Europe 2012- Day 57: Gouda, Netherlands

We decided to check out Gouda, as one of the most famous cities in Holland most people know of it for its cheese, but they probably don’t know that it’s also the birthplace of the stroopwafel, a favorite Dutch treat. The Dutch actually pronounce it something like "Howda".

Upon arriving in the city we tried to find a place to park, we didn’t really see any signs for a parking garage but there was lots of open parking along a canal so we decided to try that. 

Nate was making me nervous pulling in nose first, I got out to have a look and he didn’t really have much room to move forward before he would just go into the canal, and the back of the car was still in the bike path. Since there was no lines and some people were parked parallel to the canal we decided to do that. However when we went to the parking meter we found it would cost us around 15 euros to park there so we made the decisions to keep driving to look for a parking garage, as they are usually cheaper than this.

As you can see, there is nothing to keep you from driving into the canal!

We found one garage with a long line going in and a sign saying it was full so we drove on to check out another lot. We ended up parking at Klein America (small America), after pulling in and looking at our ticket we saw it was going to cost us 21 euros to park there, but we were tired of driving around and figured every place must just be spendy.

Not sure what this statue represents. It's a man carrying his donkey.

As we walked towards the centrum we saw our first cheese store. Not a huge building but it had just shelves and shelves of cheese wheels, and a very potent cheese smell as you walk inside. They had little samples out and we tried one, not sure what kind it was, but a very sharp and a little bit spicy. 

You can see just some of the wheels of cheese in the windows.

I liked the cheese people.

As we found the city center there was an open market going on, which makes it hard to get good views of the historic buildings but as we planned on being there for dinner I figured the market would clear out before then.

First thing on the agenda was to find a place for lunch. We didn’t want to eat too much though as it was going on 2 PM and we wanted to eat dinner around 5 PM. Nate had never tried the Dutch lunch of pancakes, so we found a place that sold those and went inside to eat. We ordered 2 pancakes with apple and spek (bacon), but when they brought us our order we had one correct and the other was apple and cheese. Nate told them it was okay and they just brought him a plate of bacon out to go with it.

Just before lunch we had walked past an artist that was making miniature oil paintings, He was selling them for only 5 euros and so I decided to buy one of a Dutch scene. 

This is Cornelius, holding the picture I bought from him.

There was a new Lego store opening up, and these guys were passing out fliers on it.

This little guy reminded me of Peter (my nephew)

Nathan hamming it up with a side of cheese.

I thought this sign was funny. I like the smiley face with the 'stache on the right. It says they take passport photos for visa's to India, USA etc.

Not sure exactly what this is, we're thinking it used to be used to dry clothes by pressing out the water. It was just sitting outside a building near the church.

We decided to check out St. Johns Cathedral, which is known for its stained glass windows. We have seen tons of stained glass windows, but these were amazing. The pipe organ was also very cool. While there a choir started an acapella concert which was beautiful, and although we probably were not supposed to we snuck a little recording so we could share the beautiful sound with family.

This tree looks like it should be near a haunted house

De Sint-Janskerk   (St. John’s Church) at a length of 123 meters it’s the longest church in Holland.  The Church’s earliest parts date back to 1280, but the main part of the church dates from 1552. Back then the church was a Roman Catholic Church but since 1572 it’s been Dutch Reformed. The large organ was built between 1732-1736 by Jacob Francois Moreau.

In 1939 with World War II seeming imminent they removed the stained glass windows so they wouldn’t be destroyed if the church came under attack.

When we were done admiring the church we headed back to the centrum to check out the KaasWaag which is the weigh house where cheese used to be weighed and sold. Built in 1668 it is located in the city center near the town hall. It was designed by Pieter Post but he died before it was completed. This building is now a museum and gift shop.

The weigh house

The scales that used to be used to weigh the cheese

This is a close up of the sculpted picture on the front of the building

I knew there was a windmill located near the city center and since Nathan has never been inside a working mill I thought we could go check that out. When we got there however we found that it’s not open to the public, so we just took some pictures and headed back to the centrum.

You can see City Hall hidden by the open market

This guy looks like a cowardly Lion

This little guy was missing a back leg.

This cool seed spun by us. Kind of like the maple helicopters we are used to, but a completely different design with the weight joined in the middle.

Basketball?

It was finally time for dinner. While doing research I had found that Gouda had a Mexican resturaunt with good reviews, as Mexican food is very hard to find in Holland we decided we would try it.  Xochimilco  had good food, and reasonable prices. Online they had raved about the fajitas but as neither Nathan or I were super hungry we didn’t get them. I wish it was closer because if it was I would eat there again.

Interesting sun dial on the corner of the building

The back of City Hall

The front view of City Hall

Finally it was time to head home, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that parking wasn’t 21 euros like we thought, that was only if you had lost your ticket. 

Once we got home we were able to skype with Jana and Kristie for a little while for a nice end to our Saturday.