Tulip Time

Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for . . . tulips. Holland is the world's most prolific producer of tulips, and for two months each year they are on exuberant display at the mother of all flower shows: Keukenhof ("kitchen garden"). It's just outside Amsterdam, so today I took a bus from Schiphol and met my second-cousin Carla (our grandmothers were sisters) for a day of catching up and flower-gazing.

 We roped a passerby into taking our photo.

Keukenhof has several indoor pavilions and a few auxiliary attractions like a petting zoo and a windmill, but the main event -- and the draw that brings in over 800,000 visitors a year -- is the outdoor gardens: seven million bulbs, planted in strict formation, producing a well-organized explosion of color.

Personally, I like a wilder, more naturalistic style of garden, but I couldn't help but be impressed with the beauty and diversity of the flowers, which range from the sublime

to the bizarre,

or by the ambitiousness and precision of the displays, which this year were focused on the rather sweetly old-fashioned theme, "To Russia With Love."

a live floral portrait of St. Basil's Cathedral!

Although I have to admit that my favorite aspect of the day was catching up with Carla and learning heretofore unknown (to me) details about my family history, I enjoyed my tiptoe through the tulips, and will likely go back (the kids have to see it too, of course!

Here's the best part: the fields of cutting flowers (here seen from the vantage point of the windmill's upper deck). Unfortunately, I found it impossible to capture the splendor of this vast expanse of blooming hyacinths and tulips in a photo. But here's a hint: