With absolutely no surfing experience, a sense of balance that resembled a certain famous Italian landmark and a general lack of athletic prowess, she paid her 45 euros and headed for the waves.
Three hours later and an awful lot of frankly terrifying underwater immersions, she relinquished the brief fantasy she'd indulged in - where a 40-something woman takes up surfing for the first time, and discovers an amazing aptitude for it, going on to win surfing prizes world-wide.
She did, however, achieve a wetsuit tan. Burnt hands, burnt feet and a very red face.