Back to the Bulb Fields...

On May 1, there were still only hyacinths with no tulips in the bulb fields in Wassenaar.

When I went back with Terri on May 12, there was a full explosion of color.

Incredibly, we had visited these same fields together last year on April 17 when they were nearing the end.

We then drove towards Lisse in search of some more fields and came across this beauty.

 

Tulip Fields...

If we ignore for a moment that we were trying to survive a global pandemic, we had an incredible spring. Mother Nature seemed to have taken pity on the Netherlands as our weather was the best in the 14.5 years we’ve lived here, so we were all happy to get outside as much as possible. We didn’t have enough bikes for everyone in The White House Commune, but we could still go out in couples. Ashlynn enjoyed showing Bjarne around The Hague. Veronica and Brett cycled to Lisse to check out the bulb fields on March 31. They were too early for the tulips, but enjoyed the aromatic hyacinths. 

On April 10, Veronica and I rode to Wassenaar to our closest fields, which had tulips...

…and daffodils.

It felt great to be back on my bike. It was my first time out of our village in 3.5 weeks. Whoever would have thought that a 20-minute cycle ride could be such a big adventure!

As you can see, the fields were colorful, but not fully in bloom yet. 

Veronica was very excited to get her drone out.

She clearly really gets into being one of the Women Who Drone. Here is the finished video...

…and here are a few shots of us from the drone. 

I returned one week later to find a big difference in the fields. Although these two shots weren’t taken from the exact same angle, the difference between the above and below shots is pretty drastic.

I was excited to meet up with Terri, who I hadn’t seen in two months, for a socially distanced chat. Surprisingly, she had never visited any of the bulb fields in the more than 20 years that she’d been living in Holland, so I was happy to show her the closest tulips.

Veronica was happy to bring Brett there a few days later so he could see what all the fuss was about. 

The weather wasn’t as great at the end of the month when I took Ashlynn back for a final visit; she hadn’t been to the bulb fields since she was little. The field shown in all of the above photos was near its end, but this field across the street was in full bloom. 

 

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.