Trip to The Netherlands: Part 5

 


April 19-20,2023

Tuesday April 19th was the day most people were looking forward to. It was the day we were to visit the famed Kuekenhof Tulip Gardens. As Indians we associate this location with the famous song Yeh Kahan Aa Gaye hum in the Amitabh Bachchan movie Silsila. Henk told us we would take a bus from Leiden Central Station which would be about half hour to forty minutes drive. However half the group wanted to bike there instead. 

So Henk first accompanied the four of us ( Risbud’s and the Pelsners) to the local bus stop and on that to the central station before returning to the Feniks to bike with the Barves and Braids. We got on the bus to Kuekenhof and followed the instructions from Henk to enter the gardens with our tickets.

It was a lovely day, cloudy but not raining, just perfectly pleasant in the morning though it got a bit warm by late afternoon. When we reached there wasn’t too much crowd. We walked around like Alice in Wonderland, marveling at the sheer beauty, abundance and variety of the tulips and daffodils. The fragrance of the hyacinths was mesmerizing. I indulged in strawberry ice cream before munching on my sandwich midway through the tour of the gardens. The crowd increased considerably in the afternoon. By 2:00 pm we had our hearts filled with the sight of the most exotic tulips. 

The bus back to Leiden filled up quickly leaving us with no seats. The 40 minute journey standing and trying to avoid falling on seated passengers as the bus made turns was quite a circus. Once at the central station it took some back and forth walking to figure out where to catch the bus to Zilsinger which was the closest stop to the Feniks. 

Again we took a walk around the city, walking around the old church.

That evening Pauline served chicken with lentils for the main course and “death by chocolate” for dessert. It was truly something to die for. By now it was obvious that Pauline’s strongest point was dessert. And we started to look forward to it each night ! 

That night from our cabins we could hear the rain outside. When we woke up the next morning it was still raining. We had not come prepared for this. I had my wind jacket on, and that’s all. Luckily the rain had paused for some time when we got on our bikes that day. Just as the rain began to gain some momentum we were riding through a small town where there was a department store HEMA ( incidentally my mother’s name). We knew Derek( Braid) had bought his rain gear from there. Instantly we stopped to equip ourselves with rain proof jackets, trousers and shoe covers! Now we were ready to take on the showers from the heavens!

We passed through farmland, with miles and miles of tulip fields. Henk didn’t like us to stop for pictures as it would cut through the tempo. We managed very few pictures. That day we took a brief stop at a cafe for coffee and bathroom. The hot chocolate was refreshing. Minal indulged in a hot tomato soup and shared truffle fries with the group. The place was one of the many old train stations converted into a cafe. The room we sat in was decorated with several antique wall clocks.

By afternoon we made our way to Haarlem, one of the oldest cities in the country and the capital city of the northern province. After dropping our bikes at the boat we walked into the city, again towards the old church and stopping for drinks at a bar. This evening we had planned to eat outside and given Pauline a break from cooking dinner. We had a reservation at 6:30 pm at a Thai restaurant called Green Papaya. Food was yummy and enjoyed by everyone. That night Pauline served us a warm apple tart topped with whipped cream alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

That evening we took some pictures on the deck of the Feniks. Marius was kind enough to unlock a white bike for pictures to match my white linen saree. We slept well that night in Haarlem.



























































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