Last week I had the pleasure of attending a talk by Jonathan Safran Foer, a renowned novelist who recently published a non-fiction book called Eating Animals. The experience was wonderful - witty conversation, great questions - but one of the things that really struck me upon arrival was how different Paradiso can look for an event like this.

I haven't been inside the Paradiso venue for a number of years. And all of my previous visits were for concerts and other music events. It always appeared dark, smoky, and packed with people. But last Thursday, the place was clean and set up for a discussion when we arrived. Quite a difference from the concert experience!

It just goes to show you - half the fun of attending a variety of cultural events in the Netherlands is to get a look at how such impressive venues can be magically transformed.