2002 letter about AALSMEER FLOWER AUCTION

We did visit the flower auction this morning, and it was mind-blowing to put it mildly. It is a huge building – the size of many football fields (!) but only a couple of stories high. On the ground floor are literally hundreds of workers on all kinds of motorized bikes, carts, tractors, etc., each going a different way at different speeds. Some are pulling trolleys loaded with the most beautiful flowers of every description. Others seem to be on their way to pick up stuff. It can only be described as organized mayhem. Tourists walk on a cat-walk overlooking the flower floor. You literally cannot see the end of the catwalk from its beginning because the other end is so far away.

Excerpt from 2005 letter about AALSMEER

Monday morning was scheduled to be our last day at the campground that is most convenient to downtown Amsterdam. We moved to the campground that is close to the RV storage area and the airport. On Tuesday we went once again to view the amazing wholesale flower auction/market. This time we brought a videocam so we can capture the amazing speed at which everything moves and the noise of so many people going every different way.

As those who read our letters in 2002 know, this building is huge (its size is the equivalent of many football fields). It handles incredible number of flowers. There are thousands of trucks waiting to be loaded with flowers for transport everywhere. They travel to markets here and to the airport for shipment to America and other non-European countries by jet.