Germany - Frankfurt (2)

Greetings From Frankfurt.

Sent by Dr. Desiree, a postcrosser from Frankfurt, Germany.

South Korea - Changdeokgung Palace

Donhwamun Gate, Changdeokgung Palace.

Sent by Sonyo from South Korea.

This is from UNESCO : Changdeokgung Palace had a great influence on the development of Korean architecture, garden and landscape planning, and related arts, for many centuries. It reflects sophisticated architectural values, harmonized with beautiful surroundings. The palace compound is an outstanding example of Far Eastern palace architecture and garden design, exceptional for the way in which the buildings are integrated into and harmonized with the natural setting, adapting to the topography and retaining indigenous tree cover.

In the early years of the Joseon dynasty in Korea, the capital moved many times between Gaeseong and Hanyang (present-day Seoul). In 1405 the King Taejong (1400-18), moved the capital back to Hanyang. Considering the existing Gyeongbokgung Palace to be inauspicious, he ordered a new palace to be built, which he named Changdeokgung (Palace of Illustrious Virtue). This palace occupies an irregular rectangle of 57.9 ha, north of Seoul at the foot of Mount Eungbongsan, the main geomantic guardian mountain.

A Bureau of Palace Construction was set up to create the complex, consisting of a number of official and residential buildings, carried out to traditional design principles. These included the palace in front, the market behind, three gates and three courts (administrative court, royal residence court and official audience court). The compound was divided into two parts: the main palace buildings and the Biwon (royal secret garden). The main buildings (throne hall, hall of government affairs, and royal residences) were completed in 1405, and other major elements were added in the succeeding seven years.

The compound was extended to the north-west in 1462. In 1592, during the Japanese invasion of Korea, the palace was burned down, along with many of the important structures in Hanyang. The ruler, Seonjo, began reconstruction in 1607, and this work was completed in 1610, when it again became the seat of government and the royal residence, a role that it was to play for 258 years. It underwent some vicissitudes during that period, but reconstruction was always faithful to the original design.

The main gate (Donhwamun) is a two-storey structure, built in 1406 and reconstructed in 1607 after destruction by fire. The first of the three functional sectors of the palace (administrative court) is entered through the impressive single-storey Injeongmun gate, in the same style as Donhwamun. It gives access to a courtyard whose dominant feature is the majestic throne hall (Injeongjeon). It was destroyed twice by fire, in 1592 and 1803. Set on a double terrace, it is a two-storey structure supported on four huge columns. The elaborate throne in the main hall is placed on a dais beneath a carved ceiling screen. The roof ridge is decorated with carvings of guardian animals, such as eagles and dragons. The main stairway leading to the hall is ornamented with statues of mythical guardian animals. To the east of the Injeongjeon Hall is the simple blue-tiled Seonjeongjeon Hall, used by the king for everyday business. Next to it is the Huigyeongdang Hall, another modest building, which contained the king's bedchamber and sleeping quarters for his staff.

The Daejojeon Hall nearby was for the use of the queen. The garden was landscaped with a series of terraces planted with lawns, flowering trees, flowers, a lotus pool, and pavilions set against a wooded background. There are over 26,000 specimens of 100 indigenous trees in the garden. To these should be added 23,000 planted specimens of 15 imported species, including yew, stone pine, white pine, gingko and Chinese junipers.

Cezch Republic - Moravian Karst

Moravský Kras or Moravian Karst.
1. Kateřinská Cave
2. Sloupsko-šošůvské Cave
3. Výpustek Caves
4. Punkva Caves
5. Balcarka Cave

Sent by Petr, a postcrosser from Czech Republic.

This is from Wikipedia : The Moravian Karst (Czech: Moravský kras) is a karst landscape and protected nature reserve to the north of Brno in the eastern part of the Czech Republic, located near the town of Blansko. It encompasses a number of notable geological features, including roughly 1100 caverns and gorges and covers an area of roughly 92 km². Currently, four of the cave systems (Punkva Caves, Balcarka Cave, Kateřinská Cave, and Sloupsko-šošůvské Cave) are open for public tours and exploration.

