Istanbul with Andrea - A week of laughing.  Andrea and I met in Vietnam last year: we spent a couple of days cycling through the rice paddies in Nimh Binh. She is 35, Dutch, works for government, lives in the city of Arnhem and is an only child. Her parents live in a tiny village between Arnhem and Amsterdam and they are adorable.The Dutch election was on while I was in Amsterdam. Andrea had lots of election related tasks and had been working long days so...

Amsterdam was a breath of fresh, albeit chilly, air. The energy in Amsterdam is different than any other city - it is young and energetic and happy. As uptight as France can feel, Amsterdam is loose. Not only are the sex and drug laws liberal, there is a liberal feel to the street. I love Amsterdam.My Hotel ended up being on one of the main streets in the Red Light district. This made it really easy to get anywhere by foot but also made it very loud. The D...

Arrived back in Tours with Clem to learn that Andrea had booked us a 5 day trip to Istanbul - leaving on Sunday. This news was met with mixed emotions as I was really enjoying my time in France with Clem et al but also was excited to be able to see Istanbul and perhaps get a chance to finally warm up. The weather in Europe - both in France and in Portugal has been brutally cold and I have been freezing since arriving. My body prefers heat. This news meant that...

Clem and I decided to escape the cold and find a last minute deal to somewhere hot and interesting. Europe is so small - compared to North America and Asia and to someone who loves to see new countries - the whole continent was calling to me. I kept looking at the map and the bus schedule and thinking - Bulgaria - oh my god, only 5 hours away....Hungary - 5 hours away...and so on and so on. Because I had the confines of that return ticket forcing me back int...