Amsterdam Day 3 - Keukenhoff

My great intentions of getting this trip up on the blog quickly were completely dashed. The last week has been a time of upheaval for the family. We had a meeting with our architect last week that completely shattered our thoughts on time and budget for our planned addition so we've been scrambling around investigating all our options. Once more information has been collected and we have a better idea of our plans, I'll let you know. Until then, it's time to stop and smell the roses.....well, tulips actually.

The 3rd day in Amsterdam was our last full day and there was a lot we had on our trip check list so it was a chocked full day. First on the list was the Keukenhof gardens. My aunt, who spent some time living in Germany and traveled a lot in Europe during that time, said it was a must see. It's out of town and tricky to reach by public transportation so we went the super tourist route and booked an excursion with a tour group. They would be picking us up at our hotel a little before 9am so we got up and ready early so we had some time to fill our tummies with breakfast before the journey.

The pick up went fine and they then trucked us over to the agency where complete chaos was happening. We were absolutely amazed that a travel company that does this type of thing multiple times a day was so disorganized. It was ridiculous. By some sort of miracle, we made it on the right bus heading out to the gardens. Along the way, our "guide" gave us some general info about Amsterdam, the gardens and things we saw on our route. It wasn't too long of a trip and, after half an hour or so, we were treated to the sights of the tulip fields - Amazing! However, I thought we would be right smack in them in a few minutes and we were on the side of the bus not lining the fields so I didn't bother to get out the camera. It ended up being a mistake because I had a mistaken impression of what the Keukenhof was.

Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely beautiful and I'm elated that we went, but it was more a botanical garden on crack with only a couple of peeks out at the rainbow striped fields. And, it was an absolute mad house! After the guide told it was over 32 hectares large (40 soccer fields), we were hoping to be able to escape the crowds at some point. Not so! People were everywhere! I suppose it's understandable since it's one of the area's largest tourist attractions and it's only open for 8 weeks of the year but I tell ya, it was a bit claustrophobic at times. The 3 hours we were given to wander the grounds seemed like ample time to explore it all but we probably only traversed about 75% of the grounds.

When we got to the main entrance, we, of course, had to try on the over sized wooden clogs available for silly pictures.

Then it was time to explore the flowers. According to our tour guide, the bulbs are planted 3 deep so that the garden is in perpetual bloom for all to see. After the top bulb blooms, the one below is ready to take it's place. I can identify a tulip but that's about it. So, I have no idea what most of the flowers were we saw that day, but they were all stunning. And, of course, amateur photographer Mike went crazy with the camera. Here are some close ups of what we saw:

In addition to flowers, there were also lots of statues (which you'll see later in this post) and fountains.

As I said, we drove around the fields on our way into the Keukenhof. In the gardens, you did get a few views and, if you elbowed your way through the crowd at the view, you could sometimes get an almost unobstructed picture of them. This was our first sighting within the gardens:

As instructed, we were slowly making our way towards the windmill on the grounds where you could get the best view of the fields. On the way there, we passed the petting zoo.

And also stopped for some more photo ops:

And then we saw the windmill!

And we waited very patiently in line to walk up into the windmill for the scenic view. Very well worth it!

The Band Taking a Break Below

After filling our sights with the pretty views, it was time to fill my stomach. The waffle stand at the base of the windmill was calling my name. And man o man was that the best decision I'd made all day! They waffles are pre made but they put them on the grill to heat them when you order then put your choice of whip cream or powdered sugar on top. I went with the powdered sugar and was in heaven. I tell ya, that is seriously the best waffle I've ever had in my life! And, while I was too busy enjoying it to think of taking a picture, I had to capture the memory of that deliciousness. So later in the day, I snapped a shot of the naked waffle at another stand.

The morning\early afternoon there was just spent wandering, snapping photos and enjoying the sun and flowers. Pretty nice.

Tall Tulips

This picture doesn't show it that well, but these tulips
were up past my hips. Ginormous!

There was also another one of those music things. This one was MUCH bigger than the one we saw on the street. When we got home from our trip, my mom told me that it was a calliope. I couldn't remember the word she told me so I tried looking it up for my last blog posting and found out it was an orchestrion. You'll see in the comments that she clarified that and, begrudgingly, admitted what I called it was correct.

Our "group tour" consisted of the info we got while on the bus, showing us the entrance and telling us to meet back at a certain time or they would leave us. Nice service, huh? We didn't really have to learn any Dutch while we were there since absolutely everyone spoke English (more so than any other country I've ever been to). Not that I expected it, but I have to say it made being a tourist that didn't know the native language a lot easier. In any case, we only learned a few words\phrases - Ja (yes), nee (no), goedemorgen (good morning) and hoofdingang (main entrance). The Hoofdingang was where we met back up with our "tour guide" and led back through the massive parking lot of double decker busses and then headed back to town.

