Missile Boat of the erstwhile Yugoslavian Navy

This card brings back nostalgic memories of my days in the Missile Boat Squadron (with OSA class boats) in the Indian Navy. SFR Yugoslav Navy guided missile gunboat of the Končar class, which was a class of fast attack craft that was built for the SFR Yugoslav Navy in the late 1970s. Following the break-up of Yugoslavia one craft went to the Croatian Navy whilst the remaining five went to the Montenegro Navy. As of 2009 three vessels remain in service.

As planned by the Yugoslav navy, the entire class of six ships was due to undergo extensive overhauls and modernization during the early 1990s. The ships' anti-ship armament was to be replaced by the Swedish state-of-the-art RBS-15 system after the removal of the old Soviet P-15 Termit missiles. The stern Bofors 57 mm gun was also due to be removed and replaced by a CIWS AK-630M unit. However, only one ship managed to undergo these changes. It was the RTOP-402 which, as the war in Yugoslavia broke out, was being worked on in a Croatian shipyard and thus remained in Croatian service. All other RBS-15 missiles (out of roughly 100 delivered by the time) were captured by the Croatian forces. This ship entered Croatian Navy service as RTOP-21 "Šibenik" in late 1991 and saw additional light upgrading and overhauls over the years.

The class is named after the first vessel which in turn was named after Rade Končar. Armed with two SS-N-2B launchers, the Končar-class boats were modeled after the Swedish Spica class. This card was sent to me by Karoly from Serbia.

Mountain Lion

The cougar, also known as puma, mountain lion, mountain cat, catamount or panther, depending on the region, is a mammal of the family Felidae, native to the Americas. This large, solitary cat has the greatest range of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere, extending from Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes of South America. An adaptable, generalist species, the cougar is found in every major American habitat type. It is the second heaviest cat in the Western Hemisphere, after the jaguar. Although large, the cougar is most closely related to smaller felines and is closer genetically to the domestic cat than to true lions.

A capable stalk-and-ambush predator, the cougar pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources include ungulates such as deer, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep, as well as domestic cattle, horses and sheep, particularly in the northern part of its range. It will also hunt species as small as insects and rodents. This cat prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, but it can also live in open areas. The cougar is territorial and persists at low population densities. Individual territory sizes depend on terrain, vegetation, and abundance of prey. While it is a large predator, it is not always the dominant species in its range, as when it competes for prey with other predators such as the jaguar, grey wolf, American Black Bear, and the grizzly bear. It is a reclusive cat and usually avoids people. Attacks on humans remain fairly rare, despite a recent increase in frequency.

Because of excessive hunting following the European colonization of the Americas and the continuing human development of cougar habitat, populations have dropped in most parts of its historical range. In particular, the cougar was extirpated in eastern North America in the beginning of the 20th century, except for an isolated sub-population in Florida. However, in recent decades, breeding populations have moved east into the far western parts of the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Transient males have been verified in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Illinois, where a cougar was shot in the city limits of Chicago and, in at least one instance, observed as far east as Connecticut. This impressive card was sent to me by Graham of Kansas City.

The town of Salo in Finland

Salo is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality has a population of 55,243 (January 31, 2011) and covers an area of 2,168.27 square kilometres (837.17 sq mi) of which 181.78 km² (70.19 sq mi) is water. The population density is 27.81 /km² (72.0 /sq mi). In Finnish salo means woodland, backwoods but also a wooded island. It is thought that Salo has meant the island that over thousand years ago existed to the South of the current town but is today a hill, not even very close to the sea. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Salo has existed as a centre of rural commerce since at least the 16th century, grewn in the location where the Great Costal Road, the important East-West road, crossed River Salo; the river provided the fairway to the sea. In 1887 Salo officially became a market town and, in the beginning of 1891, an independent municipality. The area of the municipality was initially very small, only 0.65 km². In 1932 it grew to 18 km² when areas from neighbouring Uskela and Halikko were annexed to Salo. Eventually Salo became a town in 1960. Today its main claim to notability is as a developing and manufacturing plant for Nokia, and can therefore be considered as the original home town of Nokia phones. Nokia also is one of biggest employers in this region. Salo is located between the capital Helsinki and the provincial capital Turku, making it a busy small city. The short distance from these bigger cities keeps the Salo region and its business life growing. Farming also plays a considerable part in the area.

On the card is featured the Salo Art Museum (the round house in the upper part of the card). In the lower part of the card is a locomotive shed with an ancient steam engine by the name of Kana (meaning chicken). This nice card was sent to me by my dear friend Ella.

Centenary of the “Chemins de fer de provence”

The stamp on this maxi card and the card itself were issued to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the “Chemins de fer de provence” an old railway company located in the south of France which is now running a unique route between Nice and Digne-les-bains. This route, that opened in 1911, is locally referred as the “train des pignes” (the pine nuts train) as indicated on the stamp.

In 1861, Alphonse Beau de Rochas, an engineer from Digne who invented the four-stroke internal-combustion engine, wanted to link Nice, annexed to France the previous year, to Grenoble via the Var Valley, Digne-les-Bains and Gap. But, it was not until 1882 that the military authorities granted their approval for the project, which could then begin. To adapt to the very rugged relief, the engineers chose to build a narrow-gauge railway: a 1-metre gauge - instead of the standard 1.40 metