Finland

Received from: Finland
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2011
Distance: 984 km
Time of travelling: 8 days

Thann

Received from: France
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2011
Distance: 1106 km
Time of travelling: 7 days

Thann is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are known as Thannois.

Beskid Sądecki

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

The Beskids are approximately 600 km in length and 50–70 km in width. They stand mainly along the southern border of Poland, and in the neighboring far eastern Czech Republic, neighboring regions in northern Slovakia, and in western Ukraine. Multiple traditions, languages and nationalities have developed overlapping variants for the divisions and names of these ranges. Geologically all of the Beskids stand within the Outer Western Carpathians and the Outer Eastern Carpathians.

Białystok

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Located on the Podlaskie Plain on the banks of the Biała River, Białystok ranks second in terms of population density, eleventh in population, and thirteenth in area, of the cities of Poland. It has historically attracted migrants from elsewhere in Poland and beyond, particularly from Central and Eastern Europe. This is facilitated by the fact that the nearby border with Belarus is also the eastern border of the European Union, as well as the Schengen Area. The city and its adjacent municipalities constitute Metropolitan Białystok. The city has a Warm Summer Continental climate, characterized by warm summers and long frosty winters. Forests are an important part of Białystok's character, and occupy around 1,756 ha (4,340 acres) (17.2% of the administrative area of the city) which places it as the fifth most "wooded" city in Poland.

Dresden

Received from: Germany
Category: Tag within Europe
Date: November 2011

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area.

Mannheim

Received from: Germany
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2011
Distance: 936 km
Time of travelling: 13 days

Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart. Mannheim is located at the confluence of the River Rhine and the River Neckar in the northwestern corner of Baden-Württemberg. The Rhine separates Mannheim from the city of Ludwigshafen, just to the west of it in Rhineland-Palatinate. The border of Baden-Württemberg with the Bundesland of Hesse is just north of Mannheim, and Mannheim is just downstream along the Neckar from the city of Heidelberg. Mannheim is the largest city of the Rhine Neckar Area, a metropolitan area with about 2.4 million inhabitants.

Gisborne

Received from: New Zealand
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2011
Distance: 17665 km
Time of travelling: 19 days

Gisborne (Māori: Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa, "The place where Kiwa - of the Tākitimu waka - stood") is a city in northeastern New Zealand and the largest settlement in the Gisborne Region. It has a population of 34,000. The district council has its headquarters in the city. Gisborne is named after an early Colonial Secretary William Gisborne.

Baltic Sea

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the Little Belt. The Kattegat continues through Skagerrak into the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Baltic Sea is connected by man-made waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea Canal, and to the North Sea via the Kiel Canal. The Baltic Sea might be considered to be bordered on its northern edge by the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northeastern edge by the Gulf of Finland, and on its eastern edge by the Gulf of Riga. These various gulfs can also be considered part of the Baltic Sea.

Warsaw

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency and was the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located there from the 16th century until the Partitions of Poland. In its long history the Royal Castle was repeatedly devastated and plundered by Swedish, Brandenburgian, German, and Russian armies.

Minsk

Received from: Belarus
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2011
Distance: 474 km
Time of travelling: 11 days

Minsk Passazhirsky (Minsk Passenger Station, Belarusian: Мінск-Пасажырскі - Russian: Минск-Пассажирский) is the main passenger rail terminal in Belarus. It is located in the centre of Minsk. It is sometimes called Minsk Ploshchad Lenina due to the metro station serving the terminal, or simply Minsk.

Comino

Received from: Malta
Category: from a friend
Date: November 2011

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Another result of my complaing for a postcard to a friend who spent a few days in Malta. I just envy such holidays in the middle of academic year!

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Comino is an island of the Maltese archipelago between the islands of Malta and Gozo in the Mediterranean Sea, measuring 1.35 square miles (3.5 km2) in area. Named after the cumin seed that once flourished in the Maltese islands, Comino is noted for its tranquility and isolation. It has a permanent population of only four residents. One priest and one policeman commute from the nearby island of Gozo, to render their services to the local population and summertime visitors. Today, Comino is a bird sanctuary and nature reserve. Administratively it is part of the municipality of Għajnsielem, in southeastern Gozo.

Lower Silesian castles

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

Lower Silesia is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast. Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526. In 1742 nearly all of the region was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and became part of the German Empire in 1871; except for a small part which formed the southern part of the Lower Silesian Duchy of Nysa and had been incorporated into Austrian Silesia in 1742. After 1945 the main part of the former Prussian Province of Lower Silesia fell to the Republic of Poland, a smaller part west of the Oder-Neisse line remained with East Germany.

