Bloemen!

The best time to visit Holland is definitely during March-May. why? coz its spring! there's so so much to do and visit when the weather's good!

The main attraction during spring is definitely KEUKENHOF!

Last easter, on the 8th of april to be precise, we witness the ever so popular Keukenhof. we missed last year's as we were too busy with the house hunting, and besides, last year's spring was very short and surprisingly cold. but this year..... was such a contrast.



Keukenhof is situated in Lisse, south of Haarlem in Zuid Holland. very close to the Amsterdam Schipol Airport. it opens 8 weeks a year and attracts almost 7 million people, all around the world (we now know why!).

I was overly excited during our 2 hour drive to the gardens, and as we reached our afrit (exit) to Lisse, we noticed there was a long traffic. "no! it cant be!!" to which my husband replied "yep!! all these people are going where we're going". the traffic stretched at least 8miles from our destination!

After consulting our 'miss navigatie' (navigation system) in the car, H decided to take a detour and use an alternative route. a route with NO signboards to keukenhof. a route where there are NO cars, a route where i do not think it'd lead us there, therefore to me it is a NOT a good idea! "no! dont! follow those cars, at least we know we're heading the right way, who knows they might block the other routes due to lack of parking!?" the not-so-adventurous me was so wrong! thank god we took the other route cause, this was what we witnessed on our way to the real keukenhof gardens, fields and fields of hyacinths and fields and fields of tulips! trust me, the smell was just as good as the view!





Thank H for not following the traffic! (silly me!)

We bought the tickets online and could enter the gardens without having to queue. this would be a good idea if you're visiting during public holidays and weekends. the Keukenhof gardens are much larger than i expected. they seem to go on forever and everywhere you turn there's always a good sight to snap a photo! you could easily spend more than a day, especially if you are mad about flowers, like moi. in addition to the outdoor gardens, there are numerous greenhouses. in there, you might find orchids, hortensia (hydrangeas) and azaleas. and if you're tired of walking, or if your baby's hungry and needs his bottle, you can always sit back at the cafes, snack bars or even the benches, and watch other flower fanatics!





Tulips are not the only spring flower blooming at keukenhof. daffodils, hyacinths, and narcissi, are also all flowering simultaneously. there were also amarylis, magnolias, cherry blossoms, plum blossoms, bleeding hearts - those were just a few of them that i know of. so many types of daffodils and soso many types of tulips! we were overwhelmed by the colour, sights, shapes and their smells!



We had a beautiful easter, a beautiful sunday, a lovely stroll, a good time. we shall bring our tikar mengkuang (mengkuang mat), nasi lemak (coconut rice), karipap (currypuff) and sirap bandung (rose syrup with milk) next year!! hehe!

I then drove my boys back home (first time driving our estate! feels like i have a very long tail driving it!)

Z