Pictures from Amsterdam are up, but I'm still waiting for Patty and Allison to send me the pictures they took. I'll put up my most recent London pictures within the next day or two...some of them are from Chinese New Year, which was on January 29th. There were pretty decorations, but way too many people. The said there were around 200,000 people and they were hoping for more next year...they have to be crazy! Everyone was unhappy because you couldn't move down the narrow side streets of Chinatown, you couldn't get into a restaurant, and you couldn't get close to any of the vendors. Last Friday, Patty and I went to see Belle and Sebastian. They were performing at the Hammersmith Apollo. Our seats were Row T, so we really couldn't see the band or take good pictures. And worse, people kept moving around throughout the show! I thought this was so disrespectful to the people trying to watch and to the band. Every minute people were up to get drinks and go to the bathroom and coming back and then going again, so our view was blocked a lot of the time. However, Belle and Sebastian were wonderful, so they made up for the bad seats. There are seven people in the band, but they also had a string section of four people for some songs, so there were 11-12 people on stage! The lead singer took off his top so he only had an undershirt on and he was wearing a derby hat and dancing around. He was fun to watch and really good at working the crowd. And he has a perfect voice. They played a long set with a good mix of old songs and songs from their new album, The Life Pursuit. I am now on break until February 27th, and I'm going to Italy on Valentine's Day with Allison! We're going to Milan, Rome, and Florence. When I get back on the 21st I'll start updating again. Until then, take care!!!