This region is also home to one of the most important single geological features in the Czech Republic, the Macocha Abyss, a gorge 138 m deep, which was formed when the ceiling of an underground cave chamber collapsed. Macocha Abyss is also the place where the Punkva River begins to run underground through the Punkvení cave system, and two small pools of water are visible at the surface.

The Moravian Karst is a popular tourist attraction in the local area, and large numbers of tourists visit in the summer months. In addition to caverns, the nature preserve also contains well-marked bicycle trails and hiking paths to explore.

Canada - British Columbia - Traditional Costumes of Native Villagers

NATIVE HERITAGE CENTRE, DUNCAN, VANCOUVER ISLAND
Colourful traditional costumes are worn on ceremonial occasions by our Native Villagers.

Sent by Debra, a postcrosser from Canada.

Estonia - National Symbols

Estonian National Symbols
Cornflower - Limestone - Barn Swallow

Sent by ukaks, a postcrosser from Estonia.

Netherlands - Vlissingen

A view of Vlissingen.

Sent by Bianca, a postcrosser from Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Vlissingen; historical name in English: Flushing) is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an important harbour for centuries. It was granted city rights in 1315. In the 17th century Vlissingen was a main harbour for ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). It is also known as the birthplace of Admiral Michiel de Ruyter.

Vlissingen is mainly noted for the wharves on the Scheldt where most of the ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine) are built.

The fishermen’s hamlet that came into existence at the estuary of the Scheldt around AD 620 has grown over its 1,400-year history into the third-most important port of the Netherlands. The Counts of Holland and Zeeland had the first harbours dug. Over the centuries, Vlissingen developed into a hub for fishing, especially the herring fishery, commerce, privateering and the slave trade. During the heyday of the Dutch Golden Age, ships from Vlissingen set sail for the various outposts of the Dutch colonial empire and contributed to the world power of The Seven Provinces.

The history of Vlissingen was also marked by invasion, oppression and bombardments. Because of its strategic position at the mouth of the Scheldt, the most important passageway to Antwerp, it has attracted the interest, at one time or another, of the British, the French, the Germans and the Spanish. Floods have also been a constant threat. Vlissingen declined during the 18th century. The Napoleonic Wars were particularly disastrous. After 1870, the economy revived after the construction of new docks and the Walcheren canal, the arrival of the railway and the establishment of the shipyard called De Scheldt. The Second World War interrupted this growth. The city was heavily damaged by shelling and inundation.

The city was rebuilt after the war. In the 1960s, the seaport and industrial area of Vlissingen-Oost developed and flourished. Now this area is the economic driving force behind central Zeeland, generating many thousands of jobs. Nowadays approx. 50,000 ships annually from all corners of the world pass through the Scheldt. Tourists are attracted to Vlissingen not just because of its history and maritime character, but also because nowhere else in the world do large ships pass this close to shore.

USA - New York - McSorley's Old Ale House

McSorley's Old Ale House, 15 East 7th Street.

Sent by clemoinlilea, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : McSorley's Old Ale House, generally known as McSorley's, is the oldest "Irish" tavern in New York City. Located at 15 East 7th Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, it was one of the last of the "Men Only" pubs, only admitting women after legally being forced to do so in 1970.

The aged artwork, newspaper articles covering the walls, sawdust floors, and the Irish waiters and bartenders give McSorley's an atmosphere that many consider, correctly or not, reminiscent of "Olde New York." No piece of memorabilia has been removed from the walls since 1910, and there are many items of "historical" paraphernalia in the bar, such as Houdini's handcuffs, which are connected to the bar rail. There are also wishbones hanging above the bar; supposedly they were hung there by boys going off to World War I, to be removed when they returned, so the wishbones that are left are from those that never returned.

Two of McSorley's mottos are "Be Good or Be Gone", and "We were here before you were born". Prior to the 1970 ruling, the motto was "Good Ale, Raw Onions and No Ladies"; the raw onions can still be had as part McSorley's cheese platter.

New York magazine considered McSorley's to be one of New York City's Top 5 Historic Bars.

McSorley's has long claimed that it opened its doors in 1854; however, historical research has shown that the site was a vacant lot in 1861.

