Oregon

My another card from USA is showed Multnomah Falls:

The fifth highest in the United States, drops an impressive 620 thunderous feet and is the most popular of the many waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

Tagus

This is my first card from Portugal:

The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is 1,038 km long, 716 km in Spain, 47 km along the border between Portugal and Spain and 275 km in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon. It drains an area of 80,100 square kilometers (the second largest in the Iberian peninsula after the Douro). The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course. Several dams and diversions supply drinking water to most of central Spain, including Madrid, and Portugal, while dozens of hydroelectric stations create power. Between dams it follows a very constricted course, but after Almourol it enters a vast alluvial valley prone to flooding. At its mouth is a large estuary on which the port city of Lisbon is situated.

The source of the Tagus is the Fuente de García, in the Montes Universales, Sistema Ibérico, Sierra de Albarracín Comarca. All its major tributaries enter the Tagus from the right (north) bank. The main cities it passes through are Aranjuez, Toledo, Talavera de la Reina and Alcántara in Spain, and Abrantes, Santarém, Almada and Lisbon in Portugal.

Portugal

Portuguese card :)

Óbidos is a town of approximately 3100 inhabitants and municipal seat of the municipality of Óbidos, located in the Oeste Subregion, of the Estremadura historical province, in Portugal.

The area of the town of Óbidos is located on a hilltop, encircled by a fortified wall, but divided between the two parishes of São Pedro and Santa Maria in the municipality of Óbidos.

Óbidos remains a well-preserved example of medieval architecture; its streets, squares, walls and its castle are a popular tourist destination.

Hoorn

This card was sent to me from Hoorn - the province in the  North Holland.

"Hoorn" is a very old Dutch word for "corner", the cost makes a bend there.

It is located on the IJsselmeer, 35 kilometres north of Amsterdam, and acquired city rights in 1357. Hoorn has 70 196 inhabitants. The area of the municipality is 52,49 km² (32,62 km² consists of water, mainly the Markermeer), and consists of the following villages and/or districts: Blokker, Hoorn, Zwaag, and parts of Bangert and De Hulk.

Cape Horn, the most southerly point of the Americas, was named after the town by Willem Schouten, who rounded it in 1616. The Hoorn Islands are also named after this city.

The City Of Hoorn has a twin city status with:

• Beersel, Belgium, since 1979
• Malacca Town, Malaysia, since 1989
• Příbram, Czech Republic, since 1992

Spain...one more time :)

One of my official card from Postcrossing project :)

A postcard shows Tarragona – a little city with one hundred inhabitants, beaches with golden sand and crystal waters. The city has a historical past with more than two thousand years old, has many Roman ruins. From 2000 is on World Heritage for UNESCO site J

Kazan

This card I've got from Elena.

Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,535, it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia.

 The Qolşärif mosque located in Kazan Kremlin, was reputed to be -at the time of its construction- the largest mosque in Russia, and in Europe outside of Istanbul. Originally, the mosque was built in the Kazan Kremlin in the 16th century. It was named after Qolşärif who served there. Qolsharif died with his numerous students while defending Kazan from Russian forces in 1552. It is believed that the building featured minarets, both in the form of cupolas and tents. Its design was traditional for Volga Bulgaria, although elements of early Renaissance and Ottoman architecture could have been used as well. In 1552, during the storming of Kazan it was destroyed by Ivan The Terrible.

Tatar scholars speculate as to whether some elements of Qolşärif mosque can be seen in Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow (8 minarets, a central cupola, not typical for Russian architecture). Since 1996 the mosque has been rebuilt in Kazan Kremlin, although its look is decisively modern. Its inauguration on July 24, 2005 marked the beginning of celebrations dedicated to the Millennium of Kazan. It can accommodate 6,000 worshipers.

Several countries contributed to the fund that was set up to build Qolsharif mosque, namely Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Qolsharif is considered to be one of the most important symbols of Tatar aspirations. Nowadays the mosque predominantly serves as a Museum of Islam. At the same time during the major Muslim celebrations thousands of people gather there to pray.

The Qolsharif complex was envisioned to be an important cornerstone of Kazan’s architectural landscape. Besides the main mosque building it includes a library, publishing house and Imam's office.

