Well, Trippist readers, I waited too long. I was going to post this picture of beautiful tulips and urge you all to head to the tulip fields of Noordwijkerhout. But rumor has it this gorgeous weather has scorched all the tulip fields! Keukenhof is a wasteland! OK, I exaggerate, but without the cool, rainy spring that we're used to, the flowers don't do quite as well.

That's OK, because there is plenty to enjoy in the Netherlands when the sun is shining. So gaze at this photo, and mark April 2012 as the month you need to take a bike ride through the fields to see these beautiful flowers in their natural (well, planted) setting. It will be worth the effort, I promise you!