For more about Oregon, see received card #508.
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Thank you, Emmy !
Sent on: December 9, 2014
Received on: December 30, 2014
Showing posts with label 2014. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2014. Show all posts
30 December 2014
29 December 2014
#773 Kiev, Ukraine
For more about Ukraine, see received card #261.
A little bit about some facts on the postcard:
Ivan Yakovych Franko (Ukrainian: Іван Якович Франко, pronounced [iˈvɑn ˈjɑkovɪt͡ʃ frɐnˈkɔ]) (August 27 [O.S. August 15] 1856 – May 28 [O.S. May 15] 1916) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, ethnographer, the author of the first detective novels and modern poetry in the Ukrainian language.
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (Ukrainian: Тара́с Григо́рович Шевче́нко,pronounced [tɑˈrɑs ɦrɪˈɦɔrɔvɪt͡ʃ ʃɛwˈt͡ʃɛnkɔ], Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko; March 9 [O.S. February 25] 1814 – March 10 [O.S. February 26] 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, as well as folklorist and ethnographer. His literary heritage is regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and, to a large extent, the modern Ukrainian language. Shevchenko is also known for many masterpieces as a painter and an illustrator.
The location of the geographical centre of Europe depends on the definition of the borders of Europe, mainly whether remote islands are included to define the extreme points of Europe, and on the method of calculating the final result. Thus, several places claim to host this hypothetical centre.
Mount Hoverla (Cyrillic: Говерла, Hoverla; Hungarian: Hóvár; Romanian: Hovârla; Goverla, Polish: Howerla) at 2,061 metres (6,762 ft), is the highest mountain in Ukraine and part of the Carpathian Mountains. The mountain is located in the Eastern Beskides, in the Chornohora region. The slopes are covered with beech and spruce forests, above which there is a belt of sub-alpine meadows called polonyna in Ukrainian. At the eastern slope there is the main spring of the Prut River. The name is of Old Hungarian origin and means 'snow mountain'.
As a national flag, the blue and yellow bicolour was officially used since the 1848 Spring of Nations when it was hoisted over the Lviv Rathaus. It was officially adopted as a state flag for the first time in 1918 by the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic. When Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, the flag was outlawed and before 1949 there was no official state flag until adoption of the red-blue flag of the Ukrainian SSR. People who were hoisting the blue-yellow flags in the Soviet Ukraine were prosecuted as criminals. The blue and yellow flag was provisionally adopted for official ceremonies in September 1991 following Ukrainian independence, before finally officially being restored in 1992.
Arsenalna (Ukrainian: Арсенальна) is a station on Kiev Metro's Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line. The station was opened along with the first stage and is currently the deepest station in the world (105.5 metres). This attributed to Kiev's geography where the high bank of the Dnieper River rises above the rest of the city. Also unique is the station's design which lacks a central concourse thus similar in layout to stations on the London Underground.
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Thank you, Natali !
Sent on: December 19, 2014
Received on: December 29, 2014
#772 Canada
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a buffalo jump located where the foothills of the Rocky Mountains begin to rise from the prairie 18 km northwest of Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada on highway 785. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of a museum of Blackfoot culture.
The buffalo jump was used for 5,500 years by the indigenous peoples of the plains to kill buffalo by driving them off the 11 metre (36 foot) high cliff. Before the late introduction of horses, the Blackfoot drove the buffalo from a grazing area in the Porcupine Hills about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the site to the "drive lanes", lined by hundreds of cairns, by dressing up as coyotes and wolves. These specialized "buffalo runners" were young men trained in animal behavior to guide the buffalo into the drive lanes. Then, at full gallop, the buffalo would fall from the weight of the herd pressing behind them, breaking their legs and rendering them immobile. The cliff itself is about 300 metres (1000 feet) long, and at its highest point drops 10 metres into the valley below. The site was in use at least 6,000 years ago, and the bone deposits are 12 metres (39 feet) deep. After falling off the cliff, the buffalo carcasses were processed at a nearby camp. The camp at the foot of the cliffs provided the people with everything they needed to process a buffalo carcass, including fresh water. The majority of the buffalo carcass was used for a variety of purposes, from tools made from the bone, to the hide used to make dwellings and clothing. The importance of the site goes beyond just providing food and supplies. After a successful hunt, the wealth of food allowed the people to enjoy leisure time and pursue artistic and spiritual interests. This increased the cultural complexity of the society.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1981
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Thank you, Laura !
Sent on: December 15, 2014
Received on: December 29, 2014
24 December 2014
#771 Hong Kong
Kowloon City (Chinese: 九龍城; pinyin: Jiǔlóngchéng) is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is named after the Kowloon Walled City, and is administratively part of Kowloon City District.
Comparing with the administrative Kowloon City District, the Kowloon City area is vaguely bounded south by Prince Edward Road West and Prince Edward Road East, north with Lo Fu Ngam, east with Kai Tak Nullah and west with Kowloon Tsai.
