Trying to decide which orchid is my favorite is much too difficult. Orchids are like the pottery in the Alsace region... it was all so pretty I wanted to bring every piece home with me. The exhibit at the Keukenhof was a celebration of color & variety... it was so beautiful I just had to share a few more photos. Enjoy!
This past weekend we drove to the Netherlands to go bike-riding and of course to see the Spring flowers in full bloom.
Even though we've done this same trip twice already I always enjoy it. I love bike-riding in Holland; it feels so safe. Love those roomy bike lanes - I wish we had them here in Belgium.
Even though the sun was shining bright the wind made it feel so much colder. We rode our bikes for about 5 hours through dozens of flower fields.
Being that we had such a harsh winter many of the tulips weren't blooming. There were many fields that look like rainbows full of daffodils and hyacinth with a sprinkle of tulips.
Once we turned in our bike rentals we crashed from exhaustion. We never made it to our dinner reservations at Casa di Mamma. It was a shame because I really do love this place; we went last year and loved it. Instead we ordered room service and watched "Up". I'd heard about this movie briefly during the Academy Awards but honestly I had no desire to see a film about a grumpy old man who goes on an adventure with a little boy. But wow was I wrong - I absolutely LOVED this film! Especially the first 5-10 minutes when they show the past 20 years of the couple's life together through photographs. And that little boy was too cute. Sweet movie.
Sunday morning we went to Keukenhof. It was another gorgeous day... perfect to walk around the gardens. Spending several hours at Keukenhof is quite easy but S wanted to try and get home early so we gave ourselves a time limit of 3 hrs. Since we've visited the gardens before I thought 3 hrs would be plenty. Plus the crowds were insane! So many people! If you look at the photo below the place looks empty but I waited 10 minutes to take this shot; S almost had to rope off the area just so I could take this photo. lol!
There were lots of tulips in bloom outside but inside the Willem-Alexander Hall there were so many varieties in full bloom. Some of these tulips were as tall as Lil' C.
I love vibrant colored flowers but this champagne colored tulip really caught my eye.
These tulips were just gorgeous like someone hand painted each petal.
Here are a few more beauties...
The main reason I wanted to go to Keukenhof was because of their orchid exhibit. I love orchids.
A few years ago when we were living in Northern VA, the US Botanical Garden had a special orchid exhibit and it was amazing to see the variety of orchids. And this past weekend was no different. Seeing such a huge range of orchids was really interesting. They're such unique flowers.
I love how blooms can last 3-4 months but at the same time they can be a bit delicate if you don't know how to care for them.
Inside the exhibit hall, there were orchid experts ready to answer any of your questions. I learned a few tips that may help me produce more buds on my orchid. And hopefully, they'll be on their way to looking more like these orchids.
On Thursday a couple of friends & I went to Gouda & Kinderdijk with the Travel Group. I've been to Kinderdijk with S & C but never to Gouda. I've wanted to see the Cheese Market for some time now but I've never been able to make it to the area the times we've traveled to the Netherlands. So this trip was perfect.
The city of Gouda (pronouced as "HOW-duh") is most famous for its Goudse Kaas Markt, where for over 300 years cheese has been traded. Here the cheese is weighed, tasted, priced purchased and exhibited.
The centre looked beautiful with The Waag (weigh house) on one side and across it was the 15th century Town Hall and in the center cheese wheels...neatly laid out on the ground.
There were also a few people dressed in traditional Dutch costumes. There was even this cute little old man that was loving all the attention.
Watching the men negotiate was interesting. I wish I could have understood what they were saying because as times it seem like they were saying things that were funny.
Once they settled on a price or at least I think it was after the men settled on a price one of the men sampled a small piece of the cheese.
Here is a short video clip of the negotiation.
The Waag built in 1667 was used for weighing goods to levy taxes. Inside was a huge scale.
At first my friends and I thought you could see how much you weighed in cheese wheels. lol! Peace Corp girl and I were all for weighing ourselves. I thought is sounded pretty cool. How many cheese wheels would I weigh? One, two, or maybe just a half. I had no idea. And unfortunately I'll never really know since they were using metal weights to measure.
Inside the Waag was a little cheese shop where we sampled a couple of cheeses. They were quite mild for my taste so we continued to wander through the market looking for other cheese dealers. One thing I noticed was how inexpensive the cheese is. You can buy a little ball of cheese for about 4 to 5 Euros. And of course if you buy more you can get deals like 3 balls of cheese for 12 Euros. It's a steal really considering these products are more like artisan cheeses.