The Kazan is the chief historic citadel of Tatarstan, situated in the city of Kazan. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. (from wikipedia)

Polish bear :)

This card I've got from Poland :)

The National Park covers one of the two Alpine mountain ranges in Poland. The highest peak in Poland, Rysy (2,499 m AMSL), is located here. The Polish Tatra range, which is a part of the Carpathian Mountains, is divided into two parts: High Tatras (Tatry Wysokie) and Western Tatras (Tatry Zachodnie). The landscape consists of sharp-edged peaks and hollows with numerous rock formations. There are around 650 caves, of which the cave system Wielka Sniezna is the longest (18 km) and the deepest (maximum depth 814 m). Six caves of the system are open to public.

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. Adult bears generally weigh between 100 and 635 kg and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator. There are several recognized subspecies within the brown bear species. In North America, two types are generally recognized, the coastal brown bear and the inland grizzly bear, and the two types could broadly define all brown bear subspecies. The exact number of overall brown subspecies remains in debate.

A view from northern Chile

This card I've got today :)

My first card from Chile.

Llamas grazin in a marsh located 4500 metres a.s.l., at the  feet of the Pomerape and Parinacota volcanoes, whose snow-capped peaks rise above 6000 m.

Tennessee

The part of USA which is still fairly rural with lots of farm, undeveloped areas like rivers, lakes, forest etc. 

Rottnest

Rottnest Island is located 18 kilometres off the Western Australian coast, near Fremantle. It is called Wadjemup by the Noongar people, meaning “place across the water". The island is 11 kilometres long, and 4,5 kilometres at its widest point. Its total land area is 19 square kilometres. Rottnest Island has been a popular local holiday destination for over 50 years.

It is antipodal to the island of Bermuda (from Wikipedia).

The park

I have got this postcard from Ukrainian girl. The card is showing the Sharivka Park.


The monument of park-and-garden arts of the national significance. The park obtained its Western European features still in the early 19th century, when it was reconstructed and decorated with ponds and terrace with wide stairs. The central site of the park is occupied by the palace erected on a high hill.

Avalanche

This is one of my recently receive cards.

It's showing an avalanche in Telluride (Colorado, USA).

Holland

One day, when I had a very bad mood I opened my mailbox and...I've got this card:

I don't know do you will believe me or not, but...this card made my day in that period :) However I am not sure why :).

Temple in Japan

That's another card which I've got from Japan.

On the eastern side of the Itsukushima Shrine is the 27.6-meter tall Goju-no-to, a five-story pagoda that stands next to the Senjokaku (literally "hall of 1,000 tatami mats"). It is said that this pagoda was built in 1407. Its architectural style is a skillful combination of Japanese and Chinese features. Its warped cypress-bark roofing is Chinese style while the wooden door at the entrance is Japanese. Although visitors cannot go inside the pagoda, they still can enjoy the richly-colored Buddhist drawings on its walls and the magnificent gold decorative paintings on the upper part of its pillar. Although an ordinary five-story pagoda usually has a central pillar from its base all the way to the top, this one is made in an extremely rare style because its pillar stops at the second level.

Both this pagoda and the next-door Senjokaku have been designated as important cultural assets. Indeed, its elegantly curved roof and vivid vermilion color create a beautiful silhouette that stands out strikingly among the other features of the cityscape (from)

Kentucky's cave

Mammoth Cave National Park is a U.S. National Park in central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world. The official name of the system is the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System for the ridge under which the cave has formed. The park was established as a national park on July 1, 1941. It became a World Heritage Site on October 27, 1981, and an international Biosphere Reserve on September 26, 1990. (from wikipedia) 

Mammoth Cave National Park was established to preserve the cave system, including Mammoth Cave, the scenic river valleys of the Green and Nolin rivers, and a section of south central Kentucky. Beneath the sandstone-capped ridges of Mammoth Cave National Park lies the most extensive cave system on earth, with over 350 miles of passageway mapped and surveyed. And yet after 4,000 years of intermittent exploration, the full extent of this water-formed labyrinth remains a mystery. (from here)

The Mammoth Cave is the largest cave in the world. There are a lot of caves in Kentucky. The Natives American used caves as their shelters. Sometimes soldiers in their civil war were also used caves as bunkers and storage places. 

In Kentucky a lot of people go to explore caves in hopes to finding artifacts. 

