USA - Utah - Zion National Park (2)

Zion National Park
The iron oxide which reddens most of the walls of Zion National Park has leached from the upper part of the Great White Throne, a prominent monolith of Navajo sandstone in Zion Canyon.

Sent by Beth, a postcrosser from USA.

United Kingdom - England - City of Bath

Detail, Green Park Station (1869-70).

Sent by Karen, a postcrosser from England.

After the conquest of Britain in AD 43 by the Romans many of the hot baths constructed in Europe have become major historic cities. Aquae Sulis, constructed in 60-70, continues, under the name of Bath, to be a renowned spa. Its apogee was in the 18th century. The Romans built a temple there dedicated to Sulis, a local divinity whom they associated with Minerva, as well as a hot bath and including two pools, five baths (four Roman and one medieval) and all the standard equipment of tepidaria, frigidaria and hypocausts. These hot baths and its source, which yields over 1,200,000 litres of water daily at more than 46 °C, were built between the 1st and 4th centuries, and their gradual rediscovery began in 1755.

After the fall of the old Roman city, medieval Bath became a major wool-producing centre. The religious influence of the city was considerable from 1091 to 1206. A cathedral was built during the episcopacy of Robert de Lewes; it was demolished shortly after 1495 and was later reconstructed as an abbey church in the Perpendicular style. The abbey church was still uncompleted at the time of the Reformation and the work was finished with great difficulty shortly before it was dedicated in 1609.

In the 18th century, the medium-sized city of Avon experienced an extraordinary rebirth under the impetus of three exceptional figures: John Wood, Ralph Allen and Richard 'Beau' Nash, who had the ambition to make it one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, an ideal site where architecture and the landscape would combine harmoniously for the delight of the enlightened cure-takers.

The neoclassical style of the grand public buildings (the Rooms, the Pump Room, the Circus, and especially, Royal Crescent) reflected the ambitions of Bath under the reign of George III. Whether of disproportionate or reduced dimensions, the neoclassical constructions of Bath all express the great influence of Palladio, whom Wood, Allen and Adam considered to be their master. (Source)

Canada - Ontario - Barrie

Barrie, the fastest growing city north of Toronto, holds strong to its small town charm.

Sent by Donna, a postcrosser from Barrie, Ontario in Canada.

This is from Wikipedia : Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe. Although located in Simcoe County, the city is politically independent. Barrie is located within the northern part of the Greater Golden Horseshoe, a densely populated and industrialized region of Ontario.

In 2011 the city's population was 135,711 residents, making it the 34th largest in Canada. The Barrie metropolitan area has a population of 187,013 residents, making it the 21st largest, and one of the fastest growing census metropolitan areas in the country.

Belarus - Minsk - Belarus State Circus

Belarus State Circus.

Sent by Tanya, a postcrosser from Minsk, Belarus.

"After the USSR nationalized circuses in all major cities, a strong love for the performing art has remained in former Soviet countries and Belarus is no exception. The beautiful rotunda of the Belarusian National State Circus, extensively renovated in 2010, right outside of Gorky Park, is a testament to how seriously the country takes its circus. Unlike the Philharmonic or the Opera, the Circus' season continues year-round throughout the summer, and performances take place multiple times a week. Bring along the little ones and sit in awe as international dancers, acrobats, magicians, and trained animals of all sorts perform for the crowds."(Source)

Brazil - Paraná - Guaratuba

Guaratuba - Paraná - Brasil.

Sent by Sabino, a postcrosser from Brazil.

This is from Wikipedia : Guaratuba is a city in the state of Paraná, Brazil. Founded on 1765, it is considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches of Paraná.

The King of Portugal, Dom Jose I, worried about possible foreign raids of the Brazilian coast,commanded that villages and towns be established in more suitable locations to the projecting or dispersed small farms where the conditions were favourable. It was decided that a town should be founded between the villages of Paranaguá and of the River San Francisco. On 5 December 1765, Dom Luis sent a group of settlers to begin building the town. This comprised 200 couples, who would cultivate discovered lands. Thus Guaratuba began to take shape. In July 1766, the Conde de Oeiras directed Dom Luis praising, on behalf of the King, the projects to establish the population in the cove of Guaratuba and informed him that the King would like that the new village bear his name, S. Luis.

