Italy - Lazio - Rome

ROME

Forum Romanum, Colosseum,

St. Peter's Square, Navona Square,

Spanish Steps, Fountain of Trevi,

St. Angel Castle.

Sent by my best friend Roberto from Rome, Italy.

Rome is the capital city and most populated comune (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special comune named Roma Capitale with 2,746,984 residents in 1,287.36 km² (497.1 sq mi), Rome is the third most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. The Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, with a population of 4,223,885 residents, is the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Its metropolitan area is the third-most populous within Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber Valley. Vatican City (the smallest country in the world and headquarters of the worldwide Catholic Church under the governance of the Holy See) is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city. Rome is often referred to as the City of Seven Hills due to its geography, and also as the "Eternal City". Rome is generally considered to be one of the cradles of Western civilization and Western Christian culture, and the centre of the Catholic Church.

Rome's history spans 28 centuries. While Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it a major human settlement for over three millennia and one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Europe. The city's early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans, and Sabines. Eventually, the city successively became the capital of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, and is regarded by many as the first-ever Imperial city and metropolis. It was first called The Eternal City (Latin: Urbs Aeterna; Italian: La Città Eterna) by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called Caput Mundi (Capital of the World) (read more).

Malawi - Lilongwe

The prominent building with the red roof is the Old Town Mall, which is located in the Old City part of Lilongwe.

Sent by Emmanuel from Lilongwe, Malawi.

Lilongwe (UK: /lɪˈlɒŋweɪ/, US: /-wi, lɪˈlɔːŋweɪ/,) is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020, that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in the central region of Malawi, in the district of the same name, near the borders with Mozambique and Zambia, and it is an important economic and transportation hub for central Malawi. It is named after the Lilongwe River.

Lilongwe was first set up as a boma by the local leader Njewa around 1902, and later became an administrative centre in 1904. In the 1920s, its location at the junction of several major roadways increased its importance as an agricultural market centre for the fertile Central Region Plateau.

As a trading post, Lilongwe was officially recognized as a town in 1947. After gaining independence, it increasingly developed into an important trading centre in Malawi's central region.

In 1965, Malawi's first president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, selected it as an economic growth point for northern and central Malawi.

Lilongwe became the capital of Malawi in 1975, replacing the previous capital, Zomba. The last government offices were relocated to Lilongwe in 2005.

Development projects of the 1970s and 1980s included the construction of Lilongwe International Airport, which serves the city; rail connections to Salima to the east and the Zambian border to the west; industrial areas in the northern part of the city; and an agricultural program for the fertile tobacco lands of the Central Region Plateau Lilongwe's population continues to experience rapid growth.

The city's population is increasing rapidly, with an annual growth rate of 4.3% (read more).

Spain - Community of Madrid - Madrid

Fountain of Cybele (Fuente de Cibeles), Major Square (Plaza Mayor), Puerta de Alcalá, Royal Palace (Palacio Real), Temple of Debod (Templo de Debod), Las Ventas Bullring (Plaza de Toros de las Ventas), Almudena Cathedral and Gran Via (Catedral de la Almuneda y Gran Via).

Sent by Puri from Madrid, Spain.

Madrid (/məˈdrɪd/ mə-DRID; Spanish: [maˈðɾið]) is the capital and most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), second only to Berlin, Germany, and its metropolitan area is the second-largest in the EU. The municipality covers 604.3 km² (233.3 sq mi) geographical area. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula at about 650 m (2,130 ft) above mean sea level. The capital city of both Spain and the surrounding autonomous community of Madrid (since 1983), it is also the political, economic, and cultural centre of the country.

The primitive core of Madrid, a walled military outpost, dates back to the late 9th century, under the Emirate of Córdoba. Conquered by Christians in 1083 or 1085, it consolidated in the Late Middle Ages as a sizeable town of the Crown of Castile. The development of Madrid as administrative centre fostered after 1561, as it became the permanent seat of the court of the Hispanic Monarchy. The following centuries were characterized by the reinforcement of Madrid's status within the framework of a centralized form of state-building.

