Amsterdam has not stolen its name when it calls itself Venice of the North. We spend four days strolling around the romantic canals and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the Sail ’05 festival. We even had the chance to admire the majestic vessels in the harbor under the fireworks. Could there be a better setting to get engaged?

The legion of scarecrows gathered in Denens did not succeed in scaring us away from our holidays and neither did the vertiginous cliffs of the Mont Blanc. Obviously, nothing could distract us from the happy get-togethers with friends and family. And during the short time Karen was in Switzerland, she even improved her French by one sentence: 'Nooon, j'veux pas rentrer!'