In 13 of May 1768, Dom Luis granted the royal charter requested by the founder of the new town which consisted of the creation and maintenance of a church. Dom Luis, in 23 of January of 1770, commanded his assistant lieutenant-colonel Alfonso Botelho de Sampaio e Sousa, who erected in village the small farm called Guaratuba, where there were already houses and other buildings. After some expeditions, on 27 April 1771, Dom Luis returned to Guaratuba. On the 28th day of that month, the Church was blessed and on the 29th the village of São Luís de Guaratuba was formally named. On 30 April 1771, the first city council was elected with the approval of the founder of the village and the provincial governor . The councillors thenceforth guided the fortunes citizens of Guaratuba, subject to the authority of the provincial governor (up to 1854 Paraná belonged to the province of São Paulo), until the Declaration of the Republic, when a new political system canme into effect. Its first elected mayor took office in 1792, thus continuing up to 20 of October 1838, when by the Act no. 7572, the city ceased to exist in its former status and was constituted as the municipality of Paranaguá. It was not until 10 October 1847, by the Act no. 02 of that year, that the city recovered its independence, being reinstalled on 25 of October of the same year. In this new phase, the first mayor was Mr. Berilo da Cunha Padilha. In 1954, the city of Guaratuba became part of the Jurisdiction of Sao Jose dos Pinhais. Finally on July 1986 Guaratuba obtained municipal independence.

The Guaratuba name means "many guarás". This name was conceived by the natives who at the time inhabited this region when the discovery of Brazil by the Portuguese people. Guará is the name of a bird of red plumage that existed in abundance in this area and that even protected for the authorities, they had been extincted. Tuba means extreme amount in the aboriginal language.

Brazil - Londrina

LONDRINA
Estado do Paraná - Brasil.

Sent by Marco, a postcrosser from Ivoti, Brazil.

This is from Wikipedia : Londrina (Portuguese pronunciation: [lõˈdɾĩnɐ], Londoner) is a city located in the northern region of the state of Paraná, Brazil, and is 369 km away from the capital, Curitiba. Londrina was originally founded by British settlers. The city exerts great influence on Paraná and Brazil's south region. Londrina has approximately 500,000 inhabitants, being the second largest city in Paraná and the third largest city in the Southern Region of Brazil.

The city has a population of 506,645 (IBGE Census 2010) and 1,087,815 in its metropolitan area. It is a regional centre and is made up of commerce, services, agro-industries, and universities, including the State University of Londrina, or UEL.

Londrina was named after the British entrepreneurs who launched railroad stations in the region to ease the transportation of coffee grains from northern Paraná and southern São Paulo states to the port of Santos. The Londrina name pays homage to the English capital London (Londres in Portuguese), since an English cotton company made the original investment to settle in this area. The city's population consists of descendants of those settlers, Brazilians from other cities or states, Portuguese, English, Japanese, Italian, German, Polish, African, Spanish, Native, Arabian and Bulgarian Brazilians.

Germany - Laboe Naval Memorial

Marine-Ehrenmal Laboe or Laboe Naval Memorial.

Sent by Daja, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : The Laboe Naval Memorial is a memorial located in Laboe, near Kiel, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Started in 1927 and completed in 1936, the monument originally memorialized the World War I war dead of the Kaiserliche Marine, with the Kriegsmarine dead of World War II being added after 1945. In 1954, it was rededicated to commemorate the sailors of all nationalities who died during the World Wars.

The monument consists of a 72-metre high tower with an observation deck atop the tower. The deck stands a total 85 m above sea level. A hall of remembrance and World War II-era German submarine U-995, which houses a technical museum, both sit near the foot of the monument, and the site is a popular tourist venue. U-995 is the world's only remaining Type VII U-boat.

The tower was designed by architect Gustav August Munzer, who stated that the form was not meant to represent anything specific but was to inspire positive feelings in those who look at it. It is frequently associated with the stem of a viking ship or the conning tower of a submarine.

The Monument to Italian Sailors in Brindisi, Italy (begun in 1932, dedicated in 1933) bears a resemblance to the Laboe tower.

Brazil - Pernambuco - Maracatu

Maracatu - Olinda - PE Brasil.

Sent by João, a postcrosser from São Paulo, Brazil.

This is from Wikipedia : Maracatu is a term common to two distinct performance genres found in Pernambuco state in northeastern Brazil: maracatu de nação (nation-style maracatu) and maracatu rural (rural-style maracatu). A third style, maracatu cearense (Ceará-style maracatu), is found in Fortaleza, in the northeastern state of Ceará. Maracatu also designates the music style that accompanies these performances.

