2015.05.01 North Sea and Enkhuizen (Enkhuizen, Netherlands)

Our lunch pitstop happened to be located right by the seashore so after lunch, we took a break and visited the North Sea.

Hard to believe that we were less than 150 km away from the English coast.

We then traveled to the other side of the peninsula, to Enkhuizen.

Countless ships of the Dutch East India Trading Company once sailed from its habour, making the city extremely wealthy as a result.

Drommedaris
Given its shape, the building's name was derived from the Dutch for the Arabian camel. The tower served as a defensive gate for incoming ships.

Changing geography meant larger ships could no longer enter Enkhuizen and the city gradually declined. Now it relies mainly on tourism. We just walked around, taking in the historical surroundings.

I don't know if you can tell, but the building walls in the photo are slanting outwards to the street. And almost all the houses we passed were the same. It's not because of shoddy construction or shifting foundation. Back in the day, taxes were calculated based on the house's footprint. So to save money, the walls are built outwards as to create more space on the upper floors.

Walking through the village, there was a sense that the houses were all closing in. This town is definitely not suitable for claustrophobes.

It boggles my mind as to how much additional space one can realistically achieve through this technique. I can't imagine more than a plank's width.

Lunch: Strandrestaurant Nederzandt

Dinner: De Jonge Dikker

2015.05.01 Keukenhof (Lisse, Netherlands)

Keukenhof ("Kitchen Garden"), also known as Garden of Europe, is one of the largest gardens in the world. The land used to supply herbs to a local aristocrat, hence its name.

Before even entering the garden, we were greeted with rainbow after rainbow of tulip fields. Our arrival in the Netherlands was near the end of the tulip season, so most of the flowers had already been harvested. The green fields are for bulb harvest later on.

From this point on, it's going to be flowers, flowers, flowers (mostly tulip, because you know, it's the Netherlands). So hold on to your hats, folks, for a tulip explosion of every colour, shape, and form imaginable.

Van Gogh says goedemorgen.

Some of the oldest cultured tulip varieties, dating back to the 1600s (Tulipmania).

 

A mistake? Or a mutation?

We enjoyed some waffles and appeltaart in one of the garden cafes. The dutch apple pie is drier than its american counterpart. The apples are cut into chunks instead of slices, offering a slightly chewier texture, which I prefer.

The Keukenhof garden is vast. Even after two hours, we only saw about one-third of its grounds. Just imagine all the work needed to maintain the flowerbeds. After all, Kenkenhof runs from late-March to mid-May but a tulip blossom only last a couple of weeks at most.

It would definitely be nice to be able to come back in the future, rent a bike and ride through the tulip fields all the way to the sea. 

2015.05.01 FloraHolland (Aalsmeer, Netherlands)

FloraHolland - Aalsmeer Flower Auction 

A flower auction normally wouldn't have made it anywhere near my "To Visit" list, but I am really glad to visited FloraHolland.

Some stats to impress:
- It's the largest flower auction in the world
- Flowers are shipped here from all over the world
- On average, 20 million flowers are sold on a daily basis

When you step into the "warehouse", the first thing you notice is the smell of fresh flowers, and second, the size of the warehouse, which covers 243 acres (184 football fields). 

Visitors walk on an elevated pathway, as to avoid interference with warehouse operations.

And then, endless pallets and trolleys full of flowers. Some of which I can't even identify.

Some trolleys are sorted by an automated track...

...others are picked up by the manually-driven orange electric trolleys. The trolley operators work unbelievably fast. The speed and efficiency at which they work, it was really impressive.

The way the trolleys weave in between each other, like a carefully choreographed dance. One false move and boom.

Only video can do it justice.

Quality Control

The Auction

At first glance, the auction room looks like any university lecture room. Except instead of powerpoint slides, everyone is concentrating on the countdown clock.

FloraHolland uses a Dutch-style auction, where the price goes from high to low and whoever bids first wins. The short transaction time of the Dutch auction suits the flower trade since flowers need to be sold and delivered quickly to ensure freshness.

To be a bidder at FloraHolland, you definitely need a quick trigger finger. The clock finishes counting down within a matter of seconds. Hundreds of transactions can be completed within a matter of minutes.

The Countdown Clock

Who knew that the flower trade can be so interesting?