The evidence for the 1854 date was considerable, but second-hand. A document at the Museum of the City of New York from 1904, in founder John McSorley's hand, declares it was established in 1854, and a New York Tribune article from 1895 states it "has stood for 40 years. . . " a short distance from Cooper Union.[citation needed] A 1913 article in Harper's Weekly declares that "This famous saloon ... is sixty years old."

According to a 1995 New York Times "Streetscapes" article by Christopher Gray, the census taker who visited the Irish-born McSorley in 1880 recorded the year the founder of the pub first arrived in the United States as 1855, but immigration records show that he arrived on January 23, 1851, at the age of 18, accompanied by Mary McSorley, who was 16. When confronted with the fact that the 1880 census did not contain this entry, Gray corrected it to 1900 in his book. John McSorley first appeared in city directories in 1862, and the building his bar occupies was built no earlier than 1858, according to city records.

Women were not allowed in McSorley's until August 10, 1970, after National Organization for Women attorneys Faith Seidenberg and Karen DeCrow took their discrimination case against the bar to District Court and won.[9] It did so "kicking and screaming." With the ruling allowing women to be served, the bathroom became coed. Sixteen years later, a ladies room was installed.

Lithuania - Kernavė

Kernavė
A 17th-century wooden chapel. The foundation of the first Vytautas Church in Kernavė. The Kernavė church of the Holy Virgin Mary Škaplierinė. The chapel of the Ruseckas-Riomeris family.

Sent by Inga, a postcrosser from Lithuania.

This is from Wikipedia : Kernavė was a medieval capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and today is a tourist attraction and an archeological site (population 318, 1999). It is located in the Širvintos district municipality located in southeast Lithuania. A Lithuanian state cultural reserve was established in Kernavė in 2003.

Kernavė is situated near the bend of the Neris and the Pajauta valley, next to the area of historic hillfort mounds, piliakalnis.

Kernavė is situated on the right bank of the river Neris, on the upper Neris terrace 21 kilometers (13 mi) from Širvintos and 35 kilometers (22 mi) from Vilnius. It is close to the Vilnius-Kaunas (18 km or 11 mi) and Vilnius-Panevėžys (17 km or 11 mi) highways. It is possible to travel to Kernavė from Vilnius by the river Neris.

Kernavė is at the center of one of the Lithuanian districts. The southern part of the town borders on a nature reservation.

The area of Kernavė was sparingly inhabited at the end of the Paleolithic era, with the number of settlements significantly increasing in the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras.

The town was first mentioned in 1279, when, as the capital of the Grand Duke Traidenis, it was besieged by the Teutonic Knights. In 1390, during the Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392), the knights burned the town and its buildings in the Pajauta valley, including the castle. After this raid, the town wasn't rebuilt, and the remaining residents moved to the top of the hill instead of staying in the valley.

In later years, the remains of city were covered with an alluvial earth layer, that formed wet peat. It preserved most of the relics intact, and it is a treasure trove for archaeologists, leading some to call Kernavė the "Troy of Lithuania". For example, Kernavė has the oldest known medgrinda, a secret underwater road paved with wood. The road was used for defense and dates from the 4–7th centuries.

The site became the subject of wider interest again in the middle of 19th century, when a romantic writer, Feliks Bernatowicz, depicted the area in his novel "Pojata, córka Lizdejki" ("Pojata, Daughter of Lizdejki", Warsaw, 1826). The hillforts were soon excavated by the Tyszkiewicz brothers and then by Władysław Syrokomla (1859). After World War II, the excavation works were restarted by Vilnius University in 1979, and then again by the Lithuanian Institute of History between 1980–1983. The State Cultural Reserve of Kernavė was created in 2003.

Senegal - Casamance

Multiviews of Casamance.

Sent by our pal Sidibe from Senegal.

This is from Wikipedia : Casamance (Portuguese: Casamança) is the area of Senegal south of The Gambia including the Casamance River. It consists of Basse Casamance (Baixa Casamança Lower Casamance) (Ziguinchor Region) and Haute Casamance (Alta Casamança Upper Casamance) (Kolda and Sédhiou Regions). The largest city of Casamance is Ziguinchor.

