Gouda: an unexpected adventure

An unexpected trip

I love cheese. That and ice cream are probably the only things that prevent me from being vegan. Oh, and sushi too. Whether or not you like cheese, you've probably heard of Gouda cheese. Who hasn't? Well, did you know that Gouda cheese is actually named after the city Gouda in Holland? I didn't know that this city even existed until I planned a last-minute trip to Amsterdam, and after buying my ticket, I realized that there was no affordably available accommodation anywhere in Amsterdam. So I did the logical thing and searched for nearby cities to stay there instead. I looked up Rotterdam, The Hague, Gouda and a few others. I was literally pinpointing random cities on the map no more than 30-45 minutes away from Amsterdam by train, and then I read a little bit about each city to get an idea about them. Of all these places, Gouda won my interest and in the end, it won my heart.

How to pronounce Gouda

Before you continue reading, there's something important I have to clear up with you here. Gouda isn't pronounced Gouda. It's pronounced "Khowda". It's like saying the Boston accent of clam chowder, which is "chowda", but instead of "ch" it's "kh" like you're clearing something out of your throat when you're choking.

Why Gouda?

So, why did I choose Gouda instead of Rotterdam or the Hague? Those two cities are on the waterfront, so they actually appealed more to me. At first, I was quite set on going to the Hague and was just about to book my AirB&B there when my friend with whom I was traveling convinced me not to, and I'm glad she did.

It turns out that although the Hague may be a beautiful city, it is mostly business-y and government-y. By that I mean that is it home to the Dutch government, parliament, the Supreme Court, the Council of State, and to the U. N. ’s International Court of Justice, so it is mostly full of administration buildings. It's not a bad thing, but if you're looking for a traditional Dutch-style city, you won't find it there. Rotterdam is beautiful as well, however it is a modern-style city because after WWII, the city was destroyed and had to be fully rebuilt. Due to this, the city has unfortunately lost its old architectural charm. Gouda on the other hand, was nearly untouched during the war and therefore has retained its original and traditional charm. Not to mention it's the home of one of my favourite cheeses...

Where is Gouda?

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Tucked somewhere between The Hague (Den Daag) and Rotterdam, Gouda is about 20 minutes away by train from either city. For €12 you can get to Amsterdam in 45 minutes by train. It's also not that far from Belgium, so if you're feeling adventurous, you can take a spontaneous trip to Belgium! Or vise versa, if you're in Belgium, so to Gouda for a day or two!

What to do in Gouda?

This lovely city is small and cute. You can definitely cover it in a weekend, or even a day if you're efficient. However, I recommend staying at least 2 days so you can take your time.

Sint-Janskerk cathedral

This cathedral which can be seen in the Gouda central square, is the largest cathedral in the Netherlands. It's length reaches 123 meters.

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Normally, the people building the cathedrals would try to make them the tallest, but due to the soft ground in Gouda, they couldn't compete for the tallest cathedral, so they made the longest one instead. The stained glass windows are gorgeous and unique, because on the outside they look very dark, but on the inside you can really take in and appreciate all their glory. In fact, these 72 stained glass windows, which are known as the Gouda Glass, are world renowned.

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The stained glass windows, which were made in the 16th century, portray and illustrate Biblical and historical events in comic strip form.

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You can go inside for free if you attend the mass. I highly recommend going inside! The church services are on Sundays at 10h00 or at 17h00.

The town hall and center square

At the center square, you will see a square building at the center of everything. This is the town hall.

It was built awkwardly freestanding in the town center because in the summer of 1438, the city of Gouda suffered from a fire which destroyed nearly everything, and the town hall at that time endured heavy damage. When they rebuilt the town hall, they decided to build it a good distance away from the other surrounding buildings.

if you are interested in having a tour inside, tickets are €2. 50, except for when marriages or other events are taking place. I didn't go inside so I can't give my opinion about it, but it's definitely interesting from the outside. Every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour, the cuckoo clock on the outside corner of the building puts on a cute short show.

Surrounding the town hall, the center square is full of restaurants and shops. The square is equally lovely to walk through at night and during the day. If you plan to visit Gouda during the Christmas holidays, you're in for a treat. For more than 60 years, the center square puts up a beautiful Christmas tree, which is lighted in the evening. At 19h00, the tree, the town hall, and other buildings around the square are lit up by thousands of candles. Likewise, thousands of visitors will come throughout the day and evening to see the decorations and to look at and/or participate in the many activities offered in the city center.

