Maria Leopoldine Esterhazy

The stamp on this maxi card is in honour of Maria Leopoldine Esterhazy, Princess of Liechtenstein. It was issued on 10^th March 1980. Thank you Merja.

Bengtskär Lighthouse

Bengtskär lighthouse is located in the Archipelago Sea about 25 kilometres south west of Hanko, Finland. The lighthouse was built in 1906 on the Bengtskär skerry where it rises 52 meters above sea level and is the highest one in the Nordic countries. This rocky skerry is the southernmost inhabited place in Finland, and is reached by ferry from the village of Kasnäs. Soviet troops landing there tried to explode the lighthouse during the Battle of Bengtskär during the Continuation War in 1941. Bengtskär lighthouse is nowadays a popular tourist destination and is visited roughly 13 000 to 15 000 tourists every year.
When the lighthouse was completed in 1907, a five-man crew was hired to live on the island: a lighthouse master, three lighthouse keepers and a foghorn operator. They lived on the island with their families for several years and seldom visited the mainland. The families were nearly self-sufficient: they had sheep, pigs and a small vegetable garden. Sometimes, during autumn storms, waves would wash over the whole island, sweeping away the valuable garden. Thank you Merja for this pretty card.

Royal Tunbridge Wells

Royal Tunbridge Wells (usually shortened to Tunbridge Wells) is a large town and Borough in west Kent, England, about 40 miles (64 km) south-east of central London by road, 34.5 miles (55.5 km) by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex. It is situated at the northern edge of the High Weald, the sandstone geology of which is exemplified by the rock formations at the Wellington Rocks and High Rocks. The town came into being as a spa in Georgian times and had its heyday as a tourist resort under Richard (Beau) Nash when the Pantiles and its chalybeate spring attracted visitors who wished to take the waters. Though its popularity waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town remains popular and derives some 30% of its income from the tourist industry.

The town has a population of around 56,500 and is the administrative centre of Tunbridge Wells Borough and the UK parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. In the United Kingdom Tunbridge Wells has a reputation as being the archetypal conservative "Middle England" town, a stereotype that is typified by the fictional letter-writer "Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells" ;-))

One of the stamps on the card about Royal Tunbridge Wells sent to me by Debbie depicts  My Favourite Charles Dickens character: Mr Pickwick from The Pickwick Papers (1836). And I just could not resist including him in my blog.

“There are very few moments in a man’s existence, when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat.” Yet there are few of Dickens’s characters to whom we feel as charitable as we do towards Mr Pickwick – especially near the start of The Pickwick Papers, when his hat flies away as “merrily as a lively porpoise in a strong tide”. “I thought of Mr Pickwick, and wrote the first number,” said Dickens. Part Falstaff, part Bertie Wooster, Mr Pickwick embodies the conviviality, lively appetite and good humour that is an enduring part of an Englishman’s self-image. When the rotund, bespectacled gentleman first appeared in 1836 the public immediately fell in love with him, and his creator. Even now you find Pickwick clubs and Pickwick pubs all over England; and the old Dickens £10 note was not illustrated by something from Oliver Twist or A Christmas Carol but with The Pickwick Papers’s cricket match between Dingley Dell and All Muggleton. (Then again you wouldn’t have wanted Fagin or Scrooge anywhere near your cash.)
His adventures turn slightly sour when one Mrs Bardell sues him for reneging on his offer of marriage. Needless to say, Mr Pickwick had no idea he had made such a promise, but he still ends up in debtors’ prison. When a deranged man steals his nightcap, he defends himself and then, in Dickens’s words, “communicated a revolving motion to his clenched fists, by way of appalling his antagonists with a display of science.” So ludicrous does he appear that his opponent bursts into laughter. Dickens’s advice to anyone who loses his hat could be the motto for Mr Pickwick and, indeed, for us all: while others laugh, keep “smiling pleasantly all the time, as if you thought it as good a joke as anybody else”.Royal Tunbridge Wells (usually shortened to Tunbridge Wells) is a large town and Borough in west Kent, England, about 40 miles (64 km) south-east of central London by road, 34.5 miles (55.5 km) by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex. It is situated at the northern edge of the High Weald, the sandstone geology of which is exemplified by the rock formations at the Wellington Rocks and High Rocks. The town came into being as a spa in Georgian times and had its heyday as a tourist resort under Richard (Beau) Nash when the Pantiles and its chalybeate spring attracted visitors who wished to take the waters. Though its popularity waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town remains popular and derives some 30% of its income from the tourist industry.
The town has a population of around 56,500 and is the administrative centre of Tunbridge Wells Borough and the UK parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. In the United Kingdom Tunbridge Wells has a reputation as being the archetypal conservative "Middle England" town, a stereotype that is typified by the fictional letter-writer "Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells" ;-))

