Sunday 6 November 2011

28 March, 2009 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Day 3

The day started off with rain and overcast sky. It gave me perfect excuse to not get out of the bed early. Although on the other hand, I was praying for the rain to stop as I’m going to Keukenhof today to see the tulips. Last night was a pretty bad night as I coughed continuously during my sleep and my eyes teared non-stop due to the cough, and I have a very bad sore throat. I lingered in the bed until around 10am after most of the girls have gone out. Took my time to get ready and had an apple for breakfast. Then, armed with my waterproof jacket and umbrella, I went into the streets heading to Leidseplein to catch a bus to Schipol airport. It is still drizzling but there were quite many people around, mostly having breakfast at café and restaurants. I passed by the McDonalds and went in to have a Quarter Pounder burger (€1.95). After my meal, the rain has now stopped. I proceed on to Leidseplein bus stop. I waited for about 10mins before the bus no. 197 came. The journey took about 30mins to Schipol airport. From there, I changed to bus no. 58 to Keukenhof, which took another 30mins.

Arriving at Keukenhof, the sun is out and blue skies on the horizon. Great!!! I walked into the huge garden. Soon, I see tulip bulbs all around. There are various types of tulips, in many different colors. I wandered around the big garden, taking loads of photos. There are several main buildings (green house) around the garden where the flowers are located. I went into the first one and was overwhelmed by the gorgeous tulips inside. There are a lot of visitors inside; all armed with cameras, compact, slr, dslr. Professional, semi professional, amateurs, everybody is enjoying themselves, taking photos of the beautiful flowers, or their loved ones with the flowers. I just kept shooting the various types of tulips in different colors and shapes. This is the first time I’m surrounded with so many tulips and I am absolutely loving it. In this building also, there was a live orchestra band playing wonderful music. Hence you can see a lot of people (including me) dancing or tapping to the music. The music just lifts up the spirits and enlightens the atmosphere.

After that I went back out to the garden and continue on exploring. The next building I went into was filled with orchids. My mum loved orchids. Some of the orchids on display here she planted before. At another building were some flowers like lily and sunflowers and also they were sort of associated with fashion. There were also lots of sculptures around the garden. I really enjoyed walking in the big garden, breathing in fresh air and admiring all the lovely flowers.



Outside in the garden, there were various types of "chairs" made of straw bales with a big fork acting as the back support. Met a very cheerful mum who offered to take a photo of me sitting on the special chair and even asked her little boy to join me on one of the big straw chair. After visiting all the buildings and the gardens, I went back out to take bus no. 58 to Schipol airport and transferred to bus no. 197 to Leidseplein. On my way back to my hostel I stopped by a supermarket to get some water and croissants for dinner and breakfast tomorrow. Back at the hostel, I showered and had yogurt and croissant and then started packing up as I’ll head to Belgium tomorrow.

Here's the link to all my photos Amsterdam, 2009

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