The 'Keukenhofmolen', Keukenhof Gardens, Lisse

Reasonably good weather in the afternoon with a lot of room for improvement, but it shone where I wanted it to shine in the north.  When the moment was right, I left for the Keukenhof Gardens in Lisse.  It took 2.5 hours to get there, an hour longer due to the A15 being shut to traffic, forcing everyone to stick to the A16/A20 route.  Thankfully, most of the jams had been resolved by the time I headed home, despite the A13 also being shut on 'that' side.

Main shot -- the Keukenhof Windmill!  Built in 1892 in Groningen, dismantled and put back together here when the introduction of electricity made it redundant there.  In 1957, the Holland-America shipping line donated it to the Keukenhof, where its only function is purely as decor for this world-famous garden.  In anticipation of the millions of visitors annually, the platform has been reinforced, but, of course, it doesn't have room for hundreds all at once anyway.  Indeed, my main objective in the Keukenhof this year was this windmill.  Naturally, one cannot photograph it at close quarters without paying the pricy entrance fee plus parking fee.  For a once-in-12-years visit, though, I consider that a fair bargain.

Of course, one cannot stroll through the Keukenhof without oohing and aahing the huge tulip displays!  Six extras!  I took more than 100 shots, catching the last of the sunshine as this was late in the afternoon.  Don't ask me the names of these varieties because there are far too many to memorize.  The Keukenhof displays are usually ordered from the various tulip growers in the region, and they have farms scattered even as far as Zeeland in the southwest -- a reminder that I haven't yet explored the N59 to Zierikzee for bulb fields this year, mainly due to the uncertain weather.

I had a bowl of pasta in the Keukenhof restaurant, and bought souvenirs and gifts, including three carton bags of flower seeds for AW.  When I got back at 21.15, I was still too full to eat a proper dinner (AW had eaten ahead), but the trip and all that walking had tired me out more than had been the case more than a decade ago.  No surprise there, silly me!

Thankful for a sunny and rather colourful day.  Hopefully, the extras will cheer up some of you as much as they did me.