Tiptoe Thru Tulips

25th April, 2012 (Tony)

A few "bucket list" items have received the big tick in the last couple of weeks. After a very enjoyable, if somewhat cool, week in Haarlem we cruised down to Lisse in the heart of the tulip growing region. We spent five days there, venturing out on our bikes to take in the spectacular colours of tulips, daffodils and scented hyacinths blooming in their millions in the fields. What a sight. Every kilometre brought on a fresh photo opportunity; another blend of hues in every shade imaginable. Tick...

And then there was Keukenhof — probably the most visited spring garden in the world. Sally thought if we got there before 10am we would be ahead of the crowds but there must have been two hundred buses neatly parked inside the entrance by the time we arrived (four hundred when we left). We need not have worried about the crowd because thirty thousand people spread over seventy-nine acres, ambling their way along the wide pathways didn't seem too many at all. The mass of people just made one appreciate how blooming marvellous the place is. Seven million bulbs, all hand-planted each year in stunning artistic arrays, are donated by nearly ninety growers or syndicates. The gardens which were one part of a royal palace unfold beneath magnificent old trees and are open to public view from 22 March until 20 May so designers have to be mindful of each variety's peak blossom period in order to maintain continuity of colourful display. A number of pavilions scattered throughout the grounds feature other wonderful displays: orchids and anturynims; gerberas; hydrangeas and begonias and other springtime blooms. The whole park is a credit to the gardeners' skill at enhancing nature's artistry. Tick...

We arose early one crisp morning and cranked up Sable to move along the Ringvaart 5 km thus reducing the bike ride into Alsmeer to a reasonable 10 km exercise so that we could visit Bloemenveiling in operation. This is the biggest market in the world in terms of volume of trade. It deals only in flowers — mostly cut flowers but also some pot plants. Most of the flowers are grown in Holland, under glass; but many are also brought in each day from all around the world. About eighty percent of the worlds flowers are sold daily by FloraHolland at this place, or its five other locations. Finding the visitor's entrance was the biggest challenge — the entire enterprise covers the area of 250 football fields! A suspended walkway over the main floor filled with thousands of trolleys (about 1m x 1.2m) full of buckets of flowers of every type imaginable and linked together into miniature trains leads, eventually, to four auction rooms. It seemed to take half as long as our 10 km bike ride to reach the end of the walkway. The operation of this place almost defies comprehension so forgive me for recording this chronicle for the sake of my own memory and future recall. In each auction room (there are twelve others) about two hundred buyers arranged in approximately ten tiers sit behind computers bidding for their fancied lots. Selling commences at 6am and is generally over by 11am. Trains of trolleys move in one door and out another passing by at the rate of one every fifteen seconds. Meanwhile two huge screens each display the contents of the respective trolley below, along with all the essential data: grower's name; flower botanical name; colour; number of stems per bucket; number of buckets per trolley etc. A digital dot swings around the circumference of a huge clock at a frantic pace, counting down the price per stem, until a buyer hits his button. We saw hydrangeas going for up to 2.60€ per stem; and calla lilies fetching 0.26€. Each bid secures a minimum (say 4) buckets though the first bidder has the option to buy the lot. The clock keeps swinging back and forth until the whole trolley lot is sold. A trolley under each clock is sold every fifteen seconds; on average about 116,000 transactions are made each day. After exiting the auction room the trolleys are trundled off to a distribution area where a staff member (one of 4,600) checks the barcode of each bucket and transfers the buckets of flowers to buyer's individual trolleys. When a buyer's train is made up it is led away by a little dodgem-car to the export bay to be loaded into a lorry to take it to nearby Schiphol airport, or direct to the buyer's European destination. Talk about efficiency. How did they do all this before computers? By midday the place is virtually empty, ready for the next days flowers to start arriving from about 4pm. Definitely one of the most compelling spectacles we have ever seen; and not to be missed. Tick...

We continued our cruise to Leiden, another old and interesting city situated on one of the original fingers of the Rhine delta. The city centre is laced with a myriad of little canals with few bridges, making it easy to get lost. Leiden university grounds contain Hortus Botanicus the medicinal nursery garden where Head Botanist, Carolus Clusius brought the first Dutch tulip to flower in 1594. The rest, as they say, is history. Myra and her sister-in-law, Wendy, arrived to spend several days with us whilst we were in Leiden. Unfortunately the weather remained too cold to contemplate a bike ride to the tulip fields but they took a bus to Keukenhof and explored Leiden on foot. They departed for Turkey on a miserable morning but soon after the weather cheered up considerably so we set off on our bikes to explore Katwijk another seaside town that in summer is no doubt crammed with sunbathers. We've decided we're not into North Sea beaches. North Burleigh in a cyclone would be more attractive. On our ride we witnessed at very close quarters a prang between a cyclist and a car at a crossing. Fortunately the teenager was unhurt and continued texting on her smartphone even as bystanders helped her to her feet, despite my protestations that she should be left reposing on the ground at least until she had finished composing her message. It is amazing that there are not thousands of similar collisions every day. Without exception, cyclists are always blameless. It was the sound (loudness) of metal striking metal that lingers in our minds. Lucky girl...

We caught a bus back to Lisse to see the Bloemencorso, a parade of more than forty floats decorated with millions of real flowers, marching bands and assorted vehicles bearing enormous bouquets of fresh flowers. This is an annual parade held on the last Saturday of April to celebrate the spring blossom. The amount of work that had gone into making the floats was impressive and there were thousands of spectators lining the route to admire and applaud those taking part. Traffic jams after the event meant buses were severely delayed. We waited in vain for two hours, finally flagging down a taxi in desperation to get back to Sable before dark. Tick...

Contrary to the lock keeper's assurance that we would find a berth easily, we entered the port at Den Haag to discover it isn't geared for boats over about 15m. However the obliging harbour master assisted us to delicately reverse Sable into a pen meant for a boat half her size. From nowhere half a dozen boatees arrived, ostensibly to help, but more likely to mind the welfare of other boats. Next day we jumped on our bikes to reconnoiter the capital city of the Netherlands. Apart from a number of stunning architectural edifices, it is just another large metropolis. We enjoyed a tasty Indonesian lunch at a low-key restaurant then visited Prince William V gallery to view Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" where it is temporarily on show prior to leaving for two years to Japan and USA. Tick... We also enjoyed a long bike ride through a vast forest, past the official Royal Palace and numerous foreign embassies— magnificent residences screened behind tall trees and gorgeous gardens. It reminded us of France. Next stop: Delft.