The Amsterdam Cat Museum and other tails

If there's one thing that's defined my 2012, it's cats. There have literally been litter loads of them. So it seemed fitting to cap off the year by heading to Amsterdam - a city that puts up its stray moggies in a glorious houseboat. But even more endearing is the surreal Kattenkabinet - a museum that celebrates man's ability to fashion feline-themed pinball machines, porcelain paperweights and zoomorphised mannequins - futile, time-consuming and expensive endeavours, but endeavours born of the power of love. The results are charming, unfathomable and please-let-me-out-of-here-oh-no-I-can't-find-the-exit creepy. As Borat Sagdiyev once said; entry, please, as I reveal four hand-picked highlights:

An interview with Michael Palin

What do the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert and my office have in common? They've all been trodden on by Britain's nicest man, Michael Palin. And while I couldn't make the Poles or the desert, I could the latter - so naturally the comedian-turned explorer sat down for a chat about his latest book and TV series, Brazil.