A Weekend in Hong Kong...

After the Chinese modeling agency decided to send Ashlynn home early, I started working with them to fly her out of Hong Kong instead so she could at least enjoy a few days of exploring that incredible city. I then contacted Dave, a friend we made in Holland that relocated to Hong Kong several years ago, to see if he could put her up for the weekend and he generously offered to let her use the place while he was away at a Hash weekend. 

After Ashlynn dropped her stuff off at Dave’s apartment, she went exploring. What a shock to hear her named called out while wandering through a back alley. She was surprised to find two of her Project Kenya classmates eating a late dinner at an outdoor café. So instead of spending the weekend on her own, she hung out with Sofie and Roish, whose parents had relocated to Hong Kong after she graduated high school.

She had a great time exploring the city with her friends...

...and also hiking outside of the city.

Finally, on July 1, Ashlynn arrived at Schiphol, having been away just shy of six months.

Kati wasn’t the only one thrilled to see her. 

Leiden at Night...

As day turned into night, I continued to take photos.

More Leiden...

Apparently this building used to house a brewery and wine distributor...

...while this houseboat appears to house someone quite creepy.

This park definitely had the most unusual sculpture we saw that day.

As always, I enjoyed capturing reflections.

Love This City...

Considering how many times we’ve walked or run through Leiden, it’s incredible that there’s still always new places to explore...

...and new spots to photograph.

Wandering Around Leiden...

To continue on the Leiden roll, I’ll skip ahead to the following weekend when Jimmy, Kati and I took a long walk around the city.

As usual, we saw windmills...

...flowers and canals.

We also saw this funny sculpture...

...and this unusual poster.

It was especially nice seeing this large family of Egyptian Geese.

Images of Leiden...

I love capturing reflections, and that day I caught this cool shot of windows across the canal from where we were viewing the parade.

This boy was standing next to us with a very unusual message on his shirt: Enjoy Life Now. Win or Learn. Does this mean that you can’t win and learn?

 I failed to get a group shot, but I did get one of this happy boy.

 I also grabbed a few night shots on the way back to the train station.

More Parade Boats...

This boat was especially colorful with lots of unicorns and a theme of We Are Unique.

Clearly this was a very unique boat...

...as was this.

The folks on the Queen Live Aid boat looked like they were having a lot of fun.

Rembrandt, Leiden’s favorite son, was honored..

...as was the Grim Reaper...

...and Santa Claus.