That is funny about the moonshine. When I went to England, all I ate was pizza too! Magherita pizza. I loved Holland, that was my favorite country. So friendly, they liked Americans, the food was not bad. Loved Amsterdam for the museums and canals. Belgium was nice too. Good food, great beer. So easy to stay in Holland and make day trips to Belgium and Germany. You should go!

Ireland is awesome! You HAVE to tour the Ring of Kerry and see the Cliffs of Mohair, they are stunning. Seriously I feel like I have been all over the place. We spent a lot of time in Galway, as my mom still has extended family there. It is my favorite city there, it is really growing and has a lot of young people, and it's on the west coast and it's warmer there. I have been to Dublin, and it's cool, but it's pretty much like any major city. And we stayed at a cottage on the Ayran (I think that's how you spell it) islands and it is gorgeous there. And it seems like we saw a zillion smaller towns, Cork, Kilkenney, places like that.

We were thinking of starting in Dublin and then traveling South and then follow the outline of the coast till we made a circle and came back to Dublin. I have read about Cork and I have looked at the Ayran Islands. I seem to remember there being a big Celtic music place around the Islands. Is that right? I am going to get my books out and read up on them again. I got a book about walking through Ireland but my husband would never go for it. I am a redhead and I always fantasized about being Irish, but alas I am English. So disappointing! That is wonderful that you have extended family over there.

I am a redhead too! We are awesome! You could always lie and say you're Irish, as it's much superior to being of English descent.

I want to see more of Europe so bad! I keep thinking of doing a semester abroad type thing, but for some reason I just drag my feet about figuring out how I would actually DO it. Did you ever visit Amsterdam?? And if so, how did your southern ladylike values hold up there?? Haha, just messin with ya!

I don't remember a Celtic music place on Ayran islands, but that doesn't mean there wasn't one. We stayed there for two or three days, and did a lot of hiking and my brother and I took a deep sea fishing trip, so much fun!

We have totally taken over this thread from being about a funny picture to telling vacay stories, lol.

I loved Amsterdam. The Anne Frank museum was moving beyond words and I loved the Ryjks museum that had Rembrandt's Night Watch. The first sight I saw when I got off the boat in the Red light district was a chinese lady cackling, sitting, eating a slice of watermelon with sores all over her, she was obivously on crack. I think we were freaked out by that we did not "eat" at the cafe's that sell herbal fares. There were newsletters by fellow americans that tell you what is safe to get in these cafes and what isn't. It was eye-opening for a Southerner, definitely. My husband laughs at me for ending up at a rave in London and not knowing what it was until people were asking us for E. My fellow trip mate had cut-off duck heads on and tennis shoes, he was a redneck through and through.

Do the semester abroad. I did that for a summer semester and it was so worth it. We studied at the University of Maastricht in Holland. I highly recommend it. We also took classes at the University of London too.

I know we have taken this thread over.

You ended up at a RAVE?? Haha, now THAT is funny!

Being from Missouri, I know a few rednecks, but I must say that I am at a loss..... what are duck heads???

Duckhead khakis (spell?) that back in the nineties were cut off to make shorts. You know southerners love cut-offs. I had on white shorts and a yellow striped shirt all jcrew and a Dooney and Bourke purse with cole-haan tassle loafers on. It is burned in my memory, my fellow drunks had no clue about Raves. When the mist subsided from the dance floor and I looked around, it was all Ravers in black, asking us for E, oh no alcohol, only water and orange juice. That was the other clue. We were idiots.

I noticed we got our own thread.

Haha, that is awesome!! Tassled loafers... YIKES!! Lol. Actually, I can't blame you I probably wouldn't have known what a rave was in the nineties. They kind of originated in Europe, I think. That and techno music.

Heck yes we did, because we are awesome and deserving of our own thread! Anyway, if anyone else out there has fun stories about places they have been outside the country jump on in!