Map of Saxony-Anhalt

Today I received a lovely map card of Saxony-Anhalt, or Sachsen-Anhalt in German, from Minimuffin, otherwise known as Peggy, who is my newest long-term postcard exchange pal! She lives in the capital of this federal state, Magdeburg.

Map of Saxony-Anhalt

3 facts about Saxony-Anhalt:

• By size, Saxony-Anhalt is the 8th largest state and by population, the 10th largest, out of 16 in Germany.
• It is home to more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any of the other states in Germany, 5 of them in all. 
• Martin Luther, a German friar, Catholic priest, professor of theology and seminal figure of the 16th-century movement in Christianity known later as the Protestant Reformation, was born in Eisleben in Saxony-Anhalt in 1483.

Terschelling Flag!

I arranged a Facebook postcard swap with Lars van Rossum in the Netherlands in December 2014. The panoramic card which I received from him was of the Terschelling flag. 

Terschelling Flag

By decree, the flag of Terschelling was established as the flag for the municipality of Terschelling in the Netherlands on October 27, 1961. The colours are taken from the Terschelling coat of arms. 

A rhyme, in which the symbolism of the five colours of the flag is explained, was written in 1932 by Gerrit Knop. 

Read bin de wolken (red are the clouds),
Blaue is de lucht (blue are the skies)
Geel bin de helmen (yellow are the stalks), 
Griën is et ges (green is the grass)
Wyt is et sân (white is the sand) 
Dat bin de kleuren fan Schylgerlân (these are the colours of Terschelling).

Wanggoolba Creek, Fraser Island!

Today I received a postcard from the Official Postcrossing.com site. AU-391005, my 961st official Postcrossing postcard. It was sent by Sharkz on 20 November 2014 and travelled 10867 miles in 6 days. It is a view of Wanggoolba Creek, Fraser Island in Australia, a UNESCO WHS. It was inscribed onto the list in 1992, reference #630.

Wanggoolba Creek, Fraser Island 

Fraser Island lies just off the east coast of Australia. At 122 kilometres long, it is the largest sand island in the world. Majestic remnants of tall rainforest growing on sand and half the world’s perched freshwater dune lakes are found inland from the beach. The combination of shifting sand-dunes, tropical rainforests and lakes makes it an exceptional site.

Yosemite National Park!

I am part of a Facebook postcard swapping page and have swapped postcards with Stephen Chan in the United States of America. I sent him a PHQ Doctor Who card of Peter Davidson and he sent me a view card of the Yosemite National Park in California. It was inscribed on the UNESCO WHS in 1984, #308.

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne,Mariposa and Madera counties in the central eastern portion of the U.S. state of California. The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, covers an area of 747,956 acres (3,026.87 km²⁾ and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain. Over 3.7 million people visit Yosemite each year: most spend their time in the seven square miles (18 km²) of Yosemite Valley. Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness. Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea. First, Galen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development, ultimately leading to President Abraham Lincoln's signing the Yosemite Grant in 1864. Later, John Muir led a successful movement to establish a larger national park encompassing not just the valley, but surrounding mountains and forests as well—paving the way for the United States national park system.

Lowenburg at Bergpark Wilhelmshohe!

Today I have received another postcard from the UK & Ireland to the Rest of the World Tag on the Postcrossing.com Forum. This time, I received a wonderful view card of Lowenburg, or Lion's Castle in English, in the Bergpark Wilhelmshohe, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, from Staubfinger in Germany. It was inscribed onto the list in 2013, reference #1413.

Lowenburg (Lion's Castle)

Descending a long hill dominated by a giant statue of Hercules, the monumental water displays of Wilhelmshöhe were begun by Landgrave Carl of Hesse-Kassel in 1689 around an east-west axis and were developed further into the 19th century. Reservoirs and channels behind the Hercules Monument supply water to a complex system of hydro-pneumatic devices that supply the site’s large Baroque water theatre, grotto, fountains and 350-metre long Grand Cascade. Beyond this, channels and waterways wind across the axis, feeding a series of dramatic waterfalls and wild rapids, the geyser-like Grand Fountain which leaps 50m high, the lake and secluded ponds that enliven the Romantic garden created in the 18th century by Carl’s great-grandson, Elector Wilhelm I. The great size of the park and its waterworks along with the towering Hercules statue constitute an expression of the ideals of absolutist Monarchy while the ensemble is a remarkable testimony to the aesthetics of the Baroque and Romantic periods.

Dundurn Castle!

The Postcrossing.com Forum is a great place to swap cards on themes that you like to collect. One of the themes that I enjoy is castles and palaces. I received this card today from cche in Canada via the UK & Ireland to the Rest of the World tag of a view of Dundurn Castle.

Dundurn Castle

Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m) house took three years and $175,000.00 to build, and was completed in 1835.The seventy-two room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighting and running water. It is currently owned by the City of Hamilton, which purchased it in 1900 for $50,000. The City has spent nearly $3 million renovating the site to make 42 of the original 72 rooms open to the public. The rooms have been restored to the year 1855 when its owner Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet, was at the height of his career. Costumed interpreters guide visitors through the home, illustrating daily life from the 1850s. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and wife to Charles, Prince of Wales, a descendant of Sir Allan MacNab, is the Royal Patron of Dundurn Castle. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1984.

The Madara Rider!

Today I received a second UNESCO postcard, again a facebook swap, but this time from Veselin Nikolov in Bulgaia of the Madara Horserider. This site was inscribed onto the UNESCO World Heritage Site list at #43 in 1979. 

