Autumn in Amstelveen (A Photo Essay)

Kayla took off for Oslo this morning—something about being a PhD candidate and Vikings and all around being an awesome scholar and globetrotter. Meanwhile, I’m left to my own devices, which led me to consider what I would do with a weekend along in Amsterdam.

I weighed out my options.

Note that there’s a 4 crate limit on the Heineken. As in, 96 bottles 

of beer per person is where they draw the line in Amsterdam.

Once I did that, I took the choices and promptly put them in a folder marked “Bad Ideas.” Instead, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful autumn afternoon and capture something of the flavor of Amstelveen, a city onto itself with some 85,000 people, just south of Amsterdam. This is a special place, with its brick houses, impossibly small front terraces and gardens, and the miles and miles of forested trails through Amsterdamse Bos and the surrounding green space.

Let’s start with the mundane life at Uilenstede, the student housing suburbia in Amstelveen. That includes the construction that’s been ongoing since day one, messing everything up but also showing progress every day.

Then, moving through the city, which maintains a quaint feel at its heart.

Along the way, there are unusual characters. That includes the grey heron, a weird, gangly bird that has adapted to city life and hangs out on just about every street corner, and this vicious little crustacean rearing up at me on a gravel pathway.

Alright, into the woods. Amsterdamse Bos was artificially created about 80 years ago, and it’s a massively landscaped journey, stunning at this time of year with everything in a resigned state of transition.

My route today was geared towards the lake at the southern end of the park, De Poel, marking the end of a loop through quiet Dutch suburbia and wooded autumn glen. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. 

I stopped at the Jumbo for some groceries (not the 96 beer), just as the evening chill started to set in. Seemingly overnight, the seasons have changed here in the Netherlands, but what a fall it promises to be.

Cheers,
rb