Tulip Trip to the Netherlands: Amsterdam & Haarlem (May 01, 2017)

Day 3 - Monday, May 1, 2017

Due to a rainy forecast, almost everything being closed on Mondays, and a desire to buy tulip bulbs, we headed to Amsterdam Central.

We wandered to the Waterlooplein flea market but most stalls weren't open (we imagine due to rain). Shelby did manage to find a gift for her sister however.
We followed the flea market with a trip to Kitten Kabinet, a quirky little cat museum. They had the most random cat displays and art, and a few cats including an adorable one fascinated with a feather.
Then it was time for Bloemenmarkt to find tulips. The Bloemenmarkt is the only floating flower market in the world. It's AMAZING how inexpensive flowers are in the Netherlands. Gorgeous bouquets that would cost us $50+ were only €10!
Alas, sadly there were no tulips we could take home as you need a valid certificate for USA or Canada. You couldn’t even buy the bulbs in a can for USA/Canada consumption.
But we did visit a shop that sells only rubber duckies, and we went to The Happy Pig Pancake Shop for lunch based on a recommendation by Ellen Patton. Shelby got the bacon syrup. Kristy got banana and powdered sugar. And Shelby discovered a new favorite soda, Fritz Kola, here.
Afterward, we went to an artisan and preservative free amazing chocolate shop called Puccini Bomboni. The smells in this place! Shelby got a raspberry, caramel, and pecan. Kristy got hazelnut, caramel, and walnut. Might be the best chocolate I've ever eaten.
After the chocolate shop, it was a visit to the tulip museum and cheese museum. The tulip museum had beautiful ornaments.
It was again confirmed to us that tulip bulbs would come available in June, and we'd gotten thru our Amsterdam list, so we hopped on a train to Haarlem.

It had been a coldish and wet day, so when I found a soup restaurant with amazing reviews on Yelp for dinner, I jumped at it. Shelby got a big bowl of the Greek lemon, chicken, and spinach soup with bread while Kristy got a sampler of two small soups, the same Greek one Shelby had and a pumpkin veggie. The bread was hearty and the soup was delish. I highly wish I could recreate the Greek soup.

After a yummy dinner, the skies were clear and temperatures were lovely for a wandering stroll around Haarlem.
Haarlem is so green with so many trees along the canals. It seemed like every tree had a different variety as its neighbor. The town feels lived in but loved. Super clean. We didn't have nearly enough time to explore before heading back for the evening.

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Tulip Trip to the Netherlands: Keukenhof & Delft (April 30, 2017)

Day 2 - Sunday, April 30th, 2017

Knowing our intent for the entire trip was to see the tulips in their splendor, we were paying close attention to the weather forecast. Although we would have preferred not to go to the fields on a weekend, the weather looked best for this day so we headed to Keukenhof. I had done lots of research that had talked about where to buy a combi pass for transportation and entry into Keukenhof...sadly one location was closed on Sunday and the other was in the bookstore on the inside of the train station where you needed a ticket to enter. We should have purchased online, as we spent way too long wandering around. Finally we just went to where the buses for Keukenhof depart, and they were selling the combi pass there!

Keukenhof was magnificent. It is definitely more than just a master planned garden. It is a work of art. There are so many colors. I loved the dark dark almost black ones best. Their sheen made them appear wet.

Some tulips opened wide, some remained tightly shut, others had ragged edges. The variations were astounding. We could buy collections of tulip bulbs for a later shipment, but sadly could buy no bulbs…not the right season.
Shelby did buy a lily tree bulb. To bring back any bulbs to the USA, you need a certificate created within the last several weeks.

Shelby had a Dutch wurst (sausage) for lunch in Keukenhof. I had a sandwich I made from the grocery store. We ate around a Calliope playing Grease and Barbara Ann instrumentals while people watching. We both later had stroopwafels. It got warm and crazy crowded around one, so we opted to head back.
(There are a few places to catch the bus depending on which place you are returning to. All are clearly labeled, yet, for some reason, the Keukenhof bus had to keep telling people we were going to Leiden and not the airport.)

