Amsterdam, oh god I'm blushing again!

OK, we got into Amsterdam a few hours ago and I've already had a few moments of feeling incredibly naive. For starters, you really can smell pot coming from loads of the coffee shops (at least I'm assuming that's what it smells like. I wouldn't know, really officer.). Also, I walked past a cookie shop and my first response was 'Mmmm cookies!', closely followed by 'but are they cookies, or cookies?...' Bill thought I was being paranoid, but as he hadn't realised the smell everywhere was pot, I'm not taking him seriously.
To top everything else off and make the Amsterdam cliche's complete, we just went into the local Priceline equivalent so Bill could get shaving cream and I saw something in a gift box display near the counter. It was all tasteful in pastel colours and I started to snigger that it looked like some kind of sex toy, when I had a closer look and it was! You can buy twelve inch battery powered vibrating 'pleasure devices' at the supermarket checkout, next to the M&Ms! I never thought of myself as a complete prude (shut up Arielle- you can talk!) but this place takes liberal to a whole new level. I've seen quite a few men dressed in pink velour or sequins so far, and we got into the city just after lunch, so this is day wear (and quite fetching too). I think I need a cup of tea, but I don't want to go into the wrong type of cafe (honestly).
Tonight we're going to a local evening of stand-up comedy and burlesque with a Swedish guy called Oliver that we've just met. He's riding his BMW around Europe and looked possibly more overwhelmed than me when he asked to sit at the free seat at our pub table. He keeps talking about Wikings, so I have immediately warmed to him and Bill likes him because he lives reasonably close the the Volvo factory. It should be an interesting night.

On a more sedate note, Belgium was beautiful. It was a shame we only had one whole day there between train journeys. The buildings are all very gothic, there are chocolate shops everywhere and Tintin is alive and well. There were also posters clustered together that all seemed to get along despite the differences: 'Jusus Saves' next to 'Saturday Night Gay' to name two. I liked it there. Also, the waffles were brilliant and I rekindled my friendship with Hoegarten.

We have three nights in Amsterdam and then we fly into Bristol to see what the UK has to offer...

Won°t someone stop the accordians?!!!

You guessed it, we°re in Paris and once again the apostrophe seems absent from my keyboard, so bear with the weird little cirle thingo.
OK, quick update- since Rome we°ve been in Florence which was lovely. We queued for three and a half hours to get into the gallery to see David, and he was worth it, really breathtaking. We also had a crash course in Tuscan cooking and wandered around more churches, cobbled streets and museums until I thought I never wanted to see another block of marble; and bitumen really had its merits.
After Tuscany, we went where anyone who had sworn never to go near a boat again would go... Venice! It was surreal there and incredibly boaty. We took a gondola ride (well, you have to really) and saw Casanova°s house and loads of ornate bridges.
After Venice we trained out to France and spent a few days in Nice. Nice is basically nice (snort), but didn°t really grab me as a place to get excited about. Maybe in 30 years when I retire. From Nice we°ve co,e to Paris and Paris is definitely exciting. Today we wandered through the Louvre for most of the day (and saw lots more blocks of marble, but one was the Venus de Milo and she°s still got it). Yesterday we were at the Eiffel Tower and possibly even more exciting than that, today I had my first genuinely French crepes! (They were really good!)
That°s all for now, this keyboard is doing my head in and my head is still full of Da Vinci (the Mona Lisa is way smaller than I was expecting). Hopefully I can put some pics up soon...

Roaming in Rome

It's incredibly hot here, both weather and local tempers (the two guys running this cafe had a huge shouting match about 5 minutes ago. They looked like they were about to start throwing computers at each other. It was quite scary).
We've seen loads of ancient ruins- the Colosseum being the biggie so far, with the place where Julius Caesar was stabbed coming in at a close second. We spent today at the Vatican which was amazing. The buildings were incredibly beautiful. I'm not even going to try and describe the Sistine Chapel, apart from "Wow!". All the people there seemed to be either looking overwhelmed in a non-Catholic way and snapping the odd photo like us, or fervently praying and crossing themselves. I was tempted to splash some holy water because it was so hot, but I thought it might be too sacrilegious so I didn't. I can never remember if it's right or left shoulder first either. (Apologies to any Catholics out there who are reading this and cringing)
We're off on a fast train to Florence in the morning where we might pop in and see David. After that we're heading into France. Not exactly sure where yet. We both want to go to Paris and I want to go to Normandy to see the Bayeaux Tapestry and Bill wants to see the beaches, so we'll be heading North at some stage. We're starting to run out of time to do everything now, which has snuck up on us quickly. Suddenly we only have six weeks left, which sounds like a lot until you realise you want to see another three countries in that time. Anyway, time to head back out into the sweltering heat...

Oh, and Dublin was really fun. Molly Malone (who several bus drivers sang about) turns out to be a fish monger by day with a wheel barrow full of shellfish and a prostitute by night. They love her there- her nicknames include 'the dolly with the trolley', 'the tart with the cart', and every one's favourite 'the trollop with the scallops'. There's even a statue of her in one of the central streets. Working two jobs evidently paid off...

T'be sure, t'be, well, at least fairly confident...

Well, we survived the boat trip and I was happy to get away from all things nautical for a while, so we went back down to Dubrovnik for a few days. I can safely say that I am still definitely not a boat person, but it was one of those life experiences I suppose. Bill had a great time and I did my best.
It was lovely to have a few days in Croatia where we weren't afloat. We got to wander around Dubrovnik and found a place to stay with Jele (Yelleh, not Jelly as Bill insisted on calling her) who was one of the many people crowding the bus station offering accommodation. We spent our first night in her family's spare room and the next two nights in an apartment that she rents out. We had a lovely view and were a short bus ride away from the old town which is the nice bit to walk around.
The weather always seemed to be in the low 30's and I've managed to actually develop quite a tan for the first time in my life. All in all, Croatia is a wonderful place to chill out and relax if you don't mind walking really slowly and stopping for icecream every few hours (it was terrible- really hard!)
After Croatia, we had decided to head to Italy for a while, but in the usual European fashion, it's much cheaper to fly between two adjoining countries, via one on the other side of the continent, than to just go directly. (There is a ferry from Croatia to Italy, but Bill promised me that I don't have to go on a boat again for quite a while. The ground has only just stopped moving for me.) Basically this means that I'm currently sitting in an internet cafe in Dublin. We got here last night and fly to Rome in a few days after checking out the Dublin Writers' Museum (me) and the Guiness Factory (Bill).
The weather is much more my cup of tea (cold and just a bit wet). I loved the heat in Croatia, but it was starting to send me a bit potty. I was also really missing my jeans. People drive on the same side of the road as at home here too, so crossing the street is much easier. I also got to have baked beans and toast for brekky at the hotel we're at, so I'm feeling recharged and ready to keep going with the new and exciting experiences.
As we've only been here for a few hours realistically, I don't have anything really exciting to report yet except that the bus driver this morning regaled us all by singing the ballad of Molly Malone as we tootled around the city.
I'm sure there will be more stories in a few days...
In the meantime, here's some pics of Croatia: Dubrovnik from the city walls walk , Split taken from the boat, and check out my tan!