G-OW-DA

 Tour Date: June 26, 2019  [Click on photo to enlarge]

Well, that's how it's pronounced, apparently.  Today was a "stay" day off the bikes, so we got a local guide, "Bep," to take us around town.  She was a little academic, but friendly and very knowledgeable.  We are in Gouda, so cheese is everywhere.  Note the rounds hanging over the street.  We saw these all over town.  Yes, the girls love cheese.

 One of the stops was at the Weighing House, built in 1668.  Carved reliefs show the process of the weighing, including the not-so-subtle efforts to tip the scales.  Note the left foot of the seated man is on the left scale, while the hand of the weights man to the right is pulling down on the rope on the other side.  The building today houses a museum dedicated to the cheese manufacturing process.

At the town hall in the main plaza a wedding was underway, with a very cool escape car waiting out front.  Love the basket!  The wedding party was quite happy to have tourists and townsfolk watch the proceedings.

All around Gouda there are these marvelous carvings over entryways and sticking out of walls.  It would be fun to make a serious effort at cataloging all of them, but these were just a few that caught our eye.

One of the big attractions in Gouda is the Church of St. John, the longest in Holland, and boasting the Gouda Windows, the biggest collection of 16th century stained glass in Europe.  I couldn't get the right lighting to show off the windows, but they were stunning.  I nicked this one off the internet:

We'd had enough walking around for a while, and it was time for lunch.  Right next to St. John's is the Museum Gouda, which has a very nice courtyard cafe.  Loni & I shared a nut bread/cheese/fig jam sandwich and a slice of carrot cake.  Yes!

Suitably tanked up, we hit the Museum, which was an eclectic mixture of objects.  We each found something fascinating.  Loni liked the pencil drawings, I went for the scientific stuff, and the girls were wowed by the minerals.

After the museum, we decided to call it a day.  Loni's back is hurting badly.  One more archway pose, then back to the hotel for a nap.

 After some Z's, we connected with the family for a pizza dinner on the main square, followed by a gelato fest for dessert.  Another fine day!

 

FONDUE, ANYONE?

 [Trip Date: June 25, 2019]

Today we ride from Delft to Gouda, about 41 km.  That's not too long, but it's 94 degrees outside!  We'll be melted by the time we get there.  This, however, would prove to be the most scenic day of our bike rides.  We took off about 9:45 after breakfasting just outside our room.  Yup, that's the door to our room.  Ta, Royal Bridges, you were quirky but just fine.

Our ride today took us through rural countryside along pathways everywhere.  I don't recall more than a couple of stretches where we shared with motor vehicles.

At one point, construction dictated that we had to take an unpaved road where the surface was littered with enough rocks and granite bits that DD suggested we get off and walk our bikes to avoid someone going down.  Eventually, we reached a canal with a line of windmills!

By following the path we ended up close to one for a family portrait.  That's my inside-out hat in my hand.

The moms.  The panniers were supplied by the company and were nicely waterproof.  Luckily, we didn't need that feature our whole trip.  Nothing but sun!
 

 

After some sandwiches for lunch, we took off again with about 25km to go.  The heat started getting brutal.  At one point, Addie looked like she was starting to doze off and we were concerned that she might be getting some heat stroke.  Found a shady place to stop and poured water over her head to cool her down and that seemed to do the trick.  We made sure both girls drank extra water, and we tanked up as well.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, altho there was much pondering which way to go by DD.  One option for these trips is to go it alone, without a guide, using maps and a GPS to steer you.  Believe me, we were thankful to have DD.  We never would have figured out the route without him.

Upon arrival at Gouda, we checked into the Best Western City Center Hotel.  Wow!  The rooms were huge.  Ours was a suite, with large sitting area, bed area, and giant spa-bath area.  I was pretty close to heatstroke myself, and didn't bother to unpack before shucking my clothes and making for the shower.  Ahhhhhhh.  The room-sized shower is behind the wall with the hair dryer.

 

After recovering, flat out on the bed, we went down to join the family for a stroll into the town, which is quite beautiful. There are churches galore (left, below) and of course there's a town hall on the main square (right).  We had a nice dinner on the square.  We split a goat-cheese and apricot salad and a nice cod fillet, then took a stroll around the area.
 

 

A nice spot to relax before heading back to the hotel.  These smaller cities in Holland really are peaceful and beautiful.