Flight over Zuid-Holland 2013, part 1: Dutch flower fields& Leiden seen from the air

 

This year we decided to try a flight to the tulp fields starting from Rotterdam airport so we could fly over Leiden, Bollenstreek (the sping flower area), den Haag and Scheveningen...In this post I will take you onboard wth me and will show the fantastic view over the old town of Leiden (first pic), our cute plane (Cessna, four-seater) and the spring colours seen from the air! Enjoy the view+have a good flight:-)))

 

For all the curious ones who want to do the same: we flew with Lionair, I do recommend them for this 1-hour-sightseeing-tulip-flight.

PS: More aerial shots to come in part 2...

 

Spring 2013: Dutch flower fields, lost in daffodils and hyacinths...

 

Every year hundreds of tourists get lost in the Dutch flower fields in search for unique pictures or angles...Due to the long and very chilly winter all Dutch bulb flowers are delayed this year in the low lands. So when my first "flower"-visitors arrived last weekend and we went searching for flower fields, no tulip fields were in sight. However we could literally swim in white-purple-pink-rose-yellow sea of aromatic hyacinths and some daffodils...All pictures are taken in the fields around Lisse&Noordwijkerhout.

"Bon Appetit" with the flower parade Bloemencorso 2013!

 

Even if all flowers are delayed here in the Netherlands with 2-3 weeks this spring due to the cold and longw inter the famous and lovely-smelling flower parade started last night in Noordwijkerhout. The topic this year was "Bon appetit" and as every year I was again impressed how created the artists are...enjoy my pictures, they made me smile even if I was freezing while taking them:-)))

 

On the picture below you can see very well that the "banana" is made from daffodils and the monkey from purple hyacinths.

 

Dutch spring sky in Rijswijk, Holland

 

The Dutch sky always impress me with some fantastic blue shades, fluffy clouds and yesterday with tons of contrails (white-stripes left after airplane)...
As yesterday was the official first warm spring day I decided to share the beautiful sky with you:-) Happy new week!

Doi Mae Salong, the tea plantations of Thailand: Oolong tea

 
As a big tea-lover (and of course tea-drinker) I was very curious to see and vist the Oolong tea plantations north of Chiang Mai. Back in 1960-ies some thousand Chinese soldiers got asylium from the Thai government and were allowed to stay and leave in this area. Due to the fact that the Maesalong reagion is in te muntaina nd not so well accessible it was the perfect place to grow opium. According to a CIA report in 1971, Mae Salong was then one of the largest heroin refineries in Southeast Asia. Only in the late 1980s the Thai government was really able to make any headway in taming the region – part of which involved crop substitution plans (from opium to tea) and giving the area a new name (Santikhiri meaning "hill of peace")..

 
Nowadays one may enjoy hilly drive, fantastic green tea-sceneries and (if lucky as we were) also the teapickers with their big baskets...In the village itself onemay fill a bit overwhelmed with over 15 shops selling more or less the same tea, but its nice to take the time for some tea-tasting...Its the first time I was served a tea in two cups, see picture attached! In one word: its worth the drive (around 80 km from ChaingRai):-)

 
The Oolong tea is a sort of black tea usually grown in Taiwan. Due to the similar climate its ispossible to grow it in this part of Thailand...