Missouri

Received from: the USA
Category: private swap
Date: January 2012

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Missouri is the 21st most extensive and the 18th most populous of the 50 United States. Missouri comprises 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. The four largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. Missouri's capital is Jefferson City. The land that is now Missouri was acquired from France as part of the Louisiana Purchase and became known as the Missouri Territory. Part of the Territory was admitted into the union as the 24th state on August 10, 1821.

Kyoto

Received from: Japan
Category: private swap
Date: January 2012

The Heian Shrine (平安神宮 Heian jingū?) is a Shinto shrine located in Kyoto, Japan. The torii before the main gate is one of the largest in Japan. The architecture of the main building mirrors the style and features of the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The Heian jingū was built in 1895 for the 1,100th anniversary of the establishment of Heiankyō (the old name of Kyoto).

Russia

Received from: Russia
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 2314 km
Time of travelling: 55 days

Finland

Received from: Finland
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 1000 km
Time of travelling: 3 days

An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere). The charged particles originate in the magnetosphere and solar wind and, on Earth, are directed by the Earth's magnetic field into the atmosphere. Aurora is classified as diffuse or discrete aurora. Most aurorae occur in a band known as the auroral zone which is typically 3° to 6° in latitudinal extent and at all local times or longitudes. The auroral zone is typically 10° to 20° from the magnetic pole defined by the axis of the Earth's magnetic dipole. During a geomagnetic storm, the auroral zone will expand to lower latitudes. The diffuse aurora is a featureless glow in the sky which may not be visible to the naked eye even on a dark night and defines the extent of the auroral zone. The discrete aurora are sharply defined features within the diffuse aurora which vary in brightness from just barely visible to the naked eye to bright enough to read a newspaper at night. Discrete aurorae are usually observed only in the night sky because they are not as bright as the sunlit sky. Aurorae occur occasionally poleward of the auroral zone as diffuse patches or arcs which are generally invisible to the naked eye.

Taipei

Received from: Taiwan
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 8519 km
Time of travelling: 8 days

The Presidential Office Building houses the Office of the President of the Republic of China. The building, located in the Zhongzheng District in the national capital of Taipei, Republic of China, was designed by architect Uheiji Nagano during the period of Japanese rule of Taiwan (1895–1945). The structure originally housed the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan. Damaged in Allied bombing during World War II, the building was restored after the war by Chen Yi, the Governor-General of the Taiwan province. It became the Presidential Office in 1950 after the Republic of China lost control of mainland China and relocated the nation's capital to Taipei City at the end of the Chinese Civil War.

Pittsburgh

Received from: the USA
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 7208 km
Time of travelling: 13 days

While the city is historically known for its steel industry, today its economy is largely based on healthcare, education, technology, robotics, and financial services. The downturn of the steel industry left no steel mills within the City of Pittsburgh and only two remaining mills in the county, though more than 300 steel-related businesses remain in the area. By contrast, the region supports 1,600 technology companies, ranging from a Google campus to small startups. The city has redeveloped abandoned industrial sites with new housing, shopping and offices, such as SouthSide Works and Bakery Square.

Cologne

Received from: Germany
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 669 km
Time of travelling: 8 days

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city (after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich), and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants. Cologne is located on both sides of the Rhine River. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. The University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln) is one of Europe's oldest and largest universities.

Saint-Jean-d'Angély

Received from: Canada
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 6466 km
Time of travelling: 10 days

Saint-Jean-d'Angély is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.

The commune has its historical origins in the Abbey of Saint-Jean-d'Angély.

Amsterdam

Received from: the Netherlands
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 1066 km
Time of travelling: 6 days

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population of 1,209,419 and a metropolitan population of 2,158,592. The city is in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. It comprises the northern part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe, with a population of approximately 7 million.

Belgium

Received from: Belgium
Category: private swap
Date: January 2012

Many highly ranked Belgian restaurants can be found in the most influential restaurant guides, such as the Michelin Guide. Belgium is famous for beer, chocolate, waffles and french fries. Contrary to their name, french fries also originated in Belgium. The national dishes are "steak and fries with salad", and "mussels with fries". Brands of Belgian chocolate and pralines, like Côte d'Or, Guylian, Neuhaus, Leonidas, Corné and Galler are famous, as well as independent producers such as Burie and Del Rey in Antwerp and Mary's in Brussels. Belgium produces over 500 varieties of beer. The Trappist beer of the Abbey of Westvleteren has repeatedly been rated the world's best beer.The biggest brewer in the world by volume is Anheuser-Busch InBev, based in Leuven.

