Brussels

Received from: Belgium
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 1165 km
Time of travelling: 3 days

The Grand Place or Grote Markt (Dutch) is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city's Town Hall, and the Breadhouse (French: Maison du Roi, Dutch: Broodhuis). The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels, along with the Atomium and Manneken Pis. It measures 68 by 110 metres (223 by 360 ft), and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Netherlands

Received from: the Netherlands
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 1116 km
Time of travelling: 10 days

The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, of which up to 109 species have been described and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, Israel, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of diversity is in the Pamir, Hindu Kush, and Tien Shan mountains. A number of species and many hybrid cultivars are grown in gardens, as potted plants, or to display as fresh-cut flowers. Most cultivars of tulip are derived from Tulipa gesneriana.

Russia

Received from: Russia
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 1152 km
Time of travelling: 18 days

USA

Received from: the USA
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 6849 km
Time of travelling: 6 days

"Apple Farm" was commissioned in honor of The J.M. Smucker Company's 100th anniversary in 1997. The painting depicts Jerome M. Smucker's home and original cider mill in Orrville, Ohio. California artist Ann Baker, known as "Mrs. B", is highly regarded for her primitive-style scenes of 19th century American life.

Finland

Received from: Finland
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 1332 km
Time of travelling: 12 days

Essex

Received from: Ireland
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 1834 km
Time of travelling: 6 days

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west. Essex County Council is the principal local authority for much of the county, sharing functions with twelve district councils. The county town is Chelmsford. The southern Essex boroughs of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea are governed separately as unitary authorities. It was established in antiquity and formed the eastern portion of the Kingdom of Essex. Sections of the county closer to London are part of the Metropolitan Green Belt, which prohibits development. It is the location of the regionally significant Lakeside Shopping Centre and London Stansted Airport; and the new towns of Basildon and Harlow.

Prague

Received from: Czech Republic
Category: private
Date: May 2012

Prague bridges are bound up with the capital city of Czech Republic for centuries. Prague had its own first stone bridge since 1169. This bridge was called the Judith Bridge, after the wife of the king Vladislav I. It connected the Prague banks of the Vltava on the same place like Charles Bridge. The Judith Bridge was lower but longer. It had more spans. The bridge was collapsed in a flood in 1342.

Hong Kong

Received from: Hong Kong
Category: Choose a country RR
Date: May 2012

Hong Kong is one of two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km2 (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 95 percent ethnic Chinese and 5 percent from other groups. Hong Kong's Han Chinese majority originate mainly from the cities of Guangzhou and Taishan in the neighbouring Guangdong province.

Finland

Received from: Finland
Category: Choose a country RR
Date: May 2012

Hamburg

Received from: Germany
Category: Choose a country RR
Date: May 2012

Hamburg, officially Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, is the second-largest city in Germany, the thirteenth largest German state, and the sixth-largest city in the European Union. The city is home to over 1.8 million people, while the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (including parts of the neighbouring Federal States of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein) has more than 4.3 million inhabitants. Situated on the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the second largest port in Europe (after the Port of Rotterdam) and 11th-largest worldwide.

New Zealand

Received from: New Zealand
Category: Choose a country RR
Date: May 2012

New Zealand is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses ‒ that of the North and South Islands ‒ as well as numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.

Estonia

Received from: Estonia
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 868 km
Time of travelling: 5 days

Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation (338.6 km). Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia covers 45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi), and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. The Estonians are a Finnic people, and the official language, Estonian, is closely related to Finnish.

Dronrijp

Received from: the Netherlands
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 1040 km
Time of travelling: 5 days

Dronrijp is a town in the Dutch municipality of Menaldumadeel. On January 1, 2008, it had 3,405 inhabitants.
The oldest known reference to the town dates from 1132, when it was called Denningrip, meaning a "rip" (narrow stretch of land) where a family called Drenninga lived.
Of the old mansions in the area only the early 18th century Schatzenburg remains.

Belgium

Received from: Belgium
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: May 2012
Distance: 1143 km
Time of travelling: 5 days

The flag of Europe consists of a circle of 12 golden (yellow) stars on an azure background. It is the flag and emblem of the European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CoE). It is also often used to indicate eurozone countries, and, more loosely, to represent the continent of Europe or the countries of Europe independent of any of these institutions. The number of stars does not vary according to the members of either organisation as they are intended to represent all the peoples of Europe, even those outside European integration.

Czech Republic

Received from: Czech Republic
Category: Thank You Card
Date: April 2012

The coat of arms of the Czech Republic displays the three historical regions—the Czech lands—which make up the nation: Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Today the shield is also used as the badge for the Czech national football team and Czech national ice hockey team.

Oregon

Received from: the USA
Category: Choose a country RR
Date: May 2012

Oregon is the 9th most extensive and the 27th most populous of the 50 United States. Salem is the state's capital and third-most-populous city; Portland is the most populous. Portland is the 29th-largest U.S. city, with a population of 583,776 (2010 US Census) and a metro population of 2,241,841 (2009 estimate), the 23rd-largest U.S. metro area. The valley of the Willamette River in western Oregon is the state's most densely populated area and is home to eight of the ten most populous cities.