

When we were going down in the lift last night, a crowd of young English ladies and one man, joined us and were chatting about someone who had died, when one remarked that perhaps they should think about happier things - so I told them we had some happy news - it was our Golden Wedding anniversary tomorrow.  They all clapped and said "Congratulations" to us and when we were in the lobby, one of the ladies told us they were from a magazine and were based in London.  They said they were checking out the hotel, but were only here for one night.  Then, amazingly, one of the ladies, when I said where we were from, said that her husband came from Swindon!!  What a small world.

I was awake just after 5.30 am so we were opening our cards just before 6 am - when technically, it wasn't quite our anniversary, but it was daylight here, so that was good enough for us.  We brought quite a lot of cards with us, and thank all of you who have sent one - and I have had messages to say that there will be more waiting when we get home.

I have just about stopped Mr. HCB playing with the various switches that open and shut the curtains in this beautiful panoramic room, and also the one that lowers the television into a cabinet, so that the view from the bed is even better.

We still don't know what is happening this evening, but we have to be in Reception by 5.30 - so watch this space tomorrow to find out!

Thank you, once again, everyone for your good wishes for our Golden Wedding Anniversary - this has truly been the holiday of a lifetime, and you know, I could get used to being waited on, having doors opened for me and the bed turned down at night.  However, one of the mysteries for me is the fact that when the bed has been turned down and chocolates left, why, oh why, do they leave three chocolates?  Two or four I could cope with but three definitely means Mr. HCB keeps missing out!!!  Ha ha.

So tomorrow, it is an early start for the next stage of our journey to Hong Kong, where we will be meeting up with SweetArt and her husband, the son and family of friends from back home and also a couple from our Church, who are originally from Hong Kong, and are there on holiday.  It's a good job we are still fit and healthy and have lots of stamina!

Thank you for all your comments, stars and hearts - I promise that I will get back to commenting when we get home.  M xx

P.S.  I will say no more, except I could also get used to a heated toilet seat!! :-) Thank goodness, too, for hotels that have fluffy robes and decent sized bath towels that actually wrap around one's body!