Day 6 - Awesome Amsterdam, Holland
We had only one day in Holland - rather less than a day. We followed the usual routine after waking up at 5.30 am. After a good breakfast after 7 am, we started off at 8.15 am for Amsterdam - which was a 1 1/2 hour drive. Most of our group were music lovers / singers. So the bus resounded with chorus Hindi film songs - specially numbers like "An evening in Paris", "dekha ek khwab" ('silsila'), "dolafzon ki" (Great Gambler) and DDLJ songs as we were getting glimpses of all these places during our tour. While the seniors also dwelt on old melodies, the youngsters for their part belted out latest hits. In between, we would munch on the 'Kesari' snacks we'd carry. So we had a blast during our drives too and there was never a dull moment.
We reached Keukenhoff (Lisse - place of tulips) at 9.45. Sushant said we could become Amitabhs and Rekhas and romance in the garden for an hour and a half. We pleaded for two hours and the request was granted. We were wonder-struck and speechless as we found ourselves in the midst of millions of tulips in hundreds of hues welcoming us with cheerful smiles.
They were blooming in neatly and artistically designed patches with attractive color combinations.
When I saw the pink- purple or red - orange combinations, I told my husband that a Kancheepuram silk saree in the particular color combination would be awesome. He looked me up and down and told me to enjoy the flowers rather than thinking about sarees.
He added another sentence - "By the way, your dress is pink n' purple too." Yes but of course, that was my favorite color combination too!
I wanted to take photos at every flower patch and we ended up clicking pics multiple times against similar / even same backgrounds as we went around in circles too. We never felt the fatigue in spite of walking around for two hours - at the end of it - "yeh dil maange more!" (our hearts yearned for more).
We were herded off in the bus at noon to Mc Donald's - the kids shouted for joy. Everyone was excited that lunch was going to be different from paneer and naan and chole and pulao. Then we covered the drive to Amsterdam in half an hour.
It was a sunny day and we enjoyed the one hour Amsterdam City Cruise. There were cycles and cycles galore ..... Cycles were very popular here. It seems one needed licence to ride a bicycle.
There were separate three-level cycle parking too. Otherwise we found parallel parking of vehicles in front of houses.
We saw quite a few house-boats, complete with potted plants on the deck.
The majestic monuments lining all around were fascinating - Nemo Museum, Sea Palace Chinese Restaurant, canals ....
We bid adieu to Holland as we started our drive towards South Germany at 3 pm.
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