Romania - St. Ana Monastery

St. Ana Monastery in Orsova, Romania.

Sent by Adrian, a postcrosser from Romania.

"The St. Ana Monastery placed on the Danube Gorge, one of the most beautiful parts of nature in our country. The Danube Gorge is full of Christ elements: trinity’s, churches, monasteries (Vodita, Mraconia, St Ana. The settlement is a convent of nuns monastic life in common with, located in Orsova, Mehedinti county, and who has the dedication feast of St. Anna, commemorated on 25 iulie. St. Ana Monastery is located on the crest of the hill Mosul, which dominates the town of Orsova. This monastery has a special history, being founded by the famous journalist Pamfil Seicaru, who fought in the area as a young lieutenant. What caused him to rise a monastery is a random spent during the war, which deeply chance. In autumn 1916, on the hill, the journalist was covered with earth, along with his fellow, Petre Gavanescu, by an artillery shell at very short distance from them. (Source)"

Taiwan - Railway of Ali Mountain

Railway of Ali Mountain, Jia-Yi.

Sent by Ching, a postcrosser from Taiwan.

This is from Wikipedia : The Alishan Forest Railway (阿里山森林鐵路) is an 86 km network of 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow-gauge railways running up to and throughout the popular mountain resort of Alishan in Chiayi County, Taiwan. The railway, originally constructed for logging, is itself a tourist attraction with unique Z-shaped switchbacks, 50 tunnels, and over 77 wooden bridges.

The narrow-gauge lines were originally constructed by the Japanese Colonial Government in 1912 to facilitate the logging of cypress and Taiwania wood, however today the line caters mostly to tourists. Passenger carriages were first added to the trains in 1918. The first motive power was a Shay locomotive purchased second hand from the Kiso Forest Railway in Japan. Eventually the railway acquired 20 Shay locomotives.

The completion of the Alishan Highway in 1982 led to the loss of many rail passengers to faster and cheaper buses and the rail became primarily a tourist attraction.

Accidents on the line have resulted in a number of fatalities over the years. On 24 April 1981, a collapsed tunnel resulted in nine deaths and 13 injuries. On 1 March 2003, 17 people were killed and 156 injured when a train derailed near Alishan Railway Station. On 27 April 2011, five tourists, including three from mainland China, were killed and 113 people injured in a derailment.

The railway line was severely damaged by rains associated with 2009's Typhoon Morakot and, as of 2009, an unrepaired section from 2008 typhoons required tourists to disembark at one point and climb about 500m.

Unlike the national rail system administered by the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), the Alishan Forest Railway is managed by the Council of Agriculture's (COA) Forestry Bureau. It was privatized through a build-operate-transfer (BOT) in June 2008 and maintained by the Hungtu Alishan International Development Corporation.

However, the Forestry Bureau terminated the contract with Hungtu after damage to the railway caused by Typhoon Morakot in 2009 was not repaired to satisfaction. As of January 2011, the Forestry Bureau and Hungtu were still engaged in lawsuits over the issue to determine who has the right to manage the railway. In May 2011, the COA announce that it intended to transfer control of the railway to the TRA before the end of the year.

The system is currently operated using diesel locomotives, although there are occasional special public runs using the old steam powered Shay locomotives.

Taiwan's government has listed the forest railway as a potential World Heritage Site. However, Taiwan's exclusion from the United Nations means it is unlikely to be formally recognized as a WHS in the near future.

USA - California - Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree is a rock-climbers paradise, providing beautiful vistas of the desert to those that scale these grand boulders. The geologic landscape of Joshua Tree has long fascinated visitors to this desert. These rocks, referred to as monzogranite, took on their fantastic shapes millions of years ago through the forces of volcanism and erosion.

Sent by The Colliers, postcrossers from California, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : Joshua Tree National Park is located in southeastern California. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 when the U.S. Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act (Public Law 103-433), it had previously been a U.S. National Monument since 1936. It is named for the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) forests native to the park. It covers a land area of 790,636 acres (1,235.37 sq mi; 3,199.59 km2) – an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island. A large part of the park, some 429,690 acres (173,890 ha), is a designated wilderness area. Straddling the San Bernardino County/Riverside County border, the park includes parts of two deserts, each an ecosystem whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation: the higher Mojave Desert and lower Colorado Desert. The Little San Bernardino Mountains run through the southwest edge of the park.

