Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel - Where I live
Map of the Zuidplaspolder

0=The World, 1=Europe, 2=Western Europe, 3=Benelux, 4=Netherlands, 5=N&S Holland, 6=Zuidplaspolder,
7=Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel and surroundings, 8=Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel, 9=Zuidplas Suburb

The Zuidplaspolder roughly translates to South Lake Polder. A polder is reclaimed land so this means that this area used to be a lake. The work on reclaiming the Zuidplaspolder was done from 1815 to 1839. There's a road called the 's-Gravenweg (Count's Road) between Kralingen and Gouda which was build in the 11th century that runs through Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel and still exists today. In Dutch there's an expression that when something is really old you will say it's as old as the road to Kralingen. Kralingen is now part of Rotterdam and is where I work now. In fact, when I cycle to work in the summer I follow the 's-Gravenweg. In the bottom right between the Kralingse Plas and Maasboulevard near the Kralingse Zoom is the office where I work. Gouda of course Is where the world famous cheese bearing that comes from.