Tulip Time

Ah, spring in Amsterdam. What an amazing, glorious time. Once we get passed daylight savings and enter, what I like to call, endless daylight season, it seems like the city comes to life buzzing with new energy after the cold, dark and wet winter. Why endless daylight season? Because the sun now rises around 6am and doesn’t set until after 9. Something even in the middle of summer that you don’t get in NY.

As a local, you can tell that it’s tulip season by the throngs of tourists who descended upon the city. And if you’re a HEINEKEN employee, you need to look no further to find the crowd than right outside the office windows as the queue for the Heineken Experience is now snaked around the corner.

But I don’t even mind the crowds. They are part of the reason the city comes back to life.

For a country known for tulips, I still can’t get over how short the season is. Depending on the year, it typically ranges from late March to mid-May. 6-8 weeks of tulips, and then poof! They are gone!

While the city steps up its horticulture game this time of year and places beautiful arrangements everywhere, and landmarks like the Rijksmuseum show-off their perfectly curated tulip gardens, one of the most amazing things to do is head outside of the city to the actual fields.

The bulk of the Dutch tulip fields lie in South Holland. No, not south of the country. Fun fact: people mistake the Netherlands for Holland, but the two are not synonymous. Holland only applies to two out of 7 provinces - North Holland (where Amsterdam is located) and south holland (where other major cities like The Hague and Rotterdam are located). Anyway, in the heart  of South Holland, between the ocean and Leiden, lies the most wonderful spread of lush fields.

You can take your bike and ride the paths along the fields which makes for one of the most scenic biking experiences you can possibly have. Or, you can simply take the train to some of the towns (like Hillegom) and get dropped off literally in the middle of the fields.

For the second year in a row, I went with the latter. One evening I went out with two friends to Hillegom in search for the most instagramable photo. Just kidding. Although I did get one!

The truth is though, the farmers are having a lot of trouble with people walking into the fields and accidentally trampling the flowers, causing millions of euros of damage. There’s talk of putting fences around the fields to prevent people from getting in. Both are sad. Many farmers invite people in for tours and pictures, but they specifically say how to walk and act in the field to preserve the bulbs. But there are so many careless people - locals and tourists alike - who just want to get their picture and don’t care about the damage being done.

Also in this area you can find the Keukenhof Garden, or what I like to call Disney World for flowers. This huge garden includes some 700 million tulip bulbs and is only open 8 weeks a year.

It’s best reached by taking a bus from the airport directly to the garden if you don’t have a car. You can also take a tour bus from Amsterdam.

This year was my fourth time at the garden, and if you can brave a crowd, I highly recommend it. You can spend hours checking out each section of the garden, which includes several green houses as well. Pro tip: pack a picnic and eat lunch surrounded by the most beautiful assortment of flowers you have seen.

It’s the most touristy thing I’ll ever recommend, but I also think if you do it, you won’t be disappointed!

Spring also means boat riding season is back! If you’ve been following along on my journey, by now you’ll know that I jump on any chance I get to cruise the canals.

This year, however, I have significantly upped my game. I decided I wanted to try driving the boat - and I’ve now done it, three times!

As to be expected, the  first time came with some fun stories. Like getting stuck in the cross-fire of two tourist boats and slamming into the outdoor patio of the Hard Rock Cafe.  I was screaming, my friends were screaming, the people on the patio were screaming. The one person not screaming? A super cute waiter who came to our rescue and calmly helped us get situated again before sending us on our way. Clearly this wasn’t his first rodeo, but he could sure tell it was mine!

Once we got back into the swing of things, the rest of the journey was, well, smooth sailing. That is until we cruised by this small canal-side bar where one of my friends noticed her husband was having a drink. Feeling like a confident pro, I made u-turn and tried my hand at parallel parking...a boat.

Side note: the last time I successfully parallel parked something was during my road test when I was 17. I *luckily* took the test right after a snowstorm and the streets were covered with banks of snow, so you couldn’t actually tell where the curb was. This, my friends, turned out to work very well in my favor.

Anyway, so I go to try to park this boat after successfully making a u-y. It’s amazing how far confidence can get you, but confidence alone is nothing without a little skill. And so, bam. We crashed right into the dock. This time with a much bigger impact that took us all by surprise. Sorry guys!

I can proudly report that my second time behind the wheel was much more successful - and I’m actually looking forward to a 4th, 5th, etc. and a wonderful summer on these beautiful, historic canals!