Tight Rope Cycling

Without a safety net a cyclist crosses on a tight-rope with his human passenger hanging underneath. And, mind you all this over a 1000 meter deep gorge. Scene of this show, was in a valley in Chaibuxi national park in central China's Hubei Province. I have never seen or hjeard of such a stunt. All I can say is unbelievable. Thank you Vorliebe from Witten in Germany for a really wonderful card.

Fox Bay - Bay of the Black Sea

Fox Bay - Bay of the Black Sea,lies  between the mountain ranges of Kara-Dag and Meganom. Fox harbor - this is probably the most famous beach in the Crimea, which is a girded foot sand strip Echki Dagh. Of course, in the Crimea in general a lot of wonderful beaches with the same soft sand and gentle sea, but only on Lieske reigns true spirit of carelessness and emancipation.  The Fox Bay you can relax as you wish: if you want - live in a tent, if you want - go ahead naked on the beach, if you want - hang with a backpack on the beach or beat the tambourine, drink beer, bathe in the sea and so on and so forth. However, nudity - this is not an obligatory component of the beach, you want - relax dressed, and in any way you want.

Thank you Eugenia for a pretty card.

Hyannis Harbour – Cape Cod

Hyannis is the largest of seven villages in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Also it is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area as a result of the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer to Hyannis as the "Capital of the Cape". It contains the Barnstable city offices and two important shopping districts, the historic downtown Main Street and the Route 132 commercial district, including Cape Cod Mall and Cape Cod Potato Chips. And, Baxter's Fish and Chips seen in the centre of the card) must be a very popular place!

Hyannis is an important tourist destination and the primary ferry boat and general aviation link for passengers and freight to Nantucket Island. Hyannis provides secondary passenger access to the island of Martha's Vineyard. Due to its large natural harbour, Hyannis is the largest recreational boating and second largest commercial fishing port on Cape Cod.

Thank you Andrew for this lovely card.

Season's Greetings

A very pretty card from my friend Ada in Warsaw. Thank you Dear. Wish you all the best in the New Year too.

Hirvensalo, Finland

Hirvensalo is an island in the Archipelago Sea, belonging to the city of Turku, Finland. It is divided into 14 districts, the largest ones being Moikoinen, Kukola and Haarla. Most of the island's economic activity is concentrated on the suburb of Moikoinen, which has a school, shops, a Lutheran church, and a post office. The island's total population is 6,547 (as of 2004).

Hirvensalo was formerly part of the municipality of Maaria, until it was annexed to the city of Turku in 1944.

This pretty card sent to me by Pia shows a few sights of Hirvensalo. Lets start with the top, which shows a view towards the Aristo Sea. The ships you see are of the Silja and Viking lines going from Turku to Stockholm. The next is the popular Skiing Centre on Hirvensalo. The two lower pictures are of the local church there and the other is where the artist Aaltonen the Finnish artist and sculptor lived.

Khanty-Mansiysk Concert-Theatre Centre "Yugra Classic"

The originality of Yugra is that the authorities here, headed by the governor Alexander Philipenko, is taking a good care about the level of citizens’ living, about their upbringing and cultural education. For the last 14 years Khanty-Mansiysk turned from barrack village into a modern city with red-brick houses, restored churches, good roads, trade centers, well-equipped museums and first class hotels one of which was occupied by Helikon artists.

Undoubtedly, one of the brightest achievements of city’s development and building is the concert-theatrical centre Yugra-Classic. The walls of its lounge are decorated with Venetian plaster and authentic onyx; it consists of three perfect concert halls, one of which contains a unique organ, specially manufactured for Yugra in Germany (its keys are finished with natural mammoth’s bone) and one of the three Fazioli pianos which Russia has. There is also a transformer hall for drama performances. The third is the Big hall for 1000 seats, the stage of which is equipped with modern machinery and there are special acoustic seats in the hall. Yugra-Classic is built as the big Tour house, where for the last three years only super stars have been performing. Among them are Valery Gergiev with Mariinsky theatre, Gidon Kremer with “Kremerata Baltica”, Yuri Temirkanov with Academic symphonic orchestra of St.-Petersburg Philharmonic, Peter Fomenko’s Theatre, Moscow Artistic Academic Theatre named after A. Chekhov, Lev Dodin with Academic Small drama Theatre – Theatre of Europe and Boris Eifmann’s St.-Petersburg’s State Academic theatre of ballet.

Thank you Galina for this nice card.

Animals celebrating Christmas

My friend Ella sent me these cards issued by Åland post. These 2012 postal stationery cards appeared in time for Christmas. They were designed by artist Alexander Lindén. The funny and different motifs of the cards are well suited for both Christmas cards and winter greetings. The cards depict :-

ROE IN A KNITTED SWEATER. Alexander has designed four animals celebrating Christmas in various ways. The first card shows a roe in a knitted sweater, sitting in a chair reading while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate or, perhaps, mulled wine. A small fox relaxes by the chair, and the scenery is highlighted by the shining moon.
PIKE DRESSED IN CARDIGAN. The motif of another card takes us below the ice where we find a merry pike, dressed in a warm, green cardigan. Further down swims a chubbier type of fish, also dressed in a warm sweater. Someone also let down a Christmas star on a fishing line through a jig hole in the ice.
THREE SQUIRRELS DANCING IN A RING.  The third card shows us three merry squirrels dancing in a ring around a tree decorated with Christmas baubles, tinsel and a star at the top. Dressed in warming cardigans, the squirrels all seem to be happy and enjoying themselves.HARE IN A HOT TUB. Leaving its tracks in the snow, a hare has jumped into the hot tub shown on the fourth and last card. With a box of carrots within reach, it is very content to relax in the hot water. The sea, the archipelago and a Christmas tree on a rock sets the background.
ALL ANIMALS ARE HAPPY. The common feature of the four card designs is that the animals all seem to be merry and enjoying themselves. The cards are therefore perfect to send as a
greeting to your friends and acquaintances regardless of season!