Part 5: Fields of Green... and Red, Blue, Orange, White, and Purple.

You can’t visit Holland without experiencing the flowers. A former professor of mine mentioned that Holland is the floral gateway to the world. They grow them, ship them, and show them off better than anyone. If you are lucky enough to fly into Holland during the daylight hours of April or May, you will likely see a tulip quilt dotting the landscape. The pictures directly below are postcards; we didn't have the luxury of flying into Holland during the flower season, but they are a great example of what it looks like from the sky.

Since our good friend Phil (from England) visited us this weekend, we decided to make a day of flowers. We first stopped at the market to get a picnic lunch and made OFF to the KuekenhOF. The Kuekenhof is the most widely acclaimed floral exhibition in Holland(http://www.keukenhof.nl/).

I know we are biased, but doesn't Jacob look cute in the bottom-left picture. In my opinion, that is the picture of innocense.

The garden did mix a bit of artistic freedom with the natural beauty of the flowers. The tree above (bottom picture) is budding with white blooms, but they have added some color by attaching bath sponges to the branches. A little odd, but kind of cool too.

This is the closest we got to the "fields of color". While they aren't quite as picturesque as the postcards, they are still amazing. And guess what, the tulips haven't even really started blooming yet. Everyone says that this place will even better in 2-3 weeks. We may have to make another trip when my Mom and Aunt Sherry come visit.

Toward the back of the garden complex is a greenhouse / building called Beatrix's House (presumably dedicated to Queen Beatrix of Holland). Inside there was an incredible assortment of orchids on display. We don't know if it was a temporary or permanent exhibition, but it was incredible. We love orchids; We can't grow them (or keep them alive), but they are amazing...

That ended our time at the Keukenhof.

Phil knew of a spot on the sea near Noordwijk Aan Zee. So we headed there to end the day… It was a nice place, but quite honestly, it didn't seem to belong in Holland; miles and miles of sand dunes. It seemed odd that we could move from such lush beauty to a desert within just ~10 miles. Nonetheless, a beach is a great way to end a day.