The Tulips of Amsterdam, Our Day with Olga in the Fields

When we planned a trip to South America, we chose to transit through Amsterdam for its direct flights. But being that this transit would transpire in April, at the (hopefully) height of tulip season, we elected to lay over for a couple of nights and spend some time admiring the long rows of colorful bulbs stretching before us.

I looked up Keukenhof Gardens, being the most famous place to take in the wonderful pastels and brightly colored blooms. It only took one review (a bad one) to sway me towards other options. The descriptions of massive crowds and a really poor onsite cafe lunch experience impressed upon me that a quick pathway to the opposite of marital bliss passes through Keukenhof. Perhaps it’s a dream for some, for my wife (and thus me) it sounded like a nightmare. So, it was thusly that we found Olga of By OLGA Tours.

Olga collected us from our hotel as Amsterdam was just coming to life. We skirted out of the city and into the Bollenstreek region. Stopping off at various pull-offs to admire long rows of yellow and red, orange and pink, purple and green blooms, We were in good company with tourists on bicycles also pulling off and doing the same. But unlike those bikers, with Olga as our guide, we got so much more. She has a passion for the Netherlands, its most famous crop and for Amsterdam. She was teeming with knowledge and shared it in a way that was easy-going and not overwhelming.

We stopped off at our first farm, where we walked through fields of daffodils, tulips and hyacinths as Olga pointed out the various varieties of each. All across the Netherlands, each plot of flowers is annually rotated, or left fallow for a season, to replenish the nutrients and support the growth of the next year’s rotation. There are about 700 varieties of tulips and 95% of the world’s tulip supply originates here; but tulips are not native to this region. Originating in the Ottoman Empire, in what is today Kazakhstan, tulips made their way to Europe in the 16th century becoming a status symbol that influenced art, trade and social dynamics. The Netherlands, already being a hub of trade and culture, ignited their rise in popularity. The Dutch crossbred tulips producing new, rare and vibrant varieties.

With this increased popularity, the tulip became a symbol of status. Wealthy Dutch would collect them as a way to show off. By the 1630s, tulips became financial assets. One man even traded a home on an Amsterdam canal for a single flower bulb to secure his lock on the strain. People without the disposable resources to do so invested all of their money in tulips and the “futures” market for tulip bulbs was born. Speculation ran rampant. The Dutch had gone wild. Alas, like all speculative ventures, this one too, came to a disastrous end. In February of 1637, a single failed auction caused a panic and a crash in tulip pricing. Many fortunes were ruined and “Tulip Mania” became the first financial crash in the modern world and a synonym for speculative investment.

After visiting our last farm, one in which Olga had secured a private stroll through the fields (incidentally, without such an arrangement you can do substantial damage to the flowers and the fortunes of their farmers, so fields are roped off, some electronically, to prevent or impede such misbehavior. Alas, some will still selfishly find their way under or over clearly sign-posted fences and into the rows to Instagram themselves amidst the blooms. If you’re reading this: don’t. Just don’t.), Olga suggested a smoked eel sandwich for lunch. We stopped off at Palinggrokerij (don’t ask me how that’s pronounced) to admire the rows of smoked eel and taste a truly delightful (and surprisingly filling) sandwich with only locals accompanying us. Yum, or as the Dutch would say heerlijk.

Suffice it to say that the next time we find ourselves stopping in or transiting through Amsterdam, Olga will be on our list to experience another one of her fantastic custom catered tours. Windmills, here we come!