Merry Xmas one and all.

Well obviously I didn't even begin to see Eastern Europe in that time but I did manage to fit in Budapest, Vienna and Krakow. I've lost to the energy to give much more detail other than to say that all three were amazing and well worth any visit to Europe. Budapest was a mix of east and west with some great buildings and very relaxing spas. Vienna was imperial with its wide boulevards and imposing marble buildings. Krakow was possibly the prettiest city I have seen in Europe and because it is a fiarly small city it is very easy to simply wander about and take it all in, Auschwitz is understandably depressing though.

I celebrated my Birthday in style in Krakow and managed to drink enough that even the exchange rate didn't save me from overspending. I was quite thankful to come to bonny scotland and be kept from overdrinking by the horrendous exchange rate. After a couple of days drying out in Edinburgh I headed up to through the highlands and to the Isle of Skye which is a must see for anyone visiting Scotland. After a couple of nights there and at Fort William, in the shadow of the UK's biggest mountain Ben Nevis, I headed back to Edinburgh to finish up the unvisited Edinburgh castle and now I am spending Xmas in Glasgow with Jenna's family.

Merry Xmas

Who knew winter was so cold?

After Spain I headed up to Stockholm for a reunion of Vancouverites. I have never before really understood why people generally dont travel in winter but after seeing the sun set at 3:30pm and the temperature stayed just above 0deg for the entire time in Stockholm it all started to make sense. I wont go into too much detail about Stockholm largely because most of my time was spent riding out hangovers in bed or cosy cafes, here are some very general impressions though: the Swedes have been participating in some brilliant selective breeding program with beauty being the main criteria; during winter the gym is the place to be because I didnt see anyone who didnt have a perfectly toned ass; having only like 6 hours of sunlight a day really sucks. These things considered I have concluded that Sweden is in fact the fabled garden of Eden but the conspirators of this plot to hide paradise cleverly hid it from the world by making it freaking cold and adding a Sw to the name maybe it is all an elaborate test to see just how often we will keep sinning. Closing remarks: sweden is probably the place to be in Summer when people are wearing fewer clothes. After the weekend was over I went back with Martijn and Brigitte to the Netherlands where I stayed with Martijn in Rotterdam for 10 days. Again I wont go into huge detail (this keyboard is frustrating enter key doesnt work) but suffice to say that all my previous held stereotypes of the Netherlands were confirmed: there are more bikes than people, everything is flat, people dont actually where wooden shoes....all the time, Amsterdam is a den of drugs and prostitution. Well actually maybe not, people were wearing clogs all the time. Seriously though my lack of ability to ride a bike (i actually forgot!) turned out to be rather inconvenient but we powered on and while my disability amused every single Dutch person I met they were kind enough to not laugh in my face..much. The best word I think to sum up the Netherlands is "urban", I dont think there was a single time I looked out the train window and didnt see some sign of human habitation. Netherless the country itself has retained a lot of the charm and is lush and green (where it isnt covered in water). Windmills werent quite omnipresent but so much of the urbanisation was only made possible by the harnessing of windmills to pump water. The smaller towns like Leiden and Delft are charming and quintessential dutch villages but Rotterdam (ruined in WWII) is modern and bustling. Amsterdam was charming with its canals and plazas and the museums: van gogh, the ann frank house and the rejksmuseum (sorry) were great. Currently in Budapest and have another 10days to see Vienna, Krakow and Warsaw. After that it is bonny Scotland for me. I swear I would have made paragraphs if I could´ve