Venlo Floriade 2012

The evening meal turned out to be a little disappointing. We did to set off to the recommended restaurant to around 9:00pm. We had taken advantage to sitting in the garden and had been filled up with of apple cake on arrival so on reflection set off too late. The first restaurant looked like they had stopped serving food so we drove to back past the B&B to the small town we had past on the way to the B&B. The two restaurants there had also stopped serving. It was then on to the next largest town about another 6 miles away where we eventually found a snack bar. A pizza was ordered and it turned out to be acceptable and even had a freshly made base.
Breakfast in the B&B the next morning was excellent. We shared had table with a Dutch couple and so were able to practice our English. It was a pity we had only booked for one night. The B&B was one of the best we had stayed in as the Dutch couple said “it is special”.







It was then onto the Floriade . The exhibition is held every 10 years and we last visited it in 2002. This exhibition is being held in Venlo around a 20 minute drive from the B&B. The park and ride car park is a short bus ride from the main site.



It is almost impossible to see everything in one day. We started with a testing session of Dutch produce and slowly worked our way around the site.








The Rabo earthwalk was particularly effective. You walked up a slope around the outside of a tower. Then entered a large room towards the top and stood on glass floor whilst a film was projected beneath our feet. It gave the effect of “floating” in a balloon and looking down on the earth and fields below. Other exhibitions including a garden where you become a “bee” and had to scan the bar code (not the flower head)next to suitable flowers. You were rewarded with a points score at the end a free sample of bee friendly flowers. For the record we scored 45 and become a “master bee”. The score may have been helped by scanning some of the flower more than once.











We left the Floriade at around 6.00pm for the drive to Limbourg. “Kate” predicted a journey of just over 2 hours. She tends to be a little optimistic and she did not allow for us filling up with diesel before crossing into Germany. The actual journey time was around 2 hours 30 minutes. Kate took us straight to the hotel. It conveniently located just off the motorway and a short walk from the town centre. The receptionist recommended a restaurant a short drive away from the town. The kitchen opened and till 9:30 so at least we stood a change of getting feed. We selected a schnitzel each served with salad and chips and a tomato and paprika sauce and wheat beer.