One of the stamps on the card about Royal Tunbridge Wells sent to me by Debbie depicts  My Favourite Charles Dickens character: Mr Pickwick from The Pickwick Papers (1836). And I just could not resist including him in my blog.

“There are very few moments in a man’s existence, when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat.” Yet there are few of Dickens’s characters to whom we feel as charitable as we do towards Mr Pickwick – especially near the start of The Pickwick Papers, when his hat flies away as “merrily as a lively porpoise in a strong tide”. “I thought of Mr Pickwick, and wrote the first number,” said Dickens. Part Falstaff, part Bertie Wooster, Mr Pickwick embodies the conviviality, lively appetite and good humour that is an enduring part of an Englishman’s self-image. When the rotund, bespectacled gentleman first appeared in 1836 the public immediately fell in love with him, and his creator. Even now you find Pickwick clubs and Pickwick pubs all over England; and the old Dickens £10 note was not illustrated by something from Oliver Twist or A Christmas Carol but with The Pickwick Papers’s cricket match between Dingley Dell and All Muggleton. (Then again you wouldn’t have wanted Fagin or Scrooge anywhere near your cash.)
His adventures turn slightly sour when one Mrs Bardell sues him for reneging on his offer of marriage. Needless to say, Mr Pickwick had no idea he had made such a promise, but he still ends up in debtors’ prison. When a deranged man steals his nightcap, he defends himself and then, in Dickens’s words, “communicated a revolving motion to his clenched fists, by way of appalling his antagonists with a display of science.” So ludicrous does he appear that his opponent bursts into laughter. Dickens’s advice to anyone who loses his hat could be the motto for Mr Pickwick and, indeed, for us all: while others laugh, keep “smiling pleasantly all the time, as if you thought it as good a joke as anybody else”.Royal Tunbridge Wells (usually shortened to Tunbridge Wells) is a large town and Borough in west Kent, England, about 40 miles (64 km) south-east of central London by road, 34.5 miles (55.5 km) by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex. It is situated at the northern edge of the High Weald, the sandstone geology of which is exemplified by the rock formations at the Wellington Rocks and High Rocks. The town came into being as a spa in Georgian times and had its heyday as a tourist resort under Richard (Beau) Nash when the Pantiles and its chalybeate spring attracted visitors who wished to take the waters. Though its popularity waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town remains popular and derives some 30% of its income from the tourist industry.
The town has a population of around 56,500 and is the administrative centre of Tunbridge Wells Borough and the UK parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. In the United Kingdom Tunbridge Wells has a reputation as being the archetypal conservative "Middle England" town, a stereotype that is typified by the fictional letter-writer "Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells" ;-))

One of the stamps on the card about Royal Tunbridge Wells sent to me by Debbie depicts  My Favourite Charles Dickens character: Mr Pickwick from The Pickwick Papers (1836). And I just could not resist including him in my blog.

“There are very few moments in a man’s existence, when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat.” Yet there are few of Dickens’s characters to whom we feel as charitable as we do towards Mr Pickwick – especially near the start of The Pickwick Papers, when his hat flies away as “merrily as a lively porpoise in a strong tide”. “I thought of Mr Pickwick, and wrote the first number,” said Dickens. Part Falstaff, part Bertie Wooster, Mr Pickwick embodies the conviviality, lively appetite and good humour that is an enduring part of an Englishman’s self-image. When the rotund, bespectacled gentleman first appeared in 1836 the public immediately fell in love with him, and his creator. Even now you find Pickwick clubs and Pickwick pubs all over England; and the old Dickens £10 note was not illustrated by something from Oliver Twist or A Christmas Carol but with The Pickwick Papers’s cricket match between Dingley Dell and All Muggleton. (Then again you wouldn’t have wanted Fagin or Scrooge anywhere near your cash.)

“smiling pleasantly all the time, as if you thoughtas good a joke as anybody else”.

