Today was all about the Keukenhof Flower Park and Sue’s birthday. Our barge set off at 6am, before we had breakfast, because the barge needed to be past a certain bridge before construction started at 7am. That gave the barge captain the opportunity to allow us into the bridge to see how he navigates. It was a unique experience. While I was in the bridge, I got to see the drawbridge open and lower. Then it was on to breakfast where Sue was surprised with a mousse “cake.” We all sang Happy Birthday in English and then the crew sang to her in Dutch! The captain brought out the cake and it was a special day indeed for Sue.
In addition to viewing the bridge, the short trip on the barge also moved us up a bit for the first part of the days ride. Wouter guided the group to where our GPS would align with the day’s route. When we started the temperature was 48 degrees with a feels like of 40 due to the 25 mph winds with gusts of 42. Oh yes, it was raining again. We made a relatively quick stop about five miles in for a restroom stop if needed, because the next opportunity was not until we reached the flower park. We rode past many tulip fields, but with the rain, I didn’t stop for many photos. One that I wish I had stopped for would have been to show how the petals had all been blown off the tulips in certain fields. I thought they were tulips that had not opened yet, but I then saw all the petals were in rows on the ground.
When we arrived at Keukenhof Gardens it was 49 (feels like 43) with winds at 22 mph and gusts of 38mph. It made walking through the gardens a very cold walk indeed. I had on a winter jersey, my cold weather jacket, and windbreaker vest and my raincoat and I was still cold. It did stop raining for a short while. We did walk through a large swath of the 80-acre park. It has more than 7 million tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and other flowers. The orchid house was a treat for me since I love to grow orchids and a treat for all of us because it was indoors.
We stayed a few hours and then six of us headed on our bikes back to the barge. Others opted to shuttle back because it was raining again. About 2 miles from the end of the ride we were supposed to take a short ferry ride. We were told to wave to get the attention of the ferry operator on the other side. Well, after five minutes of waving I called Lia, our tour guide. She called me back to say the ferry wasn’t running due to the winds. Plan B. Start riding and have my Garmin reroute us. Between Fred and my Garmin, we made it back to the barge. It was now 48 degrees, feeling like 42 with winds of only 17 mph and the gusts died down to just 28 mph. For the day, I cycled 23 miles.
For dinner, we took a boat ride through one of the many canals in Leiden and we were dropped off right at the restaurant. It was a beautiful boat ride; the walk back to the barge was just as spectacular. All of the canals add such a charming and unique aspect to the area.
Inside the Keukenhof Flower Park.
The birthday girl at 85 years young!
The captain surprising Sue with a slice of mousse cake,
The captain in the bridge. It was a cool experience to be in the bridge as he communicated with his crewman in the front of the barge, and used his navigation.
The drawbridge opening for the barge. View from the front of the ship. Notice the solar panels on the front of the barge.
The drawbridge closing as seen from the rear of the barge.
Maggie and Nate riding ahead of me.
Even though the weather was not all that good, I stopped to take a photo of these fields of hyacinths. The aroma was amazing.
Local flower “art” along the way.
Inside the Keukenhof Flower garden. There were hundreds of flower beds to choose to photograph: I only included a few.
Inside the Keukenhof Flower Park.
Inside the Keukenhof Flower Park.
Inside the Keukenhof Flower Park.
Maggie snapped this photo for me.
Orchids inside the garden. It was hard to pick just two pictures,
Orchids inside the garden.
Sue took this photo for me.
Fred, Ellen and Sherri riding on one of the trails.
This windmill was in the perfect place for me to get this photo of Fred, Sherri and Ellen.
You can see Fred trying to signal the ferry operator to come to our side and move us. Little did we know there were no ferry trips this day.
When the ferry was a bust, my Garmin rerouted us, and we ended up having to come down this staircase. Ellen told me hold the back brake as I navigate the bike down what I will call a “bike gutter.”
Along the boat ride in Leiden as we made our way to dinner.
Along the boat ride in Leiden as we made our way to dinner.
One of three tables at the restaurant for our dinner.
This photo reminded me of Janet & Rod - this one is for you. It was along the walk from the restaurant back to the barge.
In Leiden along the walk from the restaurant back to the barge.
The end of another long day.
