Hortus Botanicus.

Being in Amsterdam quite often nowadays, I have some favourite places to go. 

One, somewhere on the list of the 10 best places to visit is the beautiful Hortus Botanicus. Founded in 1638 by the Amsterdam City Council,  It is one of the oldest botanic gardens in the world.

At that time, herbs were of vital importance as the basis of medicines and the city had just experienced a plague epidemic. 

In the 17th and 18th Century the VOV (Dutch East India Company) ships brought those exotic ornamental plants and spices to the Hortus.

It is a joy to go there. I had never been there before till the 1th of January this year, when Jos took me there in the evening during the Amsterdam Light Festival. Our relation had just started. I remember we drank hot chocolat with rum while we could'nt keep eyes from eachother. And there was this orange moving artwork which was beautiful.

Bram and myself always had the plan to go there when we passed it with the cable-car. Strangly enough we have never been there together.

The Hortus. A quiet place right in the centre of Amsterdam. Surrounded by houses and the noise of the city, it seems those noises disappear in the place itself. The visitors are nature lovers, and they keep there noises down. 

It is just a little walk to go there.

For me -being a person who loves to be in the nature- it is the perfect place to go. It calms me down and brings me in balance. 

In the Orangerie is a little restaurant with a beautiful terrace. They serve good coffee and great cakes. 

There are beautiful old glasshouses filled with exotic palms. It is like traveling through the world.

Now, Spring has arrived. It gets greener and lusher by the day.

I am sure I will go there many times the coming seasons.

Close to the Hortus (right behind Museum De Hermitage) is a new garden named:
"De Hoftuin". Also a quiet place, with a lovely little restaurant right in the centre.

 There was this little field of bright coloured tulips.

For Nature lovers Amsterdam has also a lot to offer.