Bicyclers in the Countryside

I got a little snooze on the bus (and I think Mike did too) which was good because we got back around 2:30 and still had a lot of time to cram in some sight seeing.

Amsterdam Day 2 - Leisure Time

Well, let's face it. When you're only spending three days in a city you actually want to see, you don't really have time for leisure. However, day two of our trip to Amsterdam was the closest we got to that. After our long trip there and first day, we got a very much needed good night of sleep. I think the relaxing vacation pace washed over us and we took our time getting ready and having breakfast at the hotel. Around noon, we pulled out our map and decided what we wanted to do for the day. First on the agenda was the flower kiosks we saw on the map lining the canal. It being Saturday, we were pretty sure that would be a happening place.

Low and behold, the market was a short block and half from our front door. The first (and main) shop we arrived at held the most beautiful sight, one that we flew across the Atlantic to see, tons and tons of tulips! It was so pretty that there were signs up all over the shop stating that no cameras were allowed inside. So, Mike stepped to the street outside to steal a shot of me with the bouquets:

Other than many other floral shops, there were lots of souvenir shops both floating on the canal and in the buildings lining the street. So, we zig zagged back and forth. We did some chochkie shopping for stuff to take back home, enjoyed taking in the sweet floral aroma and did a bit of people watching.

On My Tippy Toes Trying to Fit Into the Hanging Dutch Girl Hat

Market and People

We Were There Too!

Graffitied Alley with Bikes (of course)

Once we were all shopped out, we headed towards Dam Square. It's the home of the Royal Palace and the National Monument. On the way there, we commented on how much construction we saw happening. Big projects seemed to be going on everywhere. At least the Dutch have a sense of humor when it comes to trying to hide it a bit:

We had a sense of humor about it too.

In the square, there was plenty to feast your eyes on. With it being a natural gathering place to hang out, a setting for peaceful protests, festivals, trams, etc., there was no shortage of action.

Archway Leading Into Dam Square

National Monument

Royal Palace (Balloons and tents in front were the site of a music festival going on.)

Us!

We spent some time in the scene then grabbed some sandwiches (love that Subway is world wide) and wandered through the streets down to the main event for the day - the Van Gogh Museum.

Cool Big Music Box Thing
(My Mom told me it was an orchestrion.)

"I amsterdam" - City's Tag Line
Museumplein (Museum Square)
That's me by the "a"

Mike and I are both fans of many of Van Gogh's works of arts and I've definitely seen some in person before. Even so, it was extremely cool to get to see so many of his masterpieces close up enough to view the depth and texture of the paint. The museum did a fantastic job of telling about his fascinating life and also presenting artists that inspired him. Over the years, I've come to realize that art history and context of art brings a much deeper appreciation of the art itself and I love learning about it all. Without a kiddo pulling our attention away, we were able to spend about two and a half hours (until the museum closed) wandering around the exhibits. It was fantastic!

Outside the museum, we just had to get a shot of the hot dog stand. Not sure what the fascination is (since I personally don't love them), but the Dutch apparently are fans of hot dogs...we saw several stands for them all over the city.

Mmmmmm.....ketchup

A Patriotic Hot Dog

Since it had been a day of wandering, we continued that trend. We stopped at the hotel to refresh and then set out on foot again.

Everyone knows the saying, "when in Rome...." well, when in Amsterdam, you have to check out the Red Light District. I was hesitant to go there because 1) well, quite frankly, the famous things it's known for aren't really a draw for me and 2) the only 2 stories I've heard of first hand visitors there (and one was on a televised travel show) involved muggings. And, to be honest, our visit there was very accidental. We were walking around looking for a place to eat, not looking at our map at all, when we were quite suddenly in a large mass of people. Not a claustrophobic kind of crowd but the streets did get very noticeably busy. And somehow, we just were swept upstream with the masses and found ourselves there. And yes, we saw evidence of what it's know for but I was honestly underwhelmed by it. I think my expectations were much worse than what it really was. Plus, once I realized where we were, I pretty quickly was ready to get out. So, that we did and the dinner search continued.

I love the European way of putting the menus out by the door (something I've only seen in the states in areas like Boston's North End). It's easy to determine if you want to go in and eat what they have to offer. We perused several before settling on a price fixed menu at a restaurant called, Humphrey's.

With full, happy bellies, we wandered back to the hotel. We were tired after all that leisure time! Besides, the next day would be our last and there was lots I still wanted to do (and would drag Mike along to do them with me).