Tulips. Wooden clogs. Fat windmills. Bicycles. Gouda. Dykes. Stroopwaffel. These all conjure up special memories of Holland. They are icons that represent all things Dutch. While we have just celebrated a snow capped Spring in South Africa there are all sorts of amusing memes going around about bikini wearing snowmen picking daisies. And my mind wanders back to my bicyle ride through the tulip fields of Holland.
Although tulips are very much a part of Dutch history, they were originally imported from Turkey in the 1600's. Western Europe became fascinated with them and soon Holland were growing and selling the rare tulip for ridiculously high prices. I was fascinated to learn that this rather expensive symbol of Holland was actually eaten during the Wars when there were food shortages.
Of course, after my first trip there, I subsequently have other memories always associated with Holland. I very quickly learned that a "coffee shop" was actually a place where cannabis was legally sold and consumed. Whenever I travelled I half expected to be handed a joint when I asked for coffee.
As a child with my nose perpetually in a book I remember the story of the little Dutch boy who saved Holland by keeping his finger in the dyke. All night he sat in the freezing cold plugging up the leak which prevented the country flooding. Today Holland is still a system of dykes and water ways and surge barriers.
Although we drove by car to Holland, in my younger globe trotting days, while there we travelled by bicycle and across water. Water is a novel but popular way to travel. The Dutch, out of necessity, have become famous for flood management, shipbuilding and water protection.
Living, at the time in England, it is easy to drive over to Europe. A slow drive takes you very quickly from the white cliffs of Dover, a short channel crossing, skirting France and Belgium - an essential stop for delicious pastries from the famous French patisseries with a strong caffe on the side, then the equally important stop for real Belgium chocolat' (drinking and eating) - to arrive by lunch time in Holland. Time to park the car and hire some bicycles. Because it was tulip season!
The tulips were magnificent and any other sightseeing stop was usually surrounded by rows of brightly coloured tulips. We sampled a lot of cheese and visited a lot of cheese markets. Actually we sampled a L.O.T of cheese. I love cheese - it's no secret that's why I have goats. And what the Dutch have to offer is superb. Did you know that cheeses are not named after their birthplace but rather the markets where they are traded? I found that fascinating. So the Gouda market was made famous by the cheese it sold, going right back to the 12th century!
I'm taking a trip down the tulip lined memory lane of the beautiful Netherlands. We visited the many small tulip markets, we cycled the miles and miles of tulip fields and we wandered the famous Keukenhof.
This magnificent botanical park is the largest in the world. It isn't far from Amsterdam and so we cycled there as well. There are said to be more than 7 million flowers in the exquisite Keukenhof gardens. The landscaped gardens span 32 hectares and they truly are breathtaking.
Coming from South Africa where Afrikaans is a daughter language of Old Dutch it is interesting visiting Holland and Belgium. Talking, or listening carefully, you can understand quite a bit. Once we left Holland we didn't need to speak the language to come away loaded with sweet stroopwafels, delicious Dutch cheeses and armloads of tulips bought from the lovely little markets. Holland is a place to make memories.
Thank you!!