Mayflower II

I started a new collection , cruise ship postcards ,but I think that there are a lot of beautiful ship postcards that deserves to show them in this blog .

 This beautiful card comes from ,Treksek who was so generous and gave it to me .Thank you very much ,Treksek :)


Mayflower II is a replica of the 17th-century ship Mayflower, celebrated for transporting the Pilgrims to the New World. The replica was built in Devon, England, during 1955–1956, in a collaboration between Englishman Warwick Charlton and Plimoth Plantation, an American museum. The work drew from reconstructed ship blueprints held by the American museum with hand construction by English shipbuilders' using traditional methods^. On April 20, 1957, recreating the original voyage, Mayflower II was sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, under the command of Alan Villiers. According to the ship's log, Mayflower II was towed up the East River into New York City on Monday, July 1, 1957 Afterwards, Villiers and crew received a ticker-tape parade in New York City.

Kretk

Something from my childhood :) Kretk .


The Mole (in the Czech original called Kretk) is an animated character in a series of cartoons, created by Czech animator Zdeněk Miler in 1956. Since its inception, the character won itself an enormous popularity in many Central European countries including Germany and Austria, as well as India, China, Russia and Japan.

Thank you ,Rady :) 

Pargue

Prague  is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the fourteenth-largest city in the European Union. It is also the historical capital of Bohemia proper. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its larger urban zone is estimated to have a population of nearly 2 million. The city has a temperate oceanic climate, with warm summers and chilly winters.

Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its 1,100-year existence. Founded during the Romanesque and flourishing by the Gothic and Renaissance eras, Prague was not only the capital of the Czech state, but also the seat of two Holy Roman Emperors and thus also the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. It was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire and after World War I became the capital of Czechoslovakia. The city played major roles in the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and in 20th-century history, during both World Wars and the post-war Communist era.
Prague is home to a number of famous cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of 20th century Europe. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter, the Lennon Wall, and Petřín hill. Since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

Morocco

Morocco (Arabic: المغرب‎ al-Maghrib ; Berber: ⴰⵎⵕⵕⵓⴽ or ⵍⵎⴰⵖⵔⵉⴱ Ameṛṛuk or Lmaġrib; French: Maroc), officially the Kingdom of Morocco.Arabic name al-Mamlaka al-Maghribiyyah (Arabic: المملكة المغربية‎) translates to "The Western Kingdom". Al-Maghrib (Arabic: المغرب‎), or Maghreb, meaning "The West", is commonly used. The Kingdom of Morocco is the most westerly of the North African countries. It has Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, and a rugged mountain interior.
Morocco has a population of over 32 million and an area of 446,550 km² (172,410 sq mi); if Western Sahara is included that would be 710,850 km² (274,460 sq mi). The political capital is Rabat, although the largest city is Casablanca; other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, and Nador. Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Its rich culture is a blend of Arab, Berber (indigenous African) and also other African and European influences.

 Morocco administers most of the disputed region of the Western Sahara as the Southern Provinces. The status of Western Sahara remains unresolved. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975 and a guerrilla war with pro-independence forces ended in 1991. U.N. efforts have failed to break the political deadlock.

Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, including the power to dissolve the parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government but the king's decisions usually override those of the government if there is a contradiction. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives and the Assembly of Councillors. The king can also issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law.
The main religion is Islam. The official language is Literary Arabic. Moroccan Arabic, Berber and French are also spoken. Hassaniya Arabic, sometimes considered a variety of Moroccan Arabic, is spoken in parts of the southern provinces (Western Sahara).

Tinghir ,Morocco

A new country in my collection Morocco. My family was visiting Morocco and they brought me some cool postcards from there .


Tinghir (Arabic: تنغير‎, Tamazight: ⵜⵉⵏⵖⵉⵔ) is a city in the region of Tinghir, south of the High Atlas and north of the Little Atlas in southeastern Morocco. Its name originally referred to the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, but its area has expanded to encompass surrounding villages and refers to the entire oasis.
The city of Tinghir (Baladia tinghir) has a population of 36,000 and the area has 86,500 inhabitants, according to the 2004 census. The predominant ethnic group is Amazighs, and the city is at the center of one of the most attractive oases in southern Morocco. Lush palm trees cover about 30 miles (48 km) on 500-to-1,500-metre (550 to 1,600 yd)-wide tracts along the Wadi Todgha. After the Todra Gorge, Wadi Todgha has a difficult passage along the southern slopes of the Atlas Mountains (Tizgui); it then flows across the plain, meandering slightly over 20 kilometres (12 mi) to Ferkla. The palm oasis, dense and widespread, is irrigated by a network of pipes and irrigation canals. Occasional heavy rains are absorbed in a few days.

