Family vacations vs. Solo travel

Well, it has been a while. No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth or been abducted by aliens. Rather I have been with the family. A few weeks ago my lil brother Dave came to join me for some fun in Nice and a few days in London. Ya know, it is way more fun watching Grand Prix cars, nerding out at The Harry Potter Tour and getting trashed by 12 at the Fullers brewery when you have someone to share it with. Not to say we weren't ready to kill each other at times, but I do approve of traveling with siblings.
The family expanded when we hit Venice and spent a week cruising in the Greek islands. Oh darn ;-) Mykonos is the most beautiful island ever I think and practically designed-if your city is very confusing then you enemies get lost and you can pour hot oil on them!!
The ship itself was lovely too and you'll all be glad to know I am sporting a nice tan. First time in years I think. And I have now climbed a wall 200 feet above the sea! Granted the wall was only about 20 feet itself but whatever.
Currently I'm in Dublin, awaiting the arrival or more family, having said goodbye to the rest in Venice this morning.
More updates as things happen!!
Oh, and for the curious ones, no final word yet on school in the fall. Soon I hope!!

My new favorite color? Burgundy

Hello my lovely people,
Sorry for the delay in writing-between being busy and lacking WiFi I've been all over!
Regardless things have been amazing. Today I took the train into Nice and it is soooooo beautiful. My little apartment is lovely and I could almost literally throw a stone into the water from my patio. This with a glass of Kid in my hand and life is good.
But to catch up the last little while: the end of my time in Tours was nice, a little rainy but ok. I saw my dream castle: Chenonceau. Totally white stone with this amazing long room that served as a bridge over a river. It was originally a ballroom, then in WW1 it served as a hospital and in WW2 it served as a way of smuggling people from occupied to free France. Amazing eh?
From Tours I made my way to Lyon, food capital. And oh, was it ever. Ate an amazing supper in a Bouchon Lyonaise and will never look at food the same! Alas, since then it's been back to my own fair as I cannot eat like a queen every day.
I could,however,drink like one. I most recently spent 4 days "a faire la degustation" aka wine tasting in Burgundy, the land of Chardonnay, pinot noir and ,apparently, Caddis. Needless to say I did a bit of wandering about drunkenly in the French countryside. Lol. Well worth it.
For anyone keeping track ive managed not to get permanently lost yet
Otherwise just pumped to see some familiar faces soon! Oh and one more exciting thing-looks like I'll be spending about a month in Italy, living with an Italian family and running a camp for kids learning English! Very neat. Plus I'll have evenings and weekends free to see the country.
Rightly, not much else to say, hope all is well. Off to watch the French presidential debates!