Had to trek up through suburban Holland towards Amsterdam but we did find the tulip fields in the end.
Some very pretty houses along the way, all with their own bridge over either a ditch or a canal to reach their property. We cannot get over how every road has water running alongside it – sometimes higher up than the road itself. It’s some feat of engineering to keep the houses dry and provide complicated roads and cycle lanes at the same time. Motorist need eyes in the back of their heads too – Cyclists definitely have right of way here.
We found ourselves outside the Keukenhof Gardens by mid morning. There were thousands of cars and coaches plus queues a mile long. Several colourful tulip fields could be seen all around it anyway, so we just parked in a lay-by and went to take some pictures…that is, until one of the stall holders came running after us to say we couldn’t park there unless we were buying bulbs. We couldn’t buy bulbs as they wouldn’t last until we get back in June!
Got on the motorway past Amsterdam and then turned south towards Utrecht, stopping for lunch on a kind of island in a huge grey lake with waves as big as a rough sea! On then into Germany, battling the traffic through the industrial heartland until we got just south of Cologne.
Parked up at yet another sports centre next to some woodland and went for a walk. It’s a positively balmy 14 degrees down here compared to the 7 in Holland with a wind chill factor of freezing.🥶