Arctic Circle

The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. In 2012, it is the parallel of latitude that runs 66° 33′ 44″ (or 66.5622°) north of the Equator.
The region north of this circle is known as the Arctic, and the zone just to the south is called the Northern Temperate Zone. The equivalent polar circle in the Southern Hemisphere is called the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle is the southernmost latitude in the Northern Hemisphere at which the sun can remain continuously above or below the horizon for 24 hours (at the June solstice and December solstice respectively). North of the Arctic Circle, the sun is above the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year (and therefore visible at midnight) and below the horizon for 24 continuous hours at least once per year. On the Arctic Circle those events occur, in principle, exactly once per year, at the June and December solstices, respectively.
It would therefore seem that the Arctic Circle marks the southern extremity of the northern hemisphere polar day (24-hour sunlit day, often referred to as the midnight sun) and polar night (24-hour sunless night). In fact, because of atmospheric refraction and mirages, and because the sun appears as a disk and not a point, part of the midnight sun may be seen on the night of the northern summer solstice up to about 50′ (90 km (56 mi)) south of the Arctic Circle; similarly, on the day of the northern winter solstice, part of the sun may be seen up to about 50′ north of the Arctic Circle. That is true at sea level; those limits increase with elevation above sea level although in mountainous regions, there is often no direct view of the true horizon.
The position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed. It directly depends on the Earth's axial tilt, which fluctuates within a margin of 2° over a 40,000 year period, notably due to tidal forces resulting from the orbit of the Moon. The Arctic Circle is currently drifting northwards at a speed of about 15 m (49 ft) per year; see Circle of latitude for more information.

Swedish Royal Family

 Sweden is my fave country in the planet Earth . This postcard is from our swap with Anders ,who was so kind that he sent me huge pile of swedish postcards.Tack ,Anders :)

 On this postacard you can see the Swedish Royal Family , since 1818 consists of a number of persons in the Swedish Royal House of Bernadotte, closely related to the King of Sweden. They are entitled to royal titles and style (manner of address), and some perform official engagements and ceremonial duties of state. The extended family of the King consists of other close relatives who are not royal.
Prior to 1818, the Swedish Royal Family was the House of Holstein-Gottorp, a cadet branch of the Oldenburg dynasty which ruled Sweden from 1457 to 1521 (then intermittently) and from 1751 until 1818. That dynasty's last legal pretender to the Swedish throne was Prince Gustav of Wasa (1799-1877) whose only son Louis predeceased him in infancy in 1832.

 Current members:
According to the Swedish Government, the Royal Family includes the following:

• The monarch and his spouse:
  • His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf (since 15 September 1973), born on 30 April 1946.
  • Her Majesty Queen Silvia (since 19 June 1976), born on 23 December 1943.

• The King's children:
  • HRH Crown Princess Victoria, Duchess of Västergötland, born on 14 July 1977.
  • HRH Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland, born on 13 May 1979.
  • HRH Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland, born on 10 June 1982.

• The King's grandchildren:
  • HRH Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland, born on 23 February 2012, daughter of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel.

• The King's son-in-law (husband of the Crown Princess):
  • HRH Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, born on 15 September 1973.

• The King's sister:
  • HRH Princess Birgitta, Princess of Hohenzollern, born on 19 January 1937.
  
  

  

  Royal Palace in Stockholm

  
  

  
  

     

  
  

  

  Swedish flag

Hebrew alfabet

I had this beautiful card long time in fave´s list ,but not anymore ,thanks to Elsu .


The Hebrew alfabet , is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic. There have been two script forms in use. The original old Hebrew script is known as the paleo-Hebrew script (which has been largely preserved, in an altered form, in the Samaritan script), while the present "square" form of the Hebrew alphabet is a stylized form of the Aramaic script. Various "styles" (in current terms, "fonts") of representation of the letters exist. There is also a cursive Hebrew script, which has also varied over time and place.
The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters, of which five have different forms when used at the end of a word. Hebrew is written from right to left. Originally, the alphabet was an abjad consisting only of consonants. Like other abjads, such as the Arabic alphabet, means were later devised to indicate vowels by separate vowel points, known in Hebrew as niqqud. In rabbinic Hebrew, the letters א ה ו י are also used as matres lectionis to represent vowels. When used to write Yiddish, the writing system is a true alphabet (except for borrowed Hebrew words). In modern usage of the alphabet, as in the case of Yiddish (except that ע replaces ה) and to some extent modern Israeli Hebrew, vowels may be indicated. Today, the trend is toward full spelling with these letters acting as true vowels.
Before the adoption of the present script, Hebrew was written by the ancient Israelites, both Jews and Samaritans, using the paleo-Hebrew alphabet. During the 3rd century BC, Jews began to use a stylized form of the Aramaic alphabet,while the Samaritans continued to use a form of the paleo-Hebrew script, called the Samaritan script. The present "square script" Hebrew alphabet is a stylized version of the Aramaic alphabet which was adopted from that used by the Persian Empire (which in turn was adopted from the Arameans). After the fall of the Persian Empire, Jews used both scripts before settling on the Aramaic form. For a limited time thereafter, the use of the paleo-Hebrew script among Jews was retained only to write the Tetragrammaton, but soon that custom was also abandoned.

