While most go south for the holidays, we’ve decided to go north for a little end-of-summer fillip.  Staying with friends in Amsterdam, we plan to leisurely visit shopping streets and museums, walk along the canals, get a feel for this city that is so loved by everyone who visits.

I haven’t been for ten years, since my first book was published here. I fell in the love with it. Any city that leaves so much room for bicycles – even if the bicyclists leave little room for each other! – is my kind of place.  And this doesn’t include all the delicious things to eat, the little bars serving cinnamon liqueurs; the poffertjes; the cheeses, the open air markets.  There is much to explore after the first morning’s coffee on the terrace overlooking the IJhaven canal.