Amsterdam

I was starting to understand the geographical differences between Europe and Canada. It took me 45 minutes to fly to Holland - a flight from Montreal to Vancouver takes 5 hours, and that's not travelling the entire east-west length of our country! Registered in the central hotel for – would you believe – for only $5.50? Seriously, this was not a sleazy hotel, but one which was very comfortable and obviously very affordable. I started walking, as I usually do, and ended up at the Rembrandtplein. Historically a dairy market, the square now features a diverse mix of entertainment and cultural attractions, drawing both tourists and locals.

Heading back to the hotel, I admired the canals and the boats playing to and fro on a beautiful night. I'm not sure if Amsterdam equally enthralled me as London did, but there was no doubt in my mind that this was a city I would want to visit again in the future.