| Holland is the land of tulips. When it comes | | | | highlighted "gardens." For the love of God, |
| to seeing tulips, no place in the world | | | | we were in Amsterdam! |
| outdoes the Keukenhof Gardens. | | | | |
| | | | An argument ensued and, of course, I lost. |
| Keukenhof Gardens | | | | Off we went for a day in the gardens. Oh, |
| | | | fun. |
| The Keukenhof Gardens are located to the | | | | |
| southwest of Amsterdam. I know this because I | | | | As happens more often than not, I was wrong |
| was visiting Amsterdam with an old friend and | | | | in my assumptions. In a one in a million |
| his wife. He and I had talked about taking | | | | occurrence, "gardens" definitely outweighed |
| the tour at the Heineken Brewery for days. | | | | the "beer" option. The Keukenhof Gardens |
| Unfortunately, we only had two days in | | | | definitely deserve the fame moniker, even if |
| Amsterdam and had missed the tour on the | | | | you've never heard of them. |
| first day. This was due to his wife having | | | | |
| wet hair because of a blow drier, which meant | | | | Keukenhof is perhaps the biggest collection |
| we had to sit around until nature ran its | | | | of flowers I have ever seen. Located on 70 |
| course. This was not a woman willing to rough | | | | acres outside of the town of Lisse, the |
| it. | | | | gardens are surreal. There are over 7 MILLION |
| | | | flowers on the grounds with Tulips in full |
| I arose on the second morning with visions of | | | | display. The location was previously the home |
| beer mugs in my mind. I knew that I was in | | | | of a castle and accompanying lands, which |
| trouble as soon as he walked through the | | | | gives you an idea of the layout. Essentially, |
| door. He had that look. You know. The one | | | | you pay $20 to enter and just start |
| that says I have bad news, but am going to | | | | strolling. It is like standing in the middle |
| try to make it sound like good news. The | | | | of a landscape painting. The place is so big, |
| powers that be wanted to go to the word | | | | you can rent bikes to put around the grounds. |
| famous Keukenhof Gardens. | | | | To this end, the best time to go is in April |
| | | | when everything is in bloom. |
| This was disappointing for two reasons. | | | | |
| First, I had never heard of the "famous" | | | | Against all my inherent male attributes, I |
| Kuekenhof Gardens, thus bringing into doubt | | | | have to admit visiting the gardens outdid |
| the claim in my mind. Second, the weighing of | | | | anything the Heineken Brewery could offer. I |
| the scales of justice were producing results | | | | also felt a heck of a lot better the next |
| decidedly in favor of a location that | | | | morning! |
| encompassed the word "beer" versus one that | | | | |