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The Gouda cheese market

Friday, July 20th, 2007

Cheese RowsYesterday Wendy and I went to the weekly cheese market in the town of Gouda (which is pronounced ‘Howda’, apparently), not far from Utrecht. It was very touristy but still quite pleasant and it was an enjoyable morning excursion. The main part of the market, in front of the pretty town hall, isn’t even a market at all but more like a recreation of how it might have been a couple of centuries ago. There were ‘cheese scientist’ men in white lab coats, cheese girls in checkered dresses and clogs, and prospective ‘buyers’ who engage in a bizarre bartering/high-fiving game with the scientists (picture: “5.50!” – high five – “3.50!” – high five – “5!” – high five – “4!” – high five – “4.50!” – high five – “Sold!”, or something to that effect). Huge amounts of cheese were set up on the ground and the buyers and workers load them onto horse-drawn carriages.

It was all pretty cheesy (pun absolutely intended), but it was still picturesque and fun and at least the characters/performers are paid by the city so they pose for photos and don’t turn nasty afterwards when demanding money like the Colosseum gladiators in Rome.

As for the cheese itself, we bought some from the actual market nearby but haven’t eaten any yet…

Utrecht Life

Tuesday, July 17th, 2007

HousesUtrecht is actually a pretty cool place (especially when compared with Doha!). The historic centre is quite pretty, with a sunken canal running through it, plenty of typical Dutch architecture, and the ‘Dom’, the country’s highest church tower. There are loads of restaurants and cafes around the canal area, and they’re usually packed at night and on weekends. But it’s not a touristy place at all, so that gives it a very real, local feel.

We have resisted the urge to get bicycles like everybody else, since we’ll only be here for four weeks. It’s about a 15-minute walk to the centre of town, and also to the tram stop, from where it takes 25 minutes to get to the office in Nieuwegein.

The weather has been pretty awful considering it’s supposed to be summer. We got absolutely soaked the first morning we were here while walking to the tram stop, and we’ve only had four or so nice days in two weeks. But the next few days are supposed to be quite nice so some relief is on the way…

WindmillsLast Saturday we took a bus to Kinderdijk, a World Heritage listed site that contains 19 traditional Dutch windmills. It was a pretty cool sight to see them all turning (they only work on Saturdays, these days) and a trip worth taking. We’re hoping to get to Gouda this Thursday for the cheese market, but we’ll have to ask for the day off first… Meanwhile Saturday would be a nice day to see something outside Utrecht, but it doesn’t look good now that the Wallabies and Socceroos both have big matches on the same day!

A brief jaunt through Europe

Friday, July 13th, 2007

When you've recently spent three months in West Africa and most of your travelling life in the Third World, you realise that Western Europe really is quite fun after all. Sure, it's not exciting culturally or religiously the same ... [Continue reading this entry]