Scent of Hyacinths
Leaving Haarlem we continued south along the coast passing Den Haag (The Hague) where the international court holds its sessions. If I could do this trip again, I would allow time to learn more about the International Court of Justice located in the Peace Palace.
As we drove, we passed fields of tulips - acres upon acres of them. We stopped on the side of the road just to hop out and take some photos.
We were near the Keukenhof, one of the world’s largest and most beautiful flower gardens, but it was already after noon and we had to find a place for the night, so we regrettably made the decision not to explore Keukenhof - a mistake I would remedy the next time. The beauty of fields of tulips cannot be described - at least not by me - and the fragrance of the hyacinths was overwhelming.
I’ve mentioned that we didn’t make reservations at name hotels during this trip, and for the most part that was a good decision since we were able to take our time when we wanted, we weren’t on a set schedule, and we found welcoming people wherever we were. However, this particular afternoon we expected that we could find a bed and breakfast spot in Delft since it is a rather large city, has a university, and is the home of the beautiful Delft blue pottery. We drove into the center of town, parked and walked around a bit. We bought some Delft souvenirs but had no luck spotting hotels. The guidebooks were no help. We drove up and down the narrow streets along the canals and quickly decided that Delft just didn’t want us there.
What we really wanted was an out-of-the-way place not too far off the main highway. Verda closed her eyes and put her finger on the map - a little spot called Neumansdorp, just south of Rotterdam, and just north of the Hollands Diep waterway. We drove into town and sure enough, just on the right was the “Hotel Eetcafe ’t Wissel.”
Could you possibly ask for anything more authentic? We went in and asked if they had two rooms available and yes, indeed, they had a suite with two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bath. The price was only 50 Euro per couple and the accommodations were so very nice and comfortable. Our rooms looked out over a canal complete with ducks and green fields. We went downstairs to the restaurant and had one of the best meals I’ve ever had. We decided to trust Verda’s finger on the map from here on!
Leaving Haarlem we continued south along the coast passing Den Haag (The Hague) where the international court holds its sessions. If I could do this trip again, I would allow time to learn more about the International Court of Justice located in the Peace Palace.
As we drove, we passed fields of tulips - acres upon acres of them. We stopped on the side of the road just to hop out and take some photos.
We were near the Keukenhof, one of the world’s largest and most beautiful flower gardens, but it was already after noon and we had to find a place for the night, so we regrettably made the decision not to explore Keukenhof - a mistake I would remedy the next time. The beauty of fields of tulips cannot be described - at least not by me - and the fragrance of the hyacinths was overwhelming.
I’ve mentioned that we didn’t make reservations at name hotels during this trip, and for the most part that was a good decision since we were able to take our time when we wanted, we weren’t on a set schedule, and we found welcoming people wherever we were. However, this particular afternoon we expected that we could find a bed and breakfast spot in Delft since it is a rather large city, has a university, and is the home of the beautiful Delft blue pottery. We drove into the center of town, parked and walked around a bit. We bought some Delft souvenirs but had no luck spotting hotels. The guidebooks were no help. We drove up and down the narrow streets along the canals and quickly decided that Delft just didn’t want us there.
What we really wanted was an out-of-the-way place not too far off the main highway. Verda closed her eyes and put her finger on the map - a little spot called Neumansdorp, just south of Rotterdam, and just north of the Hollands Diep waterway. We drove into town and sure enough, just on the right was the “Hotel Eetcafe ’t Wissel.”
Could you possibly ask for anything more authentic? We went in and asked if they had two rooms available and yes, indeed, they had a suite with two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bath. The price was only 50 Euro per couple and the accommodations were so very nice and comfortable. Our rooms looked out over a canal complete with ducks and green fields. We went downstairs to the restaurant and had one of the best meals I’ve ever had. We decided to trust Verda’s finger on the map from here on!
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