More from Gouda, The Netherlands

Gouda has many claims to fame. One is that the famous Desiderius Erasmus grew up in the town. Born circa 1467, he lived with his brother and mother for many years. She died of the plague and the two sons moved back to Gouda to be with their father. A trail with signs show some of the places where he played and worshiped while in Gouda. There's even a canal named after him...or maybe it's just the bridge.

Erasmus Brug=Erasmus bridge?

Erasmus trail sign

Nearby is the gate to the Jewish cemetery in Gouda.

Jewish Cemetery Gate

The town is famous for the cheese named after it. The market square has a cheese market on Thursday mornings. We weren't there on a Thursday, but there are plenty of other cheese shops in town to get one's slice, wedge, or wheel. One that we visited had a ton of cheeses, from serious to silly.

A Gouda cheese shop

The serious

The silly

We had lunch at the Cafe Central, where I had a nice local beer and L made herself busy recreating the event on her place mat.

Luscious local brew (though Brand is a pretty generic name, if you ask me)

L draws while we wait for food

Us at lunch (future posts may be only pictures by L...)

We were sad to leave behind such good food and good cheeses. Goodbye, Gouda!