Kai Tak Airport (IATA: HKG, ICAO: VHHH) was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. It was officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, when it was closed and replaced by the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, 30 kilometres (19 mi) to the west. It is often known as Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport, or simply Kai Tak, to distinguish it from its successor which is often referred to as Chek Lap Kok Airport. In 2013, the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal was opened on the site of the former airport's runway.
With numerous skyscrapers and mountains located to the north and its only runway jutting out into Victoria Harbour, landings at the airport were dramatic to experience and technically demanding for pilots. The History Channel program Most Extreme Airports ranked it as the 6th most dangerous airport in the world.
The airport was home to Hong Kong's international carrier Cathay Pacific, as well as regional carrier Dragonair, freight airline Air Hong Kong and Hong Kong Airways. The airport was also home to the former RAF Kai Tak.
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| Date of Issue: July 24, 2014 - Definitive - Landscape |
Thank you, Michelle!
Sent on: November 27, 2014
Received on: December 22, 2014
#770 France
Chartres Cathedral, also known as Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Chartres (French: Basilique Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a medieval Catholic cathedral of the Latin Church located in Chartres, France, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) southwest of Paris. It is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The current cathedral, mostly constructed between 1194 and 1250, is the last of at least five which have occupied the site since the town became a bishopric in the 4th century.
The cathedral is in an exceptional state of preservation. The majority of the original stained glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century. The building's exterior is dominated by heavy flying buttresses which allowed the architects to increase the window size significantly, while the west end is dominated by two contrasting spires – a 105-metre (349 ft) plain pyramid completed around 1160 and a 113-metre (377 ft) early 16th-century Flamboyant spire on top of an older tower. Equally notable are the three great façades, each adorned with hundreds of sculpted figures illustrating key theological themes and narratives.
Since at least the 12th century the cathedral has been an important destination for travellers – and remains so to this day, attracting large numbers of Christian pilgrims, many of whom come to venerate its famous relic, the Sancta Camisa, said to be the tunic worn by the Virgin Mary at Christ's birth, as well as large numbers of secular tourists who come to admire the cathedral's architecture and historical merit.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1979
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Thank you, Catherine !
Sent on: December 18, 2014
Received on: December 22, 2014
17 December 2014
#769 Trabzon, Turkey
Unfortunately I don't know what waterfall it is.
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Thank you, Elif !
Sent on: December 2, 2014
Received on: December 16, 2014
#768 Týnec nad Sázavou, Czech Republic
Lešany is a municipality and village in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.
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Thank you, Cai !
Sent on: December 9, 2014
Received on: December 16, 2014
#767 China
More about China, see received postcard #451.
About some facts on the postcards:
Confucius (551–479 BC) was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history.
Bruce Lee (Chinese: 李小龍; born Lee Jun-fan, Chinese: 李振藩; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong action film actor, Hong Kong American martial artist, martial arts instructor, philosopher, filmmaker and the founder of Jeet Kune Do. Lee was the son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-Chuen. He is widely considered by commentators, critics, media and other martial artists to be one of the most influential martial artists of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century. He is often credited with helping to change the way Asians were presented in American films.
Mount Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā and in Tibet as Chomolungma, is Earth's highest mountain. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. Its peak is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level and is the 5th furthest summit from the center of Earth. The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point. Its massif includes neighboring peaks Lhotse, 8,516 m (27,940 ft); Nuptse, 7,855 m (25,771 ft) and Changtse, 7,580 m (24,870 ft).
Paper, and the pulp papermaking process, was said to be developed in China during the early 2nd century AD, possibly as early as the year 105 A.D., by the Han court eunuch Cai Lun, although the earliest archaeological fragments of paper derive from the 2nd century BC in China.
Gunpowder was, according to prevailing academic consensus, invented in the 9th century in China and the earliest record of a written formula for gunpowder appears in the 11th century Song Dynasty text, Wujing Zongyao. This discovery led to the invention of fireworks and the earliest gunpowder weapons in China. In the centuries following the Chinese discovery, gunpowder weapons began appearing in the Muslim world, Europe and India. The technology spread from China through the Middle East or Central Asia, and then into Europe. The earliest Western accounts of gunpowder appear in texts written by English philosopher Roger Bacon in the 13th century.
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Thank you, Cai !
Sent on: November 14, 2014
Received on: December 15, 2014
12 December 2014
#766 Stockholm, Sweden
About some facts written on the postcard:
Alfred Bernhard Nobel (21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer.
He was the inventor of dynamite. Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. Nobel held 350 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. His fortune was used posthumously to institute the Nobel Prizes. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him. His name also survives in modern-day companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are descendants of mergers with companies Nobel himself established.
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990), was a Swedish film actress and an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Garbo was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress and received an honorary one in 1954 for her "luminous and unforgettable screen performances." She also won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress for both Anna Karenina (1935) and Camille (1936). In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Garbo fifth on their list of greatest female stars of all time, after Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, and Ingrid Bergman.
