tulip time

Amsterdam -April 28, 2016

Tulips are my favourite flower so when I learned about Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands many years ago I knew some day I had to visit. Keukenhof is 32 hectares of spring flowers - primarily tulips - and it is only open from the end of March until mid May. 7 million bulbs and 800 varieties of tulips. Surely I must be in heaven - except I envisioned heaven a little warmer.

We bought our tickets online which included bus transportation and entrance to the garden for €29. We caught the bus from Museumplein right by our hotel and took it to the airport. From there we had to stand in a long line by a large tulip to get the bus to Keukenhof. It took us a couple hours from the time we left the hotel.

The gardens are a spring time utopia. Everywhere you look is an explosion of flowers in various colours and heights. It is stunning! The theme of the garden this year is The Golden Age - the time when the Netherlands were successfully trading worldwide. There were indoor exhibits celebrating the theme and one indoor exhibit was all orchids. Many of them were combined with fashion pieces. Amazing! The garden is so beautiful and well done. Even though there were a lot of people, it's so big it doesn't feel crowded - except when you are in the gift store. If you love tulips, I highly recommend a visit!

The weather gods were not on our side today. It was really chilly and rained on and off. Mom, Penny and I bought matching gloves because our hands were so cold. We found some hot drinks and almond cookies to help keep warm...and then a waffle with whipped cream.

On our way home we stopped at a grocery store by our hotel. I hate grocery shopping at home but I love looking at grocery stores in other countries. We got some snacks and made our own happy hour in our large hotel room.

The rain stopped so we went out walking for a bit in the evening and called it a day. About half of us (me included) are fighting a cold.