The tulips are in full bloom in Holland! For my “hike” this weekend, Pam and I joined our friend Jen for a weekend in Amsterdam. (It’s only four hours from London via train!) Jen kindly arranged a bike rental in Lisse, a small village south of Amsterdam surrounded by vast fields of tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths – all in full bloom – where the air was sweet with the scent from hundreds of thousands of flowers. We spent a lovely few hours riding the bike paths – the Netherlands are heaven for bikers, because nearly every street and road has an adjacent bike path, with dedicated signage.
On this cloudy Saturday morning there were only a few others out biking – a mix of tourists on e-bikes like ourselves, locals doing errands on their city bikes, and lycra-clad cyclists whizzing by with long-distance routes in mind. Our route took us from Lisse westward through Noordwijk, and along the dunes beside the English Channel, across a landscape quilted by flower fields inter-cut by small irrigation canals. With every bend in the trail, we were astonished by an ever-more beautiful scene, and ever-more unusual kaleidoscope of color. Wow! I tried to capture the majesty of this landscape in a photo gallery.
Meanwhile, we had two nights to explore Amsterdam. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Occo, a few hours in the famous Rijksmuseum, a boat tour around the canals, and a quick stroll through the red-light district. Throughout, the central/historic district was packed with locals and tourists enjoying the spring weather. I enjoyed the opportunity to soak up the scene, and posted a small Amsterdam photo gallery.
Although Saturday’s outing was a bike ride, not a hike, I’m counting it as my 29th consecutive weekend hike. 😉
Hike stats:
Distance: 21.34 miles (34.34 km)
Time: 5h11m (including lunch and many stops to explore)
Gain: 52 feet (hah! very flat)
GaiaGPS Track
David Kotz 