Gouda Glass and Gouda Cheese

I am sure you can tell by the title that this post has to do with the town of Gouda. It was one of the three little day trips we took from Amsterdam to visit the surrounding gems of the Netherlands. Other than the famous cheese that they share their town's name with, I knew very little about the city before I arrived. It was just a coincidence that I had learned that my favorite Dutch treat, the stroopwafel, originated in a Gouda bakery. The treat itself, two thin wafer-like pancakes with either caramel, syrup, or honey smashed between them is perhaps my favorite Dutch food- and yes, I found and bought some at Giant Eagle since I have been home.

Besides being home to the greatest Dutch dessert, Gouda is also home to a windmill, and the beautiful Sint Janskerk Church. It is truly beautiful, and its gothic style makes it stand out as the prize of the city. The church can boast being a UNESCO recognized Dutch monument, and the main attraction of the church is its twenty-plus stained glass windows that date all the way back to the late 16th century all the way to 1947. Most are of religious scenes, being its a church and all, but the stained glass window from 1947 was to commemorate the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi occupation. Along with the liberation window, other monuments that deal with my personal project were found alongside Gouda's town hall (I took a picture of it, but it may be too blurry to distinguish) that recognized those persecuted and deported from their town. They also had many more of the sidewalk plagues that indicated a Jewish or other persecuted family was removed from the homes nearby. I was told to look out for these by another W&J student who visited Amsterdam the year prior, but I was surprised I found so many in Gouda compared to those I passed by in Amsterdam.

Before we left, I had to stop at the cheese store. It would be a sin to visit the town of Gouda and not leave with a wheel of gouda for the family, right? So with stroopwafels and gouda cheese in hand, we said goodbye to the quaint little town that was free of the agonizing crowds of Amsterdam, unfortunately it was also free of work on the day we went too. We learned pretty quickly that Monday was the equivalent to our Sunday. Amazingly, despite half the attractions and museums we wanted to go to shuttered, we still managed to have a great time there.

Now some pictures!

These are some different pictures of Gouda's Town Hall also called Stadhuis Gouda.

These are all the sidewalk plagues that signify those persecuted under Nazi occupation.

A statue that shows a lion holding the town crest of Gouda

A  stone sculpture of the town of Gouda

Gouda's windmill

More sidewalk plagues

A 1667 gate on the Church's outer walls over a moat.

Main doorway of Sint Janskerk

All of the photos proceeding are of the Church and the world famous "Gouda Glass"

Except for this one, this one is just a picture of Gouda's Canals

Painting by a local artist on display in the church.
Honestly, I only took a picture of it because of the one hebrew word on it.

These are pictures of a scale model of the church, in the church.

These few picture are in the courtyard of the Gouda Museum, that annoyingly was not open to us on a Monday.

These are more pictures of the Stadhuis Gouda.

All of these unreadable photos are of a monument on the side of the Stadhuis that list the citizens of Gouda that were murdered, missing, or deported during Nazi occupation.

This is the facade of Gouda's weighhouse 

Gouda's Town Square

Clock on the side of the Stadhuis

Close-up of the extremely interesting clock

Note: I made the date of the post the current date, if you actually care the day I actually went to Gouda was on May 30th, I still have the train ticket to prove it.