I very well may have had the greatest nap of all time this afternoon. We are staying in a little houseboat on one of Amsterdam's maze of canals. During the day, little tour boats make their way past us up and down the narrow inner city waterways. By early evening these are joined by private motor boats, smaller still and usually occupied by one or two couples sharing a picnic as they glide atop the still water, under the low bridges and past the shops and bars...

I wish I loved watching football (soccer). I wish I could even pretend to enjoy it. It's Saturday night here in southern Holland and the place is a sea of orange mayhem as the Netherlands prepares to play Costa Rica in the World Cup quarter finals. Deb and I just walked through the central market and I can't imagine there is a single resident of this town not wearing an orange shirt at one of the great little bars that spill out onto the lovely sidewalks and st...