USA - California - University of California

The University of California at Berkeley
This beautiful campus, nestled in the Berkeley Hills, is famous throughout the world.

Sent by BlueBat, a postcrosser from California, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : The University of California, Berkeley (also referred to as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, or simply Cal) is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The university occupies 1,232 acres (499 ha) on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay with the central campus resting on 178 acres (72 ha). Berkeley offers approximately 350 undergraduate andgraduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. Established in 1868 as the result of merger of the private College of California and the public Agricultural, Mining, and Mechanical Arts College in Oakland, Berkeley is the oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California (UC). Berkeley has been charged with providing both "classical" and "practical" education for the state's people and is generally considered to be the flagship institution in the University of California system. Berkeley co-manages three United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Berkeley faculty, alumni, and researchers have won 70 Nobel Prizes, 9 Wolf Prizes, 7 Fields Medals, 15 Turing Awards, 45MacArthur Fellowships, 20 Academy Awards, and 11 Pulitzer Prizes. To date, UC Berkeley and its researchers are associated with 6 chemical elements of the periodic table (Californium, Seaborgium, Berkelium, Einsteinium, Fermium, Lawrencium) andBerkeley Lab has discovered 16 chemical elements in total – more than any other university in the world. Berkeley is a founding member of the Association of American Universities and continues to have very high research activity with $652.4 million in research and development expenditures in 2009. Berkeley physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was the scientific director of the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bomb in the world, which he personally headquartered at Los Alamos, New Mexico, duringWorld War II.

Berkeley student-athletes have won over 100 Olympic medals. Known as the California Golden Bears (often abbreviated as "Cal Bears" or just "Cal"), the athletic teams are members of both the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federationin the NCAA. Cal athletes have won national titles in many sports, including football, men's and women's swimming, men's basketball, baseball, men's gymnastics, softball, water polo, rugby, and crew. The official colors of the university and its athletic teams are Yale Blue and California Gold.

USA - North Carolina - Waxhaw

WAXHAW, NORTH CAROLINA
Originally called the "Waxhaw Settlement", the area is named for its first inhabitants, the Waxhaw Indians. Near the birthplace of Andrew Jackson is the pictured Andrew Jackson memorial Museum of the Old Waxhaws.


Sent by Avery, a postcrosser from North Carolina, USA.


This is from Wikipedia : Waxhaw is a town located in Union County, North Carolina. The population was 2,627 at the 2000 Census.

Waxhaw is located at 34°55′42″N 80°44′41″W (3$4.928201, -80.744835).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²), all of it land. Waxhaw is located north of Lancaster, South Carolina and lies about 12 miles south of Charlotte.

Waxhaw is located in a historic region called the Waxhaws, named after the indigenous Native American tribe that lived in the territory in historic times. It is in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, which is wooded with rolling hills. This region is where goldwas first discovered in the United States. The Howie Gold Mine is not far from the city limits.

Waxhaw takes its name from the Waxhaws, named after the historic American Native American tribe that inhabited the region. The community was settled by European-Americans in the mid-18th century, of mostly German and Scots-Irish origin. They became subsistence farmers and were known for being independent. Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States, was born nearby in 1767. There is some disagreement as to which of the Carolinas was his birthplace, due to the proximity of the border.

The arrival of the railroad in 1901, with access to the markets of Atlanta, helped the town reach prosperity. The tracks were laid directly through the center of town, showing the importance of the railroad. They remain on the street, now bordered by a green, grassy strip dividing the rows of stores on each side.

Beginning in the late 19th century, the community was developed with cotton mills for manufacturing textiles. The railroad helped increase access for its products. Cotton manufacturing was important to the region through the 1940s. Postwar changes in the economy, with shifts of the textile industry to jobs to other areas and out of the country, required the community to adapt to new conditions.

Waxhaw has evolved as an antique and fine dining center. Its Small Town Main Street committee is working on an integrated approach to developing and marketing the historic center of town. The Town currently has dozens of specialty shops and dining ranging from mom & pop restaurants to fine dining bistros. The Waxhaw Historic District is on theNational Register of Historic Places. It includes retail businesses as well as architecturally significant houses near the center of town.

Residents and town government are working on additional improvement plans. The Town Park is located in the downtown area, as is a Skate Park for youths and skateboarding. New housing has been built along NC 75 to the east and west of town, as well as NC 16 (Providence Road) to the north.

Near Waxhaw is Cane Creek Park, a 1,050-acre (4.2 km²) park, featuring scenic areas and recreation activities. The facility, on Harkey Road south of Waxhaw, was a cooperative venture between Union County, the Union Conservation District and the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

South Korea - Hwarot of Flower Pattern

Hwarot of Flower Pattern.