His adventures turn slightly sour when one Mrs Bardell sues him for reneging on his offer of marriage. Needless to say, Mr Pickwick had no idea he had made such a promise, but he still ends up in debtors’ prison. When a deranged man steals his nightcap, he defends himself and then, in Dickens’s words, “communicated a revolving motion to his clenched fists, by way of appalling his antagonists with a display of science.” So ludicrous does he appear that his opponent bursts into laughter. Dickens’s advice to anyone who loses his hat could be the motto for Mr Pickwick and, indeed, for us all: while others laugh, keep 

Weather in Finland - Four distinctly different seasons!

Finland is a country of contrasts, not just in a geographical sense but also in its climate. The country has four distinctly different seasons that transform the white winter wonderland to a green leafy summer in just a few months. Temperatures during the year vary considerably and -30C in winter and +30C in summer are not uncommon! And this is exactly what this card sent to me Britta from Raseburg in Southern Finland is trying to depict.

Summer– warm and fair, rain ample, nature green. Summer in Finland roughly lasts from June to August. The summer is the season of the Midnight Sun and nights are bright. In Lapland, for two months from June to July, the sun never sets! Even elsewhere in the country the sun only disappears below the horizon for a few hours. Summers in Finland are generally warm and in fact, the average temperatures are higher than those in the UK. Temperatures tend to stay around +15C-+25C, but temperatures of +30C are not unheard of.

Winter– snowy in the north; Northern Lights shine through Lapland nights. Winter in Finland lasts roughly from December to March, but the snowfall in Lapland might start as early as October and last till mid-May. The crisp winter days invite you to admire the beautiful frozen trees and lakes, whereas if you feel more energetic, there are thrilling activities such as snowmobiling, husky and reindeer safaris to try. The clear, dark nights are ideal for spotting the Northern Lights. 

Autumn– forests aglow with tinted foliage. Autumn months September to November see Finland's forest landscape turn into a splendid and unforgettable array of red and gold known as "ruska". This is the season when it rains the most and when the nature starts preparing for a new snowfall in the forthcoming winter. Temperatures start dropping and might start dipping below the zero during the nights. In daytime, temperatures hover around +5C to +15C. The moderate temperatures of autumn make this season ideal for cycling or hiking along the many woodland trails, while it is also popular to pick newly appeared wild blueberries, raspberries, lingonberries, cloudberries and mushrooms, that all make a large part of a Finnish diet. Days again start getting shorter and nights darker. 

Spring– brings in the thaw. Spring months April and May bring Finland much welcomed light and warmer temperatures. Days are quickly starting to get longer and the snow starts melting in the South, Western Lakes and Lakeland mid-April, while in the northern Lapland the snow might well not start melting before May. The further North you will go, the later the spring arrives. 

Lapland alone keeps its vernal snow for winter sport

Conservation & Protection of Nature

Conservation is an ethic of resource use, allocation, and protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world its, fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity. Secondary focus is on materials conservation and energy conservation, which are seen as important to protect the natural world. Those who follow the conservation ethic and, especially, those who advocate or work toward conservation goals are termed conservationists.

The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future. The early conservation movement included fisheries and wildlife management, water, soil conservation and sustainable forestry. The contemporary conservation movement has broadened from the early movement's emphasis on use of sustainable yield of natural resources and preservation of wilderness areas to include preservation of biodiversity. Some say the conservation movement is part of the broader and more far-reaching environmental movement, while others argue that they differ both in ideology and practice. Chiefly in the United States, conservation is seen as differing from environmentalism in that it aims to preserve natural resources expressly for their continued sustainable use by humans. In other parts of the world conservation is used more broadly to include the setting aside of natural areas and the active protection of wildlife for their inherent value, as much as for any value they may have for humans.

The United Nations Postal Services issued a stamp on 19^th November 1982, which is shown on this maxicard with the special postmark of that day. Merja gave me this card.

Welcome to Loviisa

Pia sent me this card from Loviisa, which is a municipality and town of around 16000 inhabitants (31 January 2012) on the southern coast of Finland. The town centre is located about 87 km east of Helsinki, along the road to St. Petersburg. The new City of Loviisa (Lovisa in Swedish) was born on January 1_st 2010 when former municipalities of Loviisa, Liljendal, Pernaja and Ruotsinpyhtää were merged together. Loviisa is best known for its fortifications, the wooden houses in its Old Town and the Strömfors Iron Works. Both Finnish and Swedish (the two official languages of Finland) are traditionally spoken in the Loviisa area.
Loviisa was founded in 1745, as a border fortress against Russia. Most of the fortifications have been preserved. It is named after Lovisa Ulrika, the Swedish Queen consort of Adolf Frederick of Sweden. Loviisa is the site of one of Finland's two nuclear power stations, the other being at Olkiluoto.  