Rio de Janeiro

Received from: Brazil
Category: private swap
Date: January 2012

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s largest floating Christmas tree is located in Brazil, more specifically in Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, in Rio de Janeiro. The tree has 18 sets of lights in different colors, that total 105 miles of decorative garlands. This includes 3.3 million of micro strobe lights 2100, which produces an effect of shining stars. Under the new strategy of the Brazilian energy matrix to reduce carbon emissions, lower energy and power consumption were achieved by including more efficient generators, based on biofuels.

Route 66

Received from: the USA
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 9683 km
Time of travelling: 10 days

U.S. Route 66 (also known as the Will Rogers Highway after the humorist, and colloquially known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road or The most famous road in the world) was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song (written by Bobby Troup, originally recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio in 1946, and later performed by such artists as Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, The Manhattan Transfer and Depeche Mode) and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s.

Bolzano

Received from: Italy
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 957 km
Time of travelling: 22 days

Bolzano is a city and the capital of South Tyrol, a province in northern Italy. Bolzano is the seat of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, where lectures and seminars are held in English, German, and Italian. In 2008 Bolzano was one of the locations, in the region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, where the seventh edition of the world renowned Manifesta, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art was held.

Norway

Received from: Norway
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 1176 km
Time of travelling: 14 days

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) and a population of about 4.99 million. It is the second least densely populated country in Europe. The majority of the country shares a border to the east with Sweden; its northernmost region is bordered by Finland to the south and Russia to the east; in its south Norway borders the Skagerrak Strait across from Denmark. The capital city of Norway is Oslo. Norway's extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, is home to its famous fjords.

California

Received from: the USA
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 9433 km
Time of travelling: 17 days

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third most extensive (after Alaska and Texas). It is home to the nation's second- and sixth-largest census statistical areas (Los Angeles Metropolitan Area and San Francisco Bay Area), and eight of the nation's fifty most populated cities (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach and Oakland). The capital city is Sacramento.

Cologne

Received from: Germany
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 982 km
Time of travelling: 26 days

Lanxess Arena (originally Kölnarena, German for Cologne Arena) is an indoor arena, in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The arena opened in 1998 and can accommodate 20,000 people. It is primarily used by VfL Gummersbach (team handball), Kölner Haie (ice hockey) and as a concert venue.

Minsk

Received from: Belarus
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 474 km
Time of travelling: 10 days

Independence Square is in the centre of Minsk.
In front of House of Government there is a statue of Vladimir Lenin.

Holland

Received from: the Netherlands
Category: Thank You Card
Date: January 2012

**********************************************************************

A very cute postcard received as Thank You Card for this one :).
Additionally the card was sent with special Dutch stamp of Postcrossing :)

Germany

Received from: Germany
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 981 km
Time of travelling: 10 days

Canada

Received from: Canada
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 5103 km
Time of travelling: 26 days

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9.9 million square kilometres, Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.

St Petersburg

Received from: Russia
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 2649 km
Time of travelling: 22 days

The Peter and Paul Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox cathedral located inside the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia. It is the first and oldest landmark in St. Petersburg, built between 1712 and 1733 on Zayachy Island along the Neva River. Both the cathedral and the fortress were originally built under Peter the Great and designed by Domenico Trezzini. The cathedral's bell tower is the world's tallest Orthodox bell tower. Since the belfry is not standalone, but an integral part of the main building, the cathedral is sometimes considered the highest Orthodox Church in the world.

Latvia

Received from: Latvia
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: January 2012
Distance: 561 km
Time of travelling: 12 days

Riga Castle is a castle on the banks of River Daugava in Riga, the capital of Latvia. The castle was founded in 1330. This structure was thoroughly rebuilt between 1497 and 1515. Upon the castle's seizure by the Swedes, they constructed spacious annexes in 1641. The fortress was continually augmented and reconstructed between the 17th and 19th centuries. Sometime in the 1930s, some renovation work was done by architect Eižens Laube. The Latvian government declared the castle its residence in 1938. Today it is the official residence of the President of Latvia as well as home to several museums.