Brazil - São Paulo

São Paulo
Praça da Sé

Sent by Vitor & Rose, postcrossers from São Paulo, Brazil.

Praça da Sé (English: See Square) is a public space in São Paulo, Brazil. Considered as the city's central point, it is the point from where the distance of all roads passing through São Paulo are counted. The square was the location of many historic events in São Paulo's history, most notably during the Diretas Já movement. The name originates from the episcopal see of the city, the São Paulo Cathedral.

Originally known as Largo da Sé (Field of the See), the square developed around the religious building which preceded the cathedral and surrounding edifices. At the beginning of the 20th century, older structures were demolished and the downtown area reconstructed according to the urban planning of the time. Its geography has remained mostly unchanged since.

The current landscape is the result of a 1970s project by architects led by José Eduardo de Assis Lefèvre. The opening of a nearby São Paulo Metro station required the leveling of an entire city block, requiring an entirely new landscaping infrastructure.

The architects were heavily influenced by contemporary landscaping works underway in the west coast of the US (such as those by Lawrence Halprin), characterized by rigorous geometry, through multiple levels with reflecting pools and prism-like land masses. (Source)

Germany - Upper Bavaria

Multiviews of Upper Bavaria.

Sent by Stefan, a postcrosser from Germany.

Upper Bavaria (German: Oberbayern) is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany.
Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered around the city of Munich. It is subdivided into four regions (Planungsverband): Ingolstadt, Munich, Bayerisches Oberland (Bavarian Highland), and Südostoberbayern (South East Upper Bavaria). It is named 'Upper Bavaria' because the land is higher above sea level than the rest of Bavaria, not because it is farther north. (Source)

USA - West Virginia - State Capitol Building (1)

State Capitol
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, the state capital is located in the Kanawha River valley. It is west Virginia's largest city. The capitol building, completed in 1932, was designed by Cass Gilbert. Its shiny dome, covered in gold leaf, is 292 feet high and from the center of the gold dome hangs a rock crystal chandelier weighing 2 tons.

Sent by Lisa, a postcrosser from West Virginia.

The West Virginia State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of West Virginia, and houses the West Virginia Legislature and the office of the Governor of West Virginia. Located in Charleston, West Virginia, the building was dedicated in 1932. Along with the West Virginia Executive Mansion it is part of the West Virginia Capitol Complex, a historic district listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.

Prior to the American Civil War, the counties that would ultimately form West Virginia were a part of the state of Virginia; the state capitol was in Richmond, Virginia. After Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, the northwest counties of Virginia loyal to the United States started the process which would ultimately create the State of West Virginia on June 20, 1863.

Settling on a state capital location, however, proved to be difficult. For several years, the capital of West Virginia intermittently traveled between Wheeling and Charleston. In 1877, however, the state's citizens voted on the final location of their capital. Charleston was chosen and, eight years later, the first capitol building was opened. After a fire in 1921, a hastily-built structure was opened but it too burned down in 1927. 

A Capitol Building Commission, created by the Legislature in 1921, authorized construction of the present capitol. Architect Cass Gilbert designed the buff limestone structure that was to have a final cost of just under $10 million. After the three stages of construction were completed, Governor William G. Conley dedicated the capitol on June 20, 1932.

Gilbert liked his design of the West Virginia chamber's interior so well that he reused part of the design for the United States Supreme Court. The U.S. chamber is a larger version of the one found in the West Virginia Capitol's East Wing.

Japan - Okinawa (5)

OKINAWA in Japan.
Eisa Dance
A traditional dance performed during the lunar-calendar Obon holiday season. The powerful drum sound and splendid dancing are impressive.

Sent by Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (OCVB).

Japan - Okinawa (4)

Kuroshima Island, OKINAWA in Japan.
Folk Dwelling & Hibiscus
You see more cows than people on Kuroshima Island. Okinawa's original scenery, made up of red tile roof houses, captures your heart.

Sent by Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (OCVB).

Japan - Okinawa (3)

Kuroshima Island, OKINAWA in Japan
Honen-sai Festival
A post-harvest festival of giving thanks for a bountiful harvest and praying for bumper crops. The island bustles with various dedicatory dances.

