Normandy

Received from: France
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date:  September 2015
Distance: 1615 km
Time of travelling: 5 days

Normandy is a geographical region of France corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. Since 1956, Normandy has been divided into two administrative regions: Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy; the regions will be merged into one single region effective 1 January 2016. The continental territory covers 30,627 km²  and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. The population of Normandy is around 3.45 million. The continental population of 3.26 million accounts for 5.5% of the population of France (in 2005). The Channel Islands (referred to as Îles Anglo-Normandes in French) are historically part of Normandy, cover 194 km² and comprise two bailiwicks: Guernsey and Jersey, which are British Crown dependencies.

Munich

Received from: Germany
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date:  September 2015
Distance: 810 km
Time of travelling: 15 days

Oktoberfest is the world's largest Volksfest (beer festival and travelling funfair). Held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, it is a 16-day folk festival running from mid or late September to the first weekend in October, with more than 6 million people from around the world attending the event every year. Locally, it is often simply called the Wiesn, after the colloquial name of the fairgrounds (Theresienwiese) themselves. The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the original Munich event.

Owl Mountains

Received from: Poland
Category: from family
Date: July 2015

The Owl Mountains (Polish: Góry Sowie; German: Eulengebirge; Czech: Soví hory) is a mountain range in the Central Sudetes in south-west Poland. They run between the historic Lower Silesian region and Kłodzko Land. The range includes a protected area called Owl Mountains Landscape Park.

Nizhny Novgorod

Received from: Russia
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: August 2015
Distance: 1560 km
Time of travelling: 32 days

Pechersky Ascension Monastery (Russian: Печёрский Вознесенский монастырь, Pechyorsky Vozensensky Monastyr) is a monastery in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. It is the principal monastery of the Nizny Novgorod Eparchy (diocese) and the seat of the Bishop of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas.

Porvoo

From: Finland
Category: collection
Date: May 2015

Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately 50 kilometres east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century. Porvoo is the seat of the Swedish-speaking Diocese of Borgå of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

Bran

From: Romania
Category: collection
Date: July 2015

Bran Castle, situated near Bran and in the immediate vicinity of Braşov, is a national monument and landmark in Romania. The fortress is situated on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia, on DN73. Commonly known as "Dracula's Castle" (although it is one among several locations linked to the Dracula legend, including Poenari Castle and Hunyad Castle), it is the home of the titular character in Bram Stoker's Dracula. There is, however, no evidence that Stoker knew anything about this castle, which has only tangential associations with Vlad III, voivode of Wallachia, the putative inspiration for Dracula. As discovered by the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos, the location Bram Stoker actually had in mind for Castle Dracula while writing his novel was an empty mountain top, Mount Izvorul Călimanului, 2,033 metres  high, located in the Transylvanian Călimani Alps near the former border with Moldavia.

Texas

Received from: the USA
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: September 2015
Distance: 8075 km
Time of travelling: 10 days

Texas is the second most populous and second largest state of the United States of America. Geographically located in the south central part of the country, Texas shares an international border with Mexico to the south and borders the U.S. states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km2) and a growing population of over 26.9 million residents (July 2014).

Stockholm

From: Sweden
Category: collection
Date: November 2014

Skogskyrkogården (official name in English: The Woodland Cemetery) is a cemetery located in the Enskededalen district south of central Stockholm, Sweden. Its design, by Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, reflects the development of architecture from Nordic Classicism to mature functionalism.

Transylvania

From: Romania
Category: collection
Date: July 2015

With its more than 150 well preserved fortified churches of a great variety of architectural styles (out of an original 300 fortified churches), south-eastern Transylvania region in Romania currently has one of the highest numbers of existing fortified churches from the 13th to 16th centuries. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania are seven villages (six Saxon and one Székely) founded by the Transylvanian Saxons. They are dominated by fortified churches and characterized by a specific settlement pattern that has been preserved since the late Middle Ages.

Ordino

Received from: Andorra
Category: swap
Date: September 2015

Ordino is the most northerly parish in the Principality of Andorra. Ordino is also the name of the main town of the parish. The main other settlements are El Serrat, Ansalonga, Sornàs, La Cortinada, Llorts, Segudet, Arans, Les Salines and Arcalís. It is home to the Sorteny National Park. It has a population of 3,066, as of 2005.

Lublin

Received from: Poland
Category: from a friend
Date: September 2015

Zipaquira

From: Colombia
Category: collection
Date: December 2014

Zipaquirá is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. The town is primarily known for its Salt Cathedral, an underground church built inside a salt deposit in a tunnel made as result of the excavation of the salinas (salt mines). Zipaquirá has a very interesting architecture, and the old city centre is a tourist attraction. Its main square is surrounded by old buildings in the Spanish Colonial style. This small city can be reached by train from Bogotá.

Täby

From: Sweden
Category: collection
Date: August 2015

Täby Church is a medieval church in Täby Municipality, in the province of Uppland north of Stockholm. The church is best known for its painted walls and ceilings by Albertus Pictor. The church was built during the second half of the 13th century. It was first constructed as a square hall church. In the mid-14th century a vestry was added and about 100 years later the church porch was built. During the second half of the 15th century, the flat wooden ceiling was replaced by a vaulted ceiling. The altarpiece dates from the 1470s.

Portugal

Received from: Portugal
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: August 2015
Distance: 2991 km
Time of travelling: 17 days

Hikone

Received from: Japan
Category: from a friend
Date: September 2015

Hikone Castle is an Japanese Edo-period castle in the city of Hikone, in Shiga Prefecture. It is considered the most significant historical building in Shiga. Hikone is one of only 12 Japanese castles with the original keep, and one of only four castles listed as a national treasure.

