5/5 Seevali De A. 4 years ago on Google
Gone
!
-
Gone
!!-
Gooooone
!!!-
20
Million
Flowers
a
day!
I
visited
the
Aalsmeer
flower
auction
at
about
8am
on
Wednesday
8th
May
2019.
The
tickets
cost
€8
for
adults,
€5
for
children
6-11
and
free
to
smaller
children.
Tickets
are
available
at
the
Visitor
centre.
The
auction
starts
at
7am
from
Monday
to
Friday
and
continues
until
11am
except
on
Thursdays
when
it
closes
at
0900.
After
purchasing
my
ticket,
I
walked
up
the
short
staircase
to
the
visitor's
bridge
at
the
auction
complex.
The
sheer
size,
the
enormity
of
the
open
floor
took
me
by
surprise.
I
later
learnt
that
the
floor
space
at
this
FloraHolland
warehouse
is
1,300,000
square
meters.
The
visitor's
bridge
is
about
4
to
5
metres
above
the
floor
of
the
warehouse
and
at
least
200
metres
long.
Like
the
other
visitors,
I
too
walked
along
the
bridge
towards
the
auction
rooms,
observing
the
movement
below
of
large
numbers
of
mini
electric
powered
transport
trains
loaded
with
containers
of
flowers
and
plants
moving
on
a
network
of
crisscross
railway
system.
From
the
height
of
the
walkway,
I
could
not
help
admiring
the
design
of
that
accurate,
precise
and
predetermined
movement
of
those
flower-full
containers
as
in
a
mini
train
system.
The
visitors
cannot
get
any
closer
to
the
actual
flowers
than
when
standing
on
this
elevated
walkway
above
the
busy
floor.
The
emphasis
here
is
on
the
flowers,
not
on
the
tourists.
They
come
here
to
see
the
massive
floral
auction,
where
millions
of
flowers
are
traded
daily
in
a
very
efficient
manner.
The
auction
rooms,
where
the
flowers
are
traded
are
at
the
far
end
of
the
bridge.
Visitors
cannot
enter
the
auction
rooms
reserved
for
traders
and
buyers.
It
is
similar
to
a
large
lecture
room
for
300-400
students
with
their
computers
on
the
desk.
The
two
electronic
circular
auction
clocks
replace
the
teacher's
board.
The
information
needed
by
the
bidders,
the
price,
number
of
flowers
per
container,
minimum
number
of
containers
that
can
be
purchased
as
well
as
quality
and
seller
info
etc.
appear
on
this
clock.
The
bidding
starts
at
a
high
price
as
seen
from
the
position
of
the
ball
on
the
circular
clock.
As
the
price
drops,
the
ball
on
the
clock
drops
too
stopping
when
the
lot
has
been
purchased.
Every
offer
takes
only
a
few
seconds
before
completion.
I
understand
that
30
million
flowers
with
a
turnover
of
8.8
million
Euros
are
traded
here
in
one
single
day.
Once
sold,
the
containers
are
directed
to
the
buyer,
who
would
remove
them
for
redistribution
or
export.
It
was
a
fantastic
experience
watching
this
flower
auction
in
action!
Note
-
This
is
only
an
auction.
To
see
flowers
at
close
hand
and
enjoy
their
beauty
we
visited
"Keukenohoff"
gardens.
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