Alkmaar - traversing greenness and cheese.

Going towards Alkmaar I could sense the air's humidity. Earth, water and a little bit of sun swelled the air with wooden scent of dampness. The incense coming from the fields perspired the palms of my hands. The greenness outside the train's window entered into the nostrils. There was only a flat landscape full of plants which took advantage of the climate. Every field hit eyes with small, green rootlets that ran well-ordered one by one.

In the town, a huge chunks of cheese greeted me. They smiled with their round faces. I couldn't help but eat them, as they seemed ready to be eaten. They didn't let me down - their mellow taste melted in my mouth. Some of them were even with herbs what surmounted the taste of milk.

The trip ended with the sweetness of flowers. Passing through small streets and embarking on the return route I couldn't help but feel the warmness of red alabaster-like asters, a bright solution of gentian violet, blossoming lilacs and dwart elder. But before sailing off the shore I smelled the strong aroma of Dutch cheese.

Sailing the seas of cheese (kaas in Dutch) I have to mention that Alkmaar has 400 year old cheese market. The cheese carrier's guild (kaasdragersgilde) is first mentioned in 1619. Sailing further I came across the Waagplein ("weighing square") where white-dressed cheese farmers ran about the square with wheels of Gouda and Edam cheese. They carried the wheels on huge semisercular carriers hanging from their leather suspenders. There, at the market square the wheels are being weighed, tasted and sold. There are about 30,000 kilos of yellow cricular objects ready to eat!