As of today, we have done Leiden, Haarlem, Alkmaar, Harlingen, Hoorn and Amsterdam If I did not know any better I’ start believing that city life in the Netherlands is played out in Vermeer’s Street, but multiplied a thousand times. This effect is achieved by arriving in each city by sailing boat: we arrive in the scenic part of town always, skipping the nineteenth and twentieth century that one unavoidably meets with when approaching said cities by car. We go right to the core – which acts like a time warp somehow. With sunny weather and timely swims thrown in for good measure. Right now we are luxuriating at the ‘stoop’ of a lovely house of a friend on one of the famous Amsterdam Canals, surrounded by buildings that whisper ‘Golden Age’ to each passer-by, in whatever the language is that buildings speak.

Do buildings speak? I used to know for sure they had a voice. I’m pretty convinced that the house I live in now sang me a siren song when I entered it for the first time. It is whispering to me still – of former occupants and of present needs.