Nothing symbolizes the Netherlands like the tulip, a magically bright flower that can be seen in almost every window box in the country. They’re wildly popular though they are today – Dutch farmers produce nine billion bulbs a year – their status was even higher in the past.

The first tulips were cultivated in the Ottoman Empire for the sultan’s court in Constantinople. Merchants brought them to Holland, they did not thrive in the damp, chilly climate until 1587. That was when a Flemish botanist called Carolus Clusius founded Europe’s first institute for horticulture in Leiden and began to study their growth. Despite his success, tulips remained rare and expensive, and a garden full of tulips became a status symbol for Dutch merchants.

The lovely “feathered tulip,” which has broken color patterns and is more difficult to produce, was the most prestigious. By the 1630s, the demand for the flower in Holland became almost insatiable. Dutch businessmen began to speculate on the prices of tulip bulbs, which could change radically from one crop to the next, depending on the seasons and the harvest.

A craze later dubbed “tulipmania” took over Holland as bidding on the flowers became frenzied. Fortunes were won and lost. Prices kept rising to astronomical levels. In 1635, a single white Semper Augustus bulb was sold for 10,000 florins – that’s about $7000 today – and clerics denounced “flower gambling” from the pulpit.

Two years later, the bubble burst. Families were wiped out overnight, and many investors committed suicide. But eventually, the market reached rational levels. The Dutch decided that other flowers – daffodils, irises, hyacinths and gladioli – were almost as alluring as the tulip.

Discover the wonders of the West through its best-known national parks, gold-mining towns, and old saloons on a driving vacation.  Along the way you are sure to take in some these breathtaking views:

The most beautifully placed classical site in all of Greece may be Delphi, the remote mountain sanctuary of Apollo: It lies in a natural amphitheater with views that sweep a hundred miles across ever-receding valleys to the molten sapphire of the sea. In ancient times, pilgrims would travel from all over the Mediterranean to consult the famous Delphic oracle. The priestesses of Apollo would breath “magical gases” that seeped from a crack in the earth and gibber out prophecies that were believed to come directly from the god. The fame of these ecstatic ravings soon turned Delphi into a thriving miniature city, and the offerings of gold and treasure left for Apollo made it the richest sanctuary in Greece, prompting modern historians to dub it “the Fort Knox of antiquity.” As visitors climbed the steep steps below Mount Parnassus, they passed through a veritable Aladdin’s Cave of golden statues, pearl-encrusted breastplates, silver idols and bejeweled swords, before arriving in front of a narrow cave, where the ritual was enacted. Today, we can get an idea of the questions Greeks asked the oracle of Apollo from a surviving papyrus record. They are not so very different from those we might ask a fortune-teller today: Will I get the money? Am I to become a beggar? Am I to become a Senator? Am I to be divorced form my wife/husband? Have I been poisoned? Historians once assumed that the ecstacies of the priestesses were self-induced. But in 2001, geologists discovered varying amounts of ethelyne gas seeping between the rocks at Delphi, which could easily induce incoherence and seizures – symptoms that the ancients would interpret as divinely induced states.

As the Nile enters Egypt, Aswan is your first stop. Here, feats of ancient architecture are juxtaposed with modern marvels of engineering like the High Dam and the Old Dam. The Old Dam was completed near the turn of the century, but it remains to this day the world’s widest dam. The idyllic island of Agilika, located on the waters between the two dams, boasts the incredible Temple of Isis, transplanted from the submerged island of Philae.

Back on shore, the ancient Granite Quaries feature a giant unfinished stone obelisk. As you cross the Nile in Aswan, a visit to Elephantine Island includes a discovery of the famed “nilometer,” an ancient flood gauge used to warn cities downstream of impending high water. Enjoy Kitchener Island’s lush Botanical Gardens before continuing on to the left bank and the splendid Aga Khan Mausoleum.

Sailing north on the mighty Nile, the glimmering town of Kom Ombo beckons. Haggle for bargains in the local market before ascending to the bluff-top temple dedicated to the crocodile and falcon gods.

Built in the time of Cleopatra around 2,000 years ago, the Temple of Horus is the pristinely-preserved pride of the city of Edfu. With its sheer vertical façade, elaborate hieroglyphics and stunning black stone statues, the temple is quintessential Egypt.

Follow the Nile River to Luxor and Karnak, the grandest cities of ancient Egypt, with a combined population of more than a million. To walk among the pillars of the colossal Temple of Amon Ra and along the Avenue of the Sphinxes is an experience to treasure for a lifetime.

Nearby, the Valley of Kings and Valley of Queens on the west bank of the Nile, is the glorious final resting place for generations of pharaohs and royalty. Sixty-two royal tombs have been uncovered so far including the amazingly well-preserved visage of King Tutankhamun, discovered in 1922. Nearby, visit the monumental rock temple of Deir El-Bahri and the truly colossal Colossi of Memnon, 60-foot tall pharaohs who stand guard over the valley.

Heading north toward the lush Nile Delta, Cairo is the bustling capital of Egypt and Africa’s largest metropolis. Nicknamed “The City of a Thousand Minarets,” it’s filled with Islamic architecture and steeped in history. The Egyptian Museum is filled with the artifacts and treasures of more than 3,000 years of Egyptian civilization. Stroll the narrow walkways of Old Cairo surrounded by stone-clad buildings. The 12th-century Citadel, the Alabaster Mosque, and the labyrinthine bazaar are highlights here.

Nearby, Giza beckons with the iconic Sphinx, and the Great Pyramids, the oldest (and most intact) of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Travel on to Sakkara, with its extraordinary “Stairway to the Sky,” the oldest of all pyramids. The archaeological playground of Memphis is next, boasting an immaculate 40-foot statue of Ramses II and the Alabaster Sphinx.

In the fertile Nile Delta, the seaside resort town of Alexandria is a delightful ending to any Nile exploration. Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C., this Mediterranean port city soon became one of the major centers of commerce and science of the Hellenistic world.

As we prepare for our virtual vacation and transport you to London, England with our latest blog series we can only imagine that you wish you were really boarding a double-decker bus, stopping at a local pub, or witnessing the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace in person.

Well today is your chance to enter to win a free vacation and other great travel prizes.  It’s simple.  Monograms is offering a grand prize vacation giveaway for 2 to a Monograms travel destination, including London.  The prize package is worth up to $7,500 and includes airfare.

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