Subject:  Rotterdam
Date:      Fri, 06 Jul 2001 15:25:38 +0200
From:      "Petr" <kazil@euronet.nl>
To:        info@dierinbedrijf.nl




*** Where is Rotterdam anyway ? - A geographic adventure

I noticed that my own atlas (The Britannica Atlas) gives geographic co-
ordinates for all it's cities and I became curious about it's exact loca-
tion. I did some research in libraries and came up with these results:

51.55 N 4.30 E J.B. Wolters , Schoolatlas der gehele aarde, 35 ed., 1936
51.55 N 4.30 E Bos Niermeyer Atlas, 37 ed, 1947
51.55 N 4.29 E Times Atlas of the World, 1955 (and Dutch edition 1983)
51.55 N 4.30 E The Hamlyns Pictorial Atlas of the World, 1976
51.55 N 4.28 E Britannica Atlas, 1986
51.55 N 4.28 E Rand Mc Nally, The New International Atlas, 1994(and 1996)
51.55 N 4.32 E Trident Press, The 21st Century World Atlas, 1998
51.55 N 4.30 E The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, 1999

The sources on the Internet are a bit disappointing:

www.terraserver.com is down
www.calle.com says 51 N 4 E - very imprecise
www.astro.com says 51.55 N 4.29 E - but it's a site for astrologers

And as yet I've found no other sources of co-ordinates on the web.

I can't locate these precise co-ordinates in the wild, because I have no 
GPS (I'll try to borrow it from someone). But my 1:25.000 topographic map 
shows the co-ordinates of two other spots near the real Rotterdam location.

This was the next best thing, and I was quite excited by the opportunity to 
visit two completely random urban sites without any special relevance. My 
personal definition of Urban Exploration is still: "Visiting sites that 
other people ignore" and this project fits the definition perfectly.

51.50 N 4.30 E - At the crossroads of the Engelsestraat and Hogebanweg, 
almost on the border between Rotterdam and Schiedam. Low apartment buil-
dings, just three and four floors. A small park, a lawn full of dog-shit, 
medium sized trees, a football field. The area looks deserted. Only a few 
foreign looking men and women pass me by. They're walking from the street-
car to whatever destination. A lamppost with number 38, a red mailbox, a 
yellow container for old bottles. A faded mural on one of the brick walls, 
depicting a harbour-scene, looks like 1950. A perfectly dreary place, not-
hing to sit on.

51.50 N 4.25 E - On the Noordereiland, an island in the river. At the cor-
ner of the Marinestraat. Again the spot is in a small park. A neglected 
lawn, two sides enclosed by the blind walls of buildings, two sides 
enclosed by scruffy Italian poplar trees. Two dirty and broken benches and 
a dustbin with an old windscreen-wiper sticking out of it. A very nice spot 
to sit, except for the noise of the building-site next to it. At the other 
side of the street IMREX BV sells alarm-installations, PA-installations and 
portable bullhorns. A black van belonging to a magician's act is parked 
next to it. No one walks by here.

This adventure sounds very simple and silly but I enjoyed it immensely. 
Without the co-ordinates I would have never noticed these places. I'll cer-
tainly return to the spot on the Noordereiland, it has a lot of atmosphere. 
An I dare to say that I'm probably the only person in the world who has 
visited both sites on the same day.

And what about 51.50 N 4.20 E and 51.50 N 4.35 E ? They're totally uninte-
resting because they're outside of Rotterdam, and out of my territory. 

Greetings, Petr

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