Tulips from Amsterdam

This morning I woke up super early, packed a day bag, and boarded a train. I was headed toward the Netherlands again to a small town not far from Amsterdam called, "Lisse". Now, I bet you are wondering why I'm back in the Netherlands when I could have gone here earlier. Well, two things: (1) I wanted to find a way to meet up with my friends out here; That was my first priority. I had jumble my schedule around a bit. (2) The place I wanted to visit is not open in the winter.

On the way I stopped in a town called, Antwerpen. On the train I realized that I had no cash on me. I was out! I had a 5-minute transfer in Antwerpen to catch my next train connection in Rotterdam. Well, 5-minutes wasn't enough time to find an ATM and grab my train. Now, the reason I needed money was so I could pay the ticket man on the train. My train ride from Antwerpen to Rotterdam was one you had to reserve in advance. Well, I forgot. So, in Antwerpen I head to the ticket counter and ask how I can get to a town called, "Leiden". He says, "With your EuRail pass you can take the 9am train on platform 9". I say "Great!" So I don't need to reserve a seat now. When I get to the platform I look at the timetable to find out when I'll arrive in Leiden. It's not on there. So, I head back upstairs to the ticket counter and ask. The same guy said, "Oh, that train doesn't go to Leiden directly. You'll need to change in "Den Haag". I'm thinking to myself, "That would be good to know!"

I make it to Leiden okay. In Leiden I book a bus to Lisse. Along the way to Lisse the bus passed though the famous flower fields in the Netherlands. The fields were bright and colorful with millions of tulips. Beautiful! When the bus stopped I got off and approached my destination, "The Keukenhof Gardens".

Upon walking in I was greeted with a pipe organ playing the song, "Tulips from Amsterdam". When I was in Amsterdam this is the song I sung at the Heineken Brewery. What a coincidence! It's odd, sometimes you think the world is playing just for you. Countless times I'll be walking around the corner and I'll spot a massive church. Right when I see it the church bells will start to ring. It's pretty crazy! Well, I walk in and the garden is full of greenery, flowers, and a large fountain. I select a path a walk down it.

I pretty much covered the entire place. There were areas that provided a good view of the flower fields. Several areas had rows upon rows of tulips and other flowers. There was a cool hedge maze that I got to explore and even a Netherland windmill that I could climb. Additionally, there were several of these green houses where they had many varieties of flowers stored. Pretty cool and very colorful!

I strolled around the lake, took pictures, and even got a chance to eat my lunch in one of the beer gardens. There were many people who were there enjoying the nice day and I noticed that everyone was very calm and taking their time to get from one place to another. My time at the gardens was very relaxing!

A Flower Field

The Maze

The Old Mindmill

Clogs

Flowers

Pretty Flower

Showroom

Pretty View

Outside the Showroom

The Lake

When I had my fill of a long day at the gardens I jumped on the bus back to Leiden where I would figure out my train back to Brussels. I went to the ticket office and they printed me out a schedule. I was to go from Leiden to Den Haag and then from Den Haag to Brussels. Each route had their train arrival times and train numbers. You with me? Easy stuff! Or so I thought!

So, I'm on the train to Den Haag, I put my headphones, and take a nap. When I awoke the train is stopped and is completely empty. I look out the window and see a mass amount of people rushing across the platform we were stopped at. I get up and look at the sign of the station and it's not the one I need to get off at. I look into the next train compartment and that one is empty too. I'm thinking, "Did they have to evacuate the train?" I see train employee and she says to me, "This is the train's last stop." I said, "I'm heading to Den Haag" to with she replies, "You'll need to take the train in front of this one". Apparently, I needed to change trains between Leiden and Den Haag. My printout that I had didn't indicate that. So, now I'm rushing to get to another train. I'm thinking to myself, "It sure would have been good to know that I needed to change trains". Let me tell you, the French and Belgium train system are a little outta-whack! It they don’t make much sense. So anyway, I'm on my new train to Den Haag. Well, I'm on my train to Den Haag and would you believe that I missed my stop? I got off at Den Haag Central and NOT Den Haag HS. So, I go to the ticket guy to get a train to Brussels. Well, I just missed the hourly train to Den Haag HS where I could catch a train to Brussels. So, I have to wait an hour for the next one. There is not much to do in the area so I find a place to eat. I grab a sandwich and munch on that. After, walk around I then decided to get some fries. So, I'm eating my fries and I'm thinking, "Am I eating because I'm bored?" (My niece Abby would know that reference). Anyway, I wait. I get on the new train and finally get back to Brussels pretty late at night. I just packed up my things to head out tomorrow.

Great day at the gardens, but a little rough with the traveling to get there and back.

Oh, one funny thing. So apparently there are many Red Light Districts throughout Europe. Jeff said he found out there was on in Offenburg. I’ve seen there here and there in other cities too. Well, I noticed one in Brussels from the window of the train on the way to Lisse. On the way back I was sure to sit on the right side of the train. Well, it was funny because when we were coming into the station many of the Red Light Professionals (or whatever you want to call them) were waving to the passengers on the train as it went by. Ha! I thought that was classic!