Tulpendag

I'm going to try and make these posts a little more frequently, and a lot smaller. Here's my first go.

Last Saturday was National Tulip Day, where someone (??) brings a couple of hundred thousand tulips - still attached to their bulbs - to Dam Square and give them away to whoever comes by. 200,000 seems like a big number, but consider that nearly 2 billion Dutch-grown tulips will be sold around the world this year - pretty amazing!

Lilli had two friends sleep over and the 7 of us walked over to check it out. It was a little picked over by the time we got there, and we had to wait in a line that circled the square (in a light misty rain), but it was well worth it!

The Grim Reaper is a Dam Square staple

Lilli's crew (most of them)

The line wound past De Nieuwe Kerk (The New Church); it is considered new because it was built in the early 1400's.
The Oude Kerk (Old Church) - a couple of hundred yards to the east - is 200 years older.

At least the line moved quickly!

Seemingly not a whole lot left since we got there kind of late.

But we ended up with a pretty good haul!

Not bad for free!

I think Holli actually bought these before she knew about Tulpendag...
So we had PLENTY of flowers this week!

Some more images (from Google) are here. But apparently we have to leave the house a little earlier to see it like that!