Yuanyang Terraced Fields

Received from: China
Category: Klub Polki na Obczyźnie
Date: September 2015

The Yuanyang Rice Terraces are situated in the southern Ailao Mountains, dug out by the Hani people. Different from the Longji Rice Terraces, the Yuanyang Rice Terraces do not have so many layers, but they are outstanding for their grandiose area with shallower slopes.

Antibes

Received from: France
Category: Klub Polki na Obczyźnie
Date: September 2015

Antibes is a Mediterranean resort in the Alpes-Maritimes department of southeastern France, on the Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is in the commune of Antibes and the Sophia Antipolis technology park is northwest of it.

Cumbal

From: Colombia
Category: collection
Date: January 2015

Cumbal is a stratovolcano located in Nariño Department, Colombia. It is the southernmost historically active volcano of Colombia. The volcano was the crash site of TAME Flight 120, which crashed in one of its hills while approaching Tulcán on January 28, 2002. There were no survivors.

Rasnov

Received from: Romania
Category: private
Date: August 2015

It is possible this name Râșnov is derived from Slavic "žrŭnovy", meaning (village or valley) "of the mill". In the 14th century, German documents used the name Rasnov, but the modern German name, Rosenau, is based on a popular etymology, being influenced by the German word "Rose". In Râșnov a citadel was built around the year 1215 by the Teutonic Knights and it was mentioned for the first time in 1331. The citadel was conquered only once in its history, around the year 1600 by Gabriel Báthory. In 1856, the Roman fort of Cumidava was discovered near the town. In 2002, the Râșnov Citadel and surroundings were used during the shooting of several scenes from the American film Cold Mountain.

Krynica Zdrój

Received from: Poland
Category: From a friend
Date: August 2015

Krynica-Zdrój  is a town in Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. It is inhabited by over eleven thousand people. It is the biggest spa town in Poland often called the Pearl of Polish Spas; and a popular tourist and winter sports destination situated in the heart of the Beskids mountain range.

Singapore

Received from: Singapore
Category: Klub Polki na Obczyźnie
Date: September 2015

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, and often referred to as the Lion City, the Garden City, and the Red Dot, is a leading global city-state and island country in Southeast Asia. It lies off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, one degree (137 km; 85 mi) north of the equator, and is separated from Peninsular Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to the north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to the south. Singapore's territory consists of the diamond-shaped main island (commonly referred to as Singapore Island in English and Pulau Ujong in Malay) and more than 60 significantly smaller islets. Since the 1960s, ongoing land reclamation projects have increased Singapore's land area, which is highly urbanised, by at least 20%.

Strasbourg

Received from: France
Category: Klub Polki na Obczyźnie
Date: September 2015

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in north eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace were historically Alemannic-speaking, which explains the city's Germanic name. In 2006, the city proper had 272,975 inhabitants and its urban community 467,375 inhabitants. With 759,868 inhabitants in 2010, Strasbourg's metropolitan area (only the part of the metropolitan area on French territory) is the ninth largest in France.

Sofia

Received from: Bulgaria
Category: Klub Polki na Obczyźnie
Date: September 2015

Holy Sunday Church is an Eastern Orthodox church in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, a cathedral of the Sofia bishopric of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. Sveta Nedelya is a medieval church that has suffered destruction through the ages and has been reconstructed many times. The present building of the temple is among the landmarks of Sofia. It was designed by the famous Bulgarian architectural team Vasilyov-Tsolov.

Project Riese

Received from: Poland
Category: From family
Date: July 2015

Riese is the code name for a construction project of Nazi Germany in 1943–45, consisting of seven underground structures located in the Owl Mountains and Książ Castle in Lower Silesia, previously Germany, now a territory of Poland. None of them were finished; all are in different states of completion with only a small percentage of tunnels reinforced by concrete. The purpose of the project remains uncertain because of lack of documentation. Some sources suggest that all the structures were part of the Führer Headquarters; according to others, it was a combination of HQ and arms industry but comparison to similar facilities can indicate that only the castle was adapted as an HQ or other official residence and the tunnels in the Owl Mountains were planned as a network of underground factories.

Santiago de Chile

Received from: the USA
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: August 2015
Distance: 6446 km
Time of travelling: 9 days

Santiago, also Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile. It is also the center of its largest conurbation. Santiago is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of 520 m (1,706 ft) above mean sea level. Founded in 1541, Santiago has been the capital city of Chile since colonial times. The city has a downtown core of 19th century neoclassical architecture and winding side-streets, dotted by art deco, neo-gothic, and other styles. Santiago's cityscape is shaped by several stand-alone hills and the fast-flowing Mapocho River, lined by parks such as Parque Forestal. Mountains of the Andes chain can be seen from most points in the city. These mountains contribute to a considerable smog problem, particularly during winter. The city outskirts are surrounded by vineyards, and Santiago is within a few hours of both the mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

Cape Town

Received from: South Africa
Category: Klub Polki na Obczyźnie
Date: September 2015

Cape Town ranks third among the most populous urban areas in South Africa, after Johannesburg, and has roughly the same population as the Durban Metropolitan Area. It is also the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape.

Perpignan

Received from: France
Category: Klub Polki na Obczyźnie
Date: September 2015

Perpignan is a city, a commune and the capital of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Perpignan was the capital of the former province and county of Roussillon (Rosselló in Catalan) and continental capital of the Kingdom of Majorca in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Leipzig

Received from: Germany
Category: Klub Polki na Obczyźnie
Date: September 2015

Leipzig is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means "settlement where the linden trees (British English: lime trees; U.S. English: basswood trees) stand". An older spelling of the name in English is Leipsic. The Latin name Lipsia was also used.