Just 36 hours in Amsterdam.   Yes, your gentle hero has invested her time loitering in a gallery, drinking European coffee and discovering that Australian directness and Dutch bluntness are perfectly matched for very productive business.

And by European coffee, I mean wine.

But you probably already guessed that, yes?

I’m in a society that created wonders of art and architecture, cares for them and values them. And I can smell it. It’s tangible.

After falling into bed sometime past midnight from Tel Aviv, I opened the curtains and discovered this.

The Rijks Museum is next door. Whoa.

Yes, well we all know I love a Rembrandt, a Van Gogh, a Vermeer or a good chunk of Delftware as much as anyone else who wears black and catches trams in Melbourne, but it’s breakfast time, and I need to invest my time wisely…

Come on – a built in ashtray! – this suite is BEGGING for an occupant with a bohemian addiction and a casual disregard for polite society.

Do forgive me: I hope my photos will suffice I’m running low on words. I’m having a rather wonderful, but tiring week –

Breakfast tomorrow with an old, dear friend.

Then to Istanbul for round three.