1st May 2016
Haarlem

Another beautiful day! Who would believe it after last week? Sunny & Warm.

Today we had decided to visit the gardens at Keukenhof again. Last year, when we were at Sixhaven in Amsterdam, we had caught the train and bus out to visit the gardens with son Brett, who was visiting at the time. 

There were 1000´s of people in the gardens today.

But the town of Lisse, where the gardens are, is only a couple of km from the canal so we decided to find a mooring close by and cycle there. We only got a little of the way downriver when we discovered that one of the bridges was "broken", as the irate captain of a hotel boat informed us. Guess his schedule was being mucked about. After a quick consult of the maps, we banged some stakes into the riverbank and took the bikes the 18 or so km down to the gardens. Our cycle route ran right next to the canal and in the warm sunshine was an absolute pleasure. SO glad the bridge was out!

There were multiple thousands of people at the gardens! Yikes. It was family day so there were loads of little kids there to watch a Sesame Street concert and, more excitingly if you´re 6 years-old, a meet-and-greet with Bert & Ernie, Elmo and, disconcertingly, a blue Big Bird. 

Spot-the-new-shoe competition. But, they´ve got memory foam insoles!!! Believe me, you would want some too.

The flowers have taken a hit from all the bad weather, but the gardens are still beautiful. We did´nt stay as long as last year though, only an hour or so, but enjoyed the cycle back along the canal. We did 43 km in total. We had cunningly put the bike battery chargers in the panniers and found a place to plug them in in the keukenhof tour-bus drivers´cafe.

So here we are, moored in the same spot, surrounded by expensive homes and gardens. Skip is on the aftdeck with a glass of wine in the sunshine and I will join him shortly for a braai.