Hyacinth scented queuing.

The sun was out, which bearing in mind the forecast was something to shout about. So in light of that, it was a case of make the most of it. Get the bikes sorted & go. Except the pedals had to be mounted and then it was noticed that the maps hadn't been downloaded to the Satnav. Superb organisation. Then the pinnacle of idiocy - at some point the Satnav mount had been taken off - God knows why & hadn't been put back on. Oops. Looks like someone was going to be riding round with one hand being used to navigate. Not ideal. Eventually set off having been informed that this week's weather was going to be spot on or at least if it rains it'll blow over. Not quite the same. Nice cycle track & quiet lanes to Lisse & then it got a little busier as we approached Keukenhof, supposedly the world's best spring time garden. Judging by the the coach park a good proportion of the world had turned up to admire the tulip fields. This was after all the penultimate day that it was open and the sun was out. Never mind - dumped the bikes. No queue for tickets and opted for the shortest entry queue. While there was no avoiding the fact that it was very busy it was possible to avoid the worst of it and the constant scent of the hyacinths softened the blow a little. The spring flowers did look very nice and you could understand why it pulled in the punters. Also some nice sculptures mixed. Baffled by the queues on the stepping stones and assorted pouts and poses we saw. The actual fields were dying back unfortunately so not quite what the marketing speil suggests but all very pretty nonetheless. They were certainly milking it though - all manner of tulip related tat. Cycled back along the canal.Read more