[AlecSchueler]

Thanks for the tip, I'll be sure to check it out if I'm up that way!

Didn't mean to suggest that the Netherlands didn't have friendly or inclusive places, hope it didn't come across that way.

It's just that in Ireland I know I can go out alone and end up back at someone's house at the end of the night. In most "normal bars" here (doe normaal hoor!) out even just at a bus stop, say, when I try to talk to strangers they look at me like I'm interrupting them. Which is fair enough, just a cultural difference.

[CalRobert]

Wow, that's very different to my own experince. The midlands at least seem quite insular.