flowers – Snapping The Globe

Adventures in Aruba Part 4

In addition to beaches, Aruba is filled with farms and sanctuaries…donkeys, ostriches, birds and butterflies!

During our stay we had already visited the donkeys and the ostriches so naturally, butterflies were next on our list .

First, however, there were a few places we wanted to see.

The capital of Aruba, Oranjestad is named after “Huis van Oranje’ (Orange House), the name of the Dutch Royal Family in 1824 during the Dutch colonization. This downtown area is filled with plenty of traditional Dutch multicolored buildings, museums, restaurants and shops scattered through Main Street, the Royal Plaza Mall and Renaissance Marketplace.

Finding a parking space in the downtown area is a challenge, but after a little back and forth, we finally secured a spot. Parking near the National Archaeological Museum of Aruba put us near many of these architectural gems as well as the Wharfside Flea Market, where we perused the stalls looking for Aruban souvenirs and treasures.

*National Archaeological Museum of Aruba*

A quick six minute walk brought us to the I Love Aruba Sign on Lloyd G. Smith Boulevard the perfect place for souvenir pics! While this particular sign is convenient for cruise ship passengers…Promenade Cruise Port is located adjacently…there are a few other signs located throughout the island (Parliament House, Senor Frog’s, Hadicurari Beach) if you don’t happen to visit downtown Oranjestad.

Jumping back in our car, we headed back toward Palm Beach and made a quick stop at The Old Mill. Known as De Oude Molen, it was built back in 1804 in the Netherlands, meticulously taken apart, shipped to and reconstructed in Aruba in 1960. Planned as a tourist attraction, a new base was constructed and a restaurant ensconced within. Today, The Old Mill is still a top tourist attraction as well as a museum, resort and a top dining option. While we found the museum and restaurant closed due to the early hour, we were able to peek inside at the dining facility which is decorated with furniture and paintings dating between 880 and 1800.

Finally, we headed (almost next door) to the Butterfly Farm. Opened in 1999, it was preceded by the first Butterfly Farm, located in Saint Martin and established in 1994. Located on the French side of the island, it was designed and built by two eccentric Englishmen, William Slayter and John Coward.

Discovering success on Saint Martin, five years later, Slayter decided to open another farm in Aruba. While the farm in Aruba has thrived, sadly, the farm in Saint Martin was destroyed by the category five hurricane, Irma in September 2017.

After purchasing our admission, we were able to join a tour that was about to begin. Here, we found ourselves in a net-enclosed miniature rain forest filled with beautiful flowers, plants and trees…the perfect home for butterflies!

From our guide, we learned about the evolutionary cycle from microscopic eggs, to to caterpillars, to pupae. We were also instructed on how to handle the butterflies and caterpillars and those with brightly colored clothing and citrus scented perfumes were lucky enough to attract these beautiful creatures!

Once our tour was complete, we were welcomed to stay as long as we wanted. While it was warm and humid inside (the perfect environment), we walked around for quite some time, enjoying the beauty of these beautiful winged creatures as they flitted around from leaf to leaf and branch to branch and dined on sugar water and fruit.

While I would have loved to continue our theme of “farms and sanctuaries” and checked out the Bubali Bird Sanctuary, this was our last full day in Aruba that was not going to be strictly a beach day. The next day was to be spent in the sun with our feet in the sand and toes in the water! While birds would be flying overhead, this would be as close as we would come to Aruba’s flying friends!

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I Love Aruba Sign

Address: Lloyd G. Smith Boulevard 19, Oranjestad, Aruba
Hours: 24 hours, daily
Admission: free

The Old Mill

https://www.aruba.com/us/stay-at/the-mill-resort-and-suites-aruba
Address: J.E. Irausquin Boulevard 330, Palm Beach, Aruba, Aruba
Hours: 1700-2300, daily
Admission: varies

The Butterfly Farm Aruba

https://www.thebutterflyfarm.com/
Address: J. Irausquin Boulevard Z/N, Orangestad, Aruba
Hours: 0830-1630, daily
Admission: Adults, $16.00, Children ages 4-17, $8.50, Children under 4, free, Seniors, $13.00

Azores. Day By Day. Part Two.

The early bird catches the worm.

So they say.

We caught some breakfast and a rain shower, but we were anxious to begin our drive around the island of San Miguel.

Armed with a map, snagged from a travel agent in Ponta Delgada, we had a plan and a full tank of gas. It was time to travel outside the city limits. Deciding to begin our exploration on the western side of the island, we passed the airport and headed out through many small towns driving down empty country lanes lined with beautiful flowers and overlooked by sturdy-looking cows.

As concerned as I was about the cows (I was warned that they tend to jump in front of cars! Hmm…yes, that was what I was told…), I was far more interested in the amazing scenic overlooks every few miles and the beautiful hydrangeas that lined the roadways.