The Casamance was subject to both French and Portuguese colonial efforts before a border was negotiated in 1888 between the French colony of Senegal and Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) to the south. Portugal lost possession of Casamance, then the commercial hub of its colony. Casamance, to this day, has preserved the local variant of Kriol known as Ziguinchor Creole, and the members of the deep-rooted Creole community carry Portuguese surnames like Da Silva, Carvalho and Fonseca. Interest in Portuguese colonial heritage has been revived in order to exalt a distinct identity[citation needed], particularly of Baixa Casamança.

Guadeloupe - Roche Caraïbe

GUADELOUPE
Roche Caraïbe or Caribbean Rock

Sent by Rosemonde from Guadeloupe.

Germany - Lübeck - The Holstentor

The Holstentor at Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein.

Sent by Sonja, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from UNESCO : Lübeck is the city which, more than any other, exemplifies the power and historic role of the Hanseatic League. Founded in 1143 by Heinrich der Löwe (Henry the Lion) on a small island of the Baltic coast, Lübeck was the former capital and Queen City of the Hanseatic League from 1230 to 1535. As such it was one of the principal cities of this league of merchant cities which monopolized the trade of the Baltic and the North Sea, just as Venice and Genoa exerted their control over the Mediterranean.

The plan of Lübeck, with its blade-like outline determined by two parallel traffic routes running along the crest of the island, dates to the beginnings of the site and testifies to the expansion of the commercial centre of Northern Europe. To the west lay the richest quarters with the trading houses and the homes of the rich merchants and to the east were small traders and artisans. The very strict socio-economic organization emerges through the singular disposition of the Buden (small workshops) set in the back courtyards of the rich homes, which were accessed through a narrow network of alleyways (Gänge); other lots on the courtyard (Stiftungshöfe) illustrated the charity of the merchants who housed there the impoverished widows of their colleagues.

Lübeck remained an urban monument characteristic of a significant historical structure, but the city was severely damaged during the Second World War, in which almost 20% of it, including the most famous monumental complexes, were destroyed - the cathedral, the churches of St Peter and St Mary and especially the Gründungsviertel, the hilltop quarter where the gabled houses of the rich merchants clustered. Selective reconstruction has permitted the replacement of the most important churches and monuments.

Omitting the zones that have been entirely reconstructed, the World Heritage site includes several areas of significance in the history of Lübeck:

Zone 1: The site of the Burgkloster, a Dominican convent built in fulfilment of a vow made at the battle of Bornhöved (1227), contains the original foundations of the castle built by Count Adolf von Schauenburg on the Buku isthmus. The Koberg site preserves an entire late 18th-century neighbourhood built around a public square bordered by two important monuments, the Jakobikirche and the Heilig-Geist-Hospital. The sections between the Glockengiesserstrasse and the Aegidienstrasse retain their original layout and contain a remarkable number of medieval structures.
Zone 2: Between the two large churches that mark its boundaries - the Petrikirche to the north and the cathedral to the south - this area includes rows of superb patrician residences from the 15th and 16th centuries. The enclave on the left bank of the Trave, with its salt storehouses and the Holstentor, reinforces the monumental aspect of an area that was entirely renovated at the height of the Hansa epoch, when Lübeck dominated trade in Northern Europe.
Zone 3: Located at the heart of the medieval city, the Marienkirche, the Rathaus, and the Marktplatz bear the tragic scars of the heavy bombing suffered during the Second World War.

Netherlands - Volendam

Images of Volendam.

Sent by Janny, a postcrosser from Dokkum in Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Volendam is a town in North Holland in the Netherlands, in the municipality of Edam-Volendam. The town has about 22,000 inhabitants (November 2007).

Originally, Volendam was the location of the harbor of the nearby Edam, which was situated at the mouth of the river IJ. In 1357, the inhabitants of Edam dug a shorter canal to the Zuiderzee with its own separate harbor. This removed the need for the original harbor, which was then dammed and used for land reclamation. Farmers and local fishermen settled there, forming the new community of Vollendam, which literally meant something like 'Filled dam'. In the early part of the 20th century it became something of an artists' retreat, with both Picasso and Renoir spending time here. The majority of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, which is deeply connected to the village culture. Historically, many missionaries and bishops grew up in Volendam. Today there is the chapel of Our Lady of the Water of the controversial 'visionary' Mrs Hille Kok, which is located in a village park.

