Madurodam is a very special place - a Holland in miniature. This 'smallest city ' in Holland has 1148 buildings and objects created at a 1:25 scale, along with 13,000 inhabitants, not counting the visiting birds and ducks. It is located near Den Haag. Opened in 1952 as a memorial to POW Lt. George Maduro *1916-1945* by his parents, the organization supports young people's charities.

A duck in the 'canal' sets the scale of this wonderland.	A typical Dutch courtyard with the drake in it!
Holland has quite a few old museum/castles - and Muiderslot, near Amsterdam, has been restored.	The Rijksmuseum is a recognizable scalemodel here.
trains planes and ships; Dutch commerce was not forgotten	And here the Queen and her entourage are on parade.

A street scene with little cars that go round the block	and a tourboat in the canal

Some of the exhibits have activities which can be set into motion with a tiny ten-cent coin- little white cars race around, the Princess Beatrix Locks fill and empty as cargo vessels pass on the rivers, the fun fair rides go on and on, cargo ships have fires and fireboats help cool off the holds and put out the blaze... and there are many more such things.

A special feature this time were the ice carvings shown in the Exhibition Hall. It was cold in there, of course... about 5-10-degrees C. Chinese ice carving artists have created and maintained a collection of large ice sculptures. Polar bears, dragons, buildings,and- most fun for the children - a pair of ice slides pointing them towards the exit doors. -

The room was dark and this ice critter had a blue light coming through him	These klompen would yield some icy toes!

Now back to Sequim news... and Calendar

On The Sequim area Calendar for April and May:

• The Irrigation Festival draws nearer each week - preparations everywhere.




• for all you railroad buffs: Model Train and Railroad show and sale, in Grey Wolf Elementary School, April 21, and 22.

© Helen Hille and deebrrs, 2001