For the love of tulips

Just back from a weekend among tulips in Holland. I think I almost overdosed on tulips. Hollad is famous for it's tulips all over the world one can almost say this is the national flower of the country. A visit to Holland now during spring time is to visit Tulipland. A slight warning, be prepared for drowning in pictures of tulips in this post. I had a lot of pictures to go through.

Keukenhof are the tulip gardens that are located about 30 minutes drive from Amsterdam. The gardens are only open during a short period now in spring time (open daily from March 24 to May16). During these few weeks the tulips are blooming creating tulip fever. Thousands of visitors from all over the world come here to see and marvel at the beauty and prettiness of tulips of all kinds and in all shades of color. There are more than 7 million bulbs in bloom with a total of 800 varieties of tulips. 

 I think we hit just the right time. Most of the tulips were in bloom. But I guess there are so many kinds and variaties that whenever you do come there will always be something and you will not be disappointed. 

Amsterdam is precisely an hours flight north of Basel and as you can see spring is not at all as far a long here. The trees have barley gotten their first shade of green. It was colder here than in Basel and I was grateful for the extra sweater I had packed and wore as well as bringing my gloves. We were lucky getting mostly sunny skies. A few sprinkels came as we were in the park but it quickly cleared up again. This was the right weekend to leave Basel where it has been raining all weekend. An entire weekend with rain is not much fun. It rained all Monday as well when we returned to Basel.

Keukenhof is easily reached from both Amsterdam and Leiden. It is located somwhere in between these two cities. The first night we stayed in Leiden. A pretty little city with plenty of canals, old buildings as well as being the birth place of Rembrant. We were actually even staying at a hotel called The Golden Tulip. From here we took a bus the next morning to the gardens that took about 20 minutes from Leiden. As we got near the park there was a lot of traffic. Busses and cars from all directions coming to the park. If you go an early start is recommended.

 The gardens are beautifully created with different themes and zones. I love the way they have mixed the tulips with other flowers as well. Plentyfull of Daffodils and Hyaciths.

 The area surrounding the gardens is coverd with tulip fields like this. What is usually green fields are at this time of spring stripes of bright color. Imagine how pretty Holland must look from the air if you fly above this particular region.

More than seven million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths fill over 32 hectares with color and fragrance. Besides the spacious 32 hectares of flowers you can enjoy the spectacular flower shows, surprising inspirational gardens, unique artwork and wonderful events. 

 A great way for Holland to draw people from all over the world. No country is more famous for it's tulips than Holland. You see various flower companies all over this region. Bulbs can be orderd and shipped to any where from here.

I fell in love with these. Love the feather shape of their petals and the way they open up completely  as well as their pretty color. Most of the tulips were shown outside in the gardens but they also had a very large green house with many of the rarer and more special kinds.

 These were pretty cool as well. Wth a very elegant look.

 A selfie of me among all the tulips. Talking about selfies. I have never ever seen so many people walking around with phones and selfie sticks. You could easily have imagined this was a huge conferance or convention for people owning a selfie stick.

 

 Another of my top favorite tulips.

 One special Daffodil among an ocean of blue. When everyone else looks the same this one dares to stand out and stand above, shining bright.

To come here is something that I wanted to do for a long time and I am glad we came. It is beautiful but you have to be prepared for the huge crowds and I was not. I really do not like crowded places and this place was pretty crazy. Even if the park is a spacious 32 hectars it still feels quite crowded and stressful. It is impossible to walk in your own pace and you constantly have to keep an eye for your party. It was really easy to loose sight of one another here. It being so crowded did take some of the beauty away for me. It was just a little stressful to keep track of C and to take pictures. After three hours in the park it was kind of a relief to get on the bus and leave the park. We felt we had kind of overdosed on both tulips and people. If you come I would recommend coming early, as soon as they open.