Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60FOCUS - NOVEMBER 2016 55 Jonathan van Bilsen is a photographer, author, columnist, keynote speaker and can be followed at photosNtravel.com I checked the thermostat and saw it was 30 degrees in the room. I tried to fuss with the A/C but could not get it to work. After a call to the front desk, they politely offered to send up a fan. The fan arrived and I went for dinner. Unfortunately when I came back it was just as hot, so I checked with the front desk and learned the ho- tel does not have air conditioning. Stunned, I explained that we needed to do something, and the sympa- thetic clerk agreed. The only rooms left were in the basement, so off I marched, down the stairs, around a few corners to the end of a hall. The room looked nice and certainly was cool and there was a window with a beautiful view of a canal and houses. I went back up to the sauna room, packed my luggage, and they brought it down. Now that I was settled in my new room I pushed the sheer curtains aside and realized the beautiful view of the canal was actually a construction site with a large mural of a canal scene positioned outside my window. Thank- fully I did not plan to spend much time in the room anyway. It was getting late so I settled in and turned my iPad on to watch a little Net- flix. Well, that didn’t work, as there wasn’t any Wi-Fi. The front desk explained that unfortunately, there was no Wi-Fi in the basement. It’s a good thing I speak Dutch, so the TV in the room was not wasted. There are some great sights around Amsterdam, such as the traditional Dutch village of Volendam, where peo- ple people still dress as they did hundreds of years ago. If you are looking for cheese, visit Edam and be prepared to taste some of the best cheese in the world. Windmill viewing is best done in Zaanse Schans, an area where more than a dozen windmills have been res- urrected in a natural setting. Another great town is Giethoorn, which is made up totally of canals. Every house is on an island and boats are the only transportation available. This Venice of the north is well worth the visit. Lastly is of course, Keukenhof. Thousands of tulips and other flowers bloom bril- liantly in the spring, scenting the area with fragrances beyond your wildest imagination. Amsterdam is amazing and once there, you will want to become a resident. Remember the old proverb, ‘If you’re not Dutch, you’re not much.’ The cheese markets of Edam. Picturesque Giethoorn, where every house sits on an island. The spectacular Riijksmuseum. SCUGOG chartered professional accountants accounting professional corporation , 250 Queen Street Port Perry mkonopaski@ scugogaccounting.ca 905.985.9791 905.985.8893 Michael Konopaski PhD, CPA, CMA, CFP