The higher and slightly cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of Yucca brevifolia, the Joshua tree for which the park is named. It occurs in patterns from dense forests to distantly spaced specimens. In addition to Joshua tree forests, the western part of the park includes some of the most interesting geologic displays found in California's deserts. The dominant geologic features of this landscape are hills of bare rock, usually broken up into loose boulders. These hills are popular amongst rock climbing and scrambling enthusiasts. The flatland between these hills is sparsely forested with Joshua trees. Together with the boulder piles and Skull Rock, the trees make the landscape otherworldly.

Joshua trees dominate the open spaces of the park, but in among the rock outcroppings are piñon pine, California juniper (Juniperus californica) and scrub oak. These communities are under some stress, however. The climate was wetter until the 1930s. The same hot and dry conditions that provoked the Dust Bowl affected the local climate. These cycles were nothing new, but the original vegetation did not prosper when wetter cycles returned, however. The difference may have been human development. Cattle grazing took out some of the natural cover and made it less resistant to the changes. But the bigger problem seems to be invasive species, such as cheatgrass. These things deliver a double punch. During wetter periods, they fill in below and among the pines and oak. In drier times, they die back, but do not quickly decompose. This makes wildfires hotter and more destructive, which kills some of the trees that would have otherwise survived. When the area regenerates, these non-native grasses form a thick layer of turf that makes it harder for the pine and oak seedlings to get a roothold.

Below 3,000 feet (910 m), the Colorado Desert encompasses the eastern part of the park and features habitats of Creosote bush scrub; Ocotillo, desert Saltbush and mixed scrub including Yucca and Cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia bigelovii). There are areas of such cactus density they appear as natural gardens. The lower Coachella Valley is on the southeastern side of the Park with sandy soil grasslands and desert dunes.

The only palm native to California, the California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera), occurs naturally in five oases in the park, rare areas where water occurs naturally year round and all forms of wildlife abound.

Macedonia - Woman's Traditional Costume

Macedonian woman in traditional costume.

Sent by Ana from Macedonia.

Finland - Tornio

Multiviews of Tornio, Finland.

Sent by Sansku, a postcrosser from Tornio, Finland.

This is from Wikipedia : Tornio (Official name: Tornion kaupunki; in Northern Sami: Duortnus; in Swedish: Torneå) is a town and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The municipality covers an area of 1,348.55 square kilometres (520.68 sq mi) of which 161.59 km2 (62.39 sq mi) is water. The population density is 18.98 inhabitants per square kilometre (49.2 /sq mi), with a total population of 22,525 (31 January 2012). It borders to the Swedish municipality of Haparanda (in Finnish: Haaparanta). Tornio is unilingually Finnish.

The delta of the Torne river has been inhabited since the end of the last ice age, and there are currently (1995) 16 settlement sites (boplatsvallar) known in the area, similar to those found in Vuollerim (c.6000–5000 BC). The Swedish part of the region is not far from the oldest permanent settlement site found in Scandinavia. A former theory that this region was uninhabited and "colonised" from the Viking Age onward has now been abandoned.

The church spire at Tornio was one of the landmarks used by de Maupertuis in his measurements. The church was constructed in 1686 by Matti Joosepinpoika Härmä.

Until the 19th century, inhabitants of the surrounding countryside spoke Kemi Sami, a language of the Eastern Sami group similar to Finnish, while those of the town were mainly Swedish-speaking.

Tornio was named Torneå in Swedish after Torne å, an alternative name of the river, and later fennicized Tornio.

The town received its charter from the King of Sweden in 1621 and was officially founded on the island of Suensaari (literally "Wolf Island", probably named after one of the main landowners of the past). The charter was in recognition of Tornio being the hub of all trade in Lapland throughout the 16th century. It was the largest merchant town in the North at the time and for some years ranked as the richest town in the Swedish realm. Despite the lively trade with Lapland and overseas, the population of the town remained stable for hundreds of years at little over 500.

During the 18th century Tornio was visited by several expeditions from Central Europe who came to discover the Arctic. The most notable expedition (1736–1737) was led by a member of the Académie française, Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, who came to take meridian arc measurements along the Torne River Valley which would show that the globe is flattened towards the poles.

