The Garden

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Geo: 50.0599, 7.76593

I only woke up once during the night and I fell back to sleep pretty quickly. And I didn't even hear the BONG BONG BONGs. Success!

We were out the door by 8:20 and walked to the Spaarne to meet our coach and driver, who happens to be Rene, my driver from last year's France tour. Yay! I feel we are in capable hands. And I don't even have to learn to recognize a new bus, as it's the same Heidebloem bus from last year.

The original schedule had us going to the Arnhem Open Air Museum, but about a week before the tour started, the office sent out an e-mail saying that we would be forgoing that and spending a morning at the Keukenhof gardens instead. I was disappointed because I like open air museums, and I'm really not so much of a garden person. But, whatever; go with the flow. Then Reid tells us that we'll have nearly four hours at the garden. Oy!

So these gardens are only open for a few weeks a year, when the tulips are blooming, and we are probably the only Rick Steves tour group that will get to see them. Well. They were absolutely lovely, and I even could have spent another half hour at least there. I took forty million photos, most of which are probably awful, and none of which I'll be able to identify beyond “tulip, tulip, that's a tulip, 'nother tulip.” In the gardens are three pavilions that put on flower shows, one of which was full of various types of orchid. Imagine walking into a space filled with orchids: the scent was almost overwhelming. They were gorgeous, though some were awfully strange looking. Another pavilion was partly filled with begonias, while the rest of the room was still being prepped with huge sprays in interestingly shaped “vases” (for lack of a better word).

There is art scattered through the gardens, including a sculpture of a harpist. I had to take a picture for my friend Douglass. There were whimsical statues of animals; giant Asian-inspired heads; water nymphs; and abstract structures. There were swans and ducks and peacocks, fountains and water features, and platforms in a pond that made it appear as if you're walking on water. People brought dogs and kids, and it seemed to be the day out of choice for the elderly and wheelchair-bound. And it did turn out to be a lovely day (though cold); thank God it didn't rain. It was relaxing and fragrant and before the crowds picked up, it was possible to hear the birds singing in the trees. All things considered, I'm glad we had the opportunity to see Keukenhof.

As I type this, we are on our way to Bacharach-on-the-Rhine. We crossed the border into Germany about an hour ago, but the landscape doesn't look much different than it did in the Netherlands. During a rest stop, I told Rene that he had been my driver before, and he told me that he thought he recognized me this morning. I doubt that, but it was nice of him to play along.

As we are on the freeway (autobahn?), we have seen several “Ausfahrt” signs, but I've managed to only giggle twice. Good for me. There are also beautiful, vibrant fields of rape weed that seem to go on and on. The landscape has definitely changed: rolling hills and deep valleys, as opposed to flat, flat, flat. (And I saw signs for the Nurburgring!)

LATER: Our hotel is the Hotel Kranenturm in Bacharach-on-the-Rhine. It is built within the old city wall and is, therefore, around 700-800 years old. It also contains one of the old towers; Katie got that room. I am on the second floor and actually have a view from the bathroom of the Rhine river. Finally, a view worth looking at! The room, however, is teensy-beensy, and I can't even open the door all the way because it hits a bed. We all left our bedroom doors open so that we could all go around and see the other rooms because each one is individually decorated. Blue and yellow are the major colors used, and they all have these cute fabric swags above the beds. One couple got what must be the honeymoon suite. It's all done up in yellow and white; there's a view of the Rhine; there's an adorable little area with a breakfast table and some chairs; and there's also window seats. I would say that mine is the least cute room, but I do have a normal-looking shower. We'll see how normal it is in the morning: Reid advised that
the plumbing here is decidedly temperamental.

We all assembled in the hotel restaurant for dinner, which consisted of white asparagus soup (yes, I ate some), a salad of green asparagus and pickled white asparagus (yes, I ate some), pork schnitzel with mushrooms (no, I didn't eat any mushrooms) and french fries, and strawberry ice cream for dessert. I also had a glass of Rhenish, which was very good. I sat
with Carol and Jim from New Mexico, and Reid. We got to grill Reid on what it's like to be a tour guide, and he reminisced about the “halcyon days” when tour guides didn't have budgets and tours were 22 days long.

After dinner we did buddy introductions (having previously interviewed our buddies during the long bus ride from Keukenhof to Bacharach). Most of them were pretty funny, and we seem to have some real characters in the group. Chris told everyone how OCD I am about making lists and schedules, and I told everyone that he was nearly arrested for gun-running in Canada. Good times.

It is now 11:30, and I'm all worn out from all that sitting about on a bus. And I've just realized that I didn't get the password for getting on the Internet, so this won't get posted till tomorrow.

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Photos

Our group
At the Keukenhof Garden

Reid
Our intrepid guide

The harpist
Keukenhof