We visited the Simonehoeve Cheese & Clog Factory just outside Volendam.

We were shown how they make the local cheeses of Edam & Gouda are made. Edam is always red and Gouda is always yellow. They are named after the two nearby towns. We were allowed to sample lots of different cheeses, I like the smoked one best. They also had pesto flavour and chilli flavour. The dutch like to spread mustard on their cheese…yuck.

After this were had a demonstration on making clogs. They are a very old traditional dutch shoe. They came about because not everyone could afford leather whereas wood was available to all. First a log is roughly sculpted into shape by hand using a chisel. Next the hole is scooped out for your foot. These days the factory uses machines and can produce 200 pairs a day.

They showed us several types of clogs including ice skates, fishermans clogs (which have spikes to keeping safe on the slippery decks, they are similar to modern day football boots). My favourite was the Smugglers Clog, the sole is cleverly shaped to make the footprint appear as if you were walking in the opposite direction….very sneaky!

I also watched a lady do some engraving by using a very hot metal pen like tool which burns letters or patterns into the wood.