US Brig Niagara

US Brig Niagara or the Flagship Niagara, is a wooden-hulled brig that served as the relief flagship for Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. It is one of last remaining ships from the War of 1812. The Niagara is usually docked behind the Erie Maritime Museum in downtown Erie in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania as an outdoor exhibit for the museum, but travels the Great Lakes during the summer, serving as an ambassador of Pennsylvania when not docked. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and was designated the official state ship of Pennsylvania by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1988. This lovely card was sent to me by Maria.

1600th Anniversary of Saint Theodul or Saint Joder

Maria sent me this maxicard with The 80-rappen postage stamp on it. The picture is of the fourth 'Saint Joder' stamp published by the Postal Service in Vaduz. Bishop Saint Joder is shown with a bunch of grapes. 'Saint Joder is the Patron saint of farmers and vintners. The patron saint of Triesenberg, Saint Theodul (or Saint Joder) is once again appearing on a Liechtenstein postage stamp, in especially impressive form. Once again a worthy jubilee is a legitimate occasion for the issuance of a special stamp, this time in celebration of the 1600-year festival of this legendary saint. His history, going back to the year 381, is presented by a scholar, former Deacon Engelbert Bucher (Triesenberg). The horizontal stamp shows the Theodul statue from the parish church of Laterns. The sculpture, of about the year 1500, from the old Vorarlberg forest settlement indubitably belongs to the most beautiful visual images of the saint. The stamp was designed by Bruno Kaufmann and Walter Wachter.

Cargolux 747-400F LX YCV

This 747-400F LX YCV (Freighter) shown on the card is on the taxiway at Seattle, USA. It is an all freight version which uses the fuselage design of the 747-200F. The aircraft's first flight was on May 4, 1993, and it entered service with Cargolux on November 17, 1993. Major customers included Atlas Air, Cargolux, China Airlines, Korean Air, Nippon Cargo Airlines, Polar Air Cargo, and Singapore Airlines. The −400F can be easily distinguished from the passenger −400 by its shorter upper-deck hump. Whatever the configuration, I have always loved to be on a 747:-))
The 747-400F has a main deck nose door and a mechanized cargo handling system. The nose door swings up so that pallets or containers up to 40 ft (12 m) can be loaded straight in on motor-driven rollers. An optional main deck side cargo door (like the 747-400M (Combi)) allows loading of dimensionally taller cargo modules. Boeing delivered 126 Boeing 747-400F aircraft with no unfilled orders as of November 2009. The last −400F was delivered to Nippon Cargo Airlines. This pretty card was sent to me by Katya from Russia.

Hannover - The Kröpcke Clock

Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg (later described as the Elector of Hanover). At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Electorate was enlarged to become the capital of the Kingdom of Hanover.
In addition to being the capital of Lower Saxony, Hanover was the capital of the administrative area Regierungsbezirk Hannover (Hanover region) until Lower Saxony's administrative regions were disbanded at the beginning of 2005. Since 2001 it is part of the Hanover district (Region Hannover), which is a municipal body made up from the former district (Landkreis Hannover) and city of Hanover (note: although both Region and Landkreis are translated as district they are not the same).
With a population of 522,686 (31 December 2010) the city is a major centre of northern Germany, known for hosting annual commercial trade fairs such as the Hanover Fair and the CeBIT. Every year Hanover hosts the Schützenfest Hannover, the world's largest marksmen's festival, and the Oktoberfest Hannover, the second largest Oktoberfest in the world. In 2000, Hanover hosted the world fair Expo 2000. The Hanover fairground, due to numerous extensions, especially for the Expo 2000, is the largest in the world. Hanover is also of national importance because of its universities and medical school, its international airport, and its large zoo. The city is also a major crossing point of railway lines and highways (Autobahnen), connecting European main lines in east-west-direction (Berlin - Ruhr area) and north-south-direction (Hamburg - Munich et al.).
And, what you see on the card is the The Kröpcke Clock. Hannover's most famous meeting spot, located above the Kröpcke underground train station, the main station of City Center. This Kröpcke Clock is a 1977 replica of the original built by Konrad Oertel in 1885 but destroyed in WWII. It takes its name from Wilhelm Kröpcke, a famous headwaiter of a cafe in the area. The four corners have all the 12 Zodiac signs on them. This lovely card was sent to me by Sisela.

