No.
Titel
06576
Where is Rotterdam anyway?

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 _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.


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