Photoessay 2: Tulips and Windmills

It seems as though everyone I know has already been to Holland. They all took the I'm-20-and-want-to-partake-of-Holland's-liberal-laws trip. When I was 20, I took the I-want-to-commune-with-the-Earth-so-I'll-work-on-a-kibbutz-and-
get-stuck-in-a-warzone adventure. Maybe I should have come to Holland instead.

This trip was a first for me and I had a totally legit reason to go... visiting a friend who, as mentioned before, took care of me like a full time job and made the whole 4 days a joy.

See CS and me here with a windmill, as the title of the post implied. Could you have created a more picturesque Dutch background, complete with bike?




Bikes are ubiquitous in this city. Yep, I'm stunned by how many are parked outside Leiden Central Station. But it was a little trippy to visit somewhere so darn flat. I wonder what that kind of flatness does to a personality after a while. Upon departure I had the distinct urge to climb a mountain.




See the canals below of Leiden. This is the city where Rembrandt was born and there is only one word to describe it: lovely.



The second day we went into Amsterdam. That city was bustling with energy. These folks are chilling out with the largest chess board I've ever seen.



There was a busy flower market with, you guessed it, tulips. But I'm not gonna lie. I liked these multicolored cacti better.




We also visited the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam. Fabulous. Still lit with wax candles. Check out the candelabras in the pic. A really interesting mix of stone and deep colored wood.




Of course. Gnomes. These are for you, JH. *wink*



Back in Leiden we checked out the Botanical Garden. My favorites were the carnivorous plants. This one seems to say, "Feed Me Seymour," even though I know that one was technically a venus fly trap, right?



And finally we cruised out to the coast to a city near Den Haag (can't remember the town's name) where we saw some exceptional sculpture.


A fabu time! Thanks to my hosts: C and D!