Wentworth Falls

The Blue Mountains, located immediately to the west of the sprawling metropolian area that is Sydney, is one of the most accessible areas of (relatively unspoilt) highland natural beauty in New South Wales, Australia. Although not particularly high as a mountain range, the Blue Mountains is nonetheless renowned for its majestic scenery of a unique kind, for its cultural attractions and for its relatively tranquil, alternative mode of life.

The Blue Mountains region was inscribed as a World Heritage Area by UNESCO in 2000.

Consisting mainly of a sandstone plateau, the area is dissected by gorges up to 760 metres deep. The highest point of the range is Mount Werong at 1,215 metres above sea level. A large part of the Blue Mountains is incorporated into the Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Site, consisting of seven national park areas and a conservation reserve.

The Blue Mountains area includes the local government areas of the City of Blue Mountains, the City of Hawkesbury, the City of Lithgow and Oberon.

The Greater Blue Mountains Area is inhabited by over 400 different forms of animals. Among them are rare mammal species like spotted-tailed quoll, the koala, the yellow-bellied glider and long-nosed potoroo. There are also some rare reptiles, like the Blue Mountains water skink.There are also some dingos in the area, which form the top predators and hunt for grey kangaroos.

The haze that gives them their name is the result of light glancing from tiny drops of airborne eucalyptus oil.

On the postcard you can see also and Wentworth Falls. It is a three-tiered seasonal waterfall fed by the Kedumba Creek, near the Blue Mountains town of Wentworth Falls in New South Wales, Australia. The falls are accessible via the National Pass and the Overcliff/Undercliff Walk. The total height of the waterfall is 187 metres.

Near the falls, there is a rocky knoll that has a large number of grinding grooves created by rubbing stone implements on the rock to shape and sharpen them. These marks have been determined to be signs of early human habitation nearby (from wikipedia).

Sanford Mills

This is postcard which I have received from official exchange on Postcrossing:)

On that postcard you can see an old factory mill in Medway, in Massachusetts state. It looks like hundreds of other mills built in the 1800s in this part of US.
Sanford Mills first opened as a wool mill in 1885. Later it became a candle-making factory. In 1989 it was converted into condominiums. It's located off of Village Street along The Charles River. 

Capilano Suspension Bridge

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is a simple suspension bridge crossing the Capilano River in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The current bridge is 136 metres (446 ft) long and 70 metres (230 ft) above the river. It is part of a private facility, with a charge for admission, and draws over 800,000 visitors a year.

 

Capilano Suspension Bridge is one of Vancouver, British Columbia's most popular tourist attractions. The reason is simple, there are so many things to see and do! Just minutes from the bustle of downtown Vancouver, the attractions at Capilano Suspension Bridge offers a unique mix of adventure, history and culture making this Vancouver tourist attraction a complete British Columbia experience and an essential on your list of things to do in Vancouver, BC.

The tittle-tattle: The bridge has been featured as a setting in episodes of several television series, including: MacGyver, Sliders, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, and Psych.

South California

This is my first postcard from this area – South California. Myrtle Beach is a coastal resort city in Horry County, South Carolina, United States.

Myrtle Beach is situated largely on a barrier island in Long Bay between the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway on the west and the Atlantic Ocean on the East. However, building west of the waterway is rapidly increasing and the city of Myrtle Beach is expanding further west.

Land east of the waterway is on a slightly elevated sandbar or dune area. West of the waterway the land is mostly pine forest with a normal high water table and is more dense than the sandbar to the east, in which developers dredge ponds and use the soil to create elevated areas for better drainage around buildings and structures.

The sender of this card wrote that her family are going there every summer for vacation. I probably know why – the place looks great J. 


p.s. I found this small destroyed on postcard when I took out from mailbox...:(  

My first postcard from Brazil

My next postcard was sent from São Paulo. It’s the largest city in Brazil.

It’s difficult to talk about São Paulo without mentioning its size. It is the fourth most populous city in the world, and the largest in the southern hemisphere. Almost 11 million people live within its 1,530 square kilometers, according to the year 2000 Census. 

Yet São Paulo is not an island in this sea of people. The São Paulo Metropolitan Area includes, besides the city itself, 38 other municipalities. As in any great metropolis, the population density is quite high and in many cases, it is difficult to know where the city ends. All told, the region is home to 20 million people, many from all over Brazil and the world.