Dutch Tulips

The sun was shining, the borders were open—it’s time to experience springtime in the Netherlands! Chris’ work schedule didn’t make it easy, but we managed to zip up to the world famous Keukenhof Holland for an entire day of floral delights.

I was afraid it would be past the peak bloom when we went April 23. Would there be any flowers left?? It was a pretty warm spring. Not to fear, we were there on a perfect day. It was quite a bit cooler, even though it’s only about two hours north of us, so I layered on an extra jacket I found in the back of the car and wished I’d worn pants! Friends who visited a couple weeks prior said it was blooming and lovely, but too cold to enjoy it. Plus, they said the surrounding fields of tulips you can see on a boat ride weren’t blooming yet, so that was a long, cold boat ride through nothing.

Brittany’s assessment: “I mean, it’s pretty, but for the distance and cost, I’d rather go to Floralia, you know? It’s smaller but just as pretty, and it’s only 20 minutes away.”

Our visit accidentally coincided with the annual Flower Parade. Originally, I’d found an airbnb nearby where we could leave our car and bike to the garden, and see the floral parade floats lit up at an evening illumination Friday night! But again, the work schedule, etc etc. so we just did what we could. The parade meant it was CROWDED in the morning. Like, so crowded we couldn’t move at times. I overheard someone saying, “They say it’s less crowded after 3pm,” and that gave us hope.

Squished in a crowd and unable to move, I couldn’t see any flowers and instead looked around at the faces and dresses of the people around me. The flowers are stunningly beautiful, but each person here was fearfully and wonderfully made by God; each person came here today in pursuit of beauty, delight, time with family or friends, warmth, and springtime (or maybe just dragged by their parents). Sometimes humanity and gardens and flowers seem so unfathomably complex. You could garden your entire life and not run out of things to study and think about. Pondering the complexities of each human soul as I shuffled along on the packed path made me forget about not being able to see the flowers in that moment. Here is something more beautiful, more awe-inspiring.

This wonder unfortunately vanished at lunchtime when everyone was hungry and the shortest line was only for sweet treats when SOME complaining people in our family REALLY WANTED SOME LUNCH. We waited in a loooooong line and had Dutch apple pie (Chris and me), a brownie (Isaac) and muffin (Eloise), plus mint tea and coffee.

I told Chris what Brittany had concluded about the gardens, and said I probably agreed with her, but since this is our only spring in Belgium where we’ve been able to come see the famous Dutch tulips, OF COURSE WE HAD TO!!

“Some people plan entire vacations around coming here to see this and it’s only two hours away so we’re going,” we told the kids as they groaned and bellyached about having to go to a world-famous garden. Their lives are so hard.

A Dutch band performed international hits near the entrance. Fountains trickled and sprayed. We wandered through a garden made to look like a woodland forest filled with streams and waterfalls, then formal English and French gardens. A path lined with cherry trees shed blossoms whenever the wind blew. The crowd thinned out as people moved toward parade hubbub outside the gates, and the spring sunshine warmed the ground around us. The kids played on the playground while Chris stretched out on some grass in the sun and took a nap. When he woke up, it felt like a whole new garden! Lovely soft sunshine and no more throngs of people.

We looped through some of the sections we hadn’t seen before and saw some of the same ones again. Chris went on the record as disagreeing with Brittany—“I think this is the prettiest garden I’ve ever been to!” he raved.

We wanted to get some dinner before the two-hour drive home, but discovered the cafes closed moments before, at 6pm (the garden closed at 7:30). Oh dear. This could be a make-or-break point for two very hungry kids. Then, the unfathomable happened: The manager and chef said they couldn’t sell the food since they were closed, but it was destined for the trash otherwise, so they gave it away. All the hungry people there paid for their drinks and nothing else! I had a quinoa salad, the kids and Chris had pizza and yogurt, Chris had a pesto salad, I had a flakey pastry something-or-other. The very kind manager gave us some plastic trays and piled them high with food for the kids and us. This was so unexpected and kind, and it took a moment where Eloise was about to lose it and gifted it back to us as a delightful waterside dinner with happy, laughing kids as the garden approached golden hour.

“This is more fun than I thought it would be,” said Eloise. “Yeah,” Isaac agreed. “This is the most beautiful garden I’ve ever been to,” repeated Chris, looking around admiringly.

Actually, Eloise’s comment is something my kids say ALL THE TIME because they unreasonably and ridiculously complain about TOTALLY AWESOME THINGS I’m about to make them do to appreciate life and living abroad. Anyway.

The last hour in the gardens was the best. The pathways wound through multicolored patches of brilliant tulips. We’d walked down some of the same paths when we arrived but they were unrecognizable as the same place without all the people. Chris bought the kids yellow tulip-shaped wind-catchers that spun and fluttered in the evening breeze.

It was totally worth going…..once.

Keukenhof Holland