April and May are really special months in the Netherlands because it is the time of year when the flower fields are in full bloom and the fields between Haarlem and Leiden burst into of beautiful stripes of pink, purple, red and yellow.
As you probably know, flowers are big business in Holland. Over €500 million ($750m USD) worth of bulbs are exported worldwide from this tiny country, and it all starts in the fields. Although tulips (tulpen) are the flowers most associated with this country, any Dutch person will readily tell you that the tulp originally came from Turkey. I've heard it from so many people that I believe it!
The Keukenhof – the largest garden in the world, and one of the largest tourist attractions in Holland – is situated amongst the fields. The Keukenhof is open for only eight weeks of the year, yet it attracts nearly one million visitors. Now, that's flower power! My mom and dad visited when they were here and were amazed and delighted, even though they were snowed and hailed on.
Ross & I opted to see the flowers the way the locals do: by bicycle. We rented these orange Dutch-pride beauties from the gates of the Keukenhof, and took off on the bollenroute (the bulb tour).
Like many of our experiences in Holland, at first the bollenroute was incredible confusing and overly complicated, and we spent a good part of our time backtracking and looking at the map. But (also like many of our experiences in Holland) once we got the hang of it, our frustrations eased into a memorable experience that made the struggle beyond worthwhile.
In the fields were tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. The scent as we made our way along the roads was so fresh and so beautiful. Photos can't really do the experience justice.
The Bollenroute took us through 30 kms of fields and beautiful small towns over the course of 4 hours. What took us so long? Well, mostly we had to stop to take photos around every corner . . . and we were riding into a very strong wind most of the way . . . also, Ross can't pass one of these signs without stopping:
But mostly we were in absolutely no rush, and we leisurely enjoyed this wonderful part of Holland.
And remember: the tulip originally came from Turkey.
3 comments:
Because of this post I am going tulip watching on my bicycle in Haarlem this week.
You two are killing me with your adorableness!!
It's our secret weapon.
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