It's 11:05pm my time here in Istanbul, and overlooking the lovely lit up Bosphorous. It's our last night, and tomorrow morning at a head-splitting pre-coffee hour of 4:30am we are off to the airport and heading back to Spain to be on Amari, which is now our floating mobile home.

Weird.

As for Istanbul, Dottie and I are both fans. It was deep and wide, casually wearing the depth of its past that threads back into misty history like a quick shawl artfully tossed over its shoulder on the way to the Bazaar. This depth was matched by the breadth of cultures and fashions represented here in the Capital.

We'll miss the hubub, the colors and the randome kitties everywhere but, per Scarlett O'Hara, tomorrow is another day. So what's next then? How do you follow this?

Here's the itinerary over the next 3 months. Bear in mind that we are still working at Mediterranean Wellness throughout.

1. Hang in Spain until mid-August.

2. Mid August: Go to Ireland for a weekish

3. End August: Meet friends in Mallorca

4. Mid September: Visit a friend in Elba

5. Later September: Go see Lionel Messi play a game in Barcelona

6. Last week in September: leave Europe for North Africa (Morrocco).

7. Early October: Head out of Gibraltar and down the African coast

8. Visit Casablanca, Marakesh, and Rabat

9. Late October: Arrive in the Canary Islands.

10. Meet up with the rally boats heading from Africa, across the Atlantic, over to the Caribbean

11. Do that.