Eerst Nationale Tulpendag

Apparently January is the official launch of tulip season in the Netherlands, which is kind of strange because I wouldn't quite call it tulip weather outside, but I think this is when they get planted so they bloom in the spring. Despite the 38 degree weather (3 degrees Celsius) we ventured out to experience Nationale Tulpendag and see 200,000 tulips planted in Dam Square.

As with any sort of free event in a heavily tourist populated place - it was kind of a shit show. The line to get in to pick the free tulips stretched on far longer than we had any interest in waiting.  Having been warned that this would be the case, I went up to the fence to snap a couple of pictures of other people picking flowers before we left. The man standing next to me at the fence asked one of the security guards inside the garden to snag him a few flowers, which he happily did (there are no rules here). So I mustered up the courage to use my very, very rudimentary Dutch to ask if I could have one of his blooms, which he happily gave me.

Pip slept through the whole experience but woke up on the way home to admire her first dutch tulip.