"Tulips as far as the eye can see" This is one description of the Tulip trail, a 40 km drive through the heart of Tulip country. This drive was described in a National Geographic article, Drives of a Lifetime. I don't know how may drives there are, but we have made one of them. For those of you who want to smell the roses (or in this case tulips) I suggest you hop on an airplane, during April or May, and travel to western Holland. You will not be disappointed. Enough about tulips
Today we decided to visit Amsterdam. A visit to Amsterdam isn't complete without enjoying the canals. They are a symbol of Amsterdam and the 17th century canal ring has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. It has been said that this is the "Venice of the North": the canals of Amsterdam. While the canals are very important to Amsterdam, somehow they do not remind me of Venice.
We rode the train, saw more tulip fields, road the bus, walked through the red light district, had a delightful lunch, and are back at the hotel doing mundane chores such as using the laundromat. Tonight we will have dinner at a nice restaurant in Leiden. Did I mention that Leiden was the birthplace of Rembrandt?
Tomorrow we will leave the Netherlands for Belgium. We will stop in Ghent and view the "Ghent Altar Piece". This was one of the most famous pieces of art that was stolen by the Nazis in WWII.
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| Rembrandt Birthplace Marker |
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| Rembrandt |
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| Leiden Windmill |
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| Pat, Larry, Linda, our rental car |
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| Bicycle, transportation of choice |
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| destination |
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| cruising the canals |
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| the canals |
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| street level canal view |
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| Larry & Jerry using atm (Ricky this is where you get money..not the post office) |
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| view from train of the bulb fields |
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16th century gate to city
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