Sent by Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (OCVB).

Japan - Okinawa (2)

Naha City, OKINAWA in Japan.
Shuri-jo Castle
A grand festival with traditional performing arts and Ryukyu Kingdom Picture Scroll Parade - where the ancient culture comes to life

Sent by Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (OCVB).

Japan - Okinawa (1)

Hatenohama Beach / Kumejima Island
A sand-covered deserted island that floats east of Kumejima Island. The world of white sand and azure blue sea and sky stretches on forever.

Sent by Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (OCVB).

The Okinawa Islands (沖縄諸島 Okinawa Shotō^?) are an island group in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and are the principal island group of the prefecture. The Okinawa Islands are part of the larger Ryukyu Islands group, and are located between the Amami Islands ofKagoshima Prefecture to the northeast and the Sakishima Islands of Okinawa Prefecture to the southwest.

The Okinawa Islands, apart from the four main islands, contain three smaller island groups: the Kerama, Yokatsu, and Iheya-Izena island groups.

The Okinawa Islands are the political, cultural and population center of Okinawa Prefecture. The prefectural capital of Naha is within the island group. 90% of the population of the prefecture reside within the Okinawa Islands, primarily on the largest island of the group,Okinawa Island. Access to the various Okinawa Island is primarily via small airports which connect to Okinawa Airport. Additionally, the islands are connected via ferry service to the Port of Naha in the prefectural capital.

The Okinawa Islands are within the subtropical climate zone, which supports the production of sugarcane, pineapples and cut flowers. The military bases of the United States in Okinawa Prefecture are located on the Okinawa Islands.

Historically the rule of the Ryūkyū Kingdom roughly overlapped the Okinawa Islands and Amami Ōshima. (Source)

Northern Ireland - Belfast City (2)

Belfast City
This vibrant modern city has many historic landmarks and buildings including Belfast City Hall, Queen's University and Belfast Castle.

Sent by Radostina from Belfast City, Northern Ireland.

Tanzania - Tarangire National Park

Baobab Suset Tarangire.

Sent by Hamad, a TravBuddy friend from Arusha, Tanzania.

Tarangire National Park is the sixth largest national park in Tanzania after Ruaha, Serengeti, Mikumi, Katavi and Mkomazi. The national park is located in Manyara Region. The name of the park originates from the Tarangire river that crosses through the park, being the only source of water for wild animals during dry seasons. During the dry season thousands of animals migrate to the Tarangire National Park from Manyara National Park.

It lies a little distance to the south east of Lake Manyara and covers an area of approximately 2,850 square kilometers(1,100 square miles.) The landscape and vegetation is incredibly diverse with a mix that is not found anywhere else in the northern safari circuit. The hilly landscape is dotted with vast numbers of Baobab trees, dense bush and high grasses.

The park is famous for its huge number of elephants, baobab trees and tree climbing lions. Visitors to the park can expect to see any number of resident zebra and wildebeest in addition to the less common animals. Other common animals includewaterbuck, giraffe, and olive baboons.

Home to more than 550 species, the park is a haven for bird enthusiasts who can expect so see dozens of species even in the dry season. The swamps are the focus of the largest selection of breeding birds anywhere in the world. Yellow-collared Lovebirds are a common bird sighting in the trees along the Tarangire River.

The park is also famous for the termite mounds that dot the landscape. Those that have been abandoned are often seen to be home to dwarf mongoose. (Source)

Tanzania - Ngorongoro Conservation Area (4)

Zebras drinking, Ngorongoro Crater.

Sent by Hamad, a TravBuddy friend from Arusha, Tanzania.

Tanzania - Ngorongoro Conservation Area (3)

Buffalos chasing lions in Ngorongoro Crater.

Sent by Hamad, a TravBuddy friend from Arusha, Tanzania.

Tanzania - Ngorongoro Conservation Area (2)

Zebra in Lerai Forest.

Sent by Hamad, a TravBuddy friend from Arusha, Tanzania.

Germany - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps

Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Sent by Michaela, a postcrosser from Germany.