Madara Horserider (UNESCO WHS #43)

The Madara Rider, representing the figure of a knight triumphing over a lion, is carved into a 100-m-high cliff near the village of Madara in north-east Bulgaria. Madara was the principal sacred place of the First Bulgarian Empire before Bulgaria’s conversion to Christianity in the 9th century. The inscriptions beside the sculpture tell of events that occurred between AD 705 and 801.

Golden Mountains of Altai!

View cards of UNESCO sites always make me happy! Today I received of a view of Mt Belukha which is in the Golden Mountains of Altai in Russia from Oleg Tam via a Facebook swap. It was inscribed onto the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1998, reference #768.

Golden Mountains of Altai (UNESCO WHS #768) 

The Altai mountains in southern Siberia form the major mountain range in the western Siberia biogeographic region and provide the source of its greatest rivers – the Ob and the Irtysh. Three separate areas are inscribed: Altaisky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Lake Teletskoye; Katunsky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Mount Belukha; and the Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok plateau. The total area covers 1,611,457 ha. The region represents the most complete sequence of altitudinal vegetation zones in central Siberia, from steppe, forest-steppe, mixed forest, subalpine vegetation to alpine vegetation. The site is also an important habitat for endangered animal species such as the snow leopard.

The flag of Canada!

I love collecting postcards which feature flags of countries, regions, counties, cities and towns. Today I received a flag of Canada card, CA-451304, my 915th official postcrossing postcard. It was sent by mrcanada on 9th July 2014 and travelled 6175 kilometres in 12 days.

CA-451304 - Flag of Canada.

The National Flag of Canada, also known as the Maple Leaf and l'Unifolié (French for "the one-leafed"), is a flag consisting of a red field with a white square at its centre, in the middle of which is featured a stylized, 11-pointed, red maple leaf

Erasmusbrug Panoramic!

Today I received a great panoramic view card of the Erasmusburg in Rotterdam. NL-2585852 was sent by shidan in the Netherlands on 17 July 2014 and took 4 days to travel 534 kilometres to get to me. It is my 914th received cards. It is a great new addition to my bridges collection.

NL-2585852 - Erasmusburg, Rotterdam

Erasmus Bridge (Dutch: Erasmusbrug) is a cable-stayed bridge across the Nieuwe Maas, linking the northern and southern regions of Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The Erasmus Bridge was designed by Ben van Berkel and completed in 1996. The 802-metre-long (2,631 ft) bridge has a 139-metre-high (456 ft) asymmetrical pylon, earning the bridge its nickname of "The Swan".

The southern span of the bridge has an 89-metre-long (292 ft) bascule bridge for ships that cannot pass under the bridge. The bascule bridge is the largest and heaviest in West Europe and has the largest panel of its type in the world.

After costing more than 163 million euros to construct, the bridge was officially opened by Queen Beatrix on September 6, 1996. Shortly after the bridge opened to traffic in October 1996, it was discovered the bridge would swing under particularly strong wind conditions. To reduce the trembling, stronger shock dampers were installed.

The World in Words postcard

Today I got another world in words card...this time from Russia. Jackie_Opps sent this card to me on 5 July 2014 and it has travelled 5852 kilometres in 16 days to reach me. It is my 913th received official Postcrossing postcard.

RU-2840747 - The World In Words

First Day of Issue maxi card from Australia!

This card is from Australia. It is a first day of issue card issued by the Australian Post Office on 23 July 2013 of Headline News featuring the Cyclone Tracy devastation of Darwin in 1974. It was sent to me by DennyP in Australia on 10 July 2014 and has travelled 17199 kilometres in 11 days. It is the 912th official Postcrossing postcard that I have received.

AU-366027 - First Day of Issue by Australia Post Office

Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, 1974. Tracy killed 71 people, caused A$837 million in damage (1974 dollars), or approximatelyA$4.45 billion (2014 dollars). It destroyed more than 70 percent of Darwin's buildings, including 80 percent of houses. Tracy left more than 41,000 out of the 47,000 inhabitants of the city homeless prior to landfall and required the evacuation of over 30,000 people. Most of Darwin's population was evacuated to Adelaide, Whyalla, Alice Springs and Sydney, and many never returned to the city. After the storm passed, the city was rebuilt using more modern materials and updated building techniques.

Amiens Cathedral!

Today I received a wonderful swap card from Lexman in France of the Amiens Cathedral! I love to swap cards particularly UNESCO ones with folks from all around the world...particularly of impressive religious buildings like this Cathedral.

Amiens Cathedral

Amiens Cathedral, in the heart of Picardy, is one of the largest 'classic' Gothic churches of the 13th century. It is notable for the coherence of its plan, the beauty of its three-tier interior elevation and the particularly fine display of sculptures on the principal facade and in the south transept. It was inscribed onto the UNESCO WHS list, reference number 162, in 1981.

The Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora!

I have recently been taking part in the UNESCO tag on the Postcrossing.com forum and today received a wonderful card from Kseniya_bor in the Ukraine of a panorama of the ancient city of Tauric Chersonese. 

The Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese

The site features the remains of a city founded by Dorian Greeks in the 5th century BC on the northern shores of the Black Sea. It encompasses six component sites with urban remains and agricultural lands divided into several hundreds of chora, rectangular plots of equal size. The plots supported vineyards whose production was exported by the city which thrived until the 15th century. The site features several public building complexes and residential neighbourhoods, as well as early Christian monuments alongside remains from Stone and Bronze Age settlements; Roman and medieval tower fortifications and water supply systems; and exceptionally well-preserved examples of vineyard planting and dividing walls. In the 3rd century AD, the site was known as the most productive wine centre of the Black Sea and remained a hub of exchange between the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Empires and populations north of the Black Sea. It is an outstanding example of democratic land organization linked to an ancient polis, reflecting the city’s social organization. The site was inscribed onto the UNESCO WHS list in 2013, reference number 1411.