Having heard about the hydrangeas from friends, it was another thing to actually see them in person. These are not the small bushes you normally see in your neighbor’s garden. Looking more like the size of trees, these amazing flowers appeared in countless colors, shapes and sizes, are the most recognized symbol of the region and are maintained by the towns in which they are located. As beautiful and enticing as they are, only stop to smell the flowers…it is illegal to pick them.

Continuing onward, we soon found ourselves at the Miradouro da Vista do Rei, an overlook with views of Sete Cidades, the three mile wide caldera and its green and blue-hued lakes. According to legend, these lakes were formed from the tears of a shepherd and a princess who shared a forbidden love.

There is a parking area at the fork in the road with many trails leading into the crater. There is also an intriguing abandoned hotel located here which reminded me of a setting from a horror movie. Though it is now enclosed by a wall to keep intruders out, the wall is not high enough if you are really determined to see the rotting remains up close.

Driving down into the crater, we crossed the lake, stopping on the banks to take in the sights from a lower angle. The charming town was filled with typical Portuguese architecture…homes, businesses and a church…of course!

The Igreja de São Nicolau is a quaint little church which is preceded by a tree-lined path. The single-nave neo-gothic church building has a central bell tower with some nice statues located on the lawn. Though not as grand as the churches I visited in Ponta Delgada, it was still nice to see the simplicity of the structure.

Continuing our journey, we soon found ourselves in Mosteiros, a seaside town on the northwest coast of San Miguel. Looking more like a Hawaiian postcard, this area boasts cliffs, rock formations, a black sand beach and blue water and is a great place to relax for a while. The waters are quite rough and more conducive to surfing than swimming but lifeguards were there to kee watch.

Rounding the northwest corner of the island, we drove through Bretanha, Remédios, Santa Bárbara, Santo António and Capelas, stopping to admire each overlook and the occasional church.

After a quick lunch in Ribeira Grande, we headed south. Our destination was Lagoa de Fogo, yet, we somehow ended up in Furnas. Furnas was on our itinerary for the next day, but we decided to alter our plans and take a look around a bit early.

The village of Furnas is the situated on the easternmost of the three caldera lakes located on San Miguel and boasts the charm of many of the other locales in the Azores.

Famous for its hot springs and the Terra Nostra gardens, it attracts a large number of visitors each day. Since it was later in the day, due to our driving misstep, we decided to skip the natural pools and the gardens and instead drive to the Chapel of Our Lady of Victories, a small funerary chapel located on the southwestern corner of the lake.

Completed in 1886, the chapel was built by José do Canto, a gentleman-farmer, following the death of his wife, Maria Guilhermina Taveira Brum do Canto, from a terminal illness. Located near his summer home on the lake, the chapel was built on an elevation on the embankment and caused quite the stir upon its completion with its high ceilings, pyramid-like spire and stained glass windows.

Upon Canto’s death, he was laid to rest here beside his wife.

The chapel can be viewed from the path alongside the lake but you can also pay 3 euro to enter the José do Canto Forest Garden where you can inspect the chapel up close. The garden has nice trails, one of which leads to a high, narrow waterfall and many of the trees from around the world are labeled and includes a giant sequoia.

Upon your entry from the parking lot, make sure to pay attention to the Garden of Lagoa das Furnas on your left for the figures carved into the trees…it is also a great spot to have a picnic.

After leaving the garden and lake area, we headed over to the Fumarolas da Lagoa das Furnas…the caldeiras on the northern side of the lake. Though there are areas for bathing, we decided to walk around the area. The ground was steaming and there were holes with boiling water beside the raised wooden walkways.

What is most significant about this area is that chefs from several Furnas restaurants prepare a special local meal here at the site. Cozido, a stew that is prepared by being placed inside the caldera, harnesses the heat from the earth and cooks inside the ground. Though we did not get to try the stew, I was told that it tends to smell like sulfur but is quite unique.

As the day was drawing to a close, we made our way back to Ponta Delgado to rest our weary bodies and make our plan for the next day. So much more to see and do!

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Chapel of Our Lady of Victories and José do Canto Forest Garden

Address: Lagoa das São Miguel, Furnas, Portugal
Hours: October through March, 0900-1700, April through September, 0900-1900, daily. Closed January 1 and December 25.
Admission: 3€

The Tulip Quiz

What kind of flowers grow in the Netherlands?

Why, tulips, of course!

Everyone should know this answer!

Now, does everyone know the tulip’s origins? Where the tulip got its name? Or how many varieties of tulips there are?

Despite my love of the beautiful flower that I plant in my yard every year, I must confess, I knew none of these answers.

A rainy afternoon, led me through the saturated streets of Amsterdam to the small museum located on Prinsengracht. Though my umbrella was in rough shape when I arrived, the museum was light and airy…and dry!

After paying my admission and watching an introductory film, it was time to head downstairs to the exhibition rooms. So much tulip information is presented here from its origins, to how it arrived in Holland and the roles it played in Dutch history and in current times. An additional film is also presented on the street level which identifies what transpires in each season for the farmers who grow them. I have to admit, I was intrigued! I guess I thought that I knew more than I really did!

