In 1995 my friend was telling me that when he was on his way to safari in Africa, they had a layover in Amsterdam. Dave told me how beautiful it was flying into Amsterdam because he could see all of the tulip fields. He knew that tulips were one of my favorite flowers and had given me a couple of postcards from Amsterdam. I decided that at some point, I'd have to add Holland to my list of travels.

Fast foward to late 2002, I was surfing the web and there was a travel special that was so darn good. The catch is, the choice was either Paris or Amsterdam. I wanted both, but I decided to visit Amsterdam. I knew I wanted to go during April or May to catch the tulips in full bloom.

I flew to Amsterdam on Lufthansa which was about a 12 hour flight from Texas. I had about an hour layover in Frankfurt to change planes. The flight was uneventful, the food was excellent as well as the service. Flying into Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, I was in awe flying over the tulip fields. The earth wasn't just brown or green, but it was full of pink, red, and white stripes. I knew those were my beloved tulip fields. Once I got to the airport, I took a train to downtown Amsterdam. Once there, I took a trolley to my hotel.

I stayed at Best Western Eden Hotel. I picked it for the location as I felt it was centrally located, the price, and it was right off one of the canals. It is a lovely hotel, clean, but like all European rooms, the rooms are a bit small. After unpacking, I went downstairs and had two dark beers. It wasn't long after that, with jet lag, that sleep came into my equation, so I went to my room and slept the entire night.

The next morning, I woke up with a slight hangover. That's not good, especially since I knew I would be spending the day at Keukenhoff Park. I ate some scrambled eggs that appeared to be a bit on the green side and honestly, I don't know if it was the eggs or my stomach turning over from my hangover.

I headed to Keukenhoff Park. The name Keukenhoff means "kitchen garden". The park is 80 acres and is open from March until May. There are seven garden themes, which each is devoted to the following themes: color, fragrance, Renaissance, abstract style, water and borders. There are over 7 million bulbs that are planted.

I throughly enjoyed Keukenhoff Park. The tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths blended in so well with the trees, ponds, and fountains. I bought some bulbs there, which they shipped to my home later in the year.

Returning back to Amsterdam, I was fascinated by the small villages. The houses were small yet attractive with their window box flowers. One of the things that I think is so neat with Holland, is one can live outside of the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam, ride their bike into the city and enjoy the city life for the day.

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