Almost ritually, August/September is my time for new beginnings, much like the leaves I pack my bags and leave to somewhere exciting in the old continent. Amsterdam is my favorite entry point, just a quick direct flight from Panama City it offers turnkey access to local, regional and international transport.
This is the perfect time of the year to visit Europe, besides lower rates for being a shoulder season, it is still possible to enjoy the seaside in the southern at the beginning without the crazy crowds of summer, and by the end the magic of Christmas takes over.
Amsterdam like many other major cities see less tourists once summer is over which is the best thing to happen if you want to have a more genuinely local experience. I speak from my own experience the first time that I visited.
Back then, the whole world, as far as I knew it, was not the same. I was younger and Amsterdam was, well, the Amsterdam of Deuce Bigalow, a paradise for party seeker tourists. Much like it, my stay consisted of a mix of party-hostels, wasted daytime, Anne Frank, and a ticket out to Paris.
I remember thinking a few years after in my second visit, what a difference age and the season make in ones’ perception of a place. Because my personal interests had changed, so did the city.
What it has to offer to the world is perhaps better appreciated by more artistic minds, this tulip temple of beauty is a mecca of arts and culture. Of course, drinking a cold Heineken in Amsterdam is an order, however it is the ingenuity of the people who created such a place what reflects right at you on every canal, window and door, lined-up trees, and even the cheese!
Home to the legacies of Van Gogh, Rembrandt and many other renowned artists, it isn’t short of venues to admire their masterpieces. I love, love museums, and two of them that you can visit and revisit as you want are the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum located in the same area.
Amsterdam is the epitome of vanguard living; café culture and fashion on wheels is the way to go here. Moreover, I must confess that a good part of my time when I visit is spent in cafés admiring and getting inspired by the avant-garde scene that lives up on every corner. To see art, exhibitions can be found all year around, you can look at this official site to plan your visits.
A perhaps more local way to experience it would be to go for a running session at one of the numerous parks in the city, Vondelpark near the Rijksmuseum offers some historical sites within like the statue of the poet the park is named after.
Lastly, if like me, you enjoy horseback riding and wish to practice while traveling, the Netherlands is home to top-notch facilities, in Amsterdam you will want to make sure to visit the iconic Hollandsche Manege, the oldest riding school in the country where members of the royal family practiced their riding back in the XVIII.
Arash Bernal Ponce Aguilera
For Avenue B
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