The Netherlands 4 - Keukenhof & Amsterdam 3
On the fourth day of the trip, we finally achieved our main objective: visiting Keukenhof to see the famous tulips! Also known as the Garden of Europe, Keukenhof is renowned globally as the world's largest and most spectacular spring flower garden. It's only open from mid-March to early May, and even within that limited period, the bloom status and the varieties of the flowers vary. We chose mid-April for our visit so that we could see as many tulips as possible. The weather was tricky. We checked the weather forecast closely and decided when to visit early that morning. It worked well! We entered the garden at 8 am, right when it opened its gates. While the sun was still low and some flowers didn't get enough light, we were able to explore the extensive gardens without being hit by the wave of visitors.
Covering 32 hectares (79 acres) in the town of Lisse, Keukenhof features approximately 7 million spring-flowering bulbs planted annually, representing over 1,600 different varieties, which includes over 800 varieties of tulips, alongside other spring blooms like hyacinths, daffodils, crocuses, and irises. While hundreds of beautiful flowers welcomed us right after we passed through the main gate, we directly headed to Orange Nassau for breakfast before getting too deep into the expansive garden. It is one of six indoor pavilions, located near the gate. I had a slice of carrot cake and camomile tea, and J had something like a cheese and ham panini and black tea at the cafe in the pavilion, and we were ready to explore Keukenhof.
There was a petting zoo where cute little animals were just hanging around.
We challenged the maze. At the goal was an elevated viewing platform overlooking the vast tulip fields with their iconic colored strips near Keukenhof.
Our exploration in Keukenhof continued...
The windmill provided another viewpoint to overlook the neighboring tulip fields.
There were views from the bottom of the windmill:
These were views from the top of the windmill:
More flowers were waiting for us!
The garden's celebrated blue river of muscari was in bloom!
We briefly visited the Willem-Alexander pavilion, the largest and most stunning indoor flower show, located in the heart of the park.
At that point, we still had roughly half of the garden to see.
As more time passed, the garden became a bit crowded. I didn't feel packed yet because the garden was huge with so many different pathways to wander.
We found the other end of the blue river of muscari!
The yellow and white daffodil river was also flowing beautifully.
Seeing is believing. The seasonal attraction was truly a floral heaven. I had never been to such a massive, vibrant flower garden before. I honestly wonder if any other garden could possibly impress me after visiting Keukenhof.
We spent that afternoon in the city of Amsterdam. Visiting the Van Gogh Museum was on our agenda.
The museum is home to over 200 paintings and almost 500 drawings by Vincent van Gogh. It was really enjoyable to visit there because I like his paintings. By the way, while the museum houses the largest collection of the artist's artworks in the world, he produced more than 2,000 artworks, including 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches, in just a 10-year painting career. He lived an incredibly energetic and intense artistic life.
We missed having a lunch, so we waited for dinner by wandering around the western area of the city center, including Vondelpark, Amsterdam's largest city park.
To fill our hungry stomachs a bit, we bought a drink and a cookie near the park and enjoyed them on a bench inside. My creamy matcha latte and giant matcha cookie hit the spot!
Finally, it was time for dinner! We arrived at Lalibela Restaurant, an Ethiopian restaurant near the park, just as they opened their door.
J ordered a spicy beef dish, along with banana beer, and I chose an eggplant dish. Both came with some side dishes, which were served with Injera (sourdough flatbread) on a single large plate to share. The food was tasty, and eating it with your hands was messy but fun!
To be continued…