Sent by Sarang, a postcrosser from South Korea.

This is from Wikiepdia : Hwarot is a type of traditional Korean clothing worn during the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasty by royal women for ceremonial occasions or by commoners for weddings. It originated from the Kingdom of Khotan, Central Asia.

Belgium - L'Ardenne

Greetings From L'Ardenne.


Sent by Richard, a postcrosser from L'Ardenne, Belgium.


This is from Wikipedia : The Ardennes (Dutch: Ardennen) is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian (Devonian) Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France (lending its name to the Ardennes department and the Champagne-Ardenne région), and geologically into the Eifel. In Wallonia, the word 'Ardenne' in the singular is commonly used for the Belgian part of the region and in the plural for the French one. Ardenne is the origin ofthe great industrial period of Wallonia, the second of the world (18th, 19th and 20th centuries). In France, the word 'Ardennes' in the plural, together with the definite article, is commonly used to refer to the French department of that name.

Much of the Ardennes is covered in dense forests, with the mountains averaging around 350–700 m (1,148–1,640 ft) in height but rising to over 694 m (2276.9028;ft) in the boggy moors of the Hautes Fagnes (Hohes Venn) region of south-eastern Belgium. The region is typified by steep-sided valleys carved by swift-flowing rivers, the most prominent of which is the Meuse. Its most populous cities are Verviers in Belgium and Charleville-Mézières in France, both exceeding 50,000 inhabitants. The Ardennes is otherwise relatively sparsely populated, with few of the cities exceeding 10,000 inhabitants with a few exceptions like Eupen or Bastogne.

The Eifel range in Germany adjoins the Ardennes and is part of the same geological formation, although they are conventionally regarded as being two distinct areas.

Russia - Emperor Nicholas II

Emperor Nicholas II on the yacht Polar Star
Photo, 1900s

Sent by Anna, a postcrosser from St. Petersburg, Russia.

This is from Wikipedia : Nicholas II (Russian: Николай II, Николай Александрович Романов, tr. Nikolay II, Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov; IPA: [nʲɪkɐˈlaj ftɐˈroj, nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ rɐˈmanəf]; 18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Duke of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church. He has often been referred to as Saint Nicholas the Martyr.

Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. His reign saw Imperial Russia go from being one of the foremostgreat powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Critics nicknamed him Bloody Nicholas because of the Khodynka Tragedy, Bloody Sunday, the anti-Semitic pogroms, his execution of political opponents, and his pursuit of military campaigns on a hitherto unprecedented scale.

Under his rule, Russia was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War, including the almost total annihilation of the Russian fleet at theBattle of Tsushima. As head of state, he approved the Russian mobilization of August 1914, which marked the beginning of Russia's involvement in World War I, a war in which 3.3 million Russians were killed. The Imperial Army's severe losses and the monarchy's incompetent handling of the war, along with other policies directed by Nicholas during his reign, are often cited as the leading causes of the fall of the Romanov dynasty.

Nicholas II abdicated following the February Revolution of 1917 during which he and his family were imprisoned first in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, then later in the Governor's Mansion in Tobolsk, and finally at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. Nicholas II, his wife, his son, his four daughters, the family's medical doctor, the Emperor's footman, the Empress' maidservant, and the family's cook were killed in the same room by the Bolsheviks on the night of 16/17 July 1918. This led to the canonization of Nicholas II, his wife the Empress Alexandra and their children as martyrs by various groups tied to the Russian Orthodox Church within Russia and, prominently, outside Russia.

Russia - State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

The State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. 1898-1912.

Sent by Karina, a postcrosser from Russia.

This is from Wikipedia : The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Russian: Музей изобразительных искусств им. А.С. Пушкина) is the largest museumof European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Svyatoslav Richter's December nights has been held in the Pushkin museum since 1981.
The museum building was designed by Roman Klein and Vladimir Shukhov and financed primarily by Yury Nechaev-Maltsov. Construction work began in 1898 and continued till 1912. Ivan Rerberg headed structural engineering effort on the museum site for 12 years, till 1909.

Bicycles (23)

Sent by Allen, a postcrosser from Taiwan.

Bicycles (22)

Sent by Hiro, a postcrosser from Tokyo, Japan.

Russia - Tula Samovars Museum

TULA - RUSSIA
The buildings of Tula Samovars Museum.
Designed by V. Sirotkin 1910.
Globe shaped samovar "Spider".
Late 19th century.
Brass, chasing, castwork, niekel plating,
Forging.

Sent by Galina, a postcrosser from Russia.

"The museum " the Tula samovars " , branch of Museum Association " Tula regional historical-architectural and literary museum " was open in 1990 on Mendeleevskaia street, 8 in the house that was built in 1910 – 1911 per design of architect V.N.Sirotkin.The basis of an exposition of a museum was made with the collection of samovars collected in various years in association "TOIALM". The exposition of a museum which consists of three halls, acquaints visitors with history of begining and development of one of the most known Tula crafts – Samovar making. The first hall tells about Samovar manufacturing in Tula in XVIII - XIX centuries. Among unique samples of the end of XVIII century - "sbitennik" which was the predecessor of a samovar, a pot for preparation of sbiten - a drink made from different types of grass, spices, honey."(Read more)

Japan - All Nippon Airways

B787 of All Nippon Airways.

Sent by Taroh, a postcrosser from Japan.

This is from Wikipedia : All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. (全日本空輸株式会社 Zen Nippon Kūyu Kabushiki-gaisha^?, TYO: 9202, LSE: ANA), also known as Zennikkū (全日空^?) or ANA, is one of the largest airlines in Japan. It is headquartered at the Shiodome City Center in theShiodome area in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It operates services to 49 destinations in Japan and 31 international routes and employed over 14,000 employees as of May 2009. In May 2010, ANA's total passenger traffic is up year-on-year by 7.8%, and its international services grow by 22% to 2.07 million passengers in the first five months of 2010. ANA's main international hubs are at Narita International Airport outside Tokyo and Kansai International Airport outside Osaka. Its main domestic hubs are at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Osaka International Airport Itami, Chūbu Centrair International Airport (near Nagoya), and New Chitose Airport (near Sapporo). (read further)

Taiwan - Sun Moon Lake

A trip to the shining Sun Moon Lake.

Sent by Lin, a postcrosser from Taiwan.

This is from Wikipedia : Sun Moon Lake (Chinese: 日月潭; pinyin: Rìyuètán; Wade–Giles: Jih⁴-yüeh⁴-t'an²; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ji̍t-goa̍t-thâm; Zintun in the Thao language, also Lake Candidus) is the largest body of water in Taiwan as well as a tourist attraction. Situated in Yuchi, Nantou, the area around the Sun Moon Lake is home to the Thao tribe, one of aboriginal tribes in Taiwan. Sun Moon Lake surrounds a tiny island called Lalu. The east side of the lake resembles a sun while the west side resembles a moon, hence the name.

Sun Moon Lake is located 748 m (2,454 ft) above sea level. It is 27 m (89 ft) deep and has a surface area of approximately 7.93 km²(3.06 sq mi). The area surrounding the lake has many trails for hiking.

While swimming in Sun Moon Lake is usually not permitted, there is an annual 3-km race called the Swimming Carnival of Sun Moon Lake held around the Mid-Autumn Festival each year. In recent years the participants have numbered in the tens of thousands. Other festivities held at the same time include fireworks, laser shows, and concerts.

The lake and its surrounding countryside have been designated one of thirteen National scenic areas in Taiwan. Wen Wu Temple (文武廟) was built after rising water levels from building a dam forced several smaller temples to be removed. Ci En Pagoda (慈恩塔) was built by late President Chiang Kai-shek in 1971 in memory of his mother. Other temples of note include Jianjing Temple, Syuentzang Temple, and Syuanguang Temple.

In older English literature it was commonly referred to as Lake Candidius, after the 17th century Dutch missionary Georgius Candidius. In the middle of the lake is the Lalu Island, which is the holy ground for the Thao tribe. In legend, Thao hunters discovered Sun Moon Lake while chasing a white deer through the surrounding mountains. The deer eventually led them to the lake, which they found to be not only beautiful, but abundant with fish. Today, the white deer of legends is immortalized as a marble statue on Lalu Island.

Under the Japanese colonial era of Taiwan, the Japanese named it the "Jade Island". After Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Government moved to Taiwan, the island was renamed Kuang Hua ("Glorious China") and in 1978 the local government built a pavilion where annual weddings took place. The 921 Earthquake destroyed the pavilion and sunk most of the island. In recent years, due to increasing social and political awareness, more deference and recognition are being given to Taiwanese aborigines. As a result, after 921 earthquake, the island was renamed in the Thao language as "Lalu".

Several hydroelectric power plants have been built in the Sun Moon Lake since 1919, including Mingtan. When the first hydroelectric plant was finished in 1934, it was considered to be one of the most important infrastructure constructions of the time. The Jiji Line railroad was built to facilitate the construction.

Russia - Karelia Republic - Church of Transfiguration

Church of Transfiguration. 1714.

Sent by Yelizaveta, a postcrosser from Russia.

