Guus Bosman

There were pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips at work yesterday -- a large plate of them and the first pumpkin dish I've had in a year.

A delicious way to start the Halloween season.

Last Sunday, after walking along the Thames for an hour or so I arrived at the London Eye.

I'd been reading about the Millennium projects for many years (The Economist was not always enthusiastic about the execution and costs of the projects), and I was looking forward to seeing the Eye.

I bought a ticket and went for a 30 minute ride in the 440 ft high wheel. It was a nice, slow ride, with great views of the buildings of parliament and the London City.

So Thursday we were in Amsterdam.

For lunch Jaap recommended La Place, a restaurant in the V&D department store. The one in Haarlem is good, but this one was even better. The restaurant has a huge selection of fresh food, sandwiches, coffee etc. I had the roomkaas on a sandwich, which is a sort of cream cheese with fresh herbs. The restaurant is beautiful and has a unique blend of the old Amsterdam canal house facades with a modern, open glass architecture.

After lunch we returned to the museum, and since there was so much to see we decided to skip the Rijksmuseum for today. Next time!

Thursday morning we took a 9.00 o'clock train from Hoorn, the nearest city to my parent's town Middenmeer.

There are a couple of new shops at the trainstation and we bought a cup of coffee in one of the new ones. The gentleman serving was very slow and mumbling under his breath "what was it that I was doing again?" but the coffee was great. The train was crowded but we managed to get a seat.