From Warmond to Leiden...

It was strange when we entered the restaurant, found it entirely empty—and it remained empty—and was told we couldn’t sit on the waterfront side of the room because of Kati. I offered to sit separately so everyone else could enjoy the view, but they thought that was silly.

When we got to this spot, I recognized it as where we held a FILTH H3 circle in the dark after one of Celine and Richard’s hashes.

Several of the ladies caught a bus from Warmond back to the station, while the rest of us decided to continue walking to Leiden. Along the way we saw Oud Poelgeest, a castle in Oestgeest built in 1668 which is now used as a conference center.

Our path also crossed another park we’ve hashed through several times: Leidse Hout.

I took this photo when I got home to show that the leaves had finally returned to the giant tree in our front garden, but we were surprised that they grew in red rather than the usual green.

Walkie Talkies in Warmond...

Once again I joined the AWC Walkie Talkies group for one of their walks further afield. This time we took the train to Sassenheim, where we caught our only glimpse of the tulip fields on the way to Warmond.

Terri and I wore our boots and backpacks as we treated this as another training walk.

I brought Kati along, who did a great job impressing the ladies with her good behavior.

Along the way she roamed through a gnome village in the park...

...complete with this technologically-advanced gnome. 

More Fire on the Beach...

While sitting next to this fire pit, we enjoyed drinking a bottle of wine and listening to the nearby DJ.

There was a very peaceful and chilled vibe.

 This is definitely a festival that we hope to attend again.

Bonfire Festival...

After a busy day full of flowers, we dropped off our bikes and headed to Scheveningen Beach to attend the Bonfire Festival, which Ashlynn had highly recommended after happening upon it the night before.

It was a free event with a variety of different metal structures filled with pots of fire. It was awesome! 

Honestly, I’m not usually a big fan of fire, but these structures were very beautiful.

 

More Flower Parade...

 These few floats were more easily identifiable as Dutch Culture.

Here’s a window reflection selfie as we were leaving the parade.

Flower Parade...

After the hash circle and a great BBQ at Richard and Celine’s house, a bunch of us walked to the city center of Hillegom for the Flower Parade. This year’s theme was Culture.

Other Sightings on Trail...

I made several unexpected stops to take photos when I spotted: some cows eating next to purple flowers...

 ...a hot air balloon made out of flowers...

 ...a Snoopy sign...

 ...a gnome flipping a bird...

 ...a newborn kid...

...and an amazing peacock tail. 

Jimmy was very excited when he spotted a wooden raft attached to ropes to allow pedestrians to cross the canal. 

He thought it was particularly funny to make his passengers think he was returning without them. 

Lots of Bulb Fields...

The fields were extra colorful this year since the hyacinths, daffodils and tulips were all in bloom at once rather than sequentially as is the norm.   

As always, I took a lot of photos. These are my favorites. 

Covering Lots of Ground...

The hares did a great job making the route varied with lots of bulb fields as well as long stretches to get in some distance...

 ...and even a bit of off-road through some woods.

Richard took this selfie while we are stopped at one of the many bulb stops.

We took a group shot at another bulb field with our AH3 banner...

...and here’s Abbie taking a snooze on the banner at the beer stop.