Let It Snow!

Den Hauge, Netherlands –

The lady at the ticket counter turned around to look at me and burst into song.

“Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!”

I smiled and joined in for a brief refrain myself.

“Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!”

No, I had not stepped into a musical.

Nor had I entered into an alternate reality like you see in certain TV shows, where the characters burst into song whenever the mood strikes them.

Nope, I had just had the good timing to walk into the ticket lobby at Madurodam as a heavy snow was picking up steam.

Not that the snow has anything to do with steam. That would have a tendency to melt it as it fell.

No, this was a lot of snow that was falling.

We’re talking big, fat flakes, and lots of them.

And here I am, asking to see the miniature version of the Netherlands, where the flakes that are falling rival in size the people that inhabit the scenes I’m about to see.

It was kinda like stepping into an alternate reality, where bolder-sized snowflakes were falling on everyone’s head.

Definitely a somewhat unique perspective.

After all, it’s not every day that you have the chance to see a windmill in a blizzard.

Or a Sea Gull as big as a plane sitting on top of the airport.

Well, that one might be a common occurrence, at least here, at Madurodam.

See, I remember learning about the miniature version of Holland when I was a young kid.

I don’t remember if it was something we learned in class, or something that was in one of those Weekly Readers, a kind of newspaper for kids, that we would receive from time to time. I just remember seeing a picture of it, with the giant-sized people looking at it, and something, somewhere in the recesses of my mind decided that it would be interesting to see if I ever got the chance.

Well, today’s my chance.

And boy is it snowing.

Well, why let a little snow get in my way?

To be honest, I have no choice. Everywhere I look, there’s snow.

In my way.

Oh well.

Still, it provides me a chance to see what it’ll be like to visit the various sights around the country in the snow.

Not that there’ll be snow when I visit them.

And up till now, there hasn’t been snow when I’ve visited them.

But still, if by chance there is snow when I visit, on some future trip, I’ll already have a preview of what it’ll be like.

When I was a kid, I had the impression that they had reproduced the entire country in miniature. Of course, at that age, the logistics of such an undertaking never entered into my thinking. Now, as an adult, I understand that, as small a country as the Netherlands might be, a miniature version would still be very large, and would be impossible to keep up to date.

The only reasonable option would be to do exactly what they have done, create a small set of highlights of the country. That would keep everything to a manageable undertaking.

So, I find it intriguing how they’ve selected various structures from around the country to include.

You’ve got your historical section, with some traditional-style buildings, cathedrals, the Binnenhof, the Concertgebouw, and other significant buildings that have been here for centuries.

Then you’ve got your modern section with a couple of corporate headquarters, a theater where Broadway musicals are performed, a couple of factories, and other structures that have been around for significantly fewer years.

In between you’ve got the transportation section, which includes Schiphol Airport, a major highway (complete with lots of cars racing along), both the Groeningen Train Station as well as a much more modern one from another city, and ferries carrying people and cars out of a small harbor.

No bicycles though, those are all in the city scenes with lots of pedestrians and other people-activity.

Then there’s the industrial sections, with sea-based industries closest to the main entrance. It has a few modern windmills, with an interactive component where visitors can control the wind (to a limited degree). Then there’s the ship that visitors can start on fire, and then operate one of two firefighting ships to try and aim their hoses toward the burning ship.

Yes, I get that they want to include all aspects of the country in here. They want to make sure that every important element is represented. And they want some activities to keep everyone somewhat entertained.

But just who decides what to include and what to leave out? And how do they decide? On what basis?

Some of the modern corporate headquarters, while mostly being distinctive buildings, are still functioning as advertisements. Are they? Are they the Madurodam equivalent of product placement ads, where the companies have paid a fee to be included?

I mean, come on. A produce distribution center is an architecturally significant building? Nope, it looks pretty much like every other one in every modern country. The only obvious reason to include it is that it is a significant corporation within the country, and so needed to be represented, somehow.

Either that or they paid to be here.

My money’s on the latter.

The snow slowly tapered off during my visit, so that there were just a few flakes still swirling around on the wind as I was making my exit.

Back in the main entrance building, I found a couple of other exhibits that I wished had somehow been included out in the main exhibit, but didn’t really fit. One was a scene from Oliver’s Travels, with the body of Oliver lying prone on his back, while surrounded by the Lilliputians who were holding him down with ropes staked to the ground.

Somehow, it fit with the theme of the place, yet didn’t belong…

For more photos of Madurodam, click here.