Keukenhof Gardens and Amsterdam (trip duration Sat. 1:30AM - Sun. 1:30AM)
Saturday, April 7
David and I were very excited to hear that the USO was offering a tour to Kuekenhof and Amsterdam this spring. I probably more so, being that I love to garden. The tulip festival is held only two months out of the entire year in the Keukenhof Gardens. It just so happened that the same weekend we were on tour was also the peak time for tulips in that region. The peak time lasts for about two weeks.
There is nothing like tulips in Holland during tulip time. After a good Dutch breakfast, we visited a wooden‐shoe maker and cheese farm where we saw just how the traditional dutch shoes and cheese are made. We also got to sample the cheeses as well. David and I were loving that! I mean...who doesn't like Gouda? After we were done sampling and souvenir shopping we were off to Amsterdam! While in Amsterdam for a few hours we got the chance to see the Anne Frank house. Literally see just the outside. Being that it was spring break and Passover / Easter weekend we knew coming in that we weren't going to have the opportunity to really see all of Amsterdam. In fact, it was a treat for us even getting to stop in Amsterdam because we thought our tour was only stopping at two places that day. The first being the farm and second the gardens. So when we had time to explore the city we were happy! David had been to Amsterdam before but for me this was all new. We will definitely be coming back to spend another weekend! Amsterdam is beautiful with its famous canals and tons of things to do and see. We explored the city on foot with our guide briefly pointing out different points of interest and then we were off by ourselves. We did go to the Sex Museum. Its amazing what centuries of sex look like in one place. I must tell you I had no idea that there were so many artifacts out there relating to the topic! We also spotted a flower market on the main strip where we purchased my favorite flower in the form of a root so we(I) could grow our own. After shopping and exploring we stopped in for a quick bite before heading back to our bus. During the afternoon we drove through the beautiful countryside. Seeing fields of color on the way to the Keukenhof Gardens was very cool. It was as if a rainbow had turned upside down in the fields as we passed the vibrant row after row of colors.
Upon arrival we had been warned that there were going to be a ton of tour buses all going to the same place we were. Our only instructions were to be back on the bus at 6PM. Entering the gardens was very neat. It reminded me of an amusement park at first. Being that there were outside vendors and several entrances all guarded with the park officials to check tickets. We had also been told not to miss the very large music box that played a new song every fifteen minutes. I took a short video of it on the way out. The weather that day was cooler than what it had been the last couple of weeks but that didn't stop us from having an awesome time. We both layered up for the trip and walking through 70 acres of garden you never felt claustrophobic because everything was so spread out. The gardens are mostly comprised of tulips. But within its millions of bulb tulips were also other varieties of spring bulbs. They even had several pavilions that were dedicated to judging other flowers. In those we saw orchids, roses and more tulips! Some of those flowers were as big as my face! And David spotted a really cool tulip species that smelled exactly like tutti frutti candy! Not kidding. If I planted that in my yard - I probably would never leave that spot in my yard and have to hire a butler to bring me the necessities. (kind of like when Joey and Chandler from friends discovered they had free porn and kept getting pizza delivered across the hall to Rachel and Monica so they didn't have to leave their recliners....maybe something like that)
After a few hours of tulip paradise, flowering sculptures, special
exhibits, windmills, souvenir shops, and restaurants - we were exhausted and were ready to make our trip home. After making a pit stop for dinner in the Netherlands we were back home in Germany. Not bad for a Saturday! It still amazes both of us that we can easily travel to different countries in just a day or weekend and we definitely are taking advantage at any and all opportunities we can get!
Talk to you soon!
David, Tiffany & Oliver