The Pentagon

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defence, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defence rather than the building itself.
Designed by the American architect George Bergstrom (1876–1955), and built by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, general contractor John McShain, the building was dedicated on January 15, 1943, after ground was broken for construction on September 11, 1941. General Brehon Somervell provided the major motive power behind the project; Colonel Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project for the Army.
The Pentagon is the world's largest office building by floor area, with about 6,500,000 sq ft (600,000 m²), of which 3,700,000 sq ft (340,000 m²) are used as offices. Approximately 28,000 military and civilian employees and about 3,000 non-defence support personnel work in the Pentagon. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors per floor with a total of 17.5 mi (28.2 km) of corridors. The Pentagon includes a five-acre (20,000 m²) central plaza, which is shaped like a pentagon and informally known as "ground zero", a nickname originating during the Cold War and based on the presumption that the Soviet Union would target one or more nuclear missiles at this central location in the outbreak of a nuclear war.
On September 11, 2001, exactly 60 years after the building's groundbreaking, hijacked American Airlines Flight 77—a Boeing 757-223—was crashed into the western side of the Pentagon, killing 189 people including five hijackers, 59 others aboard the plane, and 125 working in the building.
Thank you Pam for this card.

Life at Sea

I really love this card showing young seamen washing the deck. They must have holy stoned it earlier of course.  It reminds me of my cadet days on the training ship. The only difference being that the petty officer overseeing our work always had a frown on his face and never seemed satisfied with our efforts J This cute card was sent to me by Sien.

Easy-Reading

This was the second of the "Easy-Reading" series, following on from the Bible theme of 6060a. In the inside front cover, these books point out that "even children whose reading experience is limited will be encouraged by the superb full-colour illustrations and the relatively simple text". And superb the illustrations were, created by John Berry approaching near photographic precision with a paintbrush.

The Soldier, in 1966, was the first in the series to be issued in the matt cover, dust-jacket-less format. Written by I & J Havenhand, illustrated by Berry, it is, as you might expect, full of tanks, guns, rockets and other exciting bits of machinery. Today’s high technology is not much in evidence; "all regiments of the army have radios in case the telephone wires get broken". The engineers have an especially exciting job; "radios, watches, telephones, rockets, tanks and helicopters are among the many things that the soldiers mend in their workshops". However, nowhere in the book does it mention that the ultimate job of the fighting soldier is to kill people. Yes Ira, I was thrilled to get your card, because, I had already read this book some time ago, and had thoroughly enjoyed it. In case you get a chance do read the other books in the series, the Sailor, the Airman et al.

Eva Ryynänen

Eva Ryynänen, June 15, 1915  - 18 October 2001) was a Finnish sculptor. She used wood as her medium. Ryynänen studied with the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts School from 1934 to 1939. The artist's debut show was in 1940. She has made more than 500 sculptures, 50 of which are overseas. Ryynänen Vuonislahti studio is located 28 kilometers from Lieksa Joensuu. The studio, Ryynänen's house and the Paateri Church are in the same compound, and now, are popular tourist attractions. Ryynänen’s husband was a farmer, Paavo Ryynänen (d. 2002). Ryynänen’s parents were Juho Åsenbrygg (Honka Lake) and Aino Å., Os Hujanen. Merja gave me this nice card which show’s the chapel and Lake Pielinen.

The studio, home, gallery-café and chapel of the wood sculptress Eva Ryynänen are situated at Paateri, in the village of Vuonisjärvi, 30 km from the town centre of Lieksa towards Joensuu.  Her biggest single project, the unique Paateri chapel, was completed in the summer of 1991. Paateri has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Lieksa.