The Madrid urban agglomeration has the second-largest GDP in the European Union. Madrid is ranked as an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.^[ The metropolitan area hosts major Spanish companies such as Telefónica, Iberia, BBVA and FCC. It concentrates the bulk of banking operations in the country and it is the Spanish-speaking city generating the largest number of webpages. Madrid houses the headquarters of UN Tourism, the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), and the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB). Pursuant to the standardizing role of the Royal Spanish Academy, Madrid is a centre for Spanish linguistic prescriptivism. Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI and the Madrid Fashion Week. Madrid is home to football clubs Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid (read more).

Austria - Vienna (3)

VIENNA

Schönbrunn Palace, 

Belvedere Palace, 

Michaelerplatz, 

Hofburg.

Sent by Ilona from Vienna, Austria.

My other postcards of Vienna are here and here.

Denmark - Copenhagen

The Town Hall Square. The Little Mermaid. Rosenborg Castle. Cityvie. Nyhavn. Christianshavn. The Round Tower. Ameliehaven. The Royal Life Guard. Tivoli.

Sent by David (reddit) from his vacation in Denmark.

Copenhagen (Danish: København [kʰøpm̩ˈhɑwˀn]) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.

Originally a Viking fishing village established in the 10th century in the vicinity of what is now Gammel Strand, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. During the 16th century, the city served as the de facto capital of the Kalmar Union and the seat of the Union's monarchy, which governed most of the modern-day Nordic region as part of a Danish confederation with Sweden and Norway. The city flourished as the cultural and economic centre of Scandinavia during the Renaissance. By the 17th century, it had become a regional centre of power, serving as the heart of the Danish government and military. During the 18th century, Copenhagen suffered from a devastating plague outbreak and urban conflagrations. Major redevelopment efforts included the construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and the establishment of cultural institutions such as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The city also became the centre of the Danish slave trade during this period. In 1807, the city was bombarded by a British fleet during the Napoleonic Wars, before the Danish Golden Age brought a Neoclassical look to Copenhagen's architecture. After World War II, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing and businesses along the five urban railway routes emanating from the city centre (read more).

Pakistan - Islamabad - "Blue Area"

The commercial center of Islamabad is known as the 'Blue Area' and runs along the length of Jinnah Avenue. It is the commercial financial and business hub of Islamabad. It is called the "Blue Area" because it was represented in a colour blue in the original design of the planned city. Its eastern and runs into Parliament Road, where the majority of the country's government buildings are located.

Sent by Muhammad Imran from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Blue Area (Urdu: بلیو ایریا) is the central business district of Islamabad, Pakistan along the Jinnah Avenue.^[1] The area is a 2-kilometer (1.2 mi)-long corridor along Islamabad's Khayaban-e-Quaid-e-Azam (also known as Jinnah Avenue), Islamabad's primary arterial road which leads up to the main government buildings. It is characterized by clean, wide roads and tall buildings among the panoramic greenery of the adjacent areas.

It is called the "Blue Area", because it was represented in blue colour in the original design (master plan) of the planned city (read more).

Austria - Vienna

Vienna, AUSTRIA.

Sent by Helga and Leopold from Austria.

My other postcards of Vienna is here.

Vienna (/viˈɛnə/  vee-EN-ə; German: Wien [viːn] ; Austro-Bavarian: Wean [veɐ̯n]) is the capital, most populous city, and one of nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. Its larger metropolitan area has a population of nearly 2.9 million, representing nearly one-third of the country's population. Vienna is the cultural, economic, and political center of the country, the fifth-largest city by population in the European Union, and the most-populous of the cities on the river Danube.

The city lies on the eastern edge of the Vienna Woods (Wienerwald), the northeasternmost foothills of the Alps, that separate Vienna from the more western parts of Austria, at the transition to the Pannonian Basin. It sits on the Danube, and is traversed by the highly regulated Wienfluss (Vienna River). Vienna is completely surrounded by Lower Austria, and lies around 50 km (31 mi) west of Slovakia and its capital Bratislava, 60 km (37 mi) northwest of Hungary, and 60 km (37 mi) south of Moravia (Czech Republic) (read more).

United Kingdom - Wales - Cardiff

Sent by Mouse from Cardiff, Wales.