Gouda cheese market

If you are in Gouda between the 6th of April and the 31st of August, you have the opportunity to visit the traditional and historical Gouda Cheese Market, which takes place every Thursday morning from 10 to 12h30! The only exceptions are on the 27th of April and 25th of May. Unfortunately we went to Gouda on a Saturday and Sunday, so we couldn't experience the market, and that was disappointing. I will definitely return to this city one spring or summer and I'll make sure to be there on a Thursday!

There are also plenty of Gouda cheese stores where you can taste and buy cheese every day of the week. I went crazy here (located in the center square):

Free samples are everywhere. My friend had to drag me out of the store.

Where to eat?

Whatever you do, eat the Gouda cheese. And the syrup waffles (Stroopwafel).

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The waffles are kind of like biscuits, and they are soft and chewy making you drool with the caramel that oozes out of the double crispy waffles. I ate these during my entire trip in the Netherlands, and I wish I had some right now.

In all honesty, we didn't eat at a typical Dutch food restaurant, although we tried to. We read online that the LF Gouda (De Lichtfabriek Gouda) served typical Dutch food, but when we arrived there we found that they had changed the menu and no longer served the same food that we saw advertised. It was a little disappointing but the restaurant has a beautiful ambiance and view so we decided to stay, and the food was still really good even though it wasn't what we were expecting. It actually does serve good, reputable beer (Gouda was well known to have the best beer in Holland).

Unfortunately I can't recommend a typical Dutch food place because I didn't have the opportunity to eat at one, but I think you should try a fast food place called Bram Ladage (yes, it's the same name as my host, and coincidentally he does work there, but he's not the owner and the place is not named after him). It's supposed to have really good fries.

I also enjoyed the ice cream place called David's Gelato. They have some unique and yummy flavours.

Just today? No. Every day!

Where did I stay?

My friend and I booked an AirB&B. It was our first AirB&B experience, and it was great. The room and bathroom were really clean, our host Bram, also a student, was super laid back and welcoming to us. He has a beautiful big bird which he lets loose when he is home, and it's very well behaved. His flat is located in a nice quiet neighborhood about 15-20 minutes walking from the downtown area. We never felt awkward in the house and we felt comfortable to come and go as we pleased. If I go back to Gouda, I'll definitely stay at Bram's again.

What did I learn there?

While in Gouda, I learned how to pronounce Gouda correctly which makes me sound and feel more sophisticated, and I learned another word in Dutch: Vader. While attending the Easter mass at the cathedral in downtown Gouda (you can enter the cathedral for free if you attend the mass), throughout the service they kept saying Vader this and Vader that. I was like, what, are we in Star Wars or something? I asked a lady why they kept saying Vader. She told me it means father in Dutch.

My goodness, it all makes sense now. Darth Vader must have been from the Netherlands.

Fun fact!

Desiderius Erasmus grew up and lived in Gouda! There are some controversies about whether he was born in Rotterdam or in Gouda, but either way, his youth has a special place in Gouda. You can find an exhibition about him at the Gouda Museum.

"Erasmus Brug" means Erasmus bridge. I thought this was an appropriate picture for Erasmusu.

Do not keep your plans fixed

One thing is for sure, there aren't nearly as many tourists in Gouda as in Amsterdam. But you don't need me to tell you that. Amsterdam definitely has its attractions, and surely most young people will go to Amsterdam to smoke and do things that they can't do in their own countries, but hey, weed is legal in all of Holland, so why not smoke it in a unique city town like Gouda and then eat all the cheese there?! And then you can actually experience Holland, and listen to people speak Dutch (which is one of the strangest languages I've ever heard), and meet Dutch people and eat Dutch food (which is a lot of potatoes. So you can eat potatoes and cheese). They also have Gouda weed cheese for those who are really into that.

In the beginning while planning the trip, I was extremely frustrated because the initial plan was not working out, and I don't like when plans change. This taught me a great lesson in traveling: don't depend so much on your plans. If plans change, don't try to force them to stay how you wanted them to work out.

Don't lead the trip, rather let the trip form itself and take you where it wants to flow. You may be pleasantly surprised, and you may even discover a city which you would have never known about. Being flexible when traveling will almost always result in a better experience than you had imagined!

I took this picture of some Gouda houses and buildings, which are seen reflected into the water of one of the rivers which flow through the city. I thought it was cool and looks kind of dreamy, and in a way, it reflects my spontaneous experience in Gouda.