Andalucía and Gibraltar

I flew to Málaga after Venice to stay with Nicky and her two boys for a few days. They have an apartment there. It was a lovely few days. We went to Gib one day. Photos below. 

We went for a drive through Andalucía and into the mountains one other day. Spectacular. 

Greece

This is the cruise. All the clan went for my sister's 50th birthday. We had such a great time. It was wonderful to have everyone - well almost - together. Missing Dad, of course. My brother and crew couldn't make it from Canada. It went so fast. 

Athens was a bit of a dissappointment as it is quite an ugly city. That was a bit of a surprise.  I guess they missed out on all the beautiful architecture of the renaissance and they got pretty bombed up in WWII. Most of the buildings were post-war apartment buildings. Below shot of the Parthenon which was pretty cool. 

Mykonos was my favorite by far and I wish we had more time there. We had a beautiful day at the beach. The water was crystal clear. Mykonos town was beautiful too. 

Venice , Aug 6-8

I spent a couple of days with some family members in Venice en route to a cruise. It's a spectacular city. 

Canada: July 14-18

I went to visit my brother and his family in Toronto for the week.  My brother and I took a trip to Niagra Falls for some "bro-time".  I never knew that Niagra-on-the-Lake was Canadian wine country.  It was very beautiful. Quainter than Napa Valley. Worth a trip.  Forgot to take pictures. 

Provincetown: June 30 - July 7

Ptown. At the top of the Cape. An amazing place to return to. One of my favorites.  July 4th was a blow out as we got the tail end of a hurricane. So it was beer and World Cup soccer instead! The rest of the vacation was sunny and beautiful. 

We had this great trip to Martha's Vineyard one day on a friend's boat.  I've always wanted to visit this playground of the rich and famous. So this was a real treat! 

Cartagena, Colombia (June 14-18)

Cartagena is unlike any other city in Colombia. It's a Caribbean city with the most charming and beautiful colonial historic district within the "Walled City". The beaches are terrible though. I had to take a boat one day to one of the islands to get a decent spot for swimming and sun bathing.  This is the last stop on my Mid-Life Crisis Big Adventure South American Tour.  I had debated with myself for about a week whether or not to go to Tayrona National Park, but in the end, I decided against it because of the prospect of a long hike to the beach in the intense heat and all the talk of mosquitoes.  I opted for four days  relaxation instead. In Cartagena. 

Below are some photos of the old town. 

Castillo de San Felipe is a fortress built in 1657 by the Spanish for protection against pirates while shipping gold out to Europe. 

Adventure over!!!

Provincetown, Fire Island, Italy, Spain, etc. next...