KEUKENHOF
Those of you who know me personally are well aware of my deep love of two things: vivid colours and blooming flowers. Imagine the transcendent experience it was for me to visit the colourgasmic Keukenhof gardens. I’m still unsure of how exactly it happened that I never ventured there despite my number of trips to the Netherlands, but there I was now in awe of the scale of this beauty. Multitudes of tulips arranged with meticulous attention to detail in various shapes wind through the gardens. Although the tulips are definitely the stars of the show, I personally fell in love with the fragrant combinations featuring lilies of the valley and hyancinths, as well as that impossibly cute pastel coloured Vespa corner!
The hordes of people strolling through the park were, as expected, formidable. Every possible race, colour, age, religion and language was well represented. They were all happy. It’s tough to keep a frown on with all these beautiful colours around. Everybody was snapping pictures with whatever device they had - from phones to heavy artillery fast glass. With the visitors happy, the staff, although clearly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people, remained happy as well and somehow everyone managed to wish me a great day. Is it possible not to love Keukenhof? I don’t quite know how the hours passed, all I knew was that every time I would put away the camera for a second, I stumbled upon an even more beautiful flower arrangement that I simply had to shoot. After a couple of hours, just when I thought I’d seen it all, I stumbled upon an orchid pavilion. You know orchids? The most perfect of flowers with the most vibrant of purple hues? I got dizzy as I walked in, such was the exuberance of orchid colours and variations. I walked out and continued through the gardens still dismayed. By the way if your GPS malfunctioned or by any remote chance you forgot where you were, pick a more obscure pathway and a familiar weedy scent will alert your nose to your precise whereabouts, at least country-wise. Maybe that’s why everyone was so happy?!
I chose the most remote café for a cappuccino at the end of the day. The white-haired bar tender wished me a great day (of course!) and proceeded to sing Felicita as he prepared to close down for the last day of the season. Now I leave you, my dear readers, as I am off to book my Keukenhof trip for next year!
