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A30 world news
Diasabra 10 aPriL 2021

Visitors tiptoe through the tulips in Dutch virus test

(AP) — Finally, after nounced this week that hun-
bleak winter months of dreds of public venues would
a coronavirus lockdown, be allowed to reopen under
springtime shoots of hope strict conditions to evalu-
emerged Friday as restric- ate whether rapid testing can
tions were relaxed at a safely help the country ease
Dutch flower garden and coronavirus restrictions amid
other public venues. rising levels of vaccinations
and warmer weather.
Under a government-ap- Under the scheme, visitors
proved pilot scheme, the to the Keukenhof — as well
world-famous Keukenhof as museums, zoos and other
garden opened its gates to let venues — are allowed entry
a few thousand people tiptoe if they order a ticket online
through the 7 million tulips, and get a negative virus test
hyacinths, daffodils and myr- within 40 hours of their visit.
iad other flowers meticulous- All virus tests are free and a
ly hand-planted throughout result is emailed within an
its manicured lawns by a hour to the tested person.
small army of gardeners. That code, in turn, can be
A maximum of 5,000 visitors scanned at venues.
were allowed into the garden, The tests come against a
nestled amid the pancake flat backdrop of stubbornly high
bulb fields between Amster- infections that have begun
dam and The Hague, if they The Keukenhof lost an en- of 50 soccer fields can ac- kenhof’s paths, park benches edging lower in the past week
could show proof that they tire season last year to the commodate 10 times as many and cafes are crowded with after months of lockdown.
had just tested negative for pandemic as the first deadly visitors each day. visitors from around the Health Minister Hugo de
COVID-19. wave of infections swept over Park director Bart Siemerink world taking photos and self- Jonge sees the limited open-
Minke Kleinen, who visited the Netherlands. Its sched- had mixed feelings. ies with one of the Nether- ings as a way of easing back
the central city of Arnhem uled March 20 opening this “Of course, happy today. It’s lands’ most iconic products toward normal life as vacci-
with her friend Ilse van Eg- year never happened because the first day of Keukenhof — the tulip. nations reach more and more
ten, said it felt like their “first of the country’s strict virus 2021,” he said, but added that On Friday, small groups people.
legal day out.” The friends lockdown. the park still felt different of visitors were scattered Visiting the Keukenhof felt
took rapid tests before setting The limited opening — six with such a relatively small around the lawns. You could like a privilege for those who
off and got their negative re- days spread over two weeks number of visitors. get a plate of poffertjes — a got in.
sults by email as they drove. in April — is welcome to “So it’s a good feeling that Dutch treat of tiny pancakes “This is a gift,” said blogger
“It feels strange that we can the 40 gardeners who spend we can open, but this is not covered in icing sugar — Berry de Nijs. “It feels great
stand next to one another,” months preparing for the an- Keukenhof as it’s supposed to without having to wait in a today. It is beautiful weather
said Van Egten, giving Klein- nual spring season. In a nor- be,” he said. long line. anyway ... but to walk through
en a quick hug. “It’s nice!” mal year, the garden the size In pre-pandemic years, Keu- The Dutch government an- the tulips is fantastic!”

Archeologists unearth an ancient pharaonic city in Egypt

(AP) — Egyptian arche- city, built on the western
ologists have unearthed bank of the Nile River, was
a 3,000-year-old lost city, once the largest administra-
complete with mud brick tive and industrial settlement
houses, artifacts, and tools of the pharaonic empire, he
from pharaonic times. added.
Last year, archeologists start-
Noted archeologist Zahi Ha- ed excavating in the area,
wass said an Egyptian mis- searching for the mortuary
sion discovered the mortuary temple of King Tutankha-
city in the southern province mun. However, within
of Luxor. It dates back to weeks, the statement said, ar-
what is considered a golden cheologists found mud bricks
era of ancient Egypt, the pe- formations that eventually
riod under King Amenhotep turned out to be a well-pre-
III of the 18th dynasty. served large city. City walls,
“Many foreign missions and even rooms filled with
searched for this city and utensils used in daily life are
never found it,” Hawass said said to be present.
in a statement Thursday. The “The archaeological lay-

ers have laid untouched for the west bank of the Nile in important archeological find
thousands of years, left by the Luxor. The city continued to since the tomb of Tutankha-
ancient residents as if it were be used by Amenhotep III’s mun.
yesterday,” the press release grandson Tutankhamun, and King Tut became a household
said. then his successor King Ay. name and helped renew in-
The newly unearthed city is Betsy Brian, Professor of terest in ancient Egypt when
located between the temple Egyptology at John Hopkins his tomb in the Valley of the
of King Rameses III and the University, said the discovery Kings was discovered nearly
colossi of Amenhotep III on of the lost city was the most fully intact in 1922.