Tiptoe Through The Tulips

April and May were some of the most beautiful months we have experienced to date here in Holland. Things heated up, terraces opened, the clocks sprung forward, days grew longer (it stays light outside until almost 11 PM now), trees burst with colour, and tulips started appearing everywhere. Tulip time, one of the most famous and celebrated seasons of the year!

While exquisite cut flowers and bouquets can be bought year round at your local bloemenwinkel (flower shop), in spring you can buy fifty or more of the most beautiful two-tone parrot tulips you've ever seen for a whopping 5 Euros. The equivalent at home would most likely cost you between 50 and 60 Dollars. I have to admit, for that price, it is hard not to resist having fresh flowers displayed in our home on a weekly basis.

You may be asking yourself, why are tulips such a famous symbol of the Netherlands? It's an interesting phenomenon since tulips didn't actually arrive in Holland until the mid to late 1500s. While it is unclear who first brought the tulip to northwest Europe, the flower most likely originated during the Ottoman Empire. Once it arrived in Europe its popularity soared quickly, especially during the Dutch Golden Age, when tulip bulbs were considered a form of currency and single bulbs sold for ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman.

At this time of year, one of the best places to view tulips is at the Keukenhof Gardens. Located about an hour outside of Amsterdam, Keukenhof is only open for two months out of the year but in that short period it draws more than 800,000 visitors to view its 7,000,000 unique tulip varieties planted and displayed throughout the garden. Large fields surround Keukenhof and are lined with row up row of vibrant, colourful tulips ready to be cut and sold to local vendors.

Since we had a number of visitors staying with us at the beginning of May, we planned a group day trip to Keukenhof hoping to give our visitors a unique Dutch experience while they were here. Unfortunately, on the exact day we planned to go, the weather made a turn for the worse. Not exactly the experience we were hoping for but, regardless, we made our way out to the garden and walked around for a few minutes in between large "breaks" in the restaurant. Te variety and sheer amount of flowers at Keukenhof were still very impressive and remain a must-see for any visitor to the Netherlands at this time of year!