Before leaving, we asked someone at the exit if they'd go to Haarlem or Delft with the rest of the day. They said Delft was like Leiden but older, so they'd pick Haarlem for the nightlife and shopping. Due to this rec, we chose to go to Delft on the train after arriving back to Leiden. Their description of Haarlem, we'd find, was fairly inaccurate.

We loved Delft...from the cute streets and adorable buildings to the antique shops with tiles from the 1600s and homemade ice skates. Shelby bought a tile from 1740 once used in a building in Delft.

We loved the tile/Delft blue pottery/china shops, seeing the Girl in the Pearl Earring references, and hanging in the great town square.

We spent a lot of time trying samples in a cheese shop with a delightful young lady working inside. She introduced us to her favorite 2 year old sheep cheese with a date balsamic cheese dip which Shelby wound up buying. Apparently it is traditional to use dip or mustard on your cheese in Holland.
She also recommended some smoke goat cheese that Shelby and I both bought.

Then a funny store sign caught our eye, and we went inside the Two to Three tea shop/bakery for an incredible red velvet with cookies 'n cream cupcake with salted caramel icing and a chocolate cheesecake cupcake that we split. The shopkeeper was delightfully nice here too.

We had pancakes for dinner. Kristy had feta, leek, walnut, and honey (didn't like the leeks) and Shelby got ham, kass en ei (ham, cheese, and egg).

We wandered around a bit more before heading back to Leiden and working on the following day's plans.


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Tulip Trip to the Netherlands: Leiden (April 28, 2017)

Back in November of 2016, I was notified that I'd earned my way to the Beachbody Success Club Trip in Punta Cana.  It was largely paid for.  I was elated.  Shelby was going to join me.  Sadly, when we went to book, only the most expensive rooms were left, and we couldn't justify the increase in price.  We promised each other we'd figure out another trip.  So when Shelby told Kristy that there was a flight sale to the Netherlands, we both proclaimed we'd love to see the tulips, and plans were born.

Day 0 - Friday, April 28, 2017
DFW to ATL to AMS
While I absolutely love having the Priority Pass that gives you lounge access, the DFW lounge has to be one of the weakest we’ve been to. Regardless, free beverages even if the staff is slow to restock and a touch rude.

When we found out the flight to Atlanta was going to be delayed, I went to ask the desk if there was anything we could do to help expedite ourselves or the chances the next plane would be held. We only had a 40 minute connection, and I was nervous. Turns out I was speaking to the pilot. He was incredibly kind. He told us about the layout of Atlanta's airport and told us he'd speed. He really did put the pedal to the metal. We wound up somehow landing on time and getting to our gate during the boarding process. He even mentioned me on the intercom!

Doggie rest area in ATL

Day 1 - Saturday, April 29, 2017
We arrived in Schipol around 1pm.

AMS is a really nice airport.

We found the train station (so easy), and, while it wouldn’t take our credit cards (heads up…Visa is not well accepted in the Netherlands) and we had to use my Schwab debit card, we did luck out and each got a free sample of First Choice cola (original American taste) from the company who had a booth in the train station.

Shelby samples First Choice cola with Original American taste

We’d already received train information from our AirBnB host in Leiden, and we took the train to Leiden Central where Dennis, our nice AirBnB host, was waiting to take us to the apartment.

Our AirBnB was large and had character.

We loved the dishes in our AirBnB.

I thought these tulips were fake at first.  So pretty.

After getting our bearings, we spent the rest of the day exploring the markets in Leiden.

We enjoyed eating hot stroopwafels, buying fruit, bread, and apple pie, and seeing a little of Leiden and the awesome poetry they have in the sides of buildings throughout​ the city.

The flowers are so inexpensive

Dinner was chicken from the market for Shelby and grocery store chicken from quick shopping at Dirk's grocery for Kristy.

We called it an early night. 12 hours of sleep later, we were ready to go.

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