Madurodam

I was a mere childwhen I first heard of Madurodam. I remember sitting in Mrs. Dubinsky’s fourth grade class at Brookside Elementary School when she brought up the miniature city while we were learning about the Low Countries. (Do they still call Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg the “Low Countries”?) Anyway, it caught my fancy immediately and has stayed with me for over forty years. If there is anyone reading this who doesn’t know of Madurodam, let me tell you about it. It is a miniature version of a Dutch city (scale of 1:25), located between Den Haag and Scheveningen. Let’s call it a tourist trap for kids of all ages who are into architecture. (Or pretending you're Gulliver visiting Lilliput – or even better, don an ape suit and pretend you’re King Kong on an European vacation– it can truly play into some wonderful juvenile fantasies.)

Last time we were in Netherlands, I couldn’t figure out how to get from Amsterdam to Madurodam, but now I know. And it is remarkably simple. You just waddle your cute little ass from your hotel to Amsterdam-Centraal, catch the train to Den Haag-Centraal, jump off the train and board tram #9, heading to Scheveningen. Before you get to Scheveningen, you disembark at the Madurodam stop. It is so simple and fairly quick. Less than an hour after leaving Amsterdam-Centraal, you can be paying € 13.50 to enter one of my lifelong flights of imagination. At least in theory you can do it in less than an hour.

Richard has yet to show great enthusiasm about Madurodam, but he is game to try. Well, he will be game to try after I whine and beg and kick and scream for long enough.