What an adventure! We are back from our 10-day adventure in Holland and we have so many fun things to share with you! Our first-ever Flower Family Field Trip was spectacular and so fun. It was a joy meeting everyone and exploring the tulip fields with our new friends. From Amsterdam to the tulip fields of Schagen, we took in as much of the beautiful country as we could in a short trip. Our favorite things were the bitterballen snacks, tulip fields, and the kind people!
We took in the sights and sounds of Keukenhof Gardens over the course of 2 days. While we were there getting inspiration, we ordered some genuine tulip bulbs for ourselves! You can preorder your own Holland flower bulbs for delivery in October below! We are not associated with Kuekenhof Gardens and don't get anything for sharing this info. We just think it's fun!
What we ordered:
Here is a list of what we bought:
- Albert's Bulb Collection
- Daffodil Tete a Tete
- Tulipa Slawa (Kate's Favorite)
- Tulipa Spryng Break
- Muscari Armeniacum
- Tulipa Super Parrot
- Tulipa Double Mix
Use code qfb242 for a free gift!
Where to order:
We ordered in their bulb huts right in the Keukenhof Gardens but you can order these at QFBGardening.com or click the links to what we picked above! What a treat!
Speaking of treats...
Jennifer's preferred apple pie recipe
We are already thinking about the next place to visit. Some ideas are Biltmore in North Carolina, Victoria Island and Vancouver, or Hawaii! Where would you like to go?
The 5 day group trip was put together by Rockett Getaways and carried out by Zaan Tours. We highly recommend them both!
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For the first few days we explored Amsterdam on our own to get adjusted to the time change! We did a Jordaan district food tour, toured the Moco and Van Gogh museums, tried all the fun food we could, and did some shopping! We were lucky enough to meet up with Kathy and Mike Boeckelmann for rice table!
Rijsttafel, a Dutch word that literally translates to "rice table", is an Indonesian elaborate meal adapted by the Dutch following the hidang presentation of nasi padang from the Padang region of West Sumatra.
We also walked through the floating flower market in Amsterdam to see their selection of flower bulbs and souvenirs! It was interesting to see that most of the floating flower market is not actually cut flowers but more of flower bulbs and gifts.
We had to check out the Holland decor stores of course! This luxury furniture and accent store used textures to their advantage and had beautiful color palettes and wallpaper too!
Surprise, surprise. We stopped at EVERY flower shop we saw! I am particularly taken by the wisteria!
We mostly saw fresh flowers, very few silks are available in the area it seems.
It was rainy most days so we stayed warm with cappuccinos and dutch apple pie! Our Jordaan district food tour in Amsterdam was fantastic! We also tried picked herring, fried cod, Indonesian sandwiches, and bitterballen.
Jennifer was kind enough to take us on a mini field trip to her favorite tulip fields when we arrived at Schagen. Of course, we had to give her the Magnolias goodies first! She even got a Magnolias-tape box!
Our first night as a group we had dinner in our Hotel Marktstad to get to know everyone. It was a “pinch me” moment for sure! How lucky are we to meet people from all over the world!
We spent a day driving around to all of the hand-made flower murals in the Anna Paulownia area. Many families take a week off from work to make these creations together and enter them in the local contest for fun!
A last-minute addition to our day was tulip picking after visiting Bloemendagen (mini Keukenhof). A spur-of-the-moment idea that was so much fun! We also got to tip toe through a tulip field. Check that off the bucket list!
It wouldn’t be a trip to Holland without seeing the windmills! The beautiful area of Zaanse Schans is known for its distinct green houses next to the classic working windmills! We even got to climb to the top of a windmill for a better view.
While in Zaanse Schans, we got to see a live clog-making demonstration and sampled a LOT of cheese! We came home with 12 mini wheels of dutch gouda along!
Keukenhof, also known as the Garden of Europe, is one of the world's largest flower gardens, situated in the Netherlands. Keukenhof Park plants around 7 million flower bulbs in the gardens annually!
We couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to order our own Holland flower bulbs after seeing them in person in the Keukenhof paths. We got tulips, hyacinths, narcissus, and more!
After all that walking, we needed a relaxing day! We enjoyed a lunch river cruise down the river Linge for some sight-seeing and flower blooms. It was a relaxing day and a unique activity to do there!
We couldn’t leave Holland without a tour of the famous Amsterdam streets. From old harbour to Dam square, we covered a lot of ground and then hopped on a scenic canal cruise as the rain set it.
Even though it wasn’t swimming weather, we still wanted to see the pristine beaches! Jennifer recommended this stunning water-front restaurant for a final meal together before the end of our trip. It was perfect!
Over all, we are so blessed and lucky to have experienced this incredible trip with our Flower Family. We loved Holland so much, we came home with 2 extra bags of goodies!