This was not a bargain discount weekend trip, but it was a
nice treat. Last year, Jeff took a bus tour which departed shortly after
midnight from Kaiserslautern, visited the famous gardens by day, and returned
on the bus shortly before midnight the same day! Oy! He recommended the
destination so highly, but I kept asking if it was worth it to drive 5 hours
each way to see some flowers? He said yes, and I suggested that we make an
overnight of it.
We decided to skip Amsterdam, and stayed in De Bilt, a town
next to Utrecht. For some reason, our drive times are always longer than what a
computer route planner says, so it took us over 4 hours with 2 short breaks
from K-town. After checking in to the hotel, we popped over to Utrecht for
sight-seeing and dinner. We didn’t have a big lunch, so we had dinner first,
and by the time we were done with that, all the stores were closed. I guess
this is good for people who work in the stores, but we were disappointed to
find everything shut down by 6pm. The architecture in Utrecht was very nice,
and we walked along some canals. On our way back to the car, we found a huge
department store that was closing in 10 minutes (7pm!). As we drove back to the
hotel, we passed through De Bilt, and found several shops still open…didn’t buy
any souvenirs but enjoyed the stroll.
We are used to getting up early in the morning for work
every day, so it was easy to wake up without an alarm clock and get to the
Keukenhof gardens early enough to avoid the legendary lines of people. There
were already a bunch of tour busses and several dozen cars parked ahead of us,
but we breezed in. Car parking 6 Euros per vehicle, adult admission 16 per
person. I am fortunate that daffodils are my favorite flower, so while some
people might have complained that the famous tulips were not yet fully in
bloom, I was thrilled to see so many varieties of daffodils in all their glory.
We elected to take the 45 minute boat tour along the canal
(8 per person), which was interesting even though many tulips had not yet shown
their colors. The gardens were beautifully designed. Don’t go if you allergic
to hyacinths, as their fragrance perfumed the air. There were snack carts in
several areas (fresh strawberries, waffles, ice cream), a few food trucks
(sandwiches, smoothies), and cafeterias with soup to salad to hot entrees. According to the European culture, many people brought their own food and were picnicking
on the abundant benches, so feel free to bring your own.
The large building within the gardens had many tulips in bloom, along with
hydrangeas, lilacs, and lilies. After 4 and ½ hours, we were ready to call it a
day, and headed to the seashore, a quick drive away. How nice to see the
ocean again, even with our jackets and shoes on!
We drove back to the hotel with a stop in the town of Gouda!
Guess what was closing down just as we arrived shortly before 5 pm? Yep, the
market, stores, and museums. So, get thee to Gouda and Utrecht way before 5pm!
Again, the architecture was beautiful, and we strolled along some canals, then
headed out.
After dinner at a greek restaurant in De Bilt, we returned
to our hotel, passing happy cows (well, assuming that frolicking cows are
happy), more canals, more flowers along the side of the road, and swans in the
canals and on the meadows. The drive back to K-town the following day took us
on another route (why? Don’t know), but it was quite scenic, with more sheep
and horses.
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