This serial property of 111 small individual sites encompasses the remains of prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. Excavations, only conducted in some of the sites, have yielded evidence that provides insight into life in prehistoric times during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Alpine Europe and the way communities interacted with their environment. Fifty-six of the sites are located in Switzerland. The settlements are a unique group of exceptionally well-preserved and culturally rich archaeological sites, which constitute one of the most important sources for the study of early agrarian societies in the region. (Source)

Pixar Movies - Toy Story 3 (2010)

Toy Story 3, 2010.

Sent by Jessica, a postcrosser from Netherlands.

Tanzania - Ngorongoro Conservation Area (1)

A Maasai Dancing, Ngorongoro.

Sent by Hamad, TravBuddy friend from Arusha,Tanzania.

The open plains of the eastern Serengeti rise to the crater highlands of the volcanic massifs of Loolmalasin (3,587 m) and Oldeani (3,168 m) dating from the late Mesozoic and early Tertiary.

Ngorongoro Crater is one of the largest inactive unbroken calderas in the world which is unflooded. It has a mean diameter of 16-19 km, a crater floor of 26,400 ha, and a rim soaring to 400-610 m above the crater floor. The formation of the crater and other highlands are associated with the massive rifting which occurred to the west of the Gregory Rift Valley. The conservation area also includes Empakaai Crater and Olduvai Gorge, famous for geology and associated palaeontological studies.

A variable climate and diverse landforms and altitudes have resulted in several distinct habitats. Scrub heath and the remains of dense montane forests cover the steep slopes. The crater floor is mainly open grassy plains with alternating fresh and brackish water lakes, swamps and two patches of acacia woodland; Lerai Forest, comprising dominant tree species Acacia xanthonhloea and Rauvolfia caffra .

A population of about 25,000 large animals lives in the crater, mainly ungulates, along with the highest density of mammalian predators in Africa. They include the critically endangered black rhinoceros Diceros bicornis , which have declined from about 108 in 1964-66 to between 11-14 in 1995, and hippopotamus, which are very uncommon in the area. There are also many other ungulates: wildebeest (7,000 estimated in 1994), Burchell's zebra (4,000), eland, Grant's and Thomson's gazelles (3,000). The crater has the densest known population of lion, which are classed as vulnerable, numbering only 62 in 2001. On the crater rim are leopard and the endangered African elephant, numbering 42 in 1987 but only 29 in 1992, mountain reedbuck and buffalo (4,000 in 1994). However, since the 1980s the crater's wildebeest population has fallen by a quarter to about 19,000 and the numbers of eland and Thomson's gazelle have also declined whereas buffalos increased greatly, probably due to the prevention of fire which favours high fibrous grasses over shorter, less fibrous types.

In summer enormous numbers of Serengeti migrants pass through the plains of the reserve, including 1.7 million wildebeest, 260,000 zebra and 470,000 gazelle. Waterbuck mainly occur mainly near Lerai Forest; serval widely in the crater and on the plains to the west. Common in the reserve are lion, hartebeest, spotted hyena and jackal. Cheetah, classed as vulnerable although common in the reserve, are scarce in the crater itself. The endangered wild dog Lycaon pictus has recently disappeared from the crater and may have declined elsewhere in the Conservation Area as well. The golden cat has recently been seen in the Ngorongoro forest.

Ngorongoro has palaeontological and archaeological sites over a wide range of dates. The four major sites are Olduvai Gorge, Laetoli site, Lake Ndutu site and the Nasera Rock Shelter. The variety and richness of the fossil remains, including those of early hominids, has made this one of the major areas in the world for research on the human evolution. Olduvai Gorge has produced valuable remains of early hominids includingAustralopithecus and Homo habilis as well as fossil bones of many extinct animals. Nearby, at Laetoli, are fossil hominid footprints from the Pliocene age.

Actually there is considerable controversy about the exact number of people in the NCA partly because pastoral people, being mobile, are difficult to enumerate, but some Maasai live there. (Source)

Laos - Vientiane - Stupa Tha Luang

Vientiane - Stupa Tha Luang or Pha That Luang.

Sent by Jan of Lonely Planet who visited Laos.

