Amsterdam is enchanting in every way, We’d forgotten that people leave their curtains open, so you sometimes mistake a restaurant or a shop for what is simply someone’s lovely home. At twilight it is especially entertaining to look into the lives of the lucky inhabitants of this charming city. Spring is just around the corner here, with bright green grass and snowdrops just about up.

It may not be the blizzard conditions our friends are enduring back in the Northeastern United States, but here in Amsterdam it is very, very cold — especially coming from the other side of the equator, as we were. But it is beautiful here nonetheless, with bright blue skies, exquisite canal houses and tulip bulbs for sale on every corner. Everyone looks like Bill (and my father, who arrived yesterday morning). And of course our blue-eyed children, who felt so “other” in India and Asia.

We are all thrilled by the toasted cheese sandwiches we’ve been blissfully inhaling since we arrived, best enjoyed with a cup of steaming, milky tea served with biscotti and the occasional divine piece of chocolate. Of course, chocolate is deserving of its own post — perhaps by the candy expert in our family — but here’s a sneak peek, spotted in a bakery window yesterday afternoon: chocolate shoes!