When we booked our hotel and flights to Holland, we were surprised at how expensive everything seemed compared to other weekend trips we've been on. Then we realized: it was going to be Easter weekend! The Netherlands are known for many things; Amsterdam specifically for it's seedy red light district, legal prostitution, and pot cafes. But when we thought of the Netherlands, we first thought Holland, windmills, tulips, and wooden shoes. We were not disappointed one bit! But we did stay away from the red light district. After all, if I want to look at boobs, all I have to do is look in the mirror.
To start our vacation right, and to see some quintessential Holland, we spent a day in Zaanse Schans, where there are real working windmills and old Dutch cottages! It was freezing cold out, with icy whipping wind chilling us to the core, but it was worth every second of nearly losing our extremities to frostbite. The sign inside the windmill said, "Enter entirely at your own risk!", at the base of the creaking staircase, but I guess you deserve to lose a finger or two if youre stupid enough to touch the machinery forcefully grinding away. So to the deafening sound of the wooden cranks & gear shaft, we carefully climbed our way to the top to see the view. The WOOSH-WOOSH-WOOSH of the windmill fans was powerful when standing right next to them. There are 8 mills there, and each one has its own name and function. The one we climbed to the top of was called, "De Kat" (The Cat), and was a working dye mill. Other mills made cheese, sawed timber, or refined oil.
We spent Easter Day differently. We woke up early, and had breakfast in Haarlem's sunny town square. The church bells rang every fifteen minutes into the warm blue sky, and we were serenaded table side by two older men: one with a trumpet and the other with an accordion. We then rode the a through Leiden to Keukenhof Gardens, which boasts that it is the "Largest Flower Garden on Earth". It is a lush, sprawling garden, covering nearly 80 acres of land! We spent hours there, looking at every shape and color of bulb flowers you could imagine! We were even able to take a narrated boat ride through the tulip & daffodil growing fields. We saw all sorts of native water fowl, and even a rabbit. It was a perfect way to spend Easter, celebrating new life and the Resurrection of Christ!
There's so much I could write about our trip to Holland, we loved the country so much! The architecture in Amterdam is surprisingly quaint, the narrow gables and roofs like so many gingerbread houses stacked crookedly together in long rows. The canals are used like extra streets, and bonus real estate. Lots of the floating houses roped to the stone bridges looked bigger and classier than our own apartment. Its an artistically leaning city, with pop-up art galleries, and really beautiful graffiti. I think the only other place Ive seen so many bikes and bicycle riders was in China. Public transport was a breeze, the pancakes were delicious, theres history down every canal. It was a great Easter weekend!