In the New Year's night of 2000 to 2001, the lighting of a bundle of sparklers caused a short but intense fire at a party in café De Hemel. The sparklers ignited the dry Christmas decorations on the ceiling, which fell down in their entirety. 14 people died and 200 people were injured.

Volendam is a popular tourist attraction in the Netherlands, well-known for its old fishing boats and the traditional clothing still worn by some residents. The women's costume of Volendam, with its high, pointed bonnet, is one of the most recognizable of the Dutch traditional costumes, and is often featured on tourist postcards and posters (although there are believed to be fewer than 50 women now wearing the costume as part of their daily lives, most of them elderly). There is a regular ferry connection to Marken, a peninsula close by. Volendam also features a small museum about its history and clothing style, and visitors can have their pictures taken in traditional Dutch costumes.

USA - Oklahoma - Mapcard

OKLAHOMA
The redbuds and flycatchers are popular signs in Oklahoma, as is the state flag which features an Osage Indian shield with seven eagle feathers. A peace pipe and an olive branch - symbols of peace - cross in front of the shield.

Sent by Dana, a postcrosser from Oklahoma, USA.

Germany - Freiberg - Bergbau-Denkmäler

Bergbau-Denkmäler in Freiberg.

Sent by Stefanie, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from UNESCO : For more than 800 years and still recognizable today in numerous technical monuments as well as in the physical landscape it has helped transform, mining has not only created a cultural landscape but also influenced the development of mining sciences (e. g. establishment of the Mining Academy in Freiberg). The unity of mining and steel, art and culture and the science of mining - as well as their influence on other countries - marks the historical importance of the Ore Mountains.

Puerto Rico - Fort San Cristóbal

Fort San Cristobal
A compilation of Fort San Cristobal, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Sent by Jare from Puerto Rico.

This is from UNESCO : The entire historic site of San Juan with its different monumental components maintains, at the present, a balance between constructed and non-constructed zones. The Fortaleza is tangibly associated with the history of the New World and its explorers and colonists.

For the explorers and the colonists of the New World who came from the east, Puerto Rico was an obligatory stopping-place in the Caribbean. From this evolved its primordial strategic role at the beginning of the Spanish colonization. The island was for centuries a stake disputed by the Spanish, French, English and Dutch. The fortifications of the bay of San Juan, the magnificent port to which Puerto Rico owes its name, bear witness to its long military history.

San Juan had the first municipal government in the New World outside Santo Domingo, as well as the first military presidios in Spanish America. By the 19th century, the old city had become a charming residential and commercial district. The city itself, with its institutional buildings, museums, houses, churches, plazas and commercial buildings, is part of the San Juan Historic Zone which is administered by municipal, State and Federal agencies.

La Fortaleza is one among several, of the fortresses which protect it. Over the centuries, San Juan in fact protected Spain's empire against Carib Indians, pirates and the warships of other countries. This vast, coherent defensive system with ramparts, fortlets and fortresses, attesting formerly to its effectiveness and today to its historic significance. The principal components of this defensive system are, starting in the south:

* La Fortaleza, founded in 1530-40, enlarged at various periods, and heavily modified after 1846, is an exemplary monument of Hispano-American colonial architecture. It served at once as an arsenal, prison, and residence for the Governor-General of the island;
* El Morro, built to protect San Juan Bay, is situated on a rocky peak of land on the western extremity of the island. The fort is a triangular bastion perfectly conceived according to the strategy of the second half of the 18th century, when it was entirely remodelled. It eventually developed into a masterpiece of military engineering with stout walls, carefully planned steps and ramps for moving men and artillery. By the end of the 18th century, more than 400 cannon defended the fort, making it almost impregnable.
* San Cristóbal, with its dependencies, is another accomplished example of the military architecture of the second half of the 18th century.
* San Juan National Historic Site includes forts, bastions, powder houses, wall and El Cañuelo Fort, also called San Juan de la Cruz - defensive fortifications that once surrounded the old colonial portion of San Juan, Puerto Rico. El Cañuelo Fort is located at the Isla de Cabras at the western end of the entrance to San Juan Bay.

The Caribbean

The Caribbean
Beautiful beaches with warm blue waters. A tropical vacation paradise.

