Where The Streets Have No Name

Well, I don’t think Brasília was the city that U2 had in mind when they wrote the song Where the streets have no name, but it could very well be a fitting description of Brasília. Ok, there are a few streets or roads that do have names, but addresses here are more likely to be something like SQS 403, SHLS Q 716, SHN Q 2 Bloco E or SES Q 807, Lt 29 which happens to be the address of the Swedish embassy. I will not go into details on how to read this, as I haven’t quite figured out all the details about it, although I have started getting the logic behind it. In fact it is probably absolutely über-logical. I will simply quote Lonely Planet again, this is how they describe it:

For example, the address for Pensão da Zenilda is SQS 704, Bloco Q, Casa 29. That means it’s in Super Quadra 704, bloco (building) Q, casa (house) 29. The first digit in the address (7) shows the position east or west of the Eixo Rodoviário (the main north-south arterial road) – odd numbers to the west and even to the east, increasing as they move away from the centre. The last two digits (04) show the distance north or south of the Eixo Monumental. So Pensão da Zenlida is four blocks to the south of the Eixo Monumental and four blocks east of the Eixo Rodoviário (1, 3, 5, 7)

That’s super logical isn’t it!? Adding to this are a number of acronyms used in addresses like SCLN/SLCS for Sector Comércio Local Norte/Sul, SBN/SBS Setor Bancário Norte/Sul and SEN/SES Setor de Embaxiadas Norte/Sul and so on. These acronyms are frequently used on road signs etc. That will be a challenge when I start to drive myself here, as if the traffic wasn’t already a challenge.