One of my most memorable experiences in Amsterdam was a visit to the Van Gogh Museum. We get pretty used to museums whilst travelling Europe, but this one was truly unique. It documented the life and work of the Dutch master as he progressed slowly into irreparable mental illness. I wanted to record my impression of the place, hence this blog. I can't remember the last time something evoked my imagination and empathy as much as this. Van Gogh's state of mind was ...

After parking our bicycles in a dedicated building on our visit to Haarlem and seeing the dumbfoundingly huge bike storage racks at Amsterdam Centraal station, I began to realise why The Netherlands are renowned for cycling. The country really is as flat as a pancake, and covered with smooth, wide and well-tended bike paths that criss-cross the landscape. Naturally - as with all things outdoorsy and mildly active - we decided to make a day of it. Many days of it ...

A short stopover in Bruges promised all the cutesy appeal of a small canal-filled Belgian town one would expect. The plan was to spend the day strolling around in the sunshine, over little bridges and maybe sunning ourselves outside a cute cafe. For the first hour or two of our day there, that was exactly what was happening. Then the rain came. Again. Sjane won't let me live down the fact that I keep jinxing the weather. Mother Nature hears me bragging about h...

Everyone knows Paris. We have either been there ourselves, or have learnt from a young age that this is the city of the Eiffel Tower, the Mona Lisa, cute cafes, lights and love. Our time in this iconic metropolis consisted so much of what's been said and done before (visits to the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and Sacre Couer, Notre Dame and the Palace of Versailles) that instead of writing about the familiar, I've decided to share some of the little momen...

Huddled under a stand of inadequate trees out in the middle of the French countryside, I had to wonder where we'd gone wrong. The rain was definitely setting in, the wind was picking up and it was getting cold. We didn't have any waterproof gear or serious layers for warmth. Sjane's raynaud's was ensuring the temperature dropped in her hands and as a result, her mood was going south as well. Worst of all, our bicycles sat useless nearby and we were over 5 kilomet...