Amsterdam, redux pt. 3

Part 1
Part 2

If you didn’t figure it out yet, the last picture in Part 2 was taken in Madurodam, a miniature city. It’s built at 1:25 scale and includes traditional Dutch buildings as well as various landmarks. Here are some more shots from Madurodam:

Amsterdam, redux pt. 2

Part 1
Part 3

Amsterdam, redux pt. 1

Part 2
Part 3

So… um… yeah. It’s been over a year now since I posted about my upcoming vacation to Amsterdam. Hell, it’s been nearly a full year since I got back. I know I’m a superb procrastinator, but maybe this is a little much. Maybe “lazy bastard” would be a more apt label. In any case, here are some snapshots from the trip:

Arriving at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

Amsterdam

My dad is going to Amsterdam on a business trip. When I was younger, he used to travel a lot for work, but realized that raising me was really the priority, so he took a different job for a significant paycut. But now, he’s been asked to go to Holland to do some stuff for whatever company it is that Oracle Corp. has just bought.

This is an excellent opportunity for me, as he’s offered to pay a very significant portion of the travel costs if I join him about a week into the trip, at which point the work-stuff will be done, and we’ll be free to just enjoy Europe. The problem is, my passport’s expired. The last time I went out of the country was in the 2nd grade, to South Korea with my mom to visit family.

At first, we weren’t counting on me being able to go, because nobody had the money to pay for it. But my grandma has just bought a new car, and gave her “old” one to my dad, which seriously relieved a lot of financial pressure. But again, my passport is expired. The only way to get one in less than 11 days is for my mom to go to Denver to expedite the process. Of course, she’s not willing to do this for nothing… She wants to tag along. Half of my excitement for this trip was getting a vacation from her.

I still want to go, of course, but half of my original excitement was the fact that I was going to have a good, long break from my mother. So much for that. *sigh*