Alkmaar Without Cheese

So after the museum we strolled a bit around the largely pedestrianized old town, much of it dating to the 17th century. Not pictured: buying a cheese sampler plate. It was to be a day of street food.

Me, downing some Dutch sushi (pickled herring. with onions
and pickle)

Really nice bicycle in a wine bar

Street scene

Time for a frites-fix, so we stopped here

And then, just outside the great church, Olie Bollen! Deep-fried spheres of dough,
filled with fruit, chocolate, whatever; we had not seen Olie Bollen since the 1967
Leon County Fair, in Tallahassee, FL; more street food!

Centrum signage: rather more for bicycles than pedestrians

We now think that "Eten en Drinken" might be a chain

Moving right along, we are in Alkmaar's
Grote Kerk, another ex-Roman church that is
now excitingly stark; the timber barrel roof is
of interest, however

As is the great organ

As is this, a clock, high up on the ceiling right at the crossing; evidently so you
could check the time while raising your eyes toward the heavens

View from crossing to bow, elevation

Helpful model

Library, on city square

Poetry on alley walls

Outdoor bookstore in boxes

Impressive contemporary architecture too (so why wasn't it
shaped like a round of gouda?)

Alkmaar Cheese Museum

The mini-pancake master; 18 different toppings available, then covered with a layer
of confectionary sugar; desperately need a cup of strong black coffee after this

We are in the cheese museum now, having passed through the cheese shoppe and
sampled young, mature, and old gouda; the great secret of the cheese museum is
that it is on the lst (American 2nd) floor and you can simply gaze out the windows
and watch the market action (!) that others have stood five-or- six deep to see;
there appears to be a break in the action, perhaps a TV time-out

Free samples for those who bought reserved seats

The museum is full of interesting and educational exhibits on both traditional and
contemporary methods of making cheese; here one can see the cow eating grass,
converting it via three stomachs and mammary glands into milk, which then
becomes cheese (next exhibit)

Output: milk; other outputs are not addressed

Part of the interest of the place was its decor and humor; thus

And thus

The mouse motif got a little old

Thus

But there was plenty of useful information all around, such as the above, and
that Netherlanders consume more than 20 kilos of cheese a year (European
average: 17; 1 kilo=2.2 lbs)

And interesting old-time exhibits

Meanwhile, the action, as it were, continued below

Vicki decided it was time to go when I started getting too friendly
with the cute cheese babe mannequin

Parting shot

Ditto

Alkmaar Cheese Market

In the later middle ages, Alkmaar got the license to weigh cheese and thus became an important commercial marketplace. Cheese was then and until the 1880s a largely cottage, or farm, industry, usually the work of the farm wife. All that changed with industrialization: there still are thousand of farms with millions of milk cows, but your gouda and your edam now are made only in two giant plants in northern Holland. Anyhow, Alkmaar has continued its important tradition as cheese market center by holding a weekly cheese market re-enactment for tourists--most of them Nederlanders as far as I could tell--certainly one of the more contrived re-enactments around. As always, Vicki wanted to see all the pomp and pageantry and costumery of a traditional cheese market re-enactment, and I sensed another fine opportunity for mirth.

We got to the cheese square--between the
cheese market/museum and the beer museum--
quite early in order to assure ourselves good
views

This week's cheese weighing prospects; all gouda (pronounced
"gowda" we learned); actually, gouda and edam are the same,
just different packaging

Closer up of the decorated side of the cheese market/museum

Actual cheese scale, dated 1693; see below

Cheese photo-journalist; she had a badge that said "member of
the press...say 'cheese'"; seriously

A few minutes before ten, the cheese market announcer babe
appears and gives introductions and explanations in Dutch, 
German, English, and Spanish; she was good; the whole thing 
is video'd for showing on the big screen for those who didn't 
arrive so early to get the good views

Other cheese babes appear to begin selling 10E bags of cheese
and other mementos

Other participants arrive and confer

Members of the Green Team begin carrying the cheese pallets
into place; there are four teams, so far as I could tell: Green,
Red, Blue, and Yellow...same,  I note, as the four traditional
teams in ancient Roman chariot racing; just a coincidence? I
don't think so...

The guests of honor arrive to open the market; apparently the
red team has won the toss

And they're off! We have decided to cheer for the Greens,
since they're closest to us; besides, they remind me of the
Green Bay Packers, and the square is right in between the
cheese museum and the beer museum, and it just seems right

Meanwhile, members of the cheese cart pushers re-enactment
guild confer

As do members of the cheese tasters re-enactment guild; note
blue team in action

The Greens return with a weighed pallet, to be loaded onto
the cheese carts

The Red team swings into action

For some, the excitement is too much to bear

The Greens have fumbled! Note round on the ground; will
definitely cost some style points

Ancient cheese scales in use this beautiful
Friday morning

Note date, 1693

The cheese cart pusher re-enactors now swing into action,
hauling the weighed cheese out of the arena and around the 
corner

To this dude, definitely not a re-enactor, who fork-lifts them up
into the waiting 18-wheeler; so we watched the cheese market
action for maybe ten  minutes, then decided we had gotten the 
gist and that maybe it was time to move on and visit the cheese 
museum, to learn more, and maybe try some street pancakes on 
the way