Cyprus – Gourri Village

Merja wanted me to see this quaint village of Gourri in the Troodos Area. It is a populated place in Nicosia, Cyprus. The name comes from a medieval aristocratic family called Gourri. Their coat of arms, a sun displayed, is found in several places in the island. One of the members of the family was Jacques du Gourri, viconte of Cyprus. The Church is dedicated to Saint George and it was built in 1775.

China - Kaiping

Kaiping or Hoi Ping is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, southern China. It has a population of 680,000 as of 2003 and an area of 1,659 km². The locals speak a variation of the Taishan dialect. Kaiping has traditionally been a region of major emigration abroad, and a melting pot of ideas and trends brought back by overseas Chinese made good. As a consequence, several watchtowers incorporate architectural features from China and the West. As a result, a large number of early Chinese Canadian and Chinese American communities had people who originated from Kaiping and its neighbouring counties of Taishan, Enping and Xinhui. It is said that there are more Kaipingnese people living abroad today than there are Kaipingnese in Kaiping. My friend Gong Yudie sent me this nice maxi card in a beautiful cover with a nice minisheet and pretty stamps on it as displayed.

Cyprus – Kato Paphos

Paphos sometimes referred to as Pafos, is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, about 50 km (31.07 mi) west of the Limassol (the biggest port in island), which has a A6 highway connection. Paphos International Airport is the country's second largest airport. Near Palaepaphos (Old Paphos) at the seaside of Petra-tou-Romiou is the mythical birthplace of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty and the founding myth is interwoven with the goddess at every level, so that Old Paphos became the most famous and important place for worshipping Aphrodite in the ancient world. In Greco-Roman times Paphos was the island's capital, and it is famous for the remains of the Roman governor's palace, where extensive, fine mosaics are a major tourist attraction. The apostle Paul of Tarsus visited the town during the 1st century AD. The town of Paphos is included in the official UNESCO list of cultural and natural treasures of the world's heritage. Paphos enjoys a Subtropical-Mediterranean climate, with the mildest temperatures on the island. The typical summer's season lasts about 8 months, from April to November, although also in March and December sometimes there are temperature above 20 °C (68.0 °F). My dear friend Merja sent this card.

Finland - Lapland

A reindeer from Finnish Lapland or shoud I say Santa Clausland? Thank you Taru for this nice card.

Holland - Cycling in Dutch Life

Ingrid sent me this nice card about cycles. There is no country in the world where biking is so normal as it is in The Netherlands - except China. This is a tribute to Dutch Bikes. Yes, they really do a lot of bicycling - and they have the bikes to show for it. Want to commute to work or run weekend errands on a bicycle without looking like a sweaty, beady-eyed bike messenger? Want to save the planet and your clothes? Get a Dutch bike. Good for the environment and for keeping fit, bicycles in the Netherlands are more than just a leisure item, they are the workhorses of many families You need to realise that cars (even second-hand ones) are expensive to both buy and run , petrol costs Euro 1.43 per litre (unless it has changed since then). Bikes are so prevalent in The Netherlands that in some places there are just too many. All Dutch train stations have places for bikes to be parked, but when many people make use of that facility, chaos ensues.
One reason why bikes work in Holland is that the country is so flat. What the dutch call hills would hardly be recognized as such in most other countries. Bikes are also very practical in crowded cities. But, you will also find Dutch people riding their bike in the country-side during weekends. You will find bikes in villages. You will find bikes just about everywhere you go in The Netherlands. Try crossing the street in Amsterdam - you won't be able to, if you don't pay attention to the bikes. Bikes could be one reason why Dutch women wear pants so much ;-))

Germany – Ole West

Ole West was born in 1953, the son of the painter Gerhard West in Wedel near Hamburg. He got the first art lessons as 12-year old boy with the Wedeler painter Albert-Ludwig Glaser. In 1975, he began to study at the College of Further Education in Hamburg and finished in 1979 with a diploma in design. After that he created different designs for house fronts, exhibition stands, large graphics, film, project and ships painting, amongst others for the Studio Hamburg of the NDR and the Ernst-Deutsch-Theatre. Since 1984, he lives as a free painter and drawer on the island of Norderney (Germany), with a main focus on etchings, oil watercolour painting and mixed technics. His works are in public and private collections all around the world. Ute sent me this pretty card of the Lighthouse Dicke Berta off Cuxhaven paited by Ole West.Ole West is quite a popular artist in Northern Germany. He combines beautifully nautical maps with his paintings of ships and lighthouses. As characterised by this drawing on the card.

Built in 1871Dicke Berta has been Inactive since 1983 13 m (43 ft) round cylindrical steel tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted white, lantern and gallery black. The lighthouse carried the front light of a range; the rear light was the 34 m (112 ft) cast iron Osterende-Groden Oberfeuer, nicknamed Schlanke Anna (Skinny Anna). Between 1915 and 1918 Dicke Berta was taken down and rebuilt a short distance away because of a change in the range line. The range was replaced in 1968 by the Altenbruch-Wehldorf range, but Dicke Berta remained active until 1983. The lighthouse was then transferred to a preservation society, which has restored the building. The building has since become a popular site for weddings. Located near the Altenbruch harbor.

Germany – Sanssouci, Potsdam

Annett sent this lovely card about the famous palace in Potsdam. Potsdam incidentally is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and is part of the Metropolitan area of Berlin/Brandenburg. It is situated on the River Havel, 24 km (15 miles) southwest of Berlin city center.

Sanssouci is the name of the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. It is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and is far smaller than its French Baroque counterpart, it too is notable for the numerous temples and follies in the park. The palace was designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff between 1745 and 1747 to fulfill King Frederick's need for a private residence where he could relax away from the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court.