Rotterdam - Experience one of the world's largest ports in all it's glory

You cannot visit Rotterdam, one of the largest harbours of the world, without seeing the harbours. The best way to see the harbours is making is a boattrip riding the Spido boats.

Among the busy traffic of sea-going and inland ships, this trip is a special journey through one of the largest harbours in the world. You can see Rotterdam's impressive skyline with its imposing buildings glide by, and then get a unique view of the harbours shipyards, docks and the hypermodern transshipping of thousands of containers. Last but not least the tour will end with a view of the steamship 'Rotterdam', the former cruise flagship of shipping company Holland America Line. An exciting 75 minutes with clear descriptions of everything you see.

When you go for a trip on this boat, you can eat as many pancakes as you like:-))

The trip takes about an hour and whike you are eating you can admire the Rotterdam Skyline. On Saturday night it is possible to have a moonlight cruise and of course eat as much as you like. 

The year round Spido offers various harbour trips. I made the regular boattrip of one and half hour through the port of Rotterdam, but there also trips of three or even six hours to the Botlek, Europoort and Delta Works.

From the boat you can have a good look at the spectacular skyline of the 'Manhattan on the Maas' with its impressive architecture. You will have nice views at the Erasmusbridge and the Willemsbridge, the hotel New York, the Euromast an other sights as well. Heading west you will reach the harbour areas with the docks and wharfs.

Thank you Marco for this lovely card and the info with it.

The Brandenburg Gate

This friends is the Brandenburg Gate, famous all over the world. It is a former city gate and one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city center at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which Berlin was once entered. One block to the north stands the Reichstag building. The gate is the monumental entry to Unter den Linden, the renowned boulevard of linden trees which formerly led directly to the city palace of the Prussian monarchs. 

It was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and built by Carl Gotthard Langhans from 1788 to 1791. Having suffered considerable damage in World War II, the Brandenburg Gate was fully restored from 2000 to 2002 by the Stiftung Denkmalschutz Berlin (Berlin Monument Conservation Foundation). Today, it is regarded as one of Europe's most famous landmarks. 

Anke sent me this card during her recent visit to Berlin.

Besalú

Besalú  is a town in the comarca of Garrotxa, in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The town's importance was greater in the early Middle Ages, as capital of the county of Besalú, whose territory was roughly the same size as the current comarca of Garrotxa but sometime extended as far as Corbières, Aude, in France. Wilfred the Hairy, credited with the unification of Catalonia, was Count of Besalú. The town was also the birthplace of Raimon Vidal, a medieval troubadour.

Besalú was designated as a historical national property ("conjunt històric-artístic") in 1966. The town's most significant feature is its 12th-century Romanesque bridge over the Fluvià river, which features a gateway at its midpoint. The church of Sant Pere was consecrated in 1003. The town features arcaded streets and squares and also a restored mikveh, a ritual Jewish bath dating from the eleventh or twelfth century, as well as the remains of a medieval synagogue, located in the lower town near the river. Besalú also hosts the Museum of miniatures created by jeweler and art collector Lluís Carreras.

The picture on the card shows an early-Medieval fortified masonry bridge crossing the river into the town of Besalu. Lina sent me this nice card.

Homstead Guardians

Hanwen sent me this card from Taiwan. It depicts two "Homestead guardians" or door guardians as referred to by the locals in Lungci township, to ward of evil spirits from one's home.

Now, Lungci Township is a rural township of about 4,420 residents in Tainan County, Taiwan. 

River Daugava towards Old Riga

The photograph on the card was taken sometime in 1890. It shows shipping in the river Daugava towards old Riga. The River Daugava (in Latvian) or Western Dvina, not to be confused with Northern Dvina, is a river rising in the Valdai Hills, Russia, flowing through Russia, Belarus, and Latvia, draining into the Gulf of Riga in Latvia, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The total length of the river is 1,005 km (624 mi): 325 km (202 mi) in Russia, 328 km (204 mi) in Belarus, and 352 km (219 mi) in Latvia. In the 19th century, it was connected by a canal to the Berezina and Dnieper rivers (the canal is currently not functioning). The Daugava forms part of the international border between Latvia and Belarus.

Thank you Merja for this nice card.

Esko Salminen

Now, this card was issued along with the set of six stamps on contemporary Finnish stage and cinema actors on 4.3.2013. This card has a stamp featuring Esko Salminen. He is a Finnish actor with notable shows on TV and especially on stage. His parents were actors, so were his wives and children. Salminen has been an actor of the Finnish National Theatre since 1961. The stamp depicts him in the role of Shakespeare’s King Lear. In front of the Theatre Building you can see the Ice-park, located in the heart of Helsinki, next to the Central Railway Station.

Thank you Ella for this lovely card.

Modern Art in Austria

This maxi card commemorates Modern Art in Austria. It was sent to me by  Björn from Berlin. The card depicts a painting by Ernst Fuchs.

Ernst Fuchs (February 13, 1930 in Vienna). Ernst Fuchs is an Austrian painter, draftsman, print maker, sculptor, architect, stage designer, composer, poet, singer and one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism.