Tulip Mania

Tulips, tulips, tulips, beach and more tulips! That was our weekend and it was wonderful!

We arrived in Amsterdam on Friday morning and spent the day exploring the town. We took an incredible tour of the warehouse and secret Annex where Anne Frank and her family hid. As we walked around the dimly lit rooms with the floor boards creaking under our feet, it was hard to imagine how the eight individuals lived there for two years and heart breaking to think that they almost made it to the end of the war. It was incredible to see Anne’s diaries and learn more about her life as well as the others involved in this one story. It was definitely an eye-opening experience.

After our tour, we continued our walk around the town. We peeked our heads in a couple coffee shops and were bewildered by the Red Light District. We found a cute carnival in the middle of town where we enjoyed a drink and people watching while waiting for the live music to start. At sunset, we took a fantastic canal cruise through the city while snacking on some cheese and wine (shout out to Those Dam Boat Guys for a great tour!).

After the cruise we made our way to our adorable Airbnb in Zandvoort. The studio had a beautiful terrace and was a five-minute walk to the quaint downtown and a ten minute walk to the beach… Glorious! On Saturday morning, we stopped by one of the local cafes then picked up our bikes and started our biking adventure. Our goal for Saturday was to bike around Holland and see the tulip fields, however, after the man at the bike rental recommended we bike the national park, our afternoon of biking became a full day of biking... 35 miles in fact (our poor tooshies). We started the ride by biking along the beach which led us to Zuid-Kennemerland National Park. The park was different than we expected, but still beautiful. We biked through the sand dunes, enjoying a break at a little lake and lunch at a beachfront café. From there we continued south to the tulip fields (which included a quick stop for ice cream). We knew we were getting close to the tulip fields when we started seeing flower mosaics in people’s front yards. As we biked along, we saw our first glimpse of a bright orange field. Our eyes lit up and our feet began peddling even faster... It was incredible! The field was so bright and beautiful, it looked fake. We snapped a few photos and continued on, there were so many fields to see! We took countless pictures and at one field, we found a place to sit and enjoy a little snack while soaking in the view and the wonderful smell of fresh flowers.

 

After making our way back to Zandvoort, we found a local Thai restaurant where we ordered take out and enjoyed dinner on the beach while watching the sunset. Flowers and beaches… what more can you ask for?

On Easter Sunday, we woke up early and rode our bikes to the Keukenhof (aka the Garden of Europe). We had the bike path to ourselves and enjoyed the crisp morning air, the sun rising, the deer on the dunes and the peaceful surroundings of nature. It was a beautiful Easter morning. When we arrived at Keukenhof, we were once again blown away by the number of blooming flowers and the delicious smell they provided. The Keukenhof plants approximately 7 million flower bulbs each year and the majority of them were blooming while we were there. It was stunning and thankfully, we arrived before the majority of other tulip-peepers so we were able to admire the gardens without the crowd. Once the gardens became too full to enjoy, we hopped on or bikes and set off to soak up the views of a few more fields before heading back to our temporary home. We put in another 25 miles on the bikes and I didn’t think Jeff was going to make it thanks to his old man knees, but he did! Once back, we grabbed some snacks and set off for the beach. It was a perfect beach day, mid 70s and pure sun. We spent the afternoon sitting in the sand, dipping our toes in the water and watching the sunset. Blissful! 

  

On Monday, we packed our bags, grabbed a coffee and carrot cake for breakfast and set off to Amsterdam. We spent a relaxing day in Amsterdam, wandering through the street market, admiring the skinny house and draw bridges, tasting the delicious stroopwafels and sipping drinks under the windmill. We lazed by the canal watching the boats float by and eventually made our way back to the train station to head home. It was another amazing trip, with perfect weather, new adventures, so many beautiful flowers and time to just sit, relax and enjoy Europe at its finest.