Two women talk at
the counter of a tourist shop in Gouda, Holland – famous for its cheese. Dutch
cheeses line the walls of the store behind them in many different colorful
varieties as they discuss prices and make small talk. Outside their store,
which sports an old scale to weigh cheese, various artifacts from ancient
Gouda—as old as the buildings around them and the traditions they represent—and
a museum accessible by a narrow winding staircase, a cheese festival fills the
streets. Costumed characters clack by in wooden shoes, carrying wheels of
cheese for the tourists, but the women don’t look up. They’ve seen it all a
thousand times before in their long lives. The ordinary details of life and the
shop that presents newcomers with a taste of far more than just famous Dutch
cheese are far more interesting.