Day trip: the Keukenhof

For the longest time, I have wanted to visit the Keukenhof, a huge flower garden in The Netherlands. According to their website, over 7 million bulbs are planted annually in the park and Keukenhof houses a total of 800 varieties of tulips. That place, my dear friend, is heaven on earth. May 16th was the day I finally paid the garden a visit. And I had a blast. I loved being there, surrounded by such beauty, peace and serenity. If you ever get the chance to visit Keukenhof, go for it. It is definitely worth it.

We - my family and I - woke up early to drive to our destination. At one point, we had almost reached it by then, we were driving through a downpour. It got so bad that my dad even suggested we remain inside the car and watch from a distance. Needless to say, I was annoyed. I mean, did we seriously drive all that way just to sit in the car? And we came just to visit Keukenhof. May 16th was the last day it was open, which means we'd have to wait a year before we could try again. Fortunately it cleared up when we arrived, so we entered.

From the moment we left the entrance behind us, gorgeous flowers greeted us. It's hard not to be mesmerised. I was absorbing everything that crossed my path.  

We had been walking for a while when the growling of our stomachs directed us towards a restaurant. I don't know why, but we somehow always end up going for chips on these family trips.

After lunch, we continued our stroll and spotted one of those famous Dutch windmills in the distance. We went to take a closer look.

For centuries, windmills played an important part in Dutch life and they were used to mill grain or to pump water. 

This particular windmill was built in 1892. I wish I'd taken photographs of when I was inside. Everything looked old-fashioned, from the rickety wooden stairs, to the teeny tiny room the stairs led to. It felt as though I was transported back in time, to the 1800s and I would have loved to relive that through photos.

At some point, we came across a pottery exhibition. The art looked so cool!

I like how detailed the paintings are. So much time and effort must have gone into creating this. Absolutely stunning.

On our way to the exit, we found a little shed and a well. I couldn't leave without capturing the scene.

I spent a wonderful day there and I would love to go back someday. If you ever find yourself in The Netherlands between the months of March and May, you should definitely visit Keukenhof. As I said before, it's worth it!

Yours faithfully,

Morgana