Yesterday we came ashore in Rotterdam and took a shore excursion to Gouda ( locally pronounced something like “How-da,” except the H is more like a German or Hebrew CH.
Rotterdam is a thoroughly modern city. It was bombed flat in WW2, and rather than rebuilding what was, they decided to start afresh, giving architects free rein. One fascinating structure we saw but got no pictures of were the cube houses. You can probably google them. We went over the Erasmus Bridge. I had no idea how much of the shoreline of the Netherlands is land reclaimed and built up from the sea. The ever present canals are the water/land/flood control for the land.
We took an excursion to Gouda, where Gouda cheese, a cows’ milk product is made. Saw some interesting sights on our walking tour of the town.
This building was supposed to look like a hunk of Gouda cheese, but the architect didn’t know what Gouda looks like, so it came out more like Swiss.
Hier staat u! LOL!
One of many canals
The streets in Gouda are charming!
A door for my friend Sue Glaser
I just love funny signs!
A building of the Gouda square depicting the Lazarus and beggar story.
This was the Weigh House that farmers brought their cheeses to, to be certified for sale.
Today the Weigh House is a place to sample the local cheeses.
Above their heads and above the shops is the church, pretty well hidden.
They gave us a lovely tasting of three cheeses and a nice Sirah. The one on the left was a young Gouda; on the right was a well aged Gouda, and in the middle a goat cheese.
Back on the bus we saw a traditional wind mill.
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They have water taxis and even water buses. This was NOT our bus!
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On our tour we finally met the other couple from Fredericksburg! They were on the same excursion, and although we didn’t know each other, we have friends in common. They are Tim and Rhonda Lange, and we had supper with them in the evening.
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