Keukenhof / 庫肯霍夫

我畢生最大的心願之一就是春天來荷蘭看鬱金香，民宿老闆娘說庫肯霍夫花園已經開放了，雖然才四月初，如果這次不去我可能要再等二十年。

One of my lifelong biggest wishes is to see blooming tulips in Holland. Vicky, the hostess of our B and B says that Keukenhof is open. Though it's only early April and not all flowers are in bloom, I know that I'll have to wait for another 20 years before having another chance. 

庫肯霍夫花園位於阿姆斯特丹西南部的里斯，又名歐洲花園，佔地三十二公頃，每年種植七百萬株鬱金香，只有三月底到五月開放。剛入園時我們三個急著找整片盛開的鬱金香，卻遍尋不著。

Keukenhof is in the small town Lisse in the southwest of Amsterdam. It is also known as the Garden of Europe, covering a vast land of 32 hectares. Each year 7 million bulbs are planted, and it is open only from late March to mid-May. 

When we enter the garden, we three are eager to look for tulip fields in full bloom, but we don't see much. 

還好門票錢不是白繳的。

Fortunately we don't come for nothing. 

遠處還有大片彩色的花田。

In the distance, there are huge colorful flower fields. 

園內風景如詩如畫。

The scenery in the garden is very poetic. 

那就畫下來吧！

I am so inspired  by the flowers! 

要離開庫肯霍夫時，有個不知名的旅客遲到了，之前在英國跟團時，同樣的事情發生，英國導遊很生氣，卻只能生悶氣，最後還是等遲到的旅客等到上車。這一次我們見識到荷蘭人的果斷，等了二十分鐘後，導遊安娜說：再見吧！你自己想辦法回阿姆斯特丹！光這個例子就讓我特別喜歡荷蘭人！

When we are about to leave Keukenhoff, a tourist is late. Last year when we traveled with a tour to Stonehenge, several tourists were late, but the British tour guide could only sulk while still waiting for them to get on the coach bus. This time we witness the Dutch kind of guts. After waiting for about 20 minutes, the tour guide Anna says, "Bye, go back to Amsterdam by bike, or by car or  by taxi!" This incident really impresses me!