Monday 5/26 was the last full day of our cruise on the Rhine. Our tour manager Rene is Dutch so he offered a talk in the morning on "All Things Dutch" about Dutch culture and including a taste of Jenever, a predecessor of gin, made from Juniper berries. Maybe in a mixed drink, but for me a bit much taken straight, even with the cute little shot glasses.
In the afternoon, most of us went off on a special excursion called "Kinderdijk Windmills and Dutch Cheese.”
Along the way we drove along the “polders” - fields reclaimed by dikes and irrigation canals.
The designated greeter bounded out to welcome us and offer belly-rubs
The chief cheese maker is the daughter of the farmer who raises and milks the cows. We got there too late to see them actually processing the milk, but caught up with the process at the brining stage. Here the cheesemaker has hauled the rounds of cheese out of its bath
Afterwards we had a tour of the dairy farm and a talk with the farmer who explained that in the Netherlands there are specific laws about farming cows to make sure that they are treated humanely. There has to be an acre for each cow to graze on and they have to be able to graze at least 6 hours a day for 120 days a year. The farmer talked about how the cows have to be kept inside during the cold winters, but on the first day they're allowed back out in the Spring, they come frolicking out of the barn so happy to be back outside. As is true in the US, farming is a tough way to make a living so this family business depends heavily on the cheese making, selling and tourism around the production of their Gouda.
We got to meet a lot of the cows - some in the barn, some outside, and some very young, still sheltered in separate dwellings.
This one came in for a close-up for Mel
After the tours, we went to the shop where we could purchase some of their products. We got to sample a number of varieties, including one with cumin, a spicy herb version and plain Gouda (my favorite). Unfortunately a single round of Gouda weighs quite a lot so we only bought one home. I would have liked to buy more, but these are the choices one has to make on an international trip. (especially for folks like me who have half the suitcase devoted to adaptive equipment of one kind or another). I did buy a bottle of buttermilk for consumption on the boat - the freshest and most delicious I’ve ever tasted. I had no takers among our bunch, but someone else on the tour was happy to help me drink it.
For anyone who's seriously into armchair travel, I found this travel video by someone who did the same tour a while ago. We had much nicer weather than she did, but it does capture the drive there and the fields we passed on the way as well as the next phase of the excursion at the windmills (next post)