Rosendaal to Essen

July 19, 2018

Rosendaal to Nispen

Today’s journey takes me south from the area of Rosendaal towards the Belgian border, and then further along towards the city of Antwerp. The journey is somewhere unassuming, but reveals the unique charm of the cross-border region between North Brabant province and the region of Antwerp.

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

The area to the south of Rosendaal changes from the nondescript landscape and industrial agricultural with settlements evoking above all a functional character, to smaller and more quaint communities nestled amongst a fecund greenery bursting out from the meandering canals. The environment feels somewhat wilder, less tended, but also livelier.

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Rosendaal to Nispen

Once south of Essen, which lies on the border, the environment is increasingly defined by the often quite affluent bedroom communities that lie to the north of Antwerp, along the flank of the De Zoom – Kalmthoutse Heide park that lies on the boundary of Belgium and the Netherlands. Closer towards Antwerp, the green dissipates, and the increasingly residential character becomes more compressed, somewhat starker and degraded in nature.

Essen

Essen

Essen

Essen

Essen

Essen

Essen