Keukenhof

Today, after a bit of discussion on how to pronounce our destination, to Keukenhof, the premier bulb garden in the world, I suppose. Thirty-five hectares planted with 7 million bulbs. I continue to deny the existence of a hectare as an actual unit of measurement and believe it to be purposely indecipherable and therefore seemingly impressive.

North Holland, like the Northeastern US, had a very cool, grey, damp spring, which means that the full bulb display was not yet to be seen. But for a partial showing, this was pretty darned impressive. You enter the place through the usual big attraction gates and you get kind of a Disneyland feel right off the bat. Maybe that's because you have a calliope in the entrance plaza playing calliope versions of classic rock songs. Actually, I'm kind of bummed that I didn't buy the CD they were offering there, because what could be better to liven up a party than some calliope.

Saying something has a Disneyland feel can sound pejorative, but it wasn't really like that. It's a beautifully designed garden full of a variety of plantings, some permanent, some torn up every year and replanted. Because of the weather, the main tulip show was not to be seen, including the tulip mosaic of a Van Gogh self-portrait. But there we still thousands and thousands of flowers everywhere, and an huge indoor pavilion that had every kind of tulip imaginable.

I mean, I knew there were a lot of kinds of tulips, but really?

We walked around for a couple of hours and saw a lot of wonderful flowers and plants ready to have flowers. It was really pleasant and a fun trip, as you can see.

I'll fill in the rest of the morning (it's about 1 AM now).