Rebeccaland: June 2010

This was Delft. It's a cute little town near Den Haag.... it's where they make Delfware

Madurodam, miniature Holland. Everything is built to 1:25 scale. Pretty cool stuff actually

More Madurodam...see the giant asian in the background?

Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. It was way impressive, and would be more so without the hundreds of other people there

The front gate of My palace at Versailles

The Crepe maker. He was rude and unhappy, but I wanted a photo so I asked if I could...he said yes, then I said "smile you beautiful man" after that he was very nice. The smile is a little creepy though

Greenland on the way home. So cool. I could look down and see all the icebergs in the ocean, and see the underwater part too, they changed colors depending on if they were submerged or not

I know having a picture of a toilet is a little odd, but the pic was of the toilet paper. It's bright orange to cheer on the Holland Futbol team. The Queen's color is Orange. The House of Oranje is the royal palace.

Me at the french fry museum. Fries were everywhere. they were invented by the dutch/belgians. But, they had all sorts of weird museums over there

Sweet windmill

Chocolate display in Brugge. Chickens and feathers, and a rabbit in a carrot car.

Palace in Brugge.

Streets of Brussels. Very typical to have flags all over the place. They have all sorts of flags... but never a U.S. flag. I found that interesting

So, as you both know I recently had my grand trip to Amsterdam. It was perfect. Except for the part about Amsterdam.

It all started one partly cloudy day. I woke up after spending the previous day running around trying to get last minute things in order (but, since I'm a procrastinator everything is last minute). I jumped in Ninja Warrior and off we went up to the airport. Checked in, got through security in no time.

Everything was looking good. And that is when it turned ugly. Had I known that Seattle was a nightmare to fly in and out of I would have made other plans. But, I didn't. So, I waited through two flights; waiting for my name to be called. Nothing. The first flight I missed it by 2 people. Then the next flight, which was the last option to be had for making my connecting AMS flight. Well, my name is third on the list. I can see it popping up on the cleared list at any moment. Then, my luck decides it is not going to behave itself and a father and daughter that missed their previous flight show up wanting a seat on this flight. Wish granted and two of the open seats now go to them. But to make matters worse they delay the flight by 20 minutes. Which wouldn't have been a problem, but by that point all 7 people that would have missed the flight otherwise were able to make the connection.

No problem though, I'll grab my bag and try again for the morning. Baggage problem #1, my bag made the flight that I didn't. It's now about to land in Seattle. However, Baggage Services Man Keith (who, looks like a little leprechaune with a stained tie) promises that they will have it sent back immediately and I'll have my bag by that evening, ready to go for the next opportunity. Baggage problem #2... my bag doesn't make it back from Seattle that evening, but I decide not to let it ruin my trip. Baggage Lady Tammy says she'll send out an S.O.S to Seattle and tell them to send my bag to Amsterdam anyway. I, knowing this plan will fail jump on the plane anyway. I make the first leg of the trip. Sitting waiting in Portland for the plane to AMS. Problems again. Plane comes in 2 hours late. But, good news is that it's not full and I make my business class aspirations! Massage chair, leg room, movies on demand, silver platter service. Ahhh, it all makes the additional 2 hour mechanical delay worthwhile... until I get the phone call that informs me that my bag is in Salt Lake City waiting for me to pick it up. S.O.S. to Seattle did not get read. I know start my journey without anything!!!!! Awesome! I decided that panic was not the the best option and looking at it through the eyes of an adventurer was the best way to go about it. So, I enjoy my flight. Get into Amsterdam and into a country that doesn't speak my

language, find my way through multiple cities and end up right where I need to be, at the JorPlace Beach Hostel. The fun begins and the worries are over! I'm in Den Haag. I love this city. Perfect, clean, friendly, and homey. It's here that I meet up with Michael, and our new German Friend Stephan. Stephan was a great roommate to have. He has been at the hostel for 4 months and has 3 more to go. He's doing an internship and the hostel is the cheapest way to go. He was great, friendly, quiet, and eager to learn about America. He and I spent a lot of time talking because Michael was in conference the whole time we were there. We exchanged stories of our cultures and learned about the world in between. Stephan was a lonely soul in Den Haag. Germans are still hated by the rest of Europe and it was very evident. We wished him the best after becoming our own little misfit family, and headed on the highspeed to Paris. Now, I'll start the photo documentation of the trip instead of play by play in writing... Just, don't judge me-I didn't have any of my clothing, and the humidity did a number on my hair. Anyway, the photos begin: