Classic Rock Bands - #2 Queen

A Night with Queen Concert
14th May 1977
Frankfurt, Germany

Sent by Stephanie from Austin in Texas, USA.

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), later joined by John Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.

Before forming Queen, May and Taylor had played together in the band Smile. Mercury was a fan of Smile and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques. He joined in 1970 and suggested the name "Queen". Deacon was recruited in February 1971, before the band released their self-titled debut album in 1973. Queen first charted in the UK with their second album, Queen II, in 1974. Sheer Heart Attack later that year and A Night at the Opera in 1975 brought them international success. The latter featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", which topped the UK singles chart for nine weeks and helped popularise the music video format. The band's 1977 album News of the World contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", which have become anthems at sporting events. By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. "Another One Bites the Dust" from The Game (1980) became their best-selling single, and their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits is the best-selling album in the UK and is certified 9x Platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Their performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert is ranked among the greatest in rock history by various publications. In August 1986, Mercury gave his last performance with Queen at Knebworth, England (read more).

Remarkable Women #5 - Mary Blair

MARY BLAIR

Illustrator, Designer, Concept Artist, and Animator

Sent by Beth from Topeka in Kansas, USA.

Mary Blair (born Mary Browne Robinson; October 21, 1911 – July 26, 1978) was an American artist, animator, and designer. She was prominent in producing art and animation for The Walt Disney Company, drawing concept art for such films as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Song of the South and Cinderella. Blair also created character designs for enduring attractions such as Disneyland's It's a Small World, the fiesta scene in El Rio del Tiempo in the Mexico pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase, and an enormous mosaic inside Disney's Contemporary Resort. Several of her illustrated children's books from the 1950s remain in print, such as I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss. Blair was inducted into the group of Disney Legends in 1991 (read more).

Pakistan - Islamabad - "Blue Area"

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

Sent by Muhammad Imran from Islamabad, Pakistan.

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

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

USA - Illinois The Browning Mansion

The Browning Mansion was built in 1858 as an Italianate two-story square house and "Victorianized" with the addition of bays, dormers and gingerbread in 1886. The Galesburg Historical Society acquired it in 1975 and undertook an extensive renovation. It is furnished with antiques and open for tours by appointment.

Sent by Jeannette from Galesburg in Illinois, USA.

USA - Michigan - Wild Adventure!

MICHIGAN WILD ADVENTURE
With miles of Great Lakes shoreline, inland lakes, scenic rivers, sweeping sand dunes and wilderness forest regions, Michigan is filled with delightful adventurous activities for everyone.

Sent by Christel from Watervliet in Michigan, USA.

USA - Colorado - Mapcard (2)

COLORADO
Colorado, the Centennial State is located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Denver is the capital and the most populous city.

Sent by Ana from Colorado, USA.

Colorado is a state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas to the east, and Oklahoma to the southeast. Colorado is noted for its landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers, and desert lands. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is the eighth-largest U.S. state by area and the 21st by population. The United States Census Bureau estimated the population of Colorado to be 5,957,493 as of July 1, 2024, a 3.2% increase from the 2020 United States census (read more).

USA - Arkansas - Mapcard

ARKANSAS 
The Natural State

Sent by Carole from Arkansas, USA.

Arkansas (/ˈɑːrkənsɔː/ AR-kən-saw) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma to the west. Its name derives from the Osage language, and refers to their relatives, the Quapaw people. The state's diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the densely forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River and the Arkansas Delta.

Previously part of French Louisiana and the Louisiana Purchase, the Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15, 1836. Much of the Delta had been developed for cotton plantations, and landowners there largely depended on enslaved African Americans' labor. In 1861, Arkansas seceded from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. On returning to the Union in 1868, Arkansas continued to suffer economically, due to its overreliance on the large-scale plantation economy. Cotton remained the leading commodity crop, and the cotton market declined. Because farmers and businessmen did not diversify and there was little industrial investment, the state fell behind in economic opportunity. In the late 19th century, the state instituted various Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise and segregate the African-American population. White interests dominated Arkansas's politics, with disenfranchisement of African Americans and refusal to reapportion the legislature; only after the federal legislation passed were more African Americans able to vote. During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Arkansas and particularly Little Rock were major battlegrounds for efforts to integrate schools. Following World War II in the 1940s, Arkansas began to diversify its economy and see prosperity. During the 1960s, the state became the base of the Walmart corporation, the world's largest company by revenue, headquartered in Bentonville (read more).

USA - New York - Downtown

New York City
Downtown

Sent by James from New York, USA.

Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is the historical birthplace of New York City and for its first 225 years was the entirety of the city. Lower Manhattan serves as the seat of government of both Manhattan and the entire City of New York. Because there are no municipally defined boundaries for the neighborhood, a precise population cannot be quoted, but several sources have suggested that it was one of the fastest-growing locations in New York City between 2010 and 2020, related to the influx of young adults and significant development of new housing units.

Despite various definitions of Lower Manhattan, they generally include all of Manhattan Island south of 14th Street, with the Bowling Green and the Battery near the southern end. Anchored by Wall Street and the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, New York City is the leading global center for finance and fintech. The Financial District houses Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and other major financial institutions. A center of culture and tourism, Lower Manhattan is home to many of New York City's most iconic structures, including New York City Hall, the Woolworth Building, the Stonewall Inn, the Bull of Wall Street, and One World Trade Center, the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere (read more).

USA - New York - Times Square

New York City
Times Square

Sent by Jessica from New York, USA.

Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent Duffy Square, Times Square is a bowtie-shaped plaza five blocks long between 42nd and 47th Streets.

Times Square is brightly lit by numerous digital billboards and advertisements as well as businesses offering 24/7 service. One of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections, it is also the hub of the Broadway Theater District and a major center of the world's entertainment industry. Times Square is one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually. Approximately 330,000 people pass through Times Square daily, many of them tourists, while over 460,000 pedestrians walk through Times Square on its busiest days. The Times Square–42nd Street and 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal stations have consistently ranked as the busiest in the New York City Subway system, transporting more than 200,000 passengers daily (read more).

Germany - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - Ludwiglust

19288 Luwiglust
in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Sent by Anja from Ludwiglust, Germany.

Ludwigslust (German pronunciation: [luːtvɪçsˈlʊst]) is a central castle town of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, 40 km south of Schwerin. Since 2011 it has been part of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district.

Ludwigslust is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The former royal residential town is known for its rich heritage, especially the famed Ludwigslust Palace, known as Versailles of the North (read more).

Germany - Baden-Württemberg - Freiburg

Greetings from Freiburg.

Sent by my Italian friend Roberto who visited Freiburg.

Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of about 355,000 (2021), while the greater Freiburg metropolitan area ("Einzugsgebiet") has about 660,000 (2018).

Freiburg is located at the southwestern foothills of the Black Forest, on the Dreisam River, a tributary of the Elz. It is Germany's southwestern- and southernmost city with a population exceeding 100,000. It lies in the Breisgau, one of Germany's warmest regions, in the south of the Upper Rhine Plain. Its city limits reach from the Schauinsland summit (1,284 metres (4,213 ft)) in the Black Forest to 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) east of the French border, while Switzerland is 42 kilometres (26 mi) to the south. The city is situated in the major wine-growing region of Baden and, together with Offenburg, serves as a tourist entry-point to the scenic Black Forest. According to meteorological statistics, Freiburg held the all-time German temperature record of 40.2 °C (104.4 °F) from 2003 to 2015 (read more).

Netherlands - Friesland - Ameland

Greetings from Ameland.

Sent by Geert frm Netherlands.

Ameland (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈaːməlɑnt]; West Frisian: It Amelân [ət ˈaːməlɔ̃ːn]) is a municipality and one of the West Frisian Islands off the north coast of the Netherlands. It consists mostly of sand dunes and is the third major island of the West Frisians. It neighbours islands Terschelling to the west and Schiermonnikoog to the east. This includes the small Engelsmanplaat and Rif sandbanks to the east.

Ameland is, counted from the west, the fourth inhabited Dutch Wadden island and belongs to the Friesland (Fryslân) province. The whole island falls under one municipality, which carries the same name. The Wadden islands form the border between the North Sea and the Wadden Sea, which lies on the south side of the island file. The municipality of Ameland had a population of 3,746 in 2021. The inhabitants are called Amelanders (read more).

Germany - North Rhine-Westphalia - Essen (3)

Greetings From Essen.

Sent by Michaela from Essen, Germany.

This is my third postcard of Essen. My other two are here, and here.

Remarkable Women #4 - Valentina Tereshkova

Valentina Tereshkova
Engineer and Cosmonaut

Sent by Ari from Manchester, England.

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (born 6 March 1937) is a Russian engineer, member of the State Duma, and former Soviet cosmonaut. She was the first woman in space, having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent almost three days in space, is the only woman to have been on a solo space mission and is the last surviving Vostok programme cosmonaut. Twenty-six years old at the time of her spaceflight, she remains the youngest woman to have flown in space under the international definition of 100 km altitude, and the youngest woman to fly in Earth orbit (read more).

Japan - Tokyo Metropolis - Tsukiji Hongwanji Temple

Tsujiki Hongwanji Temple. Nighttime.

Sent by Sayaka who was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan.

Tsukiji Hongan-ji (築地本願寺), officially romanized Hongwan-ji, is a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist temple located in the Tsukiji district of Tokyo, Japan.

The temple is adjacent to Tsukiji Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line.

Tsukiji Hongan-ji's predecessor was the temple of Edo-Asakusa Gobo (江戸浅草御坊), built in Asakusa in 1617 at the behest of the 12th monshu, Junnyo Shōnin.

The temple burned during a citywide fire in 1657, and the shogunate refused to allow it to be rebuilt in Asakusa due to a prior project there. Instead, the temple was moved to a new parcel of land being reclaimed along the Sumida River—today's Tsukiji. This land was said to have been reclaimed by Jodo Shinshu followers themselves who lived at nearby Tsukudajima. The name Tsukiji comes from the kanji characters meaning "reclaimed land". This new temple, named Tsukiji Gobo (築地御坊), stood until it was leveled by the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 (read more).

USA - Oregon

OREGON
"The Beaver State"

Sent by Cathy from Portland in Oregon, USA.

Oregon (/ˈɒrɪɡən, -ɡɒn/ ORR-ih-ghən, -⁠gon) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. The 42° north parallel delineates the southern boundary with California and Nevada. The western boundary is formed by the Pacific Ocean.

Oregon has been home to many indigenous nations for thousands of years. The first European traders, explorers, and settlers began exploring what is now Oregon's Pacific coast in the early to mid-16th century. As early as 1564, the Spanish began sending vessels northeast from the Philippines, riding the Kuroshio Current in a sweeping circular route across the northern part of the Pacific. In 1592, Juan de Fuca undertook detailed mapping and studies of ocean currents in the Pacific Northwest, including the Oregon coast as well as the strait now bearing his name. The Lewis and Clark Expedition traversed Oregon in the early 19th century, and the first permanent European settlements in Oregon were established soon afterward by trappers and fur traders. The United States received joint occupation rights to the region from the United Kingdom through the Treaty of 1818. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 formally brought Oregon under American sovereignty, and the Oregon Territory was created two years later. Oregon was admitted to the United States on February 14, 1859, becoming the 33rd state (read more).

Germany - Baden-Württemberg - Reutlingen

Many greetings from Reutlingen.

Sent by Birgit from Reutlingen, Germany.

Reutlingen (German pronunciation: [ˈʁɔʏtlɪŋən]; Swabian: Reitlenga) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it had an estimated population of 116,456. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which was founded in 1855, originally as a weavers' school. Today, Reutlingen is a home to an established textile industry and also houses machinery, leather goods and steel manufacturing facilities. It has the narrowest street in the world, Spreuerhofstraße (width 31 cm) (read more).

Belarus - Struve Geodetic Arc

UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Belarus.
Struve Geodetic Arc.

Sent by Alena from Minsk, Belarus.

The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries (Belarus, Finland, Lithuania, Moldova, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Norway, Russia, and Ukraine) and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries, and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in rock, iron cross, cairns, or built obelisks (read more).

China - Guandong Province - Pan Tang Ancient Village

With a history of more than 900 years, Pan Tang Ancient Village, is the only remaining intact of Qing Dynasty rural settlement in Guangzhou. There are also many historical and cultural landscapes nearby, such as Renwei Ancient Temple, Litchi Bay, Wen Tower, etc., as well as intangible cultural heritage such as Cantonese Opera, three carvings, one color, on folkecological parke embroidery, and martial arts. It is the most Guangzhou.

I have no idea who sent this postcard from China.

In the southern city of Guangzhou, there is an ancient village called Pan Tang, with a history that dates back at least 900 years. On the first day of the Chinese New Year, locals perform lion dances to bring blessings of happiness, health and prosperity. 

Despite being on the banks of a popular lake, the remarkable heritage of the village has largely gone unnoticed in the modern era. But that's slowly changing (read more).

China - Guangdong Province - Huacheng Square

Huacheng Square is known as Guangzhou's "city living room". It is the largest sqaure in Guangzhou, bringing together the tallest and most. beautiful buildings in Guangzhou, and a new skyline of Guangzhou.

I have no idea who sent this from China.

Huacheng Square, or Flower City Square (Chinese: 花城广场), is the largest city square in the city of Guangzhou. The square is situated on the city axis in Zhujiang New Town, covering an area of 56 hectares with Haixinsha Island to its south and Huangpu Avenue to its north. Guangzhou Opera House, Guangdong Museum and Guangzhou Library^[2] are also located around the square.

Underneath the whole area are the Guangzhou APM line with its 4 stations, as well as the Mall of the World shopping center with many connecting tunnels to the other malls, BRT bus stations and metro stations (read more).

USA - Kentucky

Greetings From Kentucky "The Bluegrass State"

Sent by Collin from Magnolia in Kentucky, USA.

Kentucky (US: /kənˈtʌki, UK: /kɛn-/), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the northeast, Virginia to the east, Tennessee to the south, and Missouri to the west. Its northern border is defined by the Ohio River. Its capital is Frankfort and its most populous city is Louisville. As of 2024, the state's population was approximately 4.6 million.

Previously part of colonial Virginia, Kentucky was admitted into the Union as the fifteenth state on June 1, 1792. It is known as the "Bluegrass State" in reference to Kentucky bluegrass, a species of grass introduced by European settlers which has long supported the state's thoroughbred horse industry (read more).

China - Beihai Park

Beihai Park.
Sent by Rocky from Beijing, China.

Beihai Park is a public park and former imperial garden immediately northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.

First built in the 12th century, Beihai is among the largest of all surviving Chinese gardens and contains numerous historically important structures, palaces, and temples. Once part of the Imperial City, it has been open to the public since 1925. As with many of Chinese imperial gardens, Beihai was designed to imitate renowned scenic spots and architecture from various regions of China, particularly Jiangnan around the Yangtze Delta. Various aspects of the park evoke the elaborate pavilions and canals of Hangzhou and Yangzhou, the delicate gardens of Suzhou, and the natural scenery around Lake Tai with its famously porous stones. Beihai Park itself is now reckoned one of the masterpieces of Chinese gardening and landscaping (read more).

Germany - Saxony - Moritzburg Castle

MORITZBURG
Baroque hunting lodge of Augustus The Great.

Sent by Lothar from Annaberg-Buchholz in Saxony, Germany.

Moritzburg Castle (German: Schloss Moritzburg) or Moritzburg Palace is a Baroque palace in Moritzburg, in the German state of Saxony, about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) northwest of the Saxon capital, Dresden. The castle has four round towers and lies on a symmetrical artificial island. It is named after Duke Moritz of Saxony, who had a hunting lodge built there between 1542 and 1546. The surrounding woodlands and lakes were a favourite hunting area of the electors and kings of Saxony (read more).

Czechia - Tugendhat Villa in Brno

BRNO - Tugendhat Villa.

Sent by Věra from Brno in Czechia. 

The Tugendhat Villa is situated in Brno, in the district of Černá Pole, in the south of South Moravia in the Czech Republic. The villa was designed by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and built on a commission from Grete and Frits Tugendhat, members of rich industrial families of Brno, in 1929–1930.The prominent German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed not only the villa but also its furniture and the adjacent garden. Moreover, Mies van der Rohe closely supervised the execution of the building project to achieve perfection (read more).

Portugal - Azores - Terceira - Lagoon of The Patas

TERCEIRA
Lagoon of the Patas / Lake.

Sent by João who lives in Angra do Heroísmo in Azores, Portugal.

The Patas Lagoon , also known as Falca Lagoon , is located in the Lagoa das Patas Recreational Forest Reserve , next to the Doze Ribeiras road, in the parish of Doze Ribeiras , in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo , on the island of Terceira , in the Azores .

It is a small body of water, next to a stream of runoff water originating in the Serra de Santa Bárbara , which feeds it (read more).