Rotterdam, The Netherlands

One of our favorite days of our vacation was our stop in The Netherlands.  The ship docked in Rotterdam, and we took an excursion to Keukenhof Gardens to attend the annual spring tulip festival.  It was magnificent.  There are so many things to see in Rotterdam and the surrounding area, but if we went back there again, we would probably choose to go right back to these amazing gardens.  It truly was a highlight of the trip and of my lifetime!

Swan Bridge.  I guess it is supposed to look like a swan. 

We rarely take excursions sponsored by the ship, but the gardens were about 45 minutes away, so we felt it would be better to take the tour on a bus rather than get our own taxi.  It worked out really well.

When you enter the grounds, there is a breathtaking hill covered with tulips of many colors.

Following are many, many pictures of the grounds and flowers, flowers, flowers.
This garden is only open for 6 weeks each year, while the tulips are blooming.  Over five million visitors come during that time.  The featured flowers are tulips of varied colors and species.  Who knew there were so many different kinds of tulips?   Many of the variations have been developed right in these gardens.  I did eliminate some of the pictures we took, but there are still a lot of pictures.  I find myself scrolling through these flower pictures on my phone to add joy to my day.  I hope they add joy to yours as you scroll through.

"The earth laughs in flowers."  Ralph Waldo Emerson

I loved these lacy, frilly lavender tulips

These tiny white coral bells, lily of the valley, were some of my dad's favorite flowers.

Ken enjoyed the bird life in the gardens

"I must have flowers, always and always."  Claude Monet

"The calla lilies are in bloom again.  Such a strange flower-suitable to any occasion.  I carried them on my wedding day, and now I place them here in memory of something that has died."  

Katherine Hepburn

This picture kind of shows the crowds.  The place was packed- much like Disneyland.  There were a lot of people there.  I should have taken some crowd shots.  I guess I was more interested in the beautiful flowers.

"Gardens and flowers have a way of bringing people together, drawing them from their homes."

 Clare Ansberry

A Great Blue Heron standing stock still, waiting for his dinner.  We watched him for a long time.  He never moved.

" I will be the gladdest thing under the sun.  I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one." 

Edna St. Vincent Millay

"A flower blossoms for its own joy." Oscar Wilde

These were gorgeous tulips bred to look like fire flames.

"People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us."  

Iris Murdoch

We were just past peak of the cherry blossoms, which we grew to love in Japan.

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the mind."  Luther Burbank

There were also several structures/ greenhouses on the grounds that housed specific kinds of flowers.  This one was full of every kind of orchid.

Orchids, orchids everywhere!!

There were stairs up to an upper landing in the center that you could climb to get a view of the beauties below.

This may be my favorite flower we saw in the orchid building.  The pink and blue, turning to purple was just gorgeous.

We came to love wisteria on our mission to Japan

"In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends." Okakura Kakuzo

I love hydrangea

"The job of the united nations is to grow more flowers on the earth."  Amit Ray

The chrysanthemum building:

For the entire three hours we were there, we were snapping pictures. As we left, I wished I could have taken more.  I was so desperate to capture the beauty of that place.

I bought a Holland landyard for my ship medallion to remind me of this beautiful day in the flower garden.

Following are some shots I took out the bus window on the way back to the ship:

A tulip field

Thatched roof home

Thatched roofs, so iconic for The Netherlands, actually do still exist there.  Our tour guide explained that they used to be on poor people's homes and buildings, but now they are on rich people's.  The insurance on them is so high that it makes them very expensive.  But some are willing to pay for the look.

We had some delays getting back to the ship.  We were at a complete stop for a while because of a car accident.

I didn't get a great picture, but here is the overturned car that caused the delay.

Downtown Rotterdam

The swan bridge as we approached

We were again delayed when the draw bridge was raised to allow a ship to pass under.

So close, and yet so far away.

The ship we were waiting for finally gets under the bridge.  It takes awhile to raise and lower the draw bridge.

This colorful container ship passed right under us.

After getting back to the ship, Ken decided to go back out.  We had seen a large park near the river (kind of like New York's central park.)  Ken wanted to walk to it and check out the bird life there.  He took a few pictures:

Pedestrian walkaway across the bridge

Views from the park:

Our ship from directly across the Maas river.

This day was one of the highlights of my life!  I hope we can return to Holland sometime!