This is from UNESCO : Kizhi Pogost is an outstanding example of an architectural ensemble typical of medieval and post-medieval orthodox settlements in sparsely populated regions where evangelists had to cope with far-flung Christian communities and a harsh climate. The pogost (enclosure) and the buildings grouped together to form the site museum on the southern part of Kizhi are exceptional examples of the traditional wooden architecture of Karelia and more generally of that of northern Russia and the Finnish-Scandinavian region.

Kizhi is located in the heart of an unreal landscape where the sky, reflected in the limpid waters of Lake Onega, seems to hold suspended in the pristine air hundreds of small islands. In summer they seem to sparkle in the sun. Long used as a landmark by sailors navigating through the White Sea, it appears to visitors arriving nowadays via hydrofoil from Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Karelian Republic 68 km to the south, as a glistening three-faceted jewel.

The pogost is on a narrow strip of land on the southern tip of the large island of Kizhi. It includes two 18th-century wooden churches and an octagonal bell tower, also of wood, which was built in 1862. These amazing structures, in which the science of carpentry created a bold visionary architecture, perpetuate a very ancient model of parish space that developed when the Orthodox Church began to spread to the northernmost reaches of the Russian world where small villages were widely scattered over an immense area. It was therefore necessary that the church, the graveyard and the buildings needed for the far-flung communities' religious life be grouped together in one place. The Kizhi pogost dates from the Middle Ages. Chronicles from the 16th century are the first to explicitly mention the existence of two wooden churches there. Destroyed by lightning in 1693, they were rebuilt on the same site.

Within the wooden polygonal enclosure, standing on either side of the rudimentary bell tower built by the carpenter Sysoj Osipov, are the two churches, the larger of the two, the summer church, on the north and the winter church on the south. The Church of the Transfiguration was used during the summer, when the faithful journeyed from the outermost regions of the parish to attend services. A dendrochronogical study of the materials sets its construction date after 1713-14. The octagon which defines the composition of the cruciform church is extended by oblong bays facing the four cardinal points. The nave, flanked with side aisles, is preceded on the west by a projecting narthex reached via two staircases. The height of the Church of the Transfiguration, whose central cupola culminates at 37 m, is a masterpiece of a multi-storey, multi-cupola, single-block structure, such as had already appeared in the high Middle Ages at Saint Sophia of Novgorod. Here, over a central volume covered with three octagonal frames, the architect placed bochkas (roofs whose peak is shaped like a horizontal cylinder with the upper surface extended into a pointed ridge) topped with 22 bulbous cupolas. Inside, under the so-called 'heaven' - a superb vault shaped like a truncated pyramid - there is a gilded wood iconostasis holding 102 icons from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Church of the Intercession (Winter Church), is a simpler structure. Built in 1764, it is of the 'octagonal prism on a cube' type. The crown of eight cupolas encircling the 27 m high central onion dome, and which covers the central parallelepiped space, gives it a more static appearance. To the east a five-sided small apse contains the altar. To the west is a long nave accessible by a single stairway.

Ireland - Irish Writers

Ireland's Literary Heritage
Ireland is synonymous with such literary greats as Jonathan Swift and Oscar Wilde and James Joyce, one of the most influential and innovative writers in the English language. Four Nobel Prizes for literature have been awarded to writers associated with Dublin - playwright George Bernard Shaw, poet W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney, and the multi-faceted Samuel Beckett. Dublin is a UNESCO City of Literature, one of only four in the world.


Sent by Nora, a postcrosser from Ireland.


"While Dublin tourist guides attempt to coach visitors in the pronunciation of the Dublin greeting, ‘howaya?’ the equally common accompaniment to this – the enquiry, ‘what’s the story?’ reveals the remnants of an oral tradition which is alive and well, while also demonstrating Dubliners’ appetite for the world of books.
Ever eager for stories of themselves and others, Dubliners’ sensitivity to literary matters is acute, reinforced by an awareness of the works of the past as much as it is attuned to contemporary offerings – news of which is spread through the media, and through frequent readings, discussions and debates hosted by publishers, universities, libraries, literary organisations, book shops, pubs and cafes. The appreciation of writing and the richness of all its forms and genres is something that Dubliners display as a matter of course. Literary awareness is a form of currency in the capital, a bonding agent where pride is evident. Scepticism too fosters the famous ‘license with the Queen’s English’, for which the Irish are noted.

Writers in Dublin are not remote figures, out of step with the thrust of 21st century life but are part of the everyday landscape, much valued by Dubliners. The city has officially recognised writers by such diverse means as the conferring of the Freedom of the City, (George Bernard Shaw, Douglas Hyde and most recently, Thomas Kinsella) and through the Lord Mayor’s Awards, which in 2009 honoured the writer, Sebastian Barry. Further underlining the city’s literary credentials, the Man Booker International Prize was presented in Dublin for the first time in June 2009. (read more)