Sent by Jare from Puerto Rico.

This is from Wikipedia : The Caribbean (pronounced /ˌkærɨˈbiːən/ or /kəˈrɪbiən/) is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north. From the peninsula of Florida on the mainland of the United States, the islands stretch 1,200 miles (1,900 km) southeastward, then 500 miles (800 km) south, then west along the north coast of Venezuela on the South American mainland.

Situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays. These islands, called the West Indies, generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea. These islands are called the West Indies because when Christopher Columbus landed there in 1492 he believed that he had reached to the west of the Indian sub-continent.

The region consists of the Antilles, divided into the larger Greater Antilles which bound the sea on the north, the Lesser Antilles on the south and east (including the Leeward Antilles), the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands or the Lucayan Archipelago, which are in fact in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba, not in the Caribbean Sea.

Geopolitically, the West Indies are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. From January 3, 1958, to May 31, 1962, there was a short-lived country called the Federation of the West Indies composed of ten English-speaking Caribbean territories, all of which were then UK dependencies. The West Indies cricket team continues to represent many of those nations.

Ghana - Larabanga

Larabanga Mosque - The oldest mosque in Ghana. It's believed to contain an ancient copy of Koran.
Larabanga Mystery Stone : whenever the stone was moved to make way for construction, it mysteriously moved back to its original position.

Sent by Vagbornye from Upper West Region, Ghana.

This is from Wikipedia : Larabanga is a town in north western Ghana. It is known for its mud-built whitewashed Sahelian mosque, said to date from 1421. It was at the height of the trans-Saharan trade. It is reputed to be Ghana's oldest mosque and houses a copy of the Qur'an almost as old.

The town is also known for its Mystic Stone, for its patterned vernacular architecture and as the entrance to the Mole National Park.

France - Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - 04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence - Mapcard

A map of Les Hautes Alpes or Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

Sent by Aubert, a postcrosser from France.

This is from Wikipedia : Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (French pronunciation: [alp.də.ot.pʁɔ.vɑ̃s]; Occitan: Aups d'Auta Provença) is a French department in the south of France, it was formerly part of the province of Provence.

Nord-de-Provence was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was renamed Haute-Provence and Basses-Alpes.

On 12 August 1793, the department of Vaucluse was created from parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes. Basses-Alpes lost the canton of Sault to Vaucluse at this point. Seventeen years later, in 1810, the canton of Barcillonnette was transferred over to Hautes-Alpes.

On 13 April 1970, the department of Basses-Alpes was renamed Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is a mountainous region with peaks over 10,000 feet (3,000 m) close to the Italian border. The climate is very dry and arid but irrigation allows for a prosperous fruit-growing industry.

It is surrounded by the French departments of Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Var, Vaucluse, and Drôme, as well as Italy.

Rivers include: Durance, Verdon, Bléone, Ubaye, Var, Buëch, Jabron, Largue.

Russia - Amur - Maslenitsa

Festival of Maslenitsa in Blagoveshchensk, Amur Oblast, Russia.

Sent by Olga from Amur, Russia.

This is from Wikipedia : Maslenitsa (Russian: Ма́сленица, Ukrainian: Масниця, also known as Butter Week, Pancake week or Cheesefare Week, is a Russian and Ukrainian religious and folk holiday. It is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent—that is, the seventh week before Pascha (Easter). Maslenitsa corresponds to the Western Christian Carnival, except that Orthodox Lent begins on a Monday instead of a Wednesday. The Orthodox date of Easter can differ greatly from the Western Christian date. In 2008, for example, Maslenitsa was celebrated from March 2 to March 8.

Maslenitsa has a dual ancestry: pagan and Christian. In Slavic mythology, Maslenitsa is a sun festival, celebrating the imminent end of the winter.

On the Christian side, Maslenitsa is the last week before the onset of Great Lent. During Maslenitsa week, meat is already forbidden to Orthodox Christians, making it a myasopustnaya nedelya (Russian: мясопустная неделя, English "meat-empty week" or "meat-fast week"). It is the last week during which milk, cheese and other dairy products are permitted, leading to its other name of "Cheese-fare week" or 'Pancake week. During Lent, meat, fish, dairy products and eggs are forbidden. Furthermore, Lent also excludes parties, secular music, dancing and other distractions from the spiritual life. Thus, Maslenitsa represents the last chance to partake of dairy products and those social activities that are not appropriate during the more prayerful, sober and introspective Lenten season.