The Lapland trade on which Tornio depended started to decline in the 18th century, and the harbour had to be moved downriver twice as a result of the rising of the land (post-glacial rebound), which made the river too shallow for navigation. However, the greatest blow to the wealth of the town came in the last war between Sweden and Russia in 1808, which saw the Russians capture and annex Finland. The border was drawn through the deepest channel of the Muonio and Tornio rivers, splitting Lapland in two parts, hurting the trade. Tornio ended up on the Russian side of the border on special insistence by the Russian czar. The Swedes developed the village of Haaparanta (present day Haparanda) on their side of the border, to balance the loss of Tornio, and Tornio became unilingually Finnish.

During the Russian period Tornio was a sleepy garrison town. Trade only livened up during the Crimean War and the First World War, when Tornio became an important border crossing for goods and people. During the First World War Tornio and Haparanda had the only rail link to connect the Russians to their Western allies.

After the independence of Finland in 1917 Tornio lost its garrison and saw further decline although its population increased steadily. The town played no role of importance in the Finnish Civil War, but was the scene of some fierce street fighting at the onset of the Lapland War between Finland and Nazi Germany. The quick liberation of the town by the Finnish forces probably saved it from being burned down like so many other towns in Lapland. As a result the beautiful wooden church from 1686 can still be admired today.

After World War II, the town created new employment with the success of the local brewery Lapin Kulta and the stainless steel factory Outokumpu. Tourism based on the border has been a growing industry too. The town is a centre of education for Western Lapland with a vocational college and a university of applied sciences.

Tornio and Haparanda have a history as twin cities, and are set to merge under the name EuroCity. A new city centre is under construction on the international border and several municipal services are shared. The towns also have a common golf course, situated astride the border. The new IKEA store in Haparanda has signposting in Finnish as well as in Swedish, and all prices are signposted in two currencies.

Germany - Dorsten

Multiviews of Dorsten, Germany.

Sent by Doris, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : Dorsten (German pronunciation: [ˈdɔʁstən]) is a town in the district of Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and has a population of just below 80,000.

Dorsten is situated on the western rim of Westphalia bordering the Rhineland. Its historical old town lies on the south bank of the river Lippe and the Wesel–Datteln Canal and was granted city rights in 1251. During the twentieth century, the town was enlarged in its north by the villages of the former Herrlichkeit Lembeck. While Dorsten's northern districts are thus shaped by the rural Münsterland with its many historical castles, just south of the town the Ruhr region begins, Germany's largest urban agglomeration with more than seven million inhabitants.

The exact linguistic derivation of the word “Dorsten” is unknown, leaving the meaning of the town’s name unclear.

Archaeological findings show that the area was already populated during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, from about 4000 BC onwards. The Romans established a military camp in Dorsten-Holsterhausen in 11 BC and Varus passed through it in 9BC on his way to the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

From around 700 AD onwards, the Archbishopric of Cologne began to evangelise the area around Dorsten. Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden, together with the Count of Cleves, granted Dorsten the city rights in 1251. Due to its economically favourable position on the river Lippe, the town became a member of the Hanseatic League of international trading cities and turned into the richest town in the Vest Recklinghausen.

In 1488, Franciscan monks established a monastery which continues to exist today as the world’s oldest permanently existing cloister of this order. The monks founded Gymnasium Petrinum in 1642 and in 1699 the Ursulines set up a cloister including a boarding school for girls. However, the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) and the continuous occupation by various forces badly derogated Dorsten’s medieval wealth.

It was only during the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century that Dorsten returned to its former prosperity. Spinning, weaving and metal casting industries found their way into town and in 1912, the first coal mine opened. Between 1929 and 1975, surrounding villages became districts of the gradually enlarging town of Dorsten. Only a few days before the end of the Second World War, the historical old town was almost completely destroyed in an Allied air raid. However, after 1945, the town’s centre was rebuilt on its historical foundations and thus still resembles its medieval shape today.

Dorsten is widely known today for its Jewish Museum of Westphalia which was established in 1987. In 2001, the last coal mine closed and the town celebrated its 750th jubilee with a festival in the old town.

USA - California - Mary Avenue Footbridge

Mary Avenue Footbridge.

Sent by Hilbert from California, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : The Mary Avenue Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge over Interstate 280 (California) in Cupertino, California carrying bicycle and pedestrian traffic. North of I-280, Mary Avenue ends as a parking lot and drop-off area for Homestead High School. Bicyclists and pedestrians may cross I-280 using the bridge; Mary Avenue continues south of the highway.

At night the bridge is lit up and is a beautiful sight for those driving on or crossing Interstate 280.

Aruba - Palm Beach

Palm Beach - Aruba
Located on Aruba's west coast, this is the happening place. The white sandy beach and gentile waves make this Aruba's favorite vacation destination.