My friends & I didn't go into any museums although we did walk to see an old working windmill that Blonde K told us about. On the way to the windmill we saw some really pretty houses along the canel.
Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations but the shop was open and we were able to buy flour and other baking products. It was pretty cool all the interesting baking items they carried.
I completely happy spending the morning walking around the market. I love taking in all the gorgeous produce and the variety of cheese was incredible.
Just walking around the market and sampling all the cheeses was a meal in itself. Back home I've only seen regular & smoked Gouda but at these markets you could buy young, medium, and old Gouda and then you have the Gouda that is flavored with Italian spices, nettle, nuts, or spicy herbs. I even found one made with basil which I knew C would love that is if he could get over the bright green coloring.
Of all the cheese dealers there was one in particular I really loved and I bought a ton... medium, basil & nut flavored, and smoked Gouda along with some fabulous goat cheese.
We also bought some delicious olives and Poffertjes, tiny puffy pancakes, covered (and I do mean covered) with powdered sugar and enough butter to make your heart weep. lol! But they were good and hot enough to burn your tongue.
Southern grrl M & Blonde K went into a bakery and bought a sinful little ball of merengue covered in chocolate for everyone to share. It was super sweet!
Before we left Gouda we did a bit more shopping. It's incredible how much less everything cost outside of Belgium. I found a pretty little basket that will be perfect for displaying baked goods and some glass votives that will make a great craft project with Lil' C. He's always talking about having a disco (that's what they call their parties at school) and I thought it might be fun to cover the votives with tissue paper.
I also bought C a pair of wooden shoes he could decorate himself and use out in the garden.
On the way back to the bus we bought some Stroopwafels, thin Dutch waffles with a syrup filling. They were nice & warm. Yummy!
Our next stop was Kinderdijk.
Even though I've visited the area before I still enjoyed seeing all the windmills. It's incredible when you think about how long these windmills have been around.
Before we left we had some lunch along with a bottle of Prosecco. I love Europe. lol!
During the first week of Lil' C's spring break we went to Holland for the weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect. Lots of sunshine with a slight cool breeze. It was wonderful.
We spent the entire day on Friday at the Keukenhof which was beautiful. This year the theme focused on the relationship between New York & the Netherlands. It was pretty fascinating to discover that in 1609 Henry Hudson, on behalf of the Dutch VOC (Dutch East India Company) stepped ashore on what is now known as Manhattan and New Amsterdam was established. Later the name was changed to New York. I had no idea Dutch history played such a prominent role in the establishment of this state. I also discovered Harlem was named after the Haarlem in the Netherlands and that Wall Street was derived from the Waal River.
Sprinked throughout the park were photos of New York, a flower mosiaic of the Statue of Liberty (made with 53,000 bulbs), and other art pieces of my favorite US city.
In fact, Batavus, a Dutch bike manufacturer, is sending 200 bicycles (400 wheels) to New York representing 400 years of friendship. They will celebrate "the deep-rooted connection between the Netherlands and New York City including the common values of freedom, openness, entrepreneurship and tolerance, as well as the cultural ties of these forward-thinking societies."
These bicycles will take the same journey Henry Hudson took 400
years ago across the Atlantic to New York City. How cool is that! The
bikes will arrive on April 30th, Dutch Queen's Day. Later that day,
the bikes will be part of a special NY 400 Queens Day bike tour and
later in the summer the bikes will be part of NYC's Summer Streets
event. Fun stuff!
Visiting the Keukenhof during the week worked out great for us. The park was almost empty compared to what it's like on the weekends.
It was a little early in the season so many of the tulips were just getting ready to bloom. The greenhouse however had so many varieties of tulips I went crazy taking photos. Here are a few of my favorites.
On Saturday we rented bicycles and went bike riding for 5 hours.
We mainly rode through the rural areas so we could see the flower fields. It was really beautiful.
I was actually really happy we visited the area a little early since we saw different flower fields this time. Usually by the time the tulips are in full bloom the daffodils and hyacinth are pasted their season. So it was nice to see a different landscape and the scent as we rode by the hyacinth fields was just incredible.
Oh... It smelled so wonderful.
Bike riding in Holland is such an enjoyable experience. I love how the people in the Netherlands use their bicycles as a serious form of transportation. Bicycles are everywhere and they're incredibly comfortable. If I rode my mountain bike for 5 hours my back would be killing me. But their bicycles are made differently. I felt great by the end of day. We loved the bicycles we rented so much S & I inquired about purchasing a new pair. When we spoke with the store owner he explained that most of the bicycles sold in the US are geared towards sports but their bicycles are made for everyday life. They use their bicycles to go to work, go grocery shopping, visit friends, etc. Very comfy.