U.S. Virgin Islands - St. Croix

St. Croix is the largest of the three tropical U.S. Virgin Islands. With a yearly average temperature of 78 degrees F, this Caribbean island is only 2 1/2 hour jet time from Miami.

Sent by TJ from Christiansted, U.S. Virgin Islands.

This is from Wikipedia : Saint Croix (/ˌseɪnt ˈkrɔɪ/; Spanish: Santa Cruz; Dutch: Sint-Kruis; French: Sainte-Croix; Danish: Sankt Croix) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly the Danish West Indies, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of 1916, in exchange for a sum of US$25,000,000 in gold.

St. Croix is the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, being 28 by 7 miles (45 by 11 km). However, the territory's capital, Charlotte Amalie, is located on Saint Thomas.

There are two towns on the island; Christiansted with a population of 2,433 and Frederiksted with a population of 859. The total population of the island as per the 2010 U.S. Census is 50,601[1].

St. Croix is divided into the following subdistricts (with population as per the 2010 U.S. Census):

1. Anna's Hope Village (pop. 4,041)
2. Christiansted (pop. 2,626)
3. East End (pop. 2,453)
4. Frederiksted (pop. 3,091)
5. Northcentral (pop. 4,977)
6. Northwest (pop. 4,863)
7. Sion Farm (pop. 13,003)
8. Southcentral (pop. 8,049)
9. Southwest (pop. 7,498

Netherlands - Birds of Terschelling

Birds of Terschelling.

Sent by Madcy, a postcrosser from Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Terschelling; West Frisian: Skylge; Terschelling dialect: Schylge) is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands.

Waddenislanders are known for their resourcefulness in using anything and everything that washes ashore. With few trees to use for timber, most of the farms and barns are built with masts recovered from shipwrecks. The islands are surrounded by shipwrecks, and even today many containers wash ashore that are blown off the decks of cargo ships in the North Sea.

The main source of income on Terschelling is tourism. There is some agriculture, but a large part of the island has become a nature reserve.

Terschelling is well-known for the yearly Oerol Festival during which theatre-performances are played throughout the island, making use of its landscape and nature.

Terschelling can be reached by ferry from the mainland Frisian town Harlingen and from Vlieland by high-speed catamaran.

Spain - Madrid (3)

Calle de Alcalá or Alcalá Street in Madrid.

Sent by Eva, a postcrosser from Zaragoza, Spain.

This is from Wikipedia : Calle de Alcalá is the longest street in Madrid. It starts at the Puerta del Sol and goes on for 10.5 km, to the northeastern outskirts of the city.

Calle de Alcalá is also one of the oldest streets in the city. It was the old road which led to the city of Alcalá de Henares (from which it takes the name) and continued to Aragón; today, this route is covered by the A-2 motorway. Along this street it is possible to find landmarks such as Edificio Metrópolis, Plaza de Cibeles, Puerta de Alcalá, the Spanish Ministry of Education, the Instituto Cervantes HQ building, the Bank of Spain building, Parque del Buen Retiro and Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas.

USA - California - Giant Sequioa

GIANT SEQUOIA
SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS, CALIFORNIA
The giant sequoia, with their massive trunks rising skyward, are the largest living things on earth. They can be seen in the greatest numbers in Calaveras Big Trees State Park and Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks.

Sent by Patrick, a postcrosser from California, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : Sequoiadendron giganteum (giant sequoia, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, or Wellingtonia) is the sole living species in the genus Sequoiadendron, and one of three species of coniferous trees known as redwoods, classified in the family Cupressaceae in the subfamily Sequoioideae, together with Sequoia sempervirens (coast redwood) and Metasequoia glyptostroboides (dawn redwood). The common use of the name "sequoia" generally refers to Sequoiadendron, which occurs naturally only in groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

The genus Sequoiadendron includes a single extinct species, S. chaneyi.

