Definitely when I've been there there wasn't much in the way of anti-smoking regulations. I spoke to my belgian friend I used to travel with a lot, and he says they've finally started implementing some anti-smoking laws. I used to get so irritated because I would tell people before going out "okay, I'm not going if it's smoky", they'd swear it wasn't going to be smokey, and then bring me to some 12th century little stone pub that was adorable but a thick cloud of cigarette smoke. Then I'd ask people to please not smoke, and they'd just light up right next to me while I was eating.

Or someone would take me to a non-smoking section of a restaurant - which was back when there were no requirements for separate ventilation there and the entire place would be laden with smoke.

He also said it just means there's clouds of people on the streets puffing away outside buildings.

But it's good if Europe's finally catching up.