Things I actually like about the Netherlands, Part I

It has been suggested to me that my blog entries are, on occasion, just a little bitter. Thanks, bro. To counteract that, here is the first in a (very) occasional series: Things I actually like about the Netherlands.

Part I: Cheese shops

Kaas Kamer, Kaas Land, Wereld van Kaas -- the name may changes (slightly), but the Dutch still do damn fine cheese shops. Offering a wide array of Dutch and foreign cheeses, olives, pates, and biscuits for cheese, they beat any English supermarket for selection and freshness. Plus, they wrap your cheese in proper cheese paper, which stops it drying out in the fridge. My favourite? The shop on the Runstraat that we visited yesterday, spending an obscene amount on two different types of oud kaas (old cheese -- this is the great Dutch cheese that rarely makes it out of the country; aged for three years and with huge deposits of salt, it takes your head off), a brie, some St Point, and a French blue. It's usually packed with tourists, but the staff know what they're doing and work efficiently through the queues, handling the cheese with care. Their dried sausages, both Italian and Spanish, provide a haunting meaty top note to the rich cheesy aroma of the store -- with a thick white rind and garlicky perfume, they tempt me, despite not having eaten meat (knowingly) for exactly three years. God, they're good!

So, yes, when we leave Amsterdam, I'll miss the cheese.