Journal · Amsterdam · 10
Notes from between the last round and the room
Briefer than the guides, and written nearer the moment. Each note takes one small thing about booking on the way back and says plainly how it usually goes.
- The Cloakroom Queue After the CurtainThe applause stops, the house lights come up, and a queue for coats forms that nobody put in the plan. It is a delay you can predict almost to the minute.2026-09-12
- Night Trams, Night Buses and the Taxi RankAt nine in the evening the tram home takes twelve minutes. At half past twelve the same trip can take thirty-five, and the booking needs to know that.2026-08-29
- A First Message Typed Under the TableFive facts, two lines, one thumb. A booking made from a restaurant is usually written in a hurry, and a hurried message is fine as long as nothing is missing.2026-08-14
- The Keycard Lift at MidnightMany Amsterdam hotels lock the lift to guests after a certain hour, and a visitor cannot reach your floor alone. A line in the first message sorts it out.2026-07-31
- A Glass of Water Before the KnockBetween the last drink of the evening and a knock at the door there are usually about forty minutes. What goes into them decides how the next hour feels.2026-07-16
- Rain and the Walk Back Along the CanalsAmsterdam rain arrives without much warning and tends to settle in for the evening. It changes the walk home more than anything else in a booking.2026-07-01
- Ten Minutes in the Room Before She ArrivesEvery plan on this site ends with the guest back in his room ten minutes before the knock. Here is what those ten minutes are for, one after the other.2026-06-15
- The Encore and the Hour That MovedA concert that was meant to finish at half past ten found another twenty minutes of music. The booking survived it because the message went out in time.2026-05-30
- A Phone on Eight PercentThe whole of a booking made on the way back runs through one phone, and by eleven at night that phone has usually been working hard for fourteen hours.2026-05-11
- King's Day Evening and the Room AfterwardsKing's Day turns the city orange and fills every street until late. A booking on the evening of the twenty-seventh of April needs more planning than usual.2026-04-28