Amsterdam tulip fields and day trip to Keukenhof

I decided that I wanted to bike to the tulip fields. Now I did willing partake in this endeavor, but I severely underestimated how hard biking would be. Anyways, I woke up at 5 am and set off at 6am in the morning for a bike ride that I didn't fully comprehend. (Warning I will say a bad word in a second, sorry mom) Let me tell you 81.7 kilometers can really kick you in the ass. 

The ride there was beautiful. I had a few breaks along the way. I saved a baby duck that was trapped in a boat, so I felt pretty good after that. About 3/4ths of the way there, I found a tulip field outside Lisse that wasn't busy, so I flew my drone! After 4 hours I managed to make it to Keukenhof, the botanical tulip garden that boasts of planting over 7 million flower bulbs, mainly tulips, every year. Since deciding to come to Amsterdam last year, I have been told numerous times to pay a visit to this famous place.

First look at the pretty flowers from above, will definitely be coming back for more

It was so crowded. Apparently, everyone decided that this would also be the best weekend to come. I got hit in the head several times by selfie sticks and was almost hit by a car driven by a tourist (eww) who wasn't paying attention. I wandered around the gardens, had an easter almond paste cookie and coffee, and took lots of photos and videos. One thing I noticed things were really expensive. Now I won't lie; it was stunning and worth it. The range of flowers was spectacular. But food and water are overpriced. So pack a lunch and bring a refillable water bottle.

Here's a photo midway into me eating the cookie

After 3 hours my feet were starting to get sore, and I was getting frustrated at all the people that kept walking into me. I watched a flower show and then left soon after. I took my bike and started up the tulip mile. Let me tell you. It was a lot longer than a mile. I probably would have enjoyed it more, but as luck has it, disaster struck. 

I was pedaling my bike when suddenly I noticed how there was a resistance. I hopped off and investigated, everything looked in order but when I started up again the most high-pitched shriek came from my front tire. I got off flustered and tried to see what was causing it. For the life of me I couldn't see any problem, but every time I pedaled the sound emerged. I admit I did act like a big baby and had a little cry. Now in my defense, I had spent the morning biking 40 km and walking around. I also had another 40 km left in my journey and bikes aren't allowed on trains or buses, so my only way home really was by bike. Also, let me mention that, basically, everything closed at 12 for Easter, so I was stressed. To calm myself down, I decided that it would be good to buy 5 dollars worth of tulips from a little old lady who was selling them on the side of the road.

Let's skip forward 30 frustration-filled minutes. I finally found an open bike shop. The only problem was that it was a 20-minute bike ride, and at this point, my bike was not willing to move. So I had a nice little walk pushing my bike to this small shop.

When I saw that it was still open by the time I got there I was so relieved that I almost cried again. The mechanic saw how flustered I was and got my bike right up on the examination bed. Well, I found out that my bike was not even junkyard worthy, yay that's 100 euros down the drain, guess I should have gotten a different bike... aww well. He managed to find the problem in about 20 seconds. When I was in Keukenhof, someone either ran into my bike or did something and bent the brake mechanism. So the entire time since I left Keukenhof my brake had been activated and was trying to stop the tire as I pedaled. :) great, it was an unintentional spin class for free. Thankful it was a quick fix, and the nice man didn't even charge me which made me so happy and restored my mood.

So I continued on my merry way. Fun fact it turns out that Bloemendaal doesn't have any flowers. Even though its name literally means flowers, I did find out that it is the wealthiest district of Holland. So I had a nice time riding through the streets, on my junkyard bike, of beautiful houses and teslas. However, I managed to find an awesome park that I want to go back to sometime soon.

It was hard, I got lost a few times, but I managed to survive and got back to my apartment completely exhausted. I was so tired I just flopped onto my bed. When I woke up I was unable to move. I was sore and still exhausted, but I managed it and spent yesterday enjoying the sun and my pretty new flowers.

I hope that you had an amazing easter and ate heaps of chocolate!