Well the past two weeks have been amazing, so I will break this down into two blogs.
The week of May 12-18th was put into flower
overdrive, as Kyra and Erwin gave William and myself two free tickets to the
Floralien Nederland 2014 Expo – it was amazing!! They both new full heartily
that I would truly enjoy the flower show and that it would be a great
experience for me and they were right.
We headed off early Thursday morning to S’Hertogenbosch, a
hours drive away to see the beautiful display. I think we spent about 2 or more
hours there and I took probably over 200 photos of all the arrangements and
designs that the 6 galleries held. We were definitely the minority in the
crowds of white hair, but nonetheless still to be enjoyed. There were thousands
upon thousands of flowers, trees, grasses and other plants displayed from a
variety of companies throughout the Netherlands and a few beyond. The colors
and smells were overwhelming and there was so much to look at in such little
time. The people/companies must have spent countless hours and days getting
there plants and designs set up in the halls, especially the towering trees
(which I hope survive).
We spent a few hours wondering the streets in
S’Hertogenbosch, which is south of Utrecht until we found a lovely place to
have diner at. Then a quick stroll along the canal and into which may have been
an old fort before heading back on the road to the farm.
A day of relax for the most part followed the next day, with
an adventure and bike tour around Amersfoort before planning my Saturday.
Off early in the morning on Saturday to take in the final
weekend of Keukenhof in Lisse near the western coastline. Keukenhof is a large
tulip (and other flower) garden for tourists to visit in one spot. I read that
between middle of March to the middle of May about 800,000 people visit the
gardens, at 15E apiece I can see why they can stay in business for such a short
period in time. But I knew that the gardens wouldn’t be as glorious as in high
season, but I wanted to visit them nonetheless.
So I dropped William off to continue his adventures before
Mocha and I headed into the gardens. I think I spent over 4 hours wondering the
large gardens and exploring every corner that I could while I was there,
entering into a few of the halls to read on the history of the tulip. There was
still so much to see and so many areas to visit, even though some of the tulip
heads have been already cut off, the other plants alone and the design of the
gardens was still an amazing site to see. Thankfully the one benefit of being
the last weekend open was that the crowds weren’t too overwhelming and you
could still manage to take a few photos without too many people walking
through. So many photos were taken and my love for flowers and nature truly
beamed that day!
Nearing the end of the day I entered into the final hall
that was plastered with Lilies, orchids and other succulents – some of my
favorite flowers all in one spot. The smell was overwhelming from the lilies,
but I still explored every corner that I could. After exiting the hall I toured
the final part of the gardens by the windmill where Mocha and I sat on a bench
amongst the tulip fields, me having true Dutch ice cream – Mocha her dog treat,
while a live Big Band played in the background by the creek. All in all a
pretty amazing way to end the day at the gardens. Then off to tour around
before heading back to the farm.
Sunday was spent lazing around the farm, playing patty cake
with Lova and jumping on the trampling with her and Muuse, while Muuse giggled
as the water underneath my weight splashed through (them being to light of
course), so of course Muuse would jump closer to me to get wet. It was a great
way to end the week!
(photos of Floralien & Keukenhof)
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