In the Garden

Today we spent 7 hours at the Rijksmusem and I enjoyed every minute.

I will be posting details of important paintings, but for now, here are some outdoor shots of this lovely structure that opened in 1800.  The tunnel you see between the two towers is actually a bicycle street that bisects the lower level of the museum.  When the museum was built, the city required it to tie the "old" to the "new" and with this tunnel, you can continue to access the old part of town.  And there are more bikes per capita here than anywhere in the world.

There are courtyards with life size chess, knot gardens, ponds, flowerbulb gardens, statues, mazes, fountains and places for musicians to perform all around the museum which makes it possible for everyone to enjoy.

Yesterday this was a lawn.  We watched men cut & roll the sod.  Today it is being turned into a bulb garden for Spring.  I watched them unload thousands of different bulbs.  They would take handfuls of bulbs from the different bags and toss them around.  I guess that is the technique to naturalize complementary colors.

Saw giant bumble bees still out enjoying the flowers.

Getting started on the day, bright and early.

The museum entrance is through the bike tunnel.

Here is a pond with a green house/conservatory in the background.  The brickwork on the building gives it interest, depth and it looks different with the changing light.

No, these kids are not getting wet in October!  This interactive fountain is open in the middle and every few minutes one side stops to allow people to run in.