We had an early morning, heading out of the hostel at six fifteen to visit Royal Flora Holland. There we went on an auction tour where we were able to see the largest flower auction in the world. We got an amazing view of workers moving around different flowers in order for them to be shipped out. It is amazing how so many people are able to drive around with there carts moving around flowers extremely efficiently. I also found it interesting how they have been around for over one hundred years and many processes have been implemented over these years. We then were able to simulate our own auction which was neat to be able to be in the shoes of auctioneers. 

Our next stop was a cute little village called Aalsmeer where we got to walk around, look in shops and stopped at a bakery and coffee shop. The environment and culture of this town was very different from Amsterdam because it was very slow paced and not many people around whereas Amsterdam is the exact opposite.

Finally, we headed to a guided tour of a third generation tulip farm where we learned a lot about the process of growing and harvesting bulbs. We got there right before the end of the season and seeing the open fields of tulips was beautiful. Daan Jansze taught us that most of the bulbs are planted in clay and the types of flowers are rotated each year. It is interesting how they are very sustainable and on the business side, it was cool to see how they decided if they want to sell the bulb or tulip. If the price of selling tulips is high, they will sell tulips, but if it is low, they would rather sell bulbs because then it is also easier to replant. This mindset is very important in the business world, having to think of all aspects to make the best decision. Overall, today was a great day where we learned a lot about the tulip industry.