A Spring of Tulips in Holland

Ah, spring!  The season of beginnings. The earth resplendent in a robe of colors, and for those of us who lived through the darkest of winters, spring means a sigh of relief, a promise of light.  Spring holds with its arrival the promise of rebirth, of beautiful blooms,  of nature being at its flirtiest.

It was my first spring in Holland.  And like most first-timers, I marked it with a rite of passage.  In Japan and Korea, spring is a time for hanami, the annual flower viewing custom to enjoy the pristine and ethereal cherry blossoms.  In Holland,  the gray landscape is cracked open by a carpet of unfurled bulbs.

    Tulips: From bulbs to blooms



To honor our first spring in Holland,  a friend and I went to the Keukenhoff Gardens and walked around a field of tulip beauty.  Here,  let me share with you our  experience of this springtime ritual.



Tulips come in all colors:

    Yellow

   Orange and Maroon

    Red

    Black and White

    Black

    Purple and Light Pink

Keukenhof Garden is in Lisse, to go there, one can take buses from the Leiden or Haarlem bus station.  The catch is, it´s only open for two months each year, from mid-March to mid-May when the tulips are in bloom.  The garden covers about 32 acres so visiting Keukenhof is a whole day affair.

B, my workmate, who loves posing for the camera, became my willing model for my  Keukenhof vistas.

I hope you enjoyed the view!  Till next spring!