Everything's coming up tulips

It may still be February, and it may be freezing cold here, but that won't stop the Dutch from showing off their blooms. Norma, her friend Aundrea, and I went to Hoorn today for the Holland Flower Festival. It was inside (thank GOD!) a large convention center sort of place north of Amsterdam. I can't say exactly where because I have yet to take a good look at a map to get oriented. But the flowers were indeed beautiful, and if it's a preview of what will be seen outside in another month or two, I'm sad to be missing it.

We saw a good amount of the Netherlands too, by train to Rotterdam where Aundrea lives and then by car to Hoorn. A few hours all together. To add to my brilliant observations from yesterday, I should also say that the Netherlands is very wet. I'll write more about that later. For now, Carnival starts tonight and we are about to head out bar-hopping to join the festivities.