Sunday, February 28, 2010

Finland


A lovely postcard from Finland, Kirti! Thank you!:)

Sovereign Hill, Australia


Sovereign Hill is an Open air museum in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, that depicts Ballarat's first ten years after the discovery of gold there in 1851. It was officially opened on 29 November 1970.

Set in the Australian 1850s, the complex is located on a 25-hectare site that is linked to the richest alluvial gold rush in the world. The site comprises over 60 historically recreated buildings, with costumed volunteers, who are able to answer questions and will pose for photos. The recreation is completed with antiques, artwork, books and papers, machinery, livestock and animals, carriages and devices all appropriate to the era.

Thank you Helen for this great postcard!:)

Barra's Lighthouse, Brazil

First fort built in the city, it had the function of hindering the enemies entrance in All Saints’ Bay. Initiated in 1582, it got the shape of an irregular polygon with ten sides, six salient and four re-entering angles; its current dimensions, however, just came about in the 17th century.

The first wooden lighthouse, which functioned with whale oil, was made in 1696 and it indicated the entrance of the bay, alerting to the dangers of the coral reef or sandbank of Santo Antônio – the current iron lighthouse, working with electricity, was built in 1836. In the fort, there are a restaurant, a bar and the Nautical Museum, with exhibitions of old maps, navigation equipment, models of vessels, artillery pieces and remains of shipwrecks that happened in Barra, mainly Galleon Sacramento’s.

Thank you Luiz for this lovely lighthouse postcard!:)

Pantanal, Brazil



The Pantanal is a tropical wetland and the world's largest wetland of any kind. It lies mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul but extends into Mato Grosso as well as into portions of Bolivia and Paraguay, sprawling over an area estimated at between 140,000 square kilometers and 195,000 square kilometers. Various sub-regional ecosystems exist, each with distinct hydrological, geological and ecological characteristics; up to twelve of them have been defined.
80% of the Pantanal floodplains are submerged during the rainy seasons, nurturing an astonishing biologically diverse collection of aquatic plants and helping support a dense array of animal species. Though the Pantanal inevitably cuts a lower profile than the Amazon Rainforest to its north, its ecosystems are similarly precious.
The name "Pantanal" comes from the Portuguese word pântano, meaning wetland, bog, swamp or marsh.

Thank you Luiz for this beatiful sunset postcard!:)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Bridge of the Americas, Panama canal


The Bridge of the Americas is a road bridge in Panama, which spans the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. Completed in 1962, at a cost of US$20 million, it was the only non-swinging bridge connecting the north and south American land masses until the opening of the Centennial Bridge in 2004.

Many thanks to Freddy again who sent me this lovely postcard!:)

Porkkala, Finland

Many thanks to Anne for this lovely lighthouse postcard! And look at the stamp! Seems like two stamps have put on eachother:)) but it isn't so!:))

Boston, USA

Boston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. Boston city proper had a 2008 estimated population of 620,535, making it the twenty-first largest in the country. Boston is also the anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area called Greater Boston, home to 4.5 million people and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country.
Boston was founded on September 17, 1630, by Puritan colonists from England.

Thank you Mary for this incredible postcard!:)

White Gold from Alabama

A Bug's Life,



A lovely postcard from Taiwan!:)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Army nurses at Tuckegee c1943, USA


Lovely postcard from Nova:) Thank you!

Kiel, Germany



Kiel is the capital and most populous city of the northern German state Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of over 236,000.
Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea, Kiel has become one of the main maritime centres of Germany. For instance, the city is known for a variety of international sailing events, including the annual Kiel Week, which is the biggest sailing event in the world. The Olympic sailing competitions of the 1936 and the 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Kiel.

Kiel has also been one of the traditional homes of the German Navy's Baltic fleet, and continues to be a major high-tech shipbuilding centre. Kiel is an important sea transport hub, due to its location at the Kiel Fjord and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, Kiel Canal. Moreover, today Kiel harbour is an important port of call for cruise ships touring the Baltic Sea.

Thank you Jenny, for this lovely postcard!

Šventoji, Lithuania



Šventoji is a small resort town on the coast of the Baltic Sea in Lithuania. Administratively it is part of Palanga city. The town is located about 10 km north of Palanga and close to the border with Latvia. Further north of the town is Būtingė and its oil terminal. Šventoji River flows in to the sea at the town.

Šventoji is an important archaeological site as the first artifacts are dated about 3000 BC. A famous cane shaped as moose head was also found in the town. It is a former fishermen village now turned into a tourist town. The town always struggled to develop a port, which had to compete with nearby Klaipėda and Liepāja.

Thank you Lina for this lovely postcard!:)

Naleczow, Poland



Nałęczówis a spa town (population 4,800) situated on the Nałęczów Plateau in Poland's Lublin Province. In the 18th century, the discovery there of healing waters initiated the development of a health resort; mainly treated are circulatory disorders.
Notable landmarks include the 18th-century baroque-classicist Małachowski Palace (1771-73, since remodeled) and a park and resort complex dating from the 18th-19th centuries. In the Palace park lies The Creek Gottage...

Thank you Agata for this lovely postcard! :)