KEUKENHOF GARDENS

What a beautiful day to walk in a garden.  A spectacular garden called Keukenhof.  This garden boasts 7 million flower bulbs all planted by hand annually in the 79 acre garden.  For the past 2 years Keukenhof was closed to the public due to covid.  Let me tell you the gardens were very crowded today.  Usually in the 8 week period it is open to the public, they have an average of 26,000 visitors each day.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they were on schedule to reach that number today.

When we got to the park it was around noon.  We had 3 hours to walk around and visit the different areas of the park.  Expecting to see rows and rows of tulips, I was pleasantly surprised to see different plantings.  Incorporated in these plantings of mostly tulips and daffodils were hyacinths.  The fragrance was everywhere and beautiful. 

They had 5 different buildings with different flowers and displays inside.  We went inside one that was mostly orchids – the Beatrix Pavilion.  The variety and quantity of orchids was breathtaking!  Some of them were so large and every one was beautiful.  The stems were loaded with blooms and made the ones we see at home pale in comparison.

The only other pavilion – the Willem Alexander Pavilion -we went in today was full of tulips, daffodils, calla lilies, amaryllis and other flowers from bulbs.  There was so much to see and take pictures of, that I actually ran down 1 of my 2 batteries for my camera. 

So another bright, beautiful sunshiny day.  We really have been so very lucky.  This was our last big touristy outing before returning home.  Tomorrow we look after 2 year old Anders while Michael and Erin attend a wedding.  It will be a fun day.  There is a park nearby and we saw some ducks – it will be a fun day.