Sent by Madelline from Aruba. Terima kasih (thanks). This is our first ever from Aruba.

This is from Wikipedia : Aruba (/əˈruːbə/ ə-ROO-bə, Dutch pronunciation: [aˈruba]) is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km (approx.) east of Guajira Peninsula (Colombia). Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles.

Aruba is one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, together with the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten whose citizens share a single nationality: Dutch citizen. Aruba has no administrative subdivisions, but for census purposes is divided into 8 regions. Its capital is Oranjestad. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. It has a land area of 179 square kilometres (69 sq mi) and is densely populated with a total of 101,484 inhabitants at the 2010 Census. It lies outside the hurricane belt. It is also home to the endemic Aruba Island Rattlesnake.

Canada - Flag of Nova Scotia

Flag of Nova Scotia.

Sent by Buffy, a postcrosser from Nova Scotia, Canada.

This is from Wikipedia : The flag of Nova Scotia, created in 1858, is a banner of the coat of arms of Nova Scotia, which were granted to the Scottish colony by Charles I, in 1625.

The flag of the modern Canadian province, a blue saltire on a white field, is a simple figure-ground reversal of the flag of Scotland (a white saltire, Saint Andrew's cross, on a blue field), charged with an inescutcheon bearing the royal arms of Scotland, a gold shield with a red lion rampant surrounded by a royal double tressure (a double border decorated with fleurs de lis). The royal arms do not appear on Scotland's flag - they were added to Nova Scotia's to distinguish the flag from the Naval Ensign of Russia which is also a blue saltire on a white field.

The similarity to the Scottish flag reflects the province's name, which is Latin for "New Scotland.' Nova Scotia was one of the few Canadian colonies to be granted its own Coat of Arms, and the flag is the only one of the Canadian provinces dating back to before confederation.

The flag is ranked #12 in the North American Vexillological Association's survey of North American state and provincial flags.

Netherlands - Huizen

Views of Huizen.

Sent by Thea, a postcrosser from Huizen, Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Huizen ([ˈɦœy̆zə(n)]) is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.

The name "Huizen" is Dutch for "houses" and this usage has been linked to the belief that the first stone houses in the region appeared here.

Huizen originally was a coastal village, with a thriving fishing industry. After the damming of the Zuider Zee by the Afsluitdijk in 1932, the old sea was degraded to a mere freshwater lake, and economical activities shifted towards industry and commerce.

In the 1960s the town was designated to build substantially large residential areas, to overcome the housing shortage in the region. From then on, the town took on an influx of people and grew rapidly.

Where the Phohi-flat now stands in Huizen was, before World War II, the site of a large transmitter intended for contacting the Dutch East Indies, some 12.000 km away.

Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)

The Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius).

Sent by Jaana, a postcrosser from Finland.

This is from Wikipedia : The Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) is a species of bird occurring over a vast region from Western Europe and north-west Africa to the Indian Subcontinent and further to the eastern seaboard of Asia and down into south-east Asia. Across its vast range, several very distinct racial forms have evolved to look very different from each other, especially when forms at the extremes of its range are compared.

The bird is called jay, without any epithets, by English speakers in Britain and Ireland.

The Eurasian Jay was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work Systema Naturae. He recognised its affinity with other corvids, naming it Corvus glandarius.

Eight racial groups (33 subspecies in total) are recognised by Madge & Burn (1994):

* the nominate group (nine European races), with a streaked crown.
* the cervicalis group (three races in North Africa), with a rufous nape, grey mantle, very pale head sides, and a streaked or black crown.
* the atricapillus group (four races in Middle East, Crimea & Turkey), with a uniform mantle & nape, black crown and very pale face.
* the race hyrcanus (Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests of Iran), small with black forecrown and broadly-streaked hindcrown.
* the brandtii group (four races in Siberia and northern Japan), with a streaked crown, reddish head, dark iris and grey mantle.
* the leucotis group (two races in south-east Asia), with no white in the wing, a white forecrown, black hindcrown and much white on the sides of the head.
* the bispecularis group (six races in the Himalayan region), with an unstreaked rufous crown, and no white wing-patch.
* the japonicus group (four races in the southern Japanese islands), with a large white wing-patch, blackish face and scaled crown.

A member of the widespread jay group, and about the size of the Jackdaw, it inhabits mixed woodland, particularly with oaks, and is an habitual acorn hoarder. In recent years, the bird has begun to migrate into urban areas, possibly as a result of continued erosion of its woodland habitat.

