Madurodam

Welcome to Madurodam! It is a neat little village that shows the highlights of all Holland in 1/25th of the original size. It is so cute! It is like a miniature country with mini people and mini cars. This is the dream land for any model builder. They have ships, planes, houses, towers, flowers, cheese, horses, trams, busses, and the high speed Thalys train. They have it all!

When you walk up the first thing is they give you an idea of where you’re located in comparison to the rest of the world. I love these signs; I always think they are fun. I also learned mom and dad are approximately 9,000+ km away. I waved, I doubt they saw.

The next famous Dutch boy…Hans Brinker the boy who stuck first his finger, then his whole arm in the dike so that it wouldn’t break and flood Haarlem. Yup, Haarlem. If it wasn’t for little ol’ Hans, Haarlem wouldn’t be a town.

Madurodam was opened in 1952 as a war monument and a charity foundation. One of the initiators was Mrs. Maduro. Mr. and Mrs. Maduro wanted to erect a monument in memory of their only son, George, who died of typhus while in the Dachau concentration camp. The Maduro’s met Mrs. Boon-van der Starp who wanted to raise money to help support a sanatorium who helped students with tuberculosis recover. The costs of running such an institution are high and she had heard about a miniature English city who’s revenues were so high the owners were able to make large donations to surround hospitals. An architect was approached about helping to build the miniature city and drew up some plans for a scale of a happy Dutch city to be 1:25 of the original size. Everyone that was approached about this project was very enthusiastic about it, including the mayor of The Hague who donated the piece of land in the ‘Scheveningse Bosjes’ in the form of a long lease. Students from the Delft Technical University helped to clear the land and so began Madurodam. The visitor center was built in 1996 and the Schipol airport received a complete renovation in 2003 to include space for the planes to taxi via magnetic fields. It is pretty cool!!!

The detail they have in all of the buildings/models is amazing. This church looks just like the real thing, just 1/25th the size! It had mini stained glass windows and everything. I'll have to track down the real one....

Below, the little people are trading cheese the traditional way in the Gouda market. I have no idea how cheese is traded today, but I'm sure they have a much more "sophisticated" way than this. I would love to see this done though! The mini people just work so hard!

Kelly and I had to take a picture next to the Frans Hals Museum. The real museum is located in Haarlem. We have not yet been, but maybe with our next visitors. The museum contains works of art from the 17th, 18th, and 19th century along with works from Frans Hals himself. It looks to be very interesting!

Its not the Netherlands if Anne Frank's house is not part of it. They have mini representation of it at Madurodam. Such an important piece of history cannot be left out!

The famous Dam Square. I don't know how many times I have walked around, and around, and around this square. The Royal Palace is also there along with the church we have not yet been inside. One of these trips.....

Since Kelly and I are being offered this amazing experience through work, we figured we better take a picture with the creation of our livelyhood. The offshore rig in the North Sea. It was a pretty big model and to imagine it as 25 times as big is very difficult! I would love to visit one, someday!

So, its official. Tulip season at the Keukenhof opens next week on March 18th. I cannot wait to go see the gardens. This year's theme is "From Russia with Love." The pictures on the website make it look pretty spectacular! The official opening will be on March 17th by Mrs Svetlana Medvedeva, wife of the President of the Russian Federation, in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands. I would love to see Princess Maxima!! She is my idol! Sadly, though, duty calls and we must work that day. Definitely plan on hearing a review about the place next week though! I'm so excited for tulip season! Here is a picture of the mini version:

If its this pretty out of plastic and glass I can't wait for the real thing. Luckily the tulip fields are not too far away so it will give a whole new meaning for taking a cruise through the country side. Yay tulips!!!

Tomorrow I will finish telling about our Sunday tour of The Hague. After starting it off with Madurodam, it had to be a good day! I was just so happy Kelly and the girls like Madurodam so much. I am 2-0 for good travel reccomendations.