Things to see, part 1

Circumambulate the square

Any walk should start at the city square.
You'll see the Town Hall, one of the few remaining examples of gothic architecture in Holland.
Old buildings take a lot of maintenance.

Every hour you can listen to the city hall's chimes and watch the puppetshow depicting the moment that city rights were given to Gouda back in 1272 by Floris V

Start by having a coffee or a beer at one of the many sidewalk café's.

You'll see 'De Waag' there as well, the place where the cheeses were weighed.

This meant big bizniz, as the city got a percentage.
The city got a percentage on everything:
millers in the Middle Ages had to pay tax for the use of wind.
Even a street was named after this fine principle.

Tiende means a flat ten percent tax rate.