Cardiff (/ˈkɑːrdɪf/ Welsh: Caerdydd [kairˈdiːð, kaːɨrˈdɨːð]) is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 372,089 in 2022 and forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff (Welsh: Dinas a Sir Caerdydd). The city is the eleventh largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the southeast of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. The Cardiff urban area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.

Cardiff is the main commercial centre of Wales as well as the base for the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament. At the 2021 census, the unitary authority area population was put at 362,400.^[ The population of the wider urban area in 2011 was 479,000. In 2011, it ranked sixth in the world in a National Geographic magazine list of alternative tourist destinations. It is the most popular destination in Wales with 21.3 million visitors in 2017.

Cardiff is a major centre for television and film production (such as the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sherlock) and is the Welsh base for the main national broadcasters.
Cardiff Bay contains the Senedd building and the Wales Millennium Centre arts complex. Work continues at Cardiff Bay and in the centre on projects such as Cardiff International Sports Village, BBC drama village,^] and a new business district (read more).

Japan - Tokyo

Tokyo night views.

Sent by Emiri from Saitama, Japan.

Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital city of Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of six neighboring prefectures, is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 41 million residents as of 2024 (read further).

Vietnam - Hanoi

Multiviews of Hanoi.

I bought this postcard during my trip to Hanoi (10th - 12th January 2025) and got the stamps cancelled at the Central Post Office in Hanoi.

Vietnam - Hanoi

Multiviews of Hanoi.

I bought this postcard during my trip to Hanoi (10th - 12th January 2025) and got the stamps cancelled at the Central Post Office in Hanoi.

Vietnam - The Old Town Hanoi

I bought this postcard during my trip to Hanoi (10th - 12th January 2025) and got the stamps cancelled at the Central Post Office in Hanoi.

The Old Quarter (Vietnamese: Phố cổ Hà Nội) is the name commonly given to the historical civic urban core of Hanoi, Vietnam, located outside the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long. This quarter used to be the residential, manufacturing and commercial center, where each street was specialized in one specific type of manufacturing or commerce (read further).

Vietnam - Hanoi - 1000 Year Old Capital

Multiviews of interesting places in Hanoi.

I bought this postcard during the trip to Hanoi (10th - 12th January 2025) and got the stamps cancelled at the Hanoi's Central Post Office.

Hanoi (Vietnamese: Hà Nội) is the capital and second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red and Black Rivers). As a municipality, Hanoi consists of 12 urban districts, 17 rural districts, and one district-level town. The city encompasses an area of 3,359.84 km² (1,297.24 sq mi) and as of 2023, a population of 8,587,100. Hanoi had the second-highest gross regional domestic product of all Vietnamese provinces and municipalities at US$51.4 billion in 2022, behind Ho Chi Minh City (read further).

Malta - Valletta

The Maltese Islands.

Sent by Silvan, a Facebook friend from Malta.

Valletta, pronounced [vɐlˈlɛttɐ]) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157.As Malta’s capital city, it is a commercial centre for shopping, bars, dining, and café life. It is also the southernmost capital of Europe, and at just 0.61 square kilometres (0.24 sq mi), it is the European Union's smallest capital city (read further).

Maldives - Malé City

MALDIVES

Malé City

Sent by myself during my vacation in Maldives (8-11th December 2024).

Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of 8.30 square kilometres (3.20 sq mi), Malé is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located in the southern edge of North Malé Atoll (Kaafu Atoll).

Administratively, the city consists of a central island, an airport island, and four other islands presided over by the Malé City Council (read further).

Mali - Bamako (2)

Bamako, MALI.

Sent by Jean Joseph Diarra from Bamako, Mali.

Mali - Bamako (1)

Bamako, MALI.

Sent by Jean Joseph Diarra from Bamako, Mali.

Bamako is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country.

Bamako is the nation's administrative center. The city proper is a cercle in its own right. Bamako's river port is located in nearby Koulikoro, along with a major regional trade and conference center. Bamako is the seventh-largest West African urban center after Lagos, Abidjan, Kano, Ibadan, Dakar, and Accra. Locally manufactured goods include textiles, processed meat, and metal goods as well as mining. Commercial fishing occurs on the Niger River (read further).