H/B/F 2017: flowers for days

One day after work, I took a bus to meet Andrew and some of his co-workers at Keukenhof, which is a giant tulip and flower farm. It’s open only for eight weeks in April and May, so we made sure to get there on a nice evening as soon as possible. In addition to the acres and acres of flower fields (apparently an amazing sight from a plane), they have a walkable park filled with flowers, attractions (such as a windmill and a lily pond you can walk on) and expositions housed in buildings on the grounds. Unfortunately, the flower fields were all finished by the time we visited, but we did see plenty of beautifully designed gardens still in bloom.

That evening, one of Andrew’s dutch co-workers recommended we head to the coast for dinner as it was such a nice night. We walked a bit and found a restaurant with ideal seating and enjoyed fish, the smell of sea air and the extra 1.5 hours (!!) of daylight. Because we are farther north, the sun is setting at around 9:30 p.m., significantly later than back at home.

The next morning, Andrew and I got up bright and early (6 am!) to get on the road to see the Aalsmeer flower auction. It’s best early in the morning and can wrap up by 9 am on slower days, so we planned to arrive by 7 am.

Royal FloraHolland is housed in the largest commercial building in the world (equivalent to 220 football fields!) and is THE flower market for Europe. More than 20,000 different varieties of flowers and plants are bought and sold in more than 100,000 transactions a day.

It’s operated by what’s called a ‘Dutch auction,’ the reverse of a traditional auction. With the price starting high and going low, it ensures transactions are completed incredibly quickly. While on the tour, I heard it takes a new buyer more than a year of training before they’re ready.

Sales at Royal FloraHolland are about 9.6 million euro per day, with about 4.4 BILLION euro each year. It’s incredible that 34.5 MILLION flowers are moved through this place every day.

It was so neat to watch the action from above; thousands of employees (3,500) drive carts of flowers from end to end for hours. Within 90 minutes, all purchases are in the buyer’s staging area.

H/B/F 2017: flying solo

Andrew started working Monday, so I’ve been on my own during the day. Our morning routine starts with breakfast:

Our hotel puts out a fantastic spread of breads, ‘American’ breakfast items (scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage), as well as the normal European items (cold meats and cheeses, tomato, yogurt and granola). There is a self-serve coffee machine where the simple press of a button will give you regular coffee, espresso, cappuccino and more.

After andrew left Monday morning, I headed out on a quick walk.

Amsterdam is known for the incredible number of people who bike, and Haarlem is no different. They even have ‘parking garages’ for bikes here (multi-story) and special locks for the bikes that are more efficient (no chains involved). I rented a bike yesterday and biked to the beach–more on that later.

While on my walk, I joined a gym! I’d done some online research prior to my trip and on our way to our hotel, Andrew and I passed this place so I knew it was close. Kenamju was able to give me a reasonable price for two weeks, waived all the fees and even took me on a tour that morning! The have tons of fitness classes, and I already made a friend (shocking, I know). So far, I’ve been to a bootcamp class and a TRX class and I’ve used the treadmill. I’m looking forward to trying cycle tomorrow morning! It actually didn’t even occur to me that I wouldn’t be able to understand what the instructor would be saying until I walked into my first class… Thankfully, it’s not hard to follow along and I’m familiar with all the moves.

I decided to do a longish run on Monday in preparation for my upcoming half-marathon on Sunday. I intended to do 7-8 miles, but got a little lost (again, shocking, I know) and ended up doing 10.5. I took it at an easy pace and kept stopping during the last few miles to try to figure out where I was, so my pace was a bit off. Plus, my GPS took a full five minutes to get going–it’s not used to looking for me across the pond!

I’ve also had to run some errands so far! My days have been suprisingly busy (is anyone really surprised by this?!) for someone in a foreign country with no responsibilities who isn’t really sightseeing much. I’ve picked up some items we forgot, like a comb and a more bill-friendly wallet for Andrew. I even picked up towels for the gym and may grab some sweat bands today while I’m out, too. HEMA is like a mini-Target, with their own branded items, and there are lots of other shopping options and a grocery store very close to where we are staying.

Perhaps the BEST part of my solo-ness are the lunches I get to have! It’s super fun to figure out where I want to go, and Holland seems to really be embracing fresh, local food. There’s lots of variety and without many ‘regional specialties,’ it’s easier for me to eat lighter and healthier than when we’re in France. So far, I’ve had salads, an energy-topped yogurt and a mackerel salad sandwich (think tuna but way better). Beer is also big here, so I’ve been enjoying the local Jopen and Texels brews, as well as the immense selection of Belgian beers.

And on that note, I’m off to lunch!

H/B/F 2017: getting to know Haarlem

Andrew and I arrived in the Netherlands bright and early on Saturday morning, having had no sleep on the plane over. (Take-off was approximately 6 pm, we landed at 7 am local time; there is a 6 hour time difference.) We’ve learned from past trips that jet lag is FOR REAL and that your first day in-country is often spent on a roller coaster of caffeinated highs and head-drooping lows.

Our hotel was, shockingly, able to put us in a room when we arrived around 10 am, and we napped until almost 2 pm. As someone who doesn’t normally nap, I can tell you that if I hadn’t willed myself out of bed, I’d have passed right back out for a few more hours. But, the best thing for jet lag is sunlight, so we got ourselves up and out in search of food.

Highlights from the weekend:

Grote Markt and the Grote Kerk (Great Church): On Saturdays, the square is filled with stalls selling food and trinkets, and there is a smaller market on Mondays as well. Otherwise, it’s filled with cafe tables and a couple food trucks selling sugared donuts and pickled herring.

Monument to Monument walk: We started our morning with a walk we found in one of the brochures we got from the tourist information office, which started at the Grote Kerk and hit all the biggies (Teyler’s Museum, De Adriaan Windmill, Nieuw Kerk, etc). It was an excellent way to stretch our legs, bask in more sunshine (see jet lag, above) and check out all the local architecture and food options.

Poffertjes: We sampled sugar donuts on the Grote Kerk before our church tour. They’re very much like swedish pancakes, simply topped with more confectioners sugar. Delicious.

Who’s that handsome man taking photos??

Lunch at Native: While on our walk, we passed a hoppin’ place the locals seemed to like, so we made sure to stop in. I got a salad with pistachios, pomegranate arils, oranges, lima beans and fennel, served with bread and chili butter (delicious), and Andrew had the beef empanadas with chutney. Sangria to drink.

How beautiful is this?! We haven’t had a chance to go up in the windmill yet, but we may actually hit the windmill MUSEUM, which is in Leiden. We’ll be there Sunday when I run the Leiden half marathon!

Compared to the pack-it-all-in pace of our usual trips, we ended the weekend feeling like we’d barely done anything (again, see jet lag, above). But, Andrew felt like he was ready to work Monday morning, which was one of his big concerns (and–obviously–the whole point of our trip). Plus, we do have the evenings to try to see a few more things while we’re here.

I’m already enjoying my time on my own here…spoiler alert: I joined a gym! Check back to see what I’m up to while Andrew is at the office!