Sauna Accessories

The wooden accessories are beautifully handcrafted of Finnish pine and Finnish craftsmanship. A bucket and dipper are essential Sauna accessories. A dipper or two of water splashed over hot Sauna stones creates vapor, that promotes perspiration to flush the pores. It also transforms the hot dry air into a comfortable moist atmosphere. Without the use of water, the bather cannot enjoy a truly authentic Sauna experience. Since the buckets are made of natural wood, which has a tendency to expand and contract in the heat of the Sauna, heavy duty bucket liner’s are recommended in order to prevent leakage. Occasionally one uses leafy, fragrant boughs of silver birch called vihta in West Finland and vasta in East Finland to gently beat oneself. This has a relaxing effect on the muscles and also helps in calming the effects of mosquito bites. This pretty card was sent to me by Raija.

The Steamer "Island Queen"

In the 1880's, a farmer named James Parker lived a few miles east of Cincinnati, Ohio. He came to realize that his apple orchard, in a scenic spot on the riverbank, earned more money when he rented it out for church picnics and other excursions than it ever could by growing apples. So in 1886 he sold the land to a riverboat company, who opened it as "Ohio Grove, the Coney Island of the West."  An advertsing poster from that year boasted that the grounds were lighted by electricity, and proclaimed it "The Most Beautiful All-Day Summer Resort in America."  The steamboat company ran four round trips a day between Cincinnati and "Coney Island," as the park came to be known. The total price (in 1886) was 50 cents, including admission to the grounds AND round-trip steamboat transportation. Coney Island finally closed its gates in 1971, to be replaced by the more modern Kings Island amusement park the following season.

By 1905, the steamboat company had become The Coney Island Company. That year, they purchased the 12-year-old steamboat "Saint Joseph" from owners in Mississippi, had her re-fitted, and re-named her the "Island Queen." For seventeen years she ran the several daily round trips between the Cincinnati levee and Coney Island. There was entertainment on board the steamboat as well, for this is the "Island Queen" on which "Chimes - A Novelty Rag" by Homer Denney and "The Queen Rag - March and Two Step" by Floyd Willis were played on a daily basis.
As was the case with so many of the old wooden steamboats, she met her end by fire. The "Island Queen," along with the "Morning Star," the "Chris Greene," and the "Tacoma" all burned in a spectacular blaze at the Cincinnati levee in November, 1922.
This grand old boat was succeeded by a second "Island Queen," built in 1925 on a steel hull originally intended for the steamer "Louisville," which was never built. The second "Island Queen" continued in daily Coney Island service until 1947, when her fuel tanks exploded during refitting work in Pittsburgh, with the loss of nineteen lives. A near-twin to the second "Island Queen" is still afloat. Originally named the "Cincinnati," this boat was re-fitted and re-named, and made her debut as the "President" in 1934. Re-fitted once again in 1991 as a floating casino, the "President" is now moored at Davenport, Iowa. Thank you Jessica for this lovely card.

Lake Santeetlah, North Carolina

Lake Santeetlah is a town in Graham County, North Carolina, United States, six miles (10 km) north of Robbinsville and within fifteen miles (24 km) of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a peninsula surrounded by Lake Santeetlah—which in turn is largely surrounded by Nantahala National Forest. The town has more than two hundred residences, many of them second homes owned by permanent residents of Florida and Georgia. The town was organized in 1989 as Santeetlah; in 1999, it changed its name to Lake Santeetlah. The full-time population was 67 at the 2000 census. Thank you Fred for this nice card.

Sochi

Thank you Eleonora for this lovely card of Sochi, a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for 145 kilometers (90 mi) along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a permanent population of 343,285; up from 328,809 recorded in the 2002 Census, making it Russia's largest resort city.
Sochi will host the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games in 2014, as well as the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix from 2014 until at least 2020. It is also one of the host cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Sochi has a humid subtropical climate with mild winters (average +11 °C (52 °F) during the day and +4 °C (39 °F) at night in the period from December to March) and comfortable summers (average +24 °C (75 °F) during the day and +16 °C (61 °F) at night period from May to October).

