When we come to the Netherlands we always go to den Bosch and drive by The Bossche Broek. Every time I remind myself that I have to go there once and in the end I never manage. Well, not until the last time.
We kept the Saturday afternoon free, so that we can go there after lunch with the family in den Bosch. All day it looked like we would be lucky with the weather, but you're never sure in the Netherlands, so I put on my rain jacket which turned out to be a good decision as it rained most of the time. And this time I even put on the right shoes, so I didn't get wet at all!
On the way from the restaurant we walked directly to the Moerputten. I didn't take many photos from the city as we were still with our family, but I took enough of them to gave you an idea about how the city is.
It's my favourite place in the Netherlands because of its beautiful architecture, cute stores, and great restaurants. And it also doesn't get as busy as other Dutch cities. It's in the heart of Brabant and it still keeps the typical Dutch atmosphere that I'm missing in many other bigger cities.
You can enter the Bossche Broek from several locations, and we chose a less convenient one as it was close to the place where we said our goodbyes to our family.
But it made us walk through the most beautiful part of the city along the canal. In the summer there are plenty of boats with guided tours that you can take. It's also on my list, so maybe I will take you on such tour with me when I finally manage to do it 😊
The bridges over the canal are low, and people on the boats often have to be careful and duck to pass under them. It's funny to see as they get reminded by the tour guide and all of them duck simultaneously.
Finally we said our goodbyes and could enjoy some quiet time. I'm sure many experience something similar when they see the family after a long time. There is so much to say, everybody is talking and eventually you stop listening because you can't focus and follow anymore. You're happy to see them, but you're also happy when they leave and you can be by yourself. With my husband we like to enjoy some quiet time together, so there are times when we just walk along each other without talking. This was one of those days.
We started the tour by crossing the canal in this place. There was a small boat with a chain attached to it and you had to keep turning the wheel to pull the chain and move the boat. We were eight people and one dog on the boat and my husband was turning the wheel which didn't look easy at all. Everybody was cheering him and I got so caught up in the moment that I forgot to take a photo when we were passing the canal.
From this side you can enjoy the views of den Bosch although some buildings are not very charming. Sometimes I ask myself what does an architect think while drawing something like this. I guess there are lifts in those towers.
In the back we can see the better part of the city...
In the Bossche Broek you can find wet swamplands which change with seasons, so it's dangerous to walk outside of the marked trails. On the way you're reminded by signs to stay on the trails for your own safety.
Actually, this is why den Bosch was built here. It was difficult for the enemy to attack the city surrounded by the swamplands.
There are many people walking around, jogging or driving bicycles in any kind of weather. It's a nature reserve where you can enjoy long walks with great views. You can literally walk for hours and hours. This was however not on our schedule as the weather was not on our side, but we still managed to walk for about one hour.
We chose the trail along the city fortification. It was interesting to see the city walls from the other side of the canal.
You can see so far away! It's a great time for the visit as everything looks so fresh and bright green. There are special species of plants here, but I wasn't able to identify them. If there would be special species of vegetables that would be different 😊
The clouds were so dramatic and fast. I loved the scenery. You could think it is not so special because it's flat, but I think that there is a lot of 'texture' here.
I enjoyed this part as it made me think of the area close to the sea (in the Netherlands, not in any Mediterranean country of course 😊) You can also see how windy it was...
I can also imagine doing a wedding photoshoot here - with right angles it would turn a very romantic place...
The water was dirty and as it's not moving I thought it would smell and that there would be many mosquitos, but it wasn't the case. Maybe it's different in summer though.
The sand is everywhere and I just can't get used to it. Back home, we only had sand in big sandpits for kids to play 😊
It was getting colder fast, so we turned around and slowly walked back to the city...
I took about 20 photos of this bush and one of them didn't turn out blurry which is almost a miracle considering the wind.
It was interesting to see a metal path in this area. I can imagine that it's because of the safety.
Let's see a few more photos...
At some point we came back to the city and walked on the city walls. This is actually the view that we always get from the car...
There are still three preserved bastions in the city. There is also an underground information centre called Het Bastionder and a memorial to French soldiers.
I'm happy that we finally got to go for a walk here. Even though my husband lived here his entire childhood his interests were elsewhere, so it's nice to explore his hometown and its surroundings together.
See you next time!
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Nature and everything looks so good! ☺️
Thank you! 😊