Eurobeer!!!

Just a quick entry before I head off to bed... I'm at Adam's flat in Edinburgh, and we're leaving for Italy tomorrow morning, meeting Johanna along the way. There, we'll meet up with our Aunt and Uncle and cousins, who live in Trento. Plans include trips to Milan, Venice, and the Dolomites, lots of great food, and molto vino rosso. Also, I'm hoping some of my Italian might come back, as it hasn't been doing much since the spring of 2005.

Saturday night, I had my first ceilidh, which was a great time. The Stramash was my favourite dance, which basically involved bouncing around the floor with your partner and crashing into lots of poeple, on the way to meeting up with other partners. My calves are still sore. One of the most fun things about going out and about in Scotland has been taking a look at what people drink. At the ceilidh, for example, I noticed, amid the various wines and McEwans and Smirnoff Ice, someone had pulled out several ice cold Budweisers (glass bottles, no less). I almost fell over, and had to restrain myself from asking him if he knew what American beer had in common with having sex in a canoe. (It's fucking close to water... I'm afraid I can't take credit for that one- it's from Monty Python.) Anyway, I figured I'd damaged my reputation enough by asking them if they drank Irish Car Bombs ("Oh, I suppose we're all the same to you?" was the response). I also have noticed both at the ceilidh and here in Edinburgh that Staropramen, a Czech beer which we drank in Sweden, is fairly popular and can be found on tap at local establishments. Another American classic, which I observed at Tesco was Miller High Life. Adam had never head of PBR... the fact that he had also never heard of hipsters can only mean that PBR-drinking really is somehow connected with eyeliner and absurd looking boys in tight shirts.

Well, I don't suppose they drink beer in Italy, but I'm looking forward to trying some of the local wines. In other news, I'm hoping I won't come back with a broken ankle... you can't go to the fashion capital of the world and leave your stilettos at home.