Toronto

Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from the Mississaugas of the New Credit. The settlement was later established as the Town of York and proclaimed as the new capital of Upper Canada by its lieutenant governor, John Graves Simcoe. In 1834, York was incorporated as a city and renamed to its present name. The city was ransacked in the Battle of York during the War of 1812 and damaged in two great fires in 1849 and in 1904. Since its incorporation, Toronto has repeatedly expanded its borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities, most recently in 1998.
With over 2.6 million residents, it is the fifth most populous city in North America. Its cosmopolitan and international population reflects its role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada. Toronto is one of the world's most diverse cities by percentage of non-native-born residents, with about 49% of the population born outside Canada. 
As Canada's commercial capital and one of the world's top financial centres, Toronto is considered an alpha world city by the Globalisation and World Cities (GaWC) study group. It is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the world's seventh largest in terms of market value. Toronto contains more corporate headquarters than any other Canadian city, including those of Canada's five largest banks. Toronto's leading economic sectors include finance, business services, telecommunications, aerospace, transportation, media, arts, film, music, television production, publishing, software production, medical research, education, tourism, engineering, and sports industries. According to Forbes, Toronto is the tenth-most economically powerful city in the world and one of the fastest growing among the G7 nations, whilst PwC ranks the city as the world's second-best "metro powerhouse". Toronto was ranked twelfth in the world and fourth in the Americas in 2010 for economic innovation by 2thinknow. The cost of living in Toronto was ranked highest in Canada in 2011^[update]. Thank you Isabelle for this card with the wonderful aerial view of part of Toronto.

Wisely Said

Thank you Merja. I am in complete agreement with the Oracle who said this ;-))

Zwickau, Germany

Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the southwestern region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau. The city is situated in a valley at the foot of the Erzgebirge Mountains and is also part of the so-called Saxon triangle metropolitan area, an economic network that includes Leipzig-Halle, Dresden. The city has slightly fewer than 100,000 inhabitants but has a regional catchments area of over 480,000 people. The city can be easily reached by car via the nearby Autobahns A4 and A72. The city has a main railway station (Zwickau-Hbf) and is also reachable via a public airfield, which takes light aircraft.
Zwickau, known as the city of Automobiles and Robert Schumann (the famous composer), is the cradle of the Saxon automotive industry with an over one hundred year old tradition. The city has a long history of automotive development and automobile industry along with Auto Union. Well known beyond Germany's borders are trademarks such as Horch, Audi, Trabant and Volkswagen. The "Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau" - University of Applied Sciences - has therefore always been an important centre for automotive development.
The valley of the 166 km long Zwickauer Mulde River stretches from the Vogtland to the famous Colditz Castle at the other extreme. The Silver Road, Saxony's longest scenic road, connects Dresden with Zwickau. The German ADAC City Guide recently wrote, "The town of Zwickau has transformed itself over the years from a traditional mining town into an elegant Art-Nouveau town, which is well worth discovering.“ Sven sent this pretty card to me

Jyväskylä

Jyväskylä is a city and municipality in Central Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is the largest city in central Finland and on the Finnish Lakeland. Jyväskylä is located on the northern coast of Lake Päijänne, 147 kilometres (91 mi) northeast of Tampere and 270 kilometres (170 mi) north of Helsinki. The hilly and forested terrain in Jyväskylä is surrounded by hundreds of lakes. The summers in Jyväskylä are warm and winters cold and snowy.
Elias Lönnrot, the compiler of the Finnish national epic Kalevala (details are available in earlier posts on this blog), gave the city a nickname "Athens of Finland". This nickname is used to describe the major role of Jyväskylä as an education centre and the first place in the world to provide education in Finnish. The works of the most famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto can be seen throughout the city. The city hosts Neste Oil Rally Finland, which is part of the World Rally Championship. It is also home of the annual Jyväskylä Arts Festival.
As of 31 January 2012, Jyväskylä had a population of 131,997. The city has been one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The Jyväskylä sub-region includes Jyväskylä, Hankasalmi, Laukaa, Muurame, Petäjävesi, Toivakka and Uurainen. My friend Auli sent me this card.

Oscar Kleineh

My friend Merja sent me this nice painting of a Finnish yawl made by Oskar Kleineh in 1890. Oskar Conrad Kleineh (18 September 1846, Helsinki, Finland – November 16, 1919) was a Finnish painter. He attended the school of the Finnish Art Association in 1863-1864 and studied drawing, then in Düsseldorf, Karlsruhe, and in St. Petersburg, Russia as well as between the years 1866 and 1878 in Paris 1881-1885. Kleineh painted, inter alia, of the marine and coastal scenery of the coast of the Gulf of Finland, and in the high season, France, Denmark, Norway and the Mediterranean countries, as well as sailing images and city views from across Europe, such as the 1870 's, in Northern France. Kleineh was unmarried. No wonder he had so much time to paint so well ;-))