Netherlands

Windmills dot the Dutch landscape to this day. There are three windmills near a crossroads in Rustenburg in Noord Holland; their names are Strijkmolen I, K and L.

Every Spring Keukenhof near Amsterdam in Zuid (south) Holland explodes with color from seven million (!) flowers, every single one of them planted by hand. The huge park has numerous displays like this, with carefully manicured beds of flowers.

Although Keukenhof - and Netherlands in general - is most well-known for its tulips with over 100 varieties, the park holds lilies, narcissi, daffodils, hyacinth, amaryllis, and many many more; along with 87 types of trees.

A row boat for visitors to traverse the 32 hectares of Keukenhof, criss-crossed by canals and paths.

Another shot of color in Keukenhof, with reflections of trees off one of the many canals. Keukenhof is only open from late March to mid-May, and the best time to visit is in late April, depending on the weather. Warm weekends get very crowded, so try to visit during the week if you can!

The first day of Spring brought the guys from Icecarving.nl on Rokin street to showcase their impressive ice carving talents. Here one of the artists concentrating hard on chiseling a huge chunk of ice.

These street performers floated around Rokin in central Amsterdam. He's standing on stairs, she's standing on stilts!

Queen's Day in Amsterdam - everybody wears orange, the color of the Dutch royal family.

Queen's Day in Amsterdam - up to two million people come to Amsterdam to celebrate the Queen's birthday on 30 April. The grachts (canals) are full of boats of all sizes.

One of the more rickety floating contraptions on Queens's Day in Amsterdam, complete with several hundred watts of dinghy-thumping bass.

Revelers on Queen's Day in Amsterdam.

Taken on Hofplein in Rotterdam. The blue apparition on the right is a water fountain.