Trip to Gouda Cheese Market and Dutch Diversity July 7

I rode down to the traditional cheese market in Gouda. It's pronounced, Ccchou-dah and, by the way, only rookies ask for Gouda cheese.  Request "old' or "new" depending on your preference for age and taste.

Being  biased, I expected to see stereotypical Caucasian Dutch in wooden shoes like these Cheese Men selling the creamy, yellow rounds in the square.

The market is an excellent example of western European social dynamic. Other than the tourists who were white, I counted one in four women among the crowd in Muslim clothing.




These two women, left, were "real" Dutch. They were shopping and socializing; not gawking tourist-style at the cheese show in market square.

It was fascinating.

Maps are  common and, if you get lost, just ask.