Karl Stig-Erland "Stieg" Larsson (15 August 1954 – 9 November 2004) was a Swedish journalist and writer. He is best known for writing the "Millennium trilogy" of crime novels, which were published posthumously. Larsson lived much of his life in Stockholm and worked there in the field of journalism and as an independent researcher of right-wing extremism.
He was the second best-selling author in the world for 2008, behind Khaled Hosseini. The third novel in the series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, became the most sold book in the United States in 2010 according to Publishers Weekly. By December 2013, his "Millennium series" had sold 75 million copies worldwide.
Kebnekaise is the highest mountain in Sweden. The Kebnekaise massif, which is part of the Scandinavian Mountains, has two peaks, of which the southern, glaciated one is highest at 2,097.5 metres (6,882 ft) above sea level as of August 2014. The northern peak is 2,096.8 metres (6,879 ft) and free of ice. Kebnekaise lies in Lapland, about 150 kilometres (ca. 90 miles) north of the Arctic Circle and west of Kiruna near the popular Kungsleden hiking trail between Abisko and Nikkaluokta.
Falu red or Falun red (in Swedish Falu rödfärg) is the name of a Swedish deep red paint well known for its use on wooden cottages and barns. The paint originated from the copper mine at Falun in Dalarna, Sweden. The traditional colour remains popular today due to its effectiveness in preserving wood. In Finland, it is known as punamulta ("red earth") after the pigment, very finely divided hematite. Since the binder is starch, the paint is permeable to water.
A Dalecarlian horse or Dala horse (Swedish: Dalahäst) is a traditional carved, painted wooden horse statuette originating in Swedish province Dalarna. In the old days the Dala horse was mostly used as a toy for children; in modern times it has become a symbol of Dalarna, as well as Sweden in general. Several different types of Dala horses are made, with distinguishing features common to the locality of the site where they are produced. One particular style has, however, become much more common and widespread than others. It is stoutly carved and painted bright red with details and a harness in white, green, yellow and blue.
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Thank you, Jarmo !
Sent on: December 10, 2014
Received on: December 12, 2014
#765 Stockholm, Sweden
The wedding of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and Daniel Westling took place on 19 June 2010 in Stockholm Cathedral. It has been described as "Europe's biggest royal wedding since the Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer in 1981." Westling thereby acquired Victoria's ducal title, becoming a Swedish prince and Duke of Västergötland. In time for the wedding, a joint monogram of their initials was created.
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Thank you, Jarmo !
Sent on: December 10, 2014
Received on: December 12, 2014
#764 Stockholm, Sweden
Info in Swedish - sv.wikipedia.org
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Thank you, Jarmo !
Sent on: December 10, 2014
Received on: December 12, 2014
08 December 2014
#763 Connecticut, USA
Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse is a sparkplug lighthouse in Connecticut, United States, at Fenwick Point at the mouth of the Connecticut River near Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It is featured on the state's "Preserve the Sound" license plates.
Falkner Island Light, also known as the Faulkner Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Connecticut, United States, on Falkner Island which is off Guilford Harbor on Long Island Sound. The lighthouse was constructed in 1802 and commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson. The lighthouse has had three keeper's houses: the original house of 1802 was rebuilt in 1851 and then again in 1871. The 1871 keeper's house survived to 1976, when it was destroyed by fire; the Coast Guard repaired and automated the lighthouse two years later. A volunteer group, the Faulkner's Light Brigade, has undertaken the restoration and preservation of the lighthouse since 1991, completing the last major restoration work in March 2011. Access to Falkner Island and the light is restricted during the nesting season of the roseate terns from May to August yearly. The Falkner Island Lighthouse, as the second oldest extant lighthouse in Connecticut, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Stonington Harbor Light is a historic nineteenth century lighthouse located on the east side of Stonington Harbor in Stonington, Connecticut. A light housed in a small granite lighthouse known by this name was originally built by the federal government in 1824, and was located on Windmill Point in the harbor. Erosion led to the lighthouse being torn down and relocated to its current site in 1840. A second stone building was constructed and the 35 feet (11 m) tower was attached to the structure.
Five Mile Point Light, also known as Five Mile Point Lighthouse or Old New Haven Harbor Lighthouse, is a lighthouse in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, on the harbor entrance to Long Island Sound, five miles (8 km) from Downtown New Haven. Originally in 1805, a 30-foot (9.1 m) octagonal wooden tower was built by Abisha Woodward. In 1847, a new 80-foot (24 m) octagonal tower was constructed by Marcus Bassett with East Haven brownstone from Jabez Potter's quarry. The light was powered by 12 lamps with reflectors and was located 97 feet (30 m) above sea level. Also constructed was a two-and-one-half story brick house to replace an existing structure in a "very bad state of repair". In 1855, a fourth-order Fresnel lens replaced the lamps, and a fog bell was added in the 1860s. The light was discontinued in 1877 and replaced by the Southwest Ledge Light. The lighthouse is located in Lighthouse Point Park and the light and its keeper's house were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
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| Date of Issue: October 23, 2014 - Global Silver Bells Wreath |
Thank you, Seida !
Sent on: December 2014
Received on: December 8, 2014
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