See the World: Our Dutch Tulip Trip

After I don’t know how many years of getting bypassed on the trip wish list, The Dutch Tulip Trip actually happened! For years, H, D and I talked about repeating our Oktoberfest2010 biking Bavaria through the tulip fields of Holland, but boyfriends and jobs, and hiking and pool trips and beach trips and ski trips all managed to get in the way. Finally, the stars aligned for two of our three, and H and I headed for the hills, helmets in tow, and set out to bike through the blooms. And it was everything I wanted it to be, all in glorious technicolor. 

Here, let me know show you!

(Sorrynotsorry that this may seem like a photo dump; but how could I possibly choose??)

We biked for four days, and every day offered its own view.  We started through the tulip fields on day 1.

Fields and fields and rows and rows of color as far as the eye could see.

We made a few friends, and weren’t too concerned about the dangers ahead.

Of course we had to stop and smell the roses…

And maybe even play around a bit.

Careful!  Don’t crush the flowers!

No flowers were harmed during the commission of this photo.

Every scene was ideal for any sort of photo shoot. Both of us attempting, it seemed, to recreate our high school senior pictures from…many years ago.

The gold ended up my favorite.  Which is yours?

The weather was interesting, akin to rainy days in Florida, with a strong breeze blowing weather through in ten minute intervals.  Rain for ten, sun for twenty and so on. Needless to say, we were constantly stopping to dress and undress! 

But with views like this, we sure didn’t mind!

This trip wasn’t all about the tulips.  We also stopped to enjoy the whipping wind and view of the (North) sea, 

and took the time to learn about the windmills (did you know they were used to pump water when they were originally built? Did you know that this area is actually under sea level?)

Or walk amongst the sand dunes.

Our route also led us through some seaside towns,

each as adorable as the next.

And, doing like we do, we just had to stop for a few silly photos,

which of course necessitated a snack or two!

Got cheese?

Clearly, my love of dairy was being fed. And fed well.

And finally, we just had to stop and do some shoe shopping!

We biked a total of about 115 miles over four days. Not enough to kill ourselves, but enough to fill the hours.  Of course all that biking works up an appetite.

Soup was the order at almost every other meal, accompanied by a salad or sandwich.

Lots of tomato soup.  No complaints here!

And goat cheese salads. All with loads of bread. My heaven.

But the best had to be the apple-bacon pancake from De Witte Swaen, aka, The White Swan, located in the storied town Broek in Waterland of Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates.

You better believe a recipe recreation for that is coming at you next week!  You know I take care of you.

Our trip ended in Edam, with smiles from both of us, and with evidence of a little bit of magic afoot.

Off to Delft to celebrate the King’s birthday!

(In case this was on your bucket list, too, we did the Dutch Highlights tour through TripSite)