Bobsleigh World Championships 1991

1991 Bobsleigh World Championships

This maxi card is about the 1991 World Bobsleigh Championships which was awarded to Altenberg. It was held from 4 to 17 February 1991.

Altenberg is a town in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Ore Mountains, close to the border with the Czech Republic, 15 km northwest of Teplice, and 32 km south of Dresden.

It is home of the Altenberg bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track that has been in use since 1987.

The FIBT World Championships 2008 ran February 11–24, 2008 in Altenberg, Saxony, for the fifth time, having done so in 1991 (bobsleigh), 1994 (skeleton), 1999 (skeleton), and 2000 (men's bobsleigh). It was the first time Altenberg has hosted all of the events at one championship.

Thank you Maria for this maxicard with the pretty minisheet on it.

Ithaca College

Aimee sent me this pretty card. What a nice and peaceful scene at the Ithaca College. I’d love to lie down under one of those trees and keep watching the ducks and geese the whole day.

Ithaca College for those who are interested is a private college located on the South Hill of Ithaca, New York, United States. The school was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music. The college has a strong liberal arts core, but also offers several pre-professional programs and some graduate programs. The college is also known internationally for its communications program:the Roy H. Park School of Communications. 

The college is set against the backdrop of Cayuga Lake, the city of Ithaca, and several waterfalls and gorges. The college is perhaps best known for its large list of alumni who play or have played substantial roles in the world ofbroadcasting. The college has been ranked among the top ten master's universities in the North by U.S. News & World Report every year since 1996. For the 2010 rankings, the college was ranked 7 in this category.

An old Adage

This pretty and thought provoking card was sent to me by Heike from Halle in Germany. Some of you may remember that the composer G.F. Handel was born in Halle, near which flows the River Saale.

Coming back to the card. The main text says, “A great man is he who has not lost his child’s heart”. So true. And the tub boat says it all, “Old Love”. Thank you Heike for this very nice card.

Khamis Mosque in Bahrain

The Khamis Mosque is believed to be the first mosque in Bahrain, built during the era of the Umayyad caliph Umar II. According to Al Wasat journalist Kassim Hussain, other sources mention that it was build in a later era during the rule of Uyunids  with one minaret. The second was built two centuries later during the rule of Usfurids. The identical twin minarets of this ancient Islamic monument make it easily noticeable as one drives along the Shaikh Salman Road in Khamis.

It is considered to be one of the oldest mosques in the region, as its foundation is believed to have been laid as early as 692 AD. An inscription found on the site, however, suggests a foundation date of sometime during the 11th century. It has since been rebuilt twice in both the 14th and 15th centuries, when the minarets were constructed. The Khamis mosque has been partially restored recently.

Thank you Joanita for this nice card.

"Seaknights" by Igor Arty.

Thank you Yulia for this lovely card with the painting of a battle at sea. The "Seaknights" by a well known Ukrainian painter Igor Arty.

Stamp Exhibition ‘Filacento’ 1984

This interesting card was sent to me by Bert from Zwolle in Holland.  It shows the Stamp Exhibition ‘Filacento’ held in Holland on 13.6.1984.

I would also like to draw your attention to the three lovely stamps affixed to the card. The first one was in accordance with the theme of EUROPA86, which was “Conservation of Nature”.

The second stamp commemorated The Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of St. John (Sint-Janskathedraal) of Hertogenbosch, North Brabant which is the height of gothic architecture in the Netherlands. It has an extensive and richly decorated interior, and serves as the cathedral for the bishopric of Hertogenbosch. The cathedral has a total length of 115 and a width of 62 metres. Its tower reaches 73 metres high.

St. John’s Cathedral is a so-called ‘Kanjermonument’ (whopper-monument, loosely translated) and being such, it receives financial support from the Dutch government. In 1985, it received the honorary title of Basilica Minor from Pope John Paul II.

And the third stamp is for the 400^th Death Anniversary of William of Orange. Now, William I, Prince of Orange (24 April 1533 – 10 July 1584), also widely known as William the Silent, or simply William of Orange, who was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the William I, Prince of Orange. William joined the Dutch uprising and turned against his former masters. The most influential and politically capable of the rebels, he led the Dutch to several successes in the fight against the Spanish. Declared an outlaw by the Spanish king in 1580, he was assassinated by Balthasar Gérard (also written as "Gerardts") in Delft four years later (1584).

The Arctic Circle

Now, this card is indeed very interesting. It was sent to me by Tonni who lives north of Oslo. The card shows the monument indicating the Polar Circle latitude 66° 33′  . The Arctic Circle Centre is situated by the E6 h ighway at Saltfjellet in the county of Nordland. It is also situated in a national park with wonderful hiking opportunities.

In the area around the centre, there are Russian and Yugoslavian war memorials from World War II. The centre's architecture is adapted to the surrounding nature, and a path made of marble shows how the Arctic Circle runs through the centre. 
At the centre you will find a cafeteria serving Norwegian food, a large souvenir/gift shop and an exhibition covering art, marble and stuffed arctic animals - including Europe's largest stuffed polar bear. There is an excellent movie theatre showing the multi-vision programme "Northern Norway". You will find a post office selling postcards with a special Arctic Circle seal. The Arctic Circle Centre is open from 1 May to 15 September.

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 run 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.