Cool Holland - Keukenhoff Park

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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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Photos

My hotel
Best Western Eden. It was right off the canal!

Keukenhoff shoes
Entrance to the park, they are cute!

Flower child
Hangovers really don't do me well, however being in the park lifted my spirits considerably. Amazing the power of flowers!

Gnome power
Keukenhoff Park

Flower power
Keukenhoff Park. The amount of bulbs are incredible!

Tulips
Keukenhoff Park. There was just about any color of tulips you could imagine. The edges of the tulips varied too from smooth to fringed.

Bouquet of tulips
Keukenhoff Park.

Seduction of red
This tulip field had red tulips. It's a good thing there weren't any bulls around.

Stripes
This tulip field has 3 different colors of tulips.

Comments

[viviane kerhkoff]

wonderful
it's totaly incredebly how perfect god is this park is the ]most beatiful thing in the world and your pistures too kiss vivi from Brazil

[molly]

AWESOME
this is SO cool i love it!

[George]

Keukenhoff
I was there in April of 1991 and still can't believe how incredibly beautiful the park is. The landscaping alone rivals anything I've ever seen. Add to that the colors and fragrances that abound everywhere, your visit there is one that will leave you in awe.

[Ksue44]

Keukenhoff Park
George, I enjoyed Holland very much! Gosh, I wished my gardens looked as beautiful. What I was most in awe, is flying into Amsterdam, over the tulip fields, beautiful, colorful stripes! Glad you enjoyed the pics!

[Lois Theodoratus]

Dutch ancesters names Kuykendall
My grandmother was 100% Dutch which I found out when I started in genealogy in 1999. Her ancesters were from Amsterdam. The first generation coming to the US in 1646 was A Jacob Luursen Van Kuykendall. I am in the 11th generation after Abraham came to the US and to New Amsterdam on the east coast of the US, which is now Manhatten Island. I have been through the Amsterdam airport several times, and would love to come and stay a few days in Amsterdam and walk around the area the Kuykendall families lived. I live in Skagit County, Washington State. We have Dutch bulb growers on the Skagit Flats and I understand Holland gets a large share of their tulip bulbs from these farmers. We have a 3 week Tulip Festival in April when the tulips are in bloom and have many thousand visitors who come to walk in the fields and take pictures. It is beautiful coming in to the airport and over the tulip fields in Amsterdam. I feel I have a connection.

[bob]

i love holland
holland rocks

[yadi]

The same experience in Keukenhoff
Sekitar tahun 1995 -1997 saya beberapa kali kunjungi Keukenhoff Park disela-sela liburan kuliah. Sy kebetulan tugas studi lanjut di University of Ghent Belgium. Taman itu betul-betul indah dan saya foto keindahan itu dalam hampir 20 roll film saat itu dan membuat saya sangat kagum dengan kombinasi warna-warni dll nya. Pengalaman yang tidak akan terlupakan....

[utama]

i came three times to the park, in 2000 and still have forgetless memories about this beautiful tulips park.

[Jim Conrad]

Keukenhoff Park
Anyone have the average peak blooming date for Keukenhoff Park?

[Ksue44]

Keukenhoff Park
The park is open from mid March to mid May. I'd say mid April is probably the best time. It's hard to put an exact time because of weather patterns, etc. which can impact the 7 million bulbs each year.