Madurodam – A small world

Saturday posts will now be dedicated to travel... I'll talk about all the lovely places I've visited... *smiles*... and take you on my journey... !!

Have you been to Madurodam…?? the smallest city in Netherlands! This is the one destination in the world… where I entered the gates of Madurodam and my heart, mind and soul turned into a 5 year old. I forgot all about the exhibition and conference that I was in Amsterdam for. About 2 and half hours train ride and then a 15 mins bus ride away from Amsterdam, Madurodam is a miniature city. All buildings are built to scale 1:25. All the iconic places and monuments in Holland have a small home here… from the canals and typical dutch scenes… to the docks and the railway station… from the airport to the normal city roads and cafes… from the cathedrals and forts to the cheese factory.

The precision with which this space is made is just remarkable and unbelievable. The stained glass on the church window… to the abbot’s costumes… to the detailed forts and other buildings… You just want to run around the place… and be a child again.

What amazed me the most… was that the cars, trains and ships actually moved… Yippee!!! Yes they did!!! You could see cars speeding on the highways.. and the ships docking… Oh!! And here in the sea.. there are actually real fish!!! You can also see people waiting at the railway station… and the trains moving all around the miniature city. Then at the airport… the planes actually move on the run way.. as if to take off or land… Its just unbelievable.

To show the Dutch street image as realistic as possible, a great attention is given to the surroundings of the scale models. Plants are an important part of that. Small-leafed trees and shrubs are used. All trees are pruned to sixty centimetres when they normally grow to be 15 meters high!!!

Enjoy some more photos on My Flickr… and if ever in Amsterdam… this is a must visit!! Plan a visit and write to me, I’ll sure show you the way!!