Gouda today, better tomorrow.

So we jumped in the automobile that was the red rocket and headed from the disputed zone of Belgium over the Northern border to the land of expensive petrol, wooden shoes, unending bike paths and cheese. The later being the more important to us.
So we went to our next accommodation, which was a beautiful little house in a gorgeous garden of two artists. The little studio while not stunning with the interior it was certainly a lovely place. It was so quiet and just fabulous we even spent a day where instead of"touring" we sat in the garden in the sun reading and talking.

On our first day we decided to go to the nearby town of Gouda. Famous for one thing..... yes cheese.
To put it bluntly, Gouda is more bland than the cheese they are most famous for. There isn't really any pretty architecture apart from the cheesehouse/townhall thing.
It probably rocks more when the cheese market is on. However, it just doesn't seem to have the feel of the little Belgian towns we had just left, and other Dutch towns and cities we visited later. It may have been because it was the first town we went to in Holland so it was a "culture shock" after the idle world of Flanders, but it just didn't have any feeling to it. As Darryl Kerrigan would say, it doesn't have a vibe at all. It did allow us however to buy and try lots of cheese.... so there was a positive.

The more famous of the cheese shops in town.
Packed to the rafters with cheese.
Aged, and flavoured cheeses are to be found here.
Even this one that had sambal in it!
Yep, there is plenty of cheese there!

It does make me feel sorry for American persons though. When in this store we were listening to one who was complaining that in the good old US of A you can't get decent cheese and he was trying to determine if he could get a few kilos through customs and if it would stay at its peak. He was however, looking at a Gouda in the shape of a clog at the time..... ohhhhh say can you see...... Never a dull moment when tourists are about!