See how much you know…

Is the tulip native to Holland? Tulips originated in the high plains of Central Asia, (present day Kazakhstan and surrounding countries) and can still be found growing wild in many areas. Recognized as something special, the tulips were brought to Turkey and introduced to the gardens of dignitaries. Suleyman the Great, the ruler of the Ottoman Regime, a plant enthusiast, gave bulbs to De Busbecq, a Flemish scientist, who worked in the court. In turn, De Busbecq passed some on to Carolus Clusius, a friend and another Flemish scientist, medical doctor and botanist during the 16th century. As a professor at the University of Leiden and the head of the Hortus Botanicus, founded in 1590, he planted the bulbs, but did not share his knowledge of them. When the bulbs were stolen and subsequently sold, this was the beginning of the commercial tulip trade in the Netherlands.

How did the tulip get its name? Because it was a symbol of power and wealth, Ottoman sultans wore the tulip on their turbans. Since the tulip’s shape resembles a turban, the Latin word tulipa (derived from the Persian word tulipan, meaning turban) became commonly used.

How many kinds of tulips are there? One. There is one kind. The tulip. This statement is quite misleading, however, because there are many different groups of tulips each with their own specific characteristics and classified into a system of 15 different groups, broken down into shape, heritage and flowering season.

Where do tulips grow best? Tulips like sandy-clay soil in areas not far from coastal areas as well as mild winters and summers. Because of this, tulips tend to grow well in certain parts of Holland, however, they may grow successfully in other parts of the world provided the soil conditions are similar and they receive at least six hours of sunlight daily.

What is the best time to plant tulips? The only time of year to plant tulips is during the fall, more specifically, from October until mid-December. The bulbs need to develop good roots before winter starts and the frost penetrates the soil and should be planted twice as deep as the height of the bulb.

Will tulips return every year? In warmer climates, not likely. In zones 3-8, it is possible but not guaranteed. In cooler climates, it is more likely providing the bulbs are planted extra deep, watered well, protected with extra mulch and fertilized.

Should bulbs be dug up every year? In warmer climate zones, digging of the tulip bulbs is advised after the flowering periods and new bulbs planted during the following fall season. For zones 3-8, the bulbs do not need to be removed.

How to care for cut tulips? The tulip stems should be cut at an angle and placed in a water-filled vase. Care should be taken to ensure that the flowers remain in a cool area during the night and narcisses/daffodils should not be placed in the same container as they produce a toxic substance detrimental to other flowers.

Were tulips bulbs once eaten? During the winter of 1944-1945, starvation in Amsterdam was rampant and many died. Since the bulbs had a high percentage of starch, they began to be sold as food. After removing the brown skin and remnants of the roots, the bulbs were cut in half, the flower stem removed and then washed thoroughly. They were then cooked for about a half an hour and coincidentally, tasted much like potatoes.

Can tulips be brought to your home country (USA)? Ensure that the bulbs have been approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Flower bulbs remaining within the European community can be exported throughout Europe with no problems.

So, how many did you get right?

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The Tulip Museum

http://www.amsterdamtulipmuseum.com/en/
Address: Prinsengracht 116; 1015 EA Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Hours: Daily, 1000-1800. Closed April 27 and December 25.
Admission: Adults, €5.00, Children, €3.00 and Families, €10.00
Getting There: Located in the Jordan district, near the Anne Frank museum.

Barges of Blooms

One of the most colorful and fragrant places in Amsterdam, the Bloemenmarkt, or Amsterdam Flower Market, is the only floating flower market in the world.

Located on the renowned Singel Canal, the market dates from 1862, the flower stalls stand on houseboats and remind visitors of the old days when the market was supplied daily by boat on the Amstel River. Comprised of fixed barges, each with a glasshouse built atop, it provides the the optimum environment for flowers throughout the year. Throughout the market, there is an abundance of activity and merchandise with tulips, narcissus, geraniums, snowdrops, carnations, violets, peonies, orchids and other types of flowers available for purchase. The flowers are available as bouquets, single flowers and bulbs and a large variety of the bulbs are packaged and ready for export (be sure they have a customs cleared stamp on the packet). House plants, herbs and seeds can also be found.

Even when not in full bloom as during the spring and summer months, the market is worth a visit. During December, there are Christmas trees, wreaths and other greenery.

If you don’t want to go thought the hassle of visiting agriculture upon your re-entry into the United States, there are a wide variety of Dutch souvenirs available for purchase, including clogs, wooden tulips and cheese.

Rain or shine, if you love color and flowers, make the Bloemenmarkt a part of your trip to the Venice of the North. Though the best months to experience the market is in March, April or May, it is a great spot to find tulips or just enjoy the atmosphere at any time of the year!

For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

The Bloemenmarkt

Address: Singel 630-600, 1017 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 0900-1730, Sunday, 1130-1730
Admission: free
Getting There: The Amsterdam Flower Market is located on the Singel canal between the Koningsplein and the Muntplein. Tram lines 1, 2, 5 and 16 can be taken from Central Station.