Giant sequoias are the world's largest trees in terms of total volume; see Largest trees. They grow to an average height of 50–85 metres (160–279 ft) and 6–8 metres (20–26 ft) in diameter. Record trees have been measured to be 94.8 metres (311 ft) in height and over 17 metres (56 ft) in diameter. The oldest known giant sequoia based on ring count is 3,500 years old. Sequoia bark is fibrous, furrowed, and may be 90 centimetres (3.0 ft) thick at the base of the columnar trunk. It provides significant fire protection for the trees. The leaves are evergreen, awl-shaped, 3–6 mm long, and arranged spirally on the shoots. The seed cones are 4–7 cm long and mature in 18–20 months, though they typically remain green and closed for up to 20 years; each cone has 30-50 spirally arranged scales, with several seeds on each scale giving an average of 230 seeds per cone. The seed is dark brown, 4–5 mm long and 1 mm broad, with a 1 mm wide yellow-brown wing along each side. Some seed is shed when the cone scales shrink during hot weather in late summer, but most seeds are liberated when the cone dries from fire heat or is damaged by insects.

Giant sequoia regenerates by seed. Trees up to about 20 years old may produce stump sprouts subsequent to injury. Giant sequoia of all ages may sprout from the bole when old branches are lost to fire or breakage, but (unlike coast redwood) mature trees do not sprout from cut stumps. Young trees start to bear cones at the age of 12 years.

At any given time, a large tree may be expected to have approximately 11,000 cones. The upper part of the crown of any mature giant sequoia invariably produces a greater abundance of cones than its lower portions. A mature giant sequoia has been estimated to disperse from 300,000-400,000 seeds per year. The winged seeds may be carried up to 180 m (600 ft) from the parent tree.

Lower branches die fairly readily from shading, but trees less than 100 years old retain most of their dead branches. Trunks of mature trees in groves are generally free of branches to a height of 20–50 m, but solitary trees will retain low branches.

Netherlands - Drenthe

Multiviews of Drenthe.

Sent by Chantal, a postcrosser from Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany (districts of Emsland and Bentheim) to the east.

Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a sparsely populated rural area since medieval times. Except for some industry in Assen and Emmen, the lands in Drenthe are mainly used for farming.

Drenthe has been populated by people since prehistory. Artifacts from the Wolstonian Stage (150.000 years ago) are among the oldest found in the Netherlands. In fact it was one of the most densely populated areas of the Netherlands until the Bronze Age. Most tangible evidence of this are the dolmens (hunebedden) built around 3500 BC, 53 of the 54 dolmens in the Netherlands can be found in Drenthe, concentrated in the northeast of the province.

Drenthe was first mentioned in a document from the year 820, it was called Pago Treanth (district Drenthe). In archives from "Het Utrechts Archief" from 1024 to 1025 the "county Drenthe" is mentioned, when Emperor Henry II gave it to Bishop Adalbold II of Utrecht.

After long being subject to the Utrecht diocese, Bishop Henry of Wittelsbach in 1528 ceded Drenthe to Emperor Charles V of Habsburg, who incorporated it into the Habsburg Netherlands. When the Republic of the Seven United Provinces was declared in 1581, Drenthe became part of it, although it did not gain provincial status until January 1, 1796 due to its poverty.

Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, the Dutch government built a camp near the town of Hooghalen to accommodate German (Jewish) refugees. Ironically, during the Second World War, the German occupiers used the camp (which they named KZ Westerbork) as a "Durchgangslager" (transit camp). Many Dutch Jews, Sinti, Roma, resistance combatants and political adversaries were imprisoned before being transferred to other camps in Germany and Poland. Anne Frank was deported on the last train from Westerbork.

The name of this region is said to stem from *thrija-hantja "three lands".

USA - Texas - State Flower (3)

BLUEBONNET
Official State Flower
Round Top, Texas.

Sent by Cate, a postcrosser from Texas, USA.

"Named for its color and, it is said, the resemblance of its petal to a woman's sunbonnet, the bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas. It blooms in the early spring and can be readily found in fields and along the roadsides throughout central and south Texas. Scientifically named Lupinus texensis, the bluebonnet is also called buffalo clover, wolf flower, and (by the Mexicans) el conejo. It was adopted as the official state flower by the Texas Legislature in 1901."(Source)