Touring through Holland - The Flower Market
Most people (at least us) don't realize that the Netherlands is the largest producer and seller of flowers by far! In fact, they are bigger than the rest of the world put together. We know this because they told us this and many other facts - and we saw it with our own eyes.
So just how big is this place? It's over 240 acres under one roof, with several thousand people working there, and a bee hive of activity. There are guys running around on these little forklift things at a very high rate of speed, filling orders and moving flowers around by the millions.
And they are not just flowers from Holland, they come from all over. We saw flowers from Kenya, Turkey, Colombia, Ecuador, and every corner of the globe.
They fly them in and auction them off to buyers on a massive scale. These guys pictured above are bidding on all the different varieties of fresh flowers that flow through here everyday.
They call this a Dutch Auction. Isn't every auction in Holland automatically a dutch auction? But what this means is that they start high and work their way down to an acceptable price. It seems to work, they were conducting a transaction like every three seconds!
Pretty Amazing
Windmills Everywhere
Of course, this being Holland you would expect to see Windmills and wooden shoes and all the other typical Dutch things.
We went to a village and saw some amazing sites.
And these are working mills, used for pumping water or cutting wood or grinding flower or many other things.
One of the best Windmills is right in the middle of Haarlem.
We were sitting there having lunch when a wedding broke out right next to us. It was pretty fun to watch and they had even had Champagne!
The scenery in Holland is often very serene and beautiful and peaceful.
It's a very enjoyable place.
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