Pha That Luang is a gold-covered large Buddhist stupa in the centre ofVientiane, Laos. Since its initial establishment suggested to be in the 3rd century, the stupa has undergone several reconstructions until the 1930s due to foreign invasions to the area. It is generally regarded as the most important national monument in Laos and a national symbol.

Pha That Luang according to the Lao people was originally built as a Hindu temple in the 3rd century. Buddhist missionaries from the Mauryan Empire are believed to have been sent by the Emperor Ashoka, including Bury Chan or Praya Chanthabury Pasithisak and five Arahata monks who brought a holy relic (believed to be the breast bone) of LordBuddha to the stupa. It was rebuilt in the 13th century as a Khmer temple which fell into ruin

In the mid-16th century, King Setthathirat relocated his capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane and ordered construction of Pha That Luang in 1566.  It was rebuilt about 4 km from the centre of Vientiane at the end of That Luang Road and named Pha That Luang. The bases had a length of 69 metres each and was 45 metres high, and was surrounded by 30 small Stupas.

In 1641, a Dutch envoy of the Dutch East India Company, Gerrit van Wuysoff, visited Vientiane and was received by King Sourigna Vongsa at the temple, where he was, reportedly, received in a magnificent ceremony. He wrote that he was particularly impressed by the "enormous pyramid and the top was covered with gold leaf weighing about a thousand pounds". However, the stupa was repeatedly plundered by the Burmese, Siamese and Chinese. 

Pha That Luang was destroyed by the Thai invasion in 1828, which left it heavily damaged and left abandoned. It was not until 1900, when the French restored to its original design based on the detailed drawings from 1867 by the French architect and explorer Louis Delaporte. However the first attempt to restore it was unsuccessful and it had to be redesigned and then reconstructed in the 1930s. During Franco-Thai war Pha That Luang was heavily damaged from Thais air raid. After the End of World War II Pha That Luang has been newly reconstructed. (Source)

France - Limousin - Celebration Costumes

Regional celebration costumes.

Sent by dams87, a postcrosser from Limoges, France.

Limousin (French pronunciation: [limuzɛ̃] (Occitan: Lemosin) is one of the 27 regions of France. It is composed of threedépartements: Corrèze, Creuse and the Haute-Vienne.

Situated largely in the Massif Central, as of January 1, 2010, the Limousin comprised 742,771 inhabitants on nearly 17,000 km², making it the second least populated region of France after Corsica.

Forming part of the South-West of France, Limousin is bordered by the regions Centre to the north, Poitou-Charentes and Aquitaineto the west, Midi-Pyrénées to the south and Auvergne to the east. Limousin also forms part of Occitania. (Source)

Indonesia - Indonesian Batik

The art of hand-waxed batik tulis is still practiced in the traditional manner.

Sent by Shinta from Semarang, Indonesia.

The techniques, symbolism and culture surrounding hand-dyed cotton and silk garments known as Indonesian Batik permeate the lives of Indonesians from beginning to end: infants are carried in batik slings decorated with symbols designed to bring the child luck, and the dead are shrouded in funerary batik. Clothes with everyday designs are worn regularly in business and academic settings, while special varieties are incorporated into celebrations of marriage and pregnancy and into puppet theatre and other art forms. The garments even play the central role in certain rituals, such as the ceremonial casting of royal batik into a volcano. Batik is dyed by proud craftspeople who draw designs on fabric using dots and lines of hot wax, which resists vegetable and other dyes and therefore allows the artisan to colour selectively by soaking the cloth in one colour, removing the wax with boiling water and repeating if multiple colours are desired. The wide diversity of patterns reflects a variety of influences, ranging from Arabic calligraphy, European bouquets and Chinese phoenixes to Japanese cherry blossoms and Indian or Persian peacocks. Often handed down within families for generations, the craft of batik is intertwined with the cultural identity of the Indonesian people and, through the symbolic meanings of its colours and designs, expresses their creativity and spirituality. (Source)

Japan - Nagasaki - Ja-odori Dance

Ja-odori Dance or Dragon Dancing / NAGASAKI

Sent by Jun, a postcrosser from Japan.