(April 14) Lisa is going to see the tulips today (April 23) at the famous Keukenhof Gardens as a birthday treat, so now I can put up some photos on the blog without giving anything away! Sue and I went a week ago, on the 14th and struck it lucky with a mostly fine day.
Keukenhof has extensive grounds just south of Amsterdam, and in the tulip season goes into full-on tourist mode. Thousands of people come every day and pour through the gates to take the perfect tulip photo, walk the kilometres of paths through the landscaped grounds, and to eat and drink. There are lakes and streams and fountains and windmills, a huge indoor pavilion for the more delicate flowers, and quieter woodland areas. It is a large operation!
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| A riot of colour greets you at the main entrance. |
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| Tulips of every imaginable colour and style/ |
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| Fortunately we were there before it got busy! |
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| The view over the surrounding fields. |
We learned that the acres of colourful tulips you see in the fields are actually grown purely for the bulbs. The flowers are cut off and discarded!
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| An ice cream seller. |
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| The indoor areas contain the larger, more delicate flowers. |
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| There are also beautiful woodland areas. |
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| The stepping stones got a bit crowded. |
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| A more secluded corner of the park. |
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| Sue saddles up for our bike ride. |
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| Typical view from the more rural parts of the bike trail. |
Sue had pre-ordered bicycles for us, so we could cycle through the tulips (just like in the Barbie movie). Once we had our fill of Keukenhof we exited the gardens and picked up our bikes from the hire kiosk. First thing we noticed is they were not as flash as our nice Nelson bikes. However as hardened cyclists we adapted to the bikes we were given and set off around the 15 km (or so) bike trail mapped out for us.
Overall it was an enjoyable ride and a nice change from walking the streets of the towns and cities. However must of this route was a nerve-wracking ride sharing a narrow trail with hundreds of cycles going in each direction, only some of whom knew what they were doing, and topped off with walkers and runners in the same narrow lane who saw no reason to get out of our way. Then there were stretches of narrow one-lane road with no cycle trail where we had to mix with the cars. It was quite good exercise, with no motors and some chilly headwinds at times.
We travelled to and from Keukenhof on an efficient Keukenhof bus from Haarlem station, so getting there and back was easy.
"Seeing the tulips" was a major objective for us in the timing of this trip, so we are very happy to have made it here today.
