Keukenhof Gardens

After leaving Belgium the Chinese tour group went to see the Keukenhof Gardens. The Keukenhof gardens is a huge tourist attraction in the Netherlands that's only open for a few weeks after months of seeding, growing, and arranging. I was very happy that Caiqian's parents brought us to see some of the world's most prized flowers. Right when we entered the gardens the flower theme became pretty obvious.

Above: Water Flower Entrance.

For the sake of climactic buildup, I'm going to save the flowers for the end of this post. Fortunately there were many interesting parts of the gardens besides the flowers. One part of Keukenhof gardens that I particularly enjoyed was its large hedge maze. While we were all making our way around, Caiqian's dad explained to me that, given enough time, I could eventually solve any maze as long as I took only lefts. Interesting strategy, although we didn't use it.

Above: Mr. Wu and I are lost.

Eventually we made it to the center where an elevated platform showed us the whole maze.

Above: Made it!

After the maze Caiqian managed to get in a petting zoo minutes before they closed.

Above: Caiqian, the natural-born petter.

Then there was the clogs-man. Here was a man who understood how to make clogs, and he enjoyed showing off his skill.

Above: Makin' Clogs.

Above: And he's been making them for a while.

He sold Caiqian and I after he promised to burn our names for free into any wooden clogs we bought. Caiqian didn't own many things with her name in it, so it was a must-buy.

Above: I like the clogerchief.

Above: Personalized Finger Clogs!

Finally, there were just miscellaneous things around the park that I found interesting.

Above: Mooship.

Above: Log-sitting in comfort.

Above: Can't have a Netherlands' post without a windmill shot.

Above: A genuine tree hugger.

Ok, you've all been very patient. Here's a select few pictures of flowers taken from literally thousands of photos Caiqian and I shot. I'll begin with the arranged flowers. For me, the way these flowers came together was more special than the individual flowers themselves.

Above: Vincent Van Flowers.

Above: Enough flowers for you, Caiqian?

Above: AMURICA.

Above: Left + Fire = Right.

Above: Miscellaneous Arranged Flowers.

On the other side of the spectrum were the flowers that had very peculiar shapes.

Above: Strange flowers.

After exploring the flowers outside, we made it into the big flower house where the most beautiful flowers were grown.

Above: Get ready for photos.

One type of flower that was neat had a frosted edge on the pedals. In fact, Caiqian's newly-discovered favorite flower, the Cummins tulip, has this property.

Above: Jagged-edged flowers. The bottom is the Cummins Tulip.

There were also other flowers that were pretty for their two (or more) colored pedals.

Above: Pretty Outlined Flowers.

The main attraction of the gardens though were the elegant tulips. If this park could be symbolized by any one type of flower, it would be the tulip. The tulips in Kukenhof gardens came in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Above: Tulip Time.

For every patch of colorful flowerbeds though, there were five or six patches of headless flowerbeds. I suppose when the flowers even start to show a little bit of their age the whole batch are beheaded so that the visitors only see the prettiest.

Above: It ain't easy being a flower.

After exploring the big flower house it was time to go back to the bus, but not before capturing a shot of the flower of the year. This complicated beauty was massive and intricate, and unlike any other flower we saw that day. No wonder it was a winner.

1st place flower.

Eventually is was time to go (boo!) and we were on the road again. Caiqian's family and I loved the Keukenhof gardens. I'd recommend visiting them for anyone even remotely interested in flowers. 

Our three days of touring were almost over, but fortunately I've got one more Chinese tour story up my sleeve. Last but not least embarrassing, it was time to explore Amsterdam. Ooh boy.