Thea, cheerful Oud-Zuid escort with caramel hair

“Give me a bicycle, a map with no plan on it and a bowl of ramen at the end, and I am the happiest woman in the Netherlands.” Thea means every word, and her cheerful, down-to-earth warmth reaches you well before she has set her bag down. She is the sort of person who remembers the name of the café owner, the dog outside the bakery and the exact spot where the tulips come up first each spring.

Caramel blonde hair, worn long and loose; green eyes; a curvy 165 cm; 29 and entirely at ease with herself. Her style is sunlit natural glamour, simple black with a flash of neon trim, hair falling freely, the look of someone who spent the afternoon outdoors and came back glowing. There is no act here and no pose, only a woman who enjoys good company and says so plainly, which makes her refreshingly easy to be around after a day of business or sightseeing.

Cycling is her everyday freedom. She knows the city's bike paths as well as any courier and loves riding out along the Amstel into the polders, where windmills replace the gables and the sky suddenly gets enormous. Hiking takes her further, to the dunes near the coast or to real mountains whenever a long weekend allows. Japanese food is her great comfort, from delicate nigiri to steaming bowls of udon, and she talks about a good broth the way some people talk about wine: with patience, affection and a slightly faraway look.

Thea is at home in Oud-Zuid, close to the museums and the leafy Vondelpark, yet she feels just as comfortable crossing to the historic centre, where lantern light and neon shimmer on the old canals. Nancy shares both her south-side neighbourhood and her appetite for sushi, and Vanessa is another keen cyclist. Whatever the plan, expect her to suggest a stroll at some point, because Thea believes no evening is complete without a little fresh air and a lamplit bridge.