Okay, let me back up a bit. A few days ago, I received an email from my hotel warning me that Friday was King's Day. That meant nothing to me but, essentially, it means the centre of Amsterdam shuts down for one day to have a great big street party (aka drunkfest). The following information is from an Amsterdam website: King's Day is the national celebration of the birthday of the King but this in reality is only an excuse to party hard. The celebrations takes place all over the Netherlands, but have a special atmosphere in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, King's Day (formerly Queen's Day) is by far the largest open-air festivity with an estimated 750,000 people arriving into the city by train. Places in the centre like Rembrandtplein, Spui, and Leidesplein are bursting with crowds celebrating and wearing orange. On this day, street trade is unregulated so it is also the time for second hand shopping. In addition, as we found out and as the hotel had warned, traffic is blocked from entering the Centrum - I.e. no cars, taxis, trams, etc.
As the shuttle got closer and closer to the centre, we could see masses of people partying everywhere and I do mean masses. Each street was very crowded and noisy. As well, and this certainly didn't create a good impression, the streets were littered with garbage - lots of it! Our driver tried and tried to get close to the two hotels for his last 3 passengers but all the streets he tried were closed. Finally, the police told him he could go no further. For me, that was when the fun (NOT) began. I had to walk to my hotel which was about a 15 to 20 minute walk away. I had a general idea of the direction but no map. Add to this, I had to struggle with my luggage (thankfully, one piece on wheels plus a large handbag) through throngs of loud people, mostly young, drunk or stoned. There was broken glass on the streets and beer (or other questionable liquid) flowing everywhere. People just seemed to be unaware there was a person struggling along. RUDE!!! I have never been a big fan of Amsterdam and wanted to give it another go. We weren't off to a good start. About 3 hours after landing, I was finally at the door of my hotel. So, fair warning: if you are ever planning to come to Amsterdam at this time of the year, double-check to make sure you aren't arriving on King's Day!!!
I could also whine and snivel about the hotel. I have never paid this much for a room - even on the Cote d'Azur where I have had lovely rooms with balconies overlooking the Med. This cost of this one, which you could barely swing a cat in (not sure where that expression comes from) for the 3 nights I am here, could probably buy a return ticket from Canada to Europe. And, breakfast is not included! I was pretty pissed off, overwhelmed and exhausted by the time I finally got settled. The rose wine I had in the bar helped settle my nerves. The good news for the blog is that I took no pictures of any of this chaos.
Then, there was today. While the weather didn't exactly cooperate, it was better than forecast. It only rained off and on. I had booked a tour to Keukenhof, the famous tulip gardens, and they did not disappoint. We left the city about 11:15 and, on the way there, passed several fields of tulips. Stunning! Once we arrived. we had four hours (a bit too much given the weather) to explore the grounds, displays, performances, and pavilions. A couple of times, I got caught in a downpour but it was manageable. Yesterday had toughened me up!
Our guide told us that Keukenhof is only open from mid-March to mid-May. During that time about 65 people work there. The rest of the year, over 650 people are employed. Besides the spacious 32 hectares of flowers, you can enjoy the spectacular flower shows, surprising inspirational gardens, unique art and wonderful events. It was amazing. So, no more words from me except a bit at the end; just photos of my experience today.
 |
| Above and below: the fields of tulips you could see from the gardens |
 |
| Above and below: photos from one of the indoor exhibitions - I love the creative use of the picture frame with the "vase" below |
As a final comment, today was a bit bittersweet. Our mother loved Holland and, as we were kids, was almost obsessed with tulips. wooden shoes and windmills. Although I did bring her to this country, it wasn't at tulip time, so she never did see this amazing display of flowers. (She did see them in the Skagit Valley in WA and I have to say they were also spectacular there). Anyway, as we left Keukenhof today, there was an outbreak of sunshine among the grey clouds so there had to be a rainbow somewhere though I didn't spot it. Mom was with me!
No comments:
Post a Comment