This bike would be really useful to take to your local market. Can't you just picture it with a big basket filled with fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables, and fish from the local fish guy.
It does amaze me how every time we've visited the Netherlands people just don't use bike helmets. You will see people who look like they're competitively bike racing wearing helmets but other than that no one uses helmets. It does make me a little nervous if I had little ones riding in either of these bikes. I do love the little windshield.So useful.
Now this bike... I totally fell in love with. I'm not sure how the leather would hold up to those rainy days but it IS SO pretty. I can already see myself riding through the fields of flowers with a big bouquet of flowers in my lovely little basket. ;)
One of the things I love most about Holland is their bike friendly attitude. Riding bikes is a way of life for them. They have wide separate lanes for bikers everywhere. It's awesome! They have all kinds of cool bike attachments to hold groceries, kids, child gear, and other personal items. I even saw some parents with little front seats and plastic windshields similar to a motorcycle to protect their babies from the wind or flying bugs. Very cool. I did find it interesting how no one wears bike helmets. Unless you're training for the Tour de France or some other competitive race you just don't wear a helmet.
By far my favorite part of the trip was bike riding through the tulip fields. Biking through the open fields and canals was so peaceful & relaxing. I didn't want the day to end. The tulip fields were more beautiful than I imagined. I felt like we were traveling through rainbow fields.
Lil' C loved being on the back of his Daddy's bike. He became so excited when he saw the tulip fields in the distance. He rarely asks me to take his photo but not that day. All Lil' C wanted to do was take photos in each colored tulip section. Of course I obliged. ;)
One of the main reasons we went to Holland last weekend was to attend their annual Flower Parade. It reminds me of a small scale Rose Parade. S & I just so happen to catch it the last time we visited the Keukenhof and one of the things I remember most besides the gorgeous floats was the smell of hyacinths. Plus I thought Lil' C would really enjoy seeing the floats.
The parade was passing through Lisse around 3:00 but since we got a late start that morning we figured we'd see the parade in Haarlem instead. By the time we arrived it was already dark but we stayed to see a few illuminated floats go by and listen to a band that was really entertaining the crowd.
Since the floats remain in Haarlem overnight we decided to see them the next morning. The floats were beautiful and the smell of hyacinth was everywhere. Santa & his reindeers even made an apperance. I was quite surprised to see him during the Spring season. lol! And they also had a Halloween theme float. Mmm... not exactly what I picture for a Spring flower parade but hey the float was beautiful and smelled delish!
Here's a picture of Santa' Reindeers
Hyacinths were used to create the Halloween bat & ghosts.
Here is the band the following morning still drawing crowds & making people want to sing & dance. 
Saturday we spent the entire day at Keukenhof. No amount of photos can truly capture the beauty of these gardens. It was our 2nd time visiting the Keukenhof. I love tulips so I don't think I could ever get tired of visiting these gardens. S & I got married in May so my wedding bouquet was filled with tulips.
As soon as you reach the park entrance the smell of hyacinths immediately hits you. Lil' C tried to smell each individual hyacinth and kept repeating over & over how good they smelled. lol!
The variety of tulips was incredible. I especially loved the double tulips they reminded me of peonies. I loved them so much I ordered over 120 bulbs for my grandmother & I. I know that sound like a lot but that s probably just a fraction of the number of tulips Lil' C is pictured with below. Looking through the order book was overwhelming. With so many varieties it was difficult to chose. I wanted all of them! lol! In the end, I limited my selection to tulips I thought were unique.
We spent about 5 hours walking through the park and enjoying the beauty. Here's a little glimpse of the beauty Keukenhof offers. 
Last weekend we spent a few days in Holland. We had a very wonderful weekend... beautiful weather, great food, plus we didn't have to deal with the language barrier and everyone was very friendly. It seems like everyone spoke English. And when you live in an area where English is hardly spoken it's a nice change to be able to communicate with the locals.
Holland is a beautiful country. In just three days I must have taken over 400 photos! We had a pretty simple itinerary which made for a relaxing three days.
On the way to Haarlem we stopped to see the windmills at Kinderdijk. Seeing 19 windmills all built in the 17th century was incredible. We actually went inside one of the windmills to see how they operate. It was a bit scary going up & down the old narrow wooden stairs but we did make it up to the top. Lil' C was so excited to go inside the windmill & see what makes the blades spin.
Here's a photo I took from a tiny window at the top of the windmill looking out into the park.
Here are a couple more photos we took.
Day 2 of our trip to Holland coming later tonight.