USA - Massachusetts - Mapcard (2)

Greetings From Boston, Massachusetts.

Sent by Angela, a postcrosser from Massachusetts, USA.

USA - California - The Golden Gate Bridge (2)

THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco's famous fog rolls in through the entrance to San Francisco Bay. The fog has been referred to as the city's natural "Air Conditioning".

Sent by Marina, a postcrosser from Sacramento, USA.

US Virgin Islands - St. Thomas Harbor

ST. THOMAS HARBOR, USVI
Red roofs of St. Thomas and historic Charlotte Amalie.

Sent by someone's very kind from USVI to my old address. Terima kasih (thanks) whoever you are :)

USA - Ohio - The Circleville Pumpkin Show

THE CIRCLEVILLE PUMPKIN SHOW
Held annually the third Wednesday of October. Come and enjoy pumpkin in all its forms - ice cream, oies, cakes, breads, etc. Enjoy free entertainment, parades, displays and great food.

Sent by Joy, a postcrosser from Ohio, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : The Circleville Pumpkin Show is an annual festival held in Circleville, Ohio. The festival, which is held to celebrate local agriculture, is headed up by the Circleville Pumpkin Show Corporation. Considered to be the biggest festival dedicated to pumpkins in the United States, it is billed as The Greatest Free Show On Earth. Attendance has topped 400,000 for the four day event, which is free to enter.

The Pumpkin Show begins on the 3rd Wednesday of October, and lasts until that Saturday. In recent years, a Tuesday preview night has been introduced, adding an unofficial half day to the event.

In October 1903, Mayor George Haswell decided to hold a small pumpkin & corn exhibit in front of his store to celebrate the local harvest. This small exhibit featured corn, carved pumpkins and other harvest-themed displays. Because of the prominence of pumpkins in this first exhibit, the name "The Pumpkin Show" was then coined. In the following years local merchants were attracted to improve the size, scope and attendance of the festival. By 1905, the first ride was installed. Soon after, with the success of the shows, an annual festival was organized to be held on the city streets to attract merchants, patrons and improve the quality of the festival.

The Pumpkin Show has been held annually since 1903. Despite it still being held during the influenza outbreaks of 1918-1919, The Pumpkin Show was silenced for one year during World War I and two years during World War II. Aside from this three-year gap, there have been no other recorded occurrences of the Circleville Pumpkin Show being canceled or postponed.

Every Pumpkin Show officially kicks off with the weigh-in of large pumpkins from around the area. The largest pumpkin to date was grown by Bob & Jo Liggett, with their entry weighing in at 1,635 pounds. Recent weigh-ins have had multiple entries that go over 1,000 pounds.

Every year, Lindsey's Bakery creates the "world's largest" pumpkin pie. Visitors can be in line for over an hour to see the pie. At the 100th anniversary Pumpkin Show in 2006, the bakery had to make a much bigger pie compared to previous years to officially reclaim the title of world's largest. The pie pan was so large that it was moved outside of the bakery window and into a tent out on the street.

Another long-standing tradition of the Circleville Pumpkin Show is a pageant to crown the Little Miss and Miss Pumpkin Show Queen. The Little Miss Pumpkin Show Queen must be in the 1st grade at a school in Pickaway County, while the Miss Pumpkin Show Queen must be a junior or senior from one of the six local high schools. Once crowned, they lead off each parade for the rest of the event.

Seven parades in total are held during the event (two on Wednesday-Friday, one night parade on Saturday). These parades feature performances by many local high school and middle school bands, as well as other local organizations. The Ohio University Marching 110, which is often referred to as "The Most Exciting Band In The Land," has made numerous trips to highlight Thursday night's parade of bands. The 2006 Pumpkin Show welcomed The Ohio State University Marching Band. They came back in 2010 to march in the parade of bands again and hold a concert afterwards.

USA - Missouri - Branson

BRANSON
MISSOURI
It's easy to see why Branson is known as the live entertainment capital of the world! Visitors can choose from more than 100 different shows in 52 state-of-the-art theaters ranging from intimate 50-seat show rooms to 4,000-seat indoor theatrical palaces.

Sent by Hazel, a WiP partner from Texas, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s.

Branson has long been a popular destination for vacationers from Missouri and neighboring areas. The construction of music theaters by nationally-known performers along Highway 76 has increased Branson's popularity as a tourist destination. Branson now draws visitors from all regions of the country, mostly by car or bus.

The population was 10,520 at the 2010 census. The Branson Micropolitan Statistical Area embraces Stone and Taney counties.

In 1882, Reuben Branson opened a general store and post office in the area. Branson was formally incorporated in 1912 and construction of the Powersite Dam nearby on the White River which would form Lake Taneycomo was completed.

In 1894 William Henry Lynch had bought Marble Cave (renamed Marvel Cave) and had begun charging visitors to see it. Hugo and Mary Herschend leased the cave in 1950 on a 99 year lease and began hosting square dances in it. The Herschend Family modernized the cave with electricity and cement staircases, and in 1960, the Herschends opened Silver Dollar City which was a recreated frontier town of five shops and a church, and it featured a log cabin with actors playing out the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys.

Harold Bell Wright had published his novel about The Ozarks, The Shepherd of the Hills, in 1907. The Old Mill Theater began its first outdoor production based on the novel in 1960. The show known as The Shepherd of the Hills Outdoor Drama & Homestead still runs today. It is also the home of Inspiration Tower, the Sons of the Pioneers show, and other attractions. The Harold Bell Wright Museum shares a location with The World's Largest Toy Museum.

1958 saw the completion of Table Rock Dam on the White River, which created Table Rock Lake. In 1959 The Baldknobbers Jamboree opened their show in Branson.

In 1962 Paul Henning, inspired by a Boy Scout camping trip to the Ozarks, created the Beverly Hillbillies which ran on television until 1971. The first five episodes of Season 8 in 1969 are set in the Branson area when the Clampetts returned to their home. Henning later donated 1,534 acres (6.21 km2) for the Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area near Branson. He also donated the modified 1921 Oldsmobile truck used as the vehicle in the series to the College of the Ozarks where it is on display in the Ralph Foster Museum.

The Presley family became the first to move their show to Highway 76 in 1967 (which would become known as the "strip"), followed a year later by the Baldknobbers. This area would eventually grow to more than 50 theaters – most of them located on Highway 76.

In the early 1980s the Starlite Theater (not to be confused with the current theater by the same name) was one of the first to introduce stage sets, horn section, elaborate costume changes, and music outside of the traditional country music normally played. It helped to launch the careers of Shoji Tabuchi, Doug Gabriel, and many others.

In 1983 Branson began its transformation into a major tourist attraction when the 7,500 seat Swiss Villa Amphitheatre opened in Lampe, Missouri. The theatre, which started out as a venue for rock bands such as Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, REO Speedwagon, Steppenwolf, and Ozzy Osbourne, was later renamed the Black Oak Mountain Amphitheatre. It closed in the early 2000s, but had shown that there was a market for large music gatherings.

Also in 1983, Roy Clark opened the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre, becoming the first famous country music star to have his own venue in Branson. Many of the performers who have their own theaters in Branson got their start at that venue.

A series of larger theatres opened soon thereafter. In 1987, Box Car Willie became the first entertainer with a permanent schedule in Branson.

Andy Williams, built his own theater in Branson opening on May 1, 1992 as the Moon River Theatre.

Scenes from the family motion picture Gordy were shot here in 1995.

The closest commercial airport is the newly developed Branson Airport which opened in May 2009, constructed at an originally projected cost of $155 million on land formerly owned by Tennessee Ernie Ford. This airport is privately owned, and it is thought to be the largest privately-owned commercial airport in the United States. Its construction involved flattening the tops of a series of Ozark Mountains and is thought to be the largest earth moving project in the history of the state. Previously, the closest commercial airport was Springfield-Branson National Airport 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Branson, owned by the City of Springfield.

Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)

Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus).

Sent by Vadim, a postcrosser from Minsk, Belarus.

This is from Wikipedia : The Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), also known as the Wood Grouse, Heather Cock or Capercaillie /ˌkæpərˈkeɪli/, is the largest member of the grouse family, reaching over 100 cm in length and 6.7 kg in weight. The largest one ever recorded in captivity had a weight of 7.2 kg. (15.9 lbs). Found across Europe and Asia, it is renowned for its mating display.

Also spelt Capercailzie (the "z" letter representing a yogh), this species' name is derived from the Gaelic capull coille, meaning "horse of the woods".

It was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 under its current binomial name.

Its closest relative is the Black-billed Capercaillie, Tetrao parvirostris, which breeds in the larch taiga forests of eastern Russia and parts of northern Mongolia and China.