Samyu and her friends(Lewis, Yusef and Zerina) were middle school graduates from India, selected for a cultural trip to the Netherlands for 3 weeks. This blog narrates you about their journey together as four that the memory were much better, since...
On a fine day at The Hague as we continued walking to the inner city, the light painted our skin so warmly, the trees were dancing ladies, each dressed more fabulous than any designer can craft. They moved, choreographed by the wind, in perfect time with one another and we wondered how many shades of green our eyes had witnessed.
But it was time to say goodbye to the lively central part of The Hague and we head to Madurodam. I and Zerina began singing and recording our favorite songs until we reached our next destination. We were already becoming tired by that point.
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We stepped into miniature Holland.
We had to wait in line to get our entrance ticket and it was a little expensive, but I have to say, what followed next was worth every euro and every cent, "paisa vasool" as we say in India. We were given an orange card that allowed us to enter various play areas(I understood nothing because it was all written in Dutch). I kept glancing towards the kids there to figure out how to utilize it and also asked Juliette for guidance. I had no idea such a miniature place existed and it was fun to look around.
Luckily we went there during spring when the canals were filled with water and flowers were in bloom.
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The detail in which the miniaturization has been done was absolutely mind-boggling. We had seen many of the buildings displayed here, but could never imagine that they were actually so beautiful. The museum buildings, the churches and cathedrals, commercial buildings, Utrecht central railway station, the Schiphol airport, the Rotterdam port, the trains moving around the city, especially the Intercity and Thalys were completely mind-blowing.
In the park, we spent our time playing various water activities. For example, you can regulate port traffic, play the Hansje Brinker game(which was everyone's favorite) to avoid the park from getting wet, or close the Oosterscheldekering(barriers between islands) in time so that the Netherlands does not get flooded. Sounds unimaginable and fun, right?
We were careful not to get the park and the Netherlands flooded, but our dresses became heavy and wet at the end of the games. We had so much fun in the adults as well as in the kids' play area. There was joy and laughter, and we lived in the moment to the fullest!