Tundra wolf

Wonderful postcard from Mikkeli postcrossing meeting .When I opened my mailbox then it was like ouwwwwww :) Thank you very much ,Mecu and all who signed this card .You made my day :) And what can make me happy than a wolf card :)


The Tundra wolf  (Canis lupus arctos) is a subspecies of Gray Wolf native to the tundra and forest zones in the European and Asian parts of Russia and Kamchatka. Outside Russia, its range includes the extreme north of Scandinavia.
It is a large subspecies, with adult males measuring 118-137 cm (46-54 in) in length, and females 112-136 cm (44-54 in). Tail length in males is 42-52 cm (17-20 in), in females it is 41-49 cm (16-19 in). Although often written to be larger than forest wolves, this is untrue, as heavier forest wolves have been recorded. Average weight for males is 40-49 kg (88-108 lb). Females average 36.6-41 kg (81-90 lbs). The highest weight recorded among 500 wolves caught in the Taymyr Peninsula and the Kanin Peninsula during 1951-1961 was from an old male killed on the Taymyr at the north of the Dudypta River weighing 52 kg (115 lb). The fur is very long, dense, fluffy and soft. The top hairs are 150-160 mm, the guard hairs 80-150 mm and the underfur 70 mm. The fur is usually light and grey in colour. The lower fur is lead-grey and the upper fur is reddish-grey. Its fur and size are so similar to that of large Canadian wolves that their pelts are often sold together.
The tundra wolf usually makes its den in river valleys and thickets in dry plateaus, and tends to form packs of 5-7 members. It feeds primarily on wild and domestic reindeer and snow sheep in their eastern range. It also preys on hares and arctic foxes. It rarely forms permanent territories, travelling 200-300 km annually to accompany reindeer migrations. Reindeer losses to tundra wolves can be considerable for the Nenets people, who rely on them for subsistence; in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, 1708 reindeer were killed by tundra wolves in 1951, and 7048 others were scattered. In the decade between 1944-1954, tundra wolves killed 75,000 reindeer.

Dornbusch lighthouse on Hindensee

I don´t have many lighthouse cards ,but when I recive them I am happy :) .This postcard is from Germany and it is showing Dornbusch lighthouse .

Dornbusch Lighthouse (German: Leuchtturm Dornbusch) refers to the lighthouse officially designated as Leuchtfeuer Dornbusch/Hiddensee ("Dornbusch/Hiddensee Beacon") in the north of the German island of Hiddensee in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the Baltic Sea coast. Its international serial number is C 2588.
The lighthouse stands on the 72-metre-high Schluckswiek in the so-called Hochland ("highland") area of the island.
  The lighthouse was built in 1887/1888 of brick construction. It was taken into service on 19 November 1888. It was modified from 1927 to 1929 and fitted with a reinforced-concrete shell. It is 28 metres high and has a focal height of 95 metres above mean sea level in the Baltic Sea. The observation gallery is located at a height of 20 metres. Its light has the following ranges: white 24.9 nautical miles (45 kilometres) and red 21.3 nautical miles (38 kilometres). Its characteristic is Flashing White Red, 2.4 seconds on, 7.6 seconds off. Its light source is a metal-halide lamp. The Stralsund Waterway and Shipping Office has responsible for the servicing and maintenance of the tower since 1990

Toscana

I got this beautiful postcard from Elena from Padova ,Italy.It is showing the map of Toscana .


Toscana is a region in Italy .The regional capital is Firenze .
 Tuscany is known for its landscapes, traditions, history, artistic legacy and its permanent influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science. As a result, the region boasts museums (such as the Uffizi, the Pitti Palace and the Chianciano Museum of Art). Tuscany is famous for its wines, including the well-known Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino.
 This postcard also shows some Unesco´s . Six Tuscan localities have been designated World Heritage Sites: the historic centre of Florence (1982); the historical centre of Siena (1995); the square of the Cathedral of Pisa (1987); the historical centre of San Gimignano (1990); the historical centre of Pienza (1996); and the Val d'Orcia (2004). Tuscany has over 120 protected nature reserves, making Tuscany and its capital Florence popular tourist destinations that attract millions of tourists every year. Florence receives an average of 10 million tourists a year, making the city one of the most visited in the world. (In 2007, the city became the world's 46th most visited city, with over 1.715 million arrivals).