The drive from Amsterdam to Luxembourg took approximately 5 hours but we made several pee-pee stops (as our tour guide, Gerwin) likes to call them. We also stopped to photograph a windmill. There are only a few left in the country.

Then we stopped at a small farm where they make both farmer's cheese and wooden shoes. We saw a demonstration of the cheese making process and learned that the name Gouda translates to round and flat and has nothing to do with the flavor of the cheese. This cheese is made with raw milk and you can tell that in the stores by looking at the label: square is hand-made and unprocessed while that with a round label has been made using pasteurized milk. Their cheeses were really delicious but we opted not to deal with transporting back to the USA even though it would have been wonderful to have such a reminder of our trip once home.

The farmer gave us a demonstration of wooden shoe making. He took a block of wood and quickly carved a small clog. It took slightly less than 3 minutes from start to finish with a special programmed saw. Then he carved out the inside of the shoe by hand. The clogs are hung to dry after which they are polished and painted. We learned the difference between a farm shoe and a wedding shoe (allegedly worn only once in a man's life).