Cheesy cheese

I have been well and truly converted on cheese. I used to think I didn't like it that much, and even if there was some that was okay (gruyere... yum), I certainly didn't like goat cheese.

Yeah, no. Cheese is genius.

We went to a cheese and wine tasting.

Our "taste master" was a handsome African-Dutch man who was very friendly and funny. Also at the tasting was a young Brazilian man with a huge backpack, and an elderly British couple who consistently cracked us all up. Imagine the most proper little old English people you can. Now imagine them, in their proper English accents, having this exchange:

Woman: He's telling us to smell it, but it hasn't got a smell.
Man: It does so have a smell.
Woman: Well, yes, but it smells of cheese!

All the cheese was amazing. Apparently Reypenaer is the only company that ripens its cheese using traditional Dutch methods. We started with a video about the process, and it's clear that they take cheese very seriously. Stellar and I couldn't stop munching on the goat cheese, which was creamy and mild. The cheese made with cow milk ranged from soft and buttery to crumbly and complex. The more aged cheeses had salt crystals in them. They were all spectacular.

We were given sheets to make notes on our cheeses. Stellar and I filled ours with smiley faces. When we looked behind us, it looked like Mimi was writing essays.

We also got wine - a glass of red and a small glass of the sweetest port I've ever tasted. It tasted like candy, so I drank it a bit faster than I probably should have. When I stood up I was somewhat tipsy. We went to buy a little goat cheese with rosemary (also delicious), and our "taste master" gave it to us for free.

Have I mentioned the stairs in our hotel? And the two flights of them that we have to climb and descend between our room and the street?

They're pretty interesting to navigate when you're dizzy on wine.