It's Spring in Holland and I'm sure you know what that means. Tulips! I mean, it was pretty much stated in the fine print of our residence applications that we are required to visit tulip country this time of year. It was in Dutch so I can't exactly verify that statement, however.

So, to make sure we were in compliance, we took a bus on Sunday about 25-30 miles southwest of Amsterdam to a lovely park they call Keukenhof. I forgot to charge my phone (ie. camera), so unfortunately I will have to just use some images off the web for you. They will be better anyway.

Here are your interesting facts about the place that I did not make up.

Keukenhof (or "Kitchen garden"), also known as the Garden of Europe, is situated near Lisse, Netherlands, and is the world's largest flower garden. Approximately seven million flower bulbs (4.5 million tulips in 100 varieties) total are planted annually in the park, which covers an area of 32 hectares.

Once you look past the 14.50 euro ($20.76) per person entry fee, how insanely crowded it was and the overall Disney theme park vibe of the place...it was really quite nice!

We came rather late in the season, however, and you could tell many of the flowers were on their last legs or had been harvested all together. In other words, the pictures you are seeing here that I borrowed from the web are WAY cooler than anything I would have taken. Especially since they don't feature a bunch of tourists wearing fanny packs and socks with their sandals!

All in all, I'm glad we were able to fulfill our residence obligation. Next!