Warsaw

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly 260 kilometres (160 mi) from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of June 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,631,902. The area of the city covers 516.9 square kilometres (199.6 sq mi), while the city's agglomeration covers 6,100.43 square kilometres (2,355.39 sq mi) (Warsaw Metro Area – Obszar Metropolitalny Warszawy). Warsaw is the 9th largest city in the European Union by population.

Warsaw

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

St. John's Archcathedral in Warsaw is a Catholic church in Warsaw's Old Town, is the only one archcathedral in Warszawa, the other 3 are cathedrals in the Polish capital. St. John's stands immediately adjacent to Warsaw's Jesuit church, and is one of the oldest churches in the city and the main church of the Warsaw archdiocese. St. John's Archcathedral is one of Poland's national pantheons. Along with the city, the church has been listed by UNESCO as of cultural significance.

Alcudia

Received from: the Netherlands
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2011
Distance: 1071 km
Time of travelling: 5 days

Alcúdia is a municipality and township of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is the main tourist centre in the North of Majorca. It is a large resort popular with families.Most of the hotels are located in Port d'Alcúdia and Platja d'Alcúdia along the 14 km long beach that stretches all the way to Can Picafort. In Alcúdia the old town is well preserved with houses dating back to the 13th century. The old town is surrounded by a medieval wall.

Chinese Republic

Received from: Taiwan
Category: Thank You Card
Date: November 2011

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Very nice surprise received for this card sent in October :)

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Five races under one union was one of the major principles upon which the Republic of China was originally founded in 1911 at the time of the Xinhai Revolution. This principle emphasized the harmony of the five major ethnic groups in China as represented by the colored stripes of the Five-Colored Flag of the Republic: the Han (red); the Manchus (yellow); the Mongols (blue); the Muslims, known at the time as the "Hui" (white); and the Tibetans (black).

Zamość

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

Zamość is a town in southeastern Poland with 66,633 inhabitants (2004), situated in the south-western part of Lublin Voivodeship (since 1999), about 90 km (55.92 mi) from Lublin, 247 km (153.48 mi) from Warsaw and 60 km (37.28 mi) from the border with Ukraine. About 20 kilometres from the town is the Roztocze National Park. The historical city centre was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List (in 1992) as a result of the decision taken during the sixteenth ordinary session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, from 7 to 14 December 1992.

Gdańsk

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area. The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay (of the Baltic Sea), in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto), with a population of over 800,000. Gdańsk itself has a population of 455,830 (June 2010), making it the largest city in the Pomerania region of Northern Poland.

Kraków

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

Wawel is an architectural complex erected over many centuries atop a limestone outcrop on the left bank of the Vistula River in Kraków, Poland, at an altitude of 228 metres above the sea level. It is a place of great significance to the Polish people. The Royal Castle with an armoury and the Cathedral are situated on the hill. Polish Royalty and many distinguished Poles are interred in the Wawel Cathedral. Royal coronations took place there also.

Warmia / Mazury

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, or Warmia-Masuria Province, is a voivodeship (province) in northeastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn. The voivodeship has an area of 24,192 km2 (9,341 sq mi) and a population of 1,427,091 (as of 2006).
The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Olsztyn Voivodeship and parts of Suwałki and Elbląg Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. The province's name derives from two historic regions, Warmia and Masuria.

The Alamo

Received from: the USA
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2011
Distance: 8507 km
Time of travelling: 10 days

Front of the Alamo Shrine looking west from Alamo Plaza.

The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio, Texas). All but two of the Texian defenders were killed. Santa Anna's perceived cruelty during the battle inspired many Texians—both Texas settlers and adventurers from the United States—to join the Texian Army. Buoyed by a desire for revenge, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, ending the revolution.

Saxony

Received from: Germany
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2011
Distance: 605 km
Time of travelling: 4 days

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with (18,413 square kilometres (7,109 sq mi), and the sixth most-populous (4.3 million) of Germany's sixteen states.

Nagano

Received from: Japan
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2011
Distance: 8431 km
Time of travelling: 7 days

Nagano, the capital city of Nagano Prefecture, is located in the northern part of the prefecture near the confluence of the Chikuma and the Sai rivers, on the main Japanese island of Honshū. As of April 1, 2011 the city has a population of 387,146. The total land area is 834.85 km².

Helsinki

Received from: Finland
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2011
Distance: 913 km
Time of travelling: 5 days

Kluuvikatu / Glogatan Street in Helsinki.
Picture by E. Hoffers.
1865.

Polanica Zdrój

Received from: Poland
Category: 6-miesięczny RR
Date: November 2011

Polanica-Zdrój is a town in Kłodzko County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies approximately 11 kilometres (7 mi) south-west of Kłodzko, and 89 kilometres (55 mi) south-west of the regional capital Wrocław. As at 2006, the town has a population of 6,900.