Amsterdam...Keukenhof Gardens

I've been putting off writing about these Gardens because I knew that I could never come up with words to convey the very big impact this place had on me (photos don't even do it justice). First, though, a very big "THANK YOU" to my friend, Elaine! She sent me the internet slide show of Keukenhof that led to my decision to visit there. I'm very grateful.

So.....what's so special here? COLOR...FRAGRANCE and BEAUTIFUL DESIGN to start! I'm a very visual person driven by color so I actually got teary eyed when I started down the landscaped paths. I also totally appreciate the outdoors so the fact that it was 75 degrees and sunny with a light breeze helped the ambiance tremendously. All I could think was "life is good"!

One very interesting part of the garden was that they were celebrating the city of New York! As I entered I could hear a calliope playing "New York, New York". As I started down one of the paths, I saw a series of fairly large billboards...each showing drawings of some part of New York City, along with many facts about the role that Holland played in developing the city. I knew that New York was originally called New Amsterdam, but I never gave it much thought. Being a Northeast girl, the celebration made me feel right at home!

The tulips were beyond marvelous...they came in all the colors of the rainbow, as well as plain, striped, fringed and ruffled in shape. Over 7 million bulbs are planted and tended each year for the two months that the Garden is open.


When all was said and done, I spent 7 1/2 hours at Keukenhof, took over 600 photographs and totally exhausted myself, but left exhiliarated and VERY, VERY happy I went!