Dutch DAY TRIPS - Amsterdam Bruges and Brussels - page 287

Near Haarlem
These side-trips are near the good home-base town of Haarlem.
Among all the day trips, these three require the least brainpower:
two flower experiences (a garden show and a flower auction) and a
beach retreat.
sss Keukenhof
This is the greatest bulb-flower garden on earth, open for only two
months in spring. Each spring, seven million flowers, enjoying the
sandy soil of the Dutch dunes and polderland, conspire to make
even a total garden-hater enjoy them. This 80-acre park is packed
with tour groups daily; for the least crowds and the best light, go
late in the day.
Cost and Hours: €13.50, open March 19-May 21 in 2009,
likely similar dates in 2010, daily 8:00-19:30, last entry at 18:00,
at the northern tip of the town of Lisse, tel. [phone], www
.keukenhof.nl.
Getting There: Take the train to Leiden, then catch bus #54
(Keukenhof Express) straight to the garden (allow 1.25 hrs total
from Amsterdam, 45 min total from Haarlem). Bus #58 connects
Schiphol Airport directly to Keukenhof (20 min). Drivers will find
Lisse well-marked from the A-6 expressway south of Amsterdam.
ss FloraHolland Aalsmeer Flower Auction
(Bloemenveiling)
Get a bird's-eye view of the huge Dutch flower industry in this cav-
ernous building where the world's flower prices are set. You'll wan-
der on elevated walkways (through
what's claimed to be the biggest com-
mercial building on earth) over liter-
ally trainloads of freshly cut flowers.
About half of all the flowers exported
from Holland are auctioned off here,
in four huge auditoriums. The flow-
ers are shipped here overnight (for
maximum freshness), auctioned at
the crack of dawn, and distributed as
quickly as possible. For the best floral variety and auction action,
the earlier, the better (things wilt after 9:30 and on Thu, and the
auction closes down by 11:00).
Standing above all those blooms, take a deep, fragrant breath,
and hold it in. As you wander, keep an eye out for tulip-shaped
“listening posts,” and press the English button for on-the-spot
information. Peering into the auction halls, you'll see that clocks