The Netherlands in Bloom

***This post is a little large (~4MB). If you can’t load it right away, just refresh the page and it should work the second time…***
The Netherlands in the spring is truly a sight to behold. The countryside is awash in colors. In particular the small town of Lisse has the spectacular park of Keukenhof. Supposedly, it’s the world’s largest flower garden. With 700,000 visitors during its 2 month season, many people agree that it’s worth a visit.
However, the fields of the village have seemingly endless rows of flowers as well. Here are a few of my favorites of the village.
Amsterdam Web 01.jpg
Amsterdam Web 10.jpg
Amsterdam Web 11.jpg
Here are some of the images from our tour of this lovely garden. I won’t belabor the images with a lot of commentary, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
Amsterdam Web 02.jpg
Amsterdam Web 03.jpg
Amsterdam Web 04.jpg
Amsterdam Web 05.jpg
Amsterdam Web 06.jpg
Amsterdam Web 07.jpg
Amsterdam Web 08.jpg
Amsterdam Web 09.jpg
Amsterdam Web 12.jpg
Amsterdam Web 13.jpg
Amsterdam Web 14.jpg
Amsterdam Web 15.jpg
I love that Anna stops to smell the flowers…
Amsterdam Web 16.jpg
This fat bumblebee doesn’t look like he should fly. He has had a bit too much pollen today.
Amsterdam Web 17.jpg
These are our friends, Andras and Elvi. They have a really unique story: he is Hungarian, she is Israeli and they are married and live in Luxembourg, but are moving to Belgium. We randomly met them in a Luxembourg cafe after watching a movie. We started chatting and hit it off right away. So, we decided to meet up in the Netherlands to check out the flowers for a weekend.
Amsterdam Web 18.jpg
Amsterdam Web 19.jpg
Amsterdam Web 20.jpg
Here’s another good idea for other parks out there. Put a nice comfy couch and people will just hang out…
Amsterdam Web 21.jpg
Amsterdam Web 22.jpg
Amsterdam Web 23.jpg
The other really cool activity we did in Amsterdam was rent bikes. It is THE mode of transportation. It’s so convenient to hop on a bicycle, use one of the ubiquitous bike lanes and you can get from one side of the city center to the other in about 15 minutes.
Amsterdam Web 24.jpg
Amsterdam Web 25.jpg
The people watching was lots of fun…
Amsterdam Web 26.jpg
Amsterdam Web 27.jpg
Amsterdam Web 28.jpg
Amsterdam Web 29.jpg
Amsterdam Web 30.jpg
Amsterdam Web 31.jpg
The cafes were also lots of fun.
Amsterdam Web 32.jpg
Amsterdam Web 33.jpg
This cool puppy was actually wearing his shades (not just for the picture). He and his owner had matching glasses.
Amsterdam Web 34.jpg
Amsterdam is a city that has so much going on. We could have stayed for 2 weeks and not run out of things to do. I think this may be our favorite spring destination. For me, it’s on my top five list of favorite cities in the world. We can’t wait to go back again soon!
Until then…
–Jim

3 thoughts on “The Netherlands in Bloom”

  1. Hi Jim and Anna,
    Lovely pictures! As are the both of you… You are more than welcome to come and visit me here in Leuven, Belgium; I would be happy to guide you around together with Yves through the historical centre, the shopping district, the cosy streets… and swinging nightlife! Hope you can find a free moment in your busy agenda to come over…
    kindest regards,
    Christel, Yves

  2. Jim – you CAN quit your day job – you’re one of the best photo journalists I’ve seen. Tom is hooked on checking your web page too.

  3. Wonderful pictures! Looks like Spring is treating you well! Anna you look beautiful! I would like to use a couple of your flower pictures for some paintings….mind sending me a few? I actually you love to draw the picture of Anna smelling the flower to, the colors are great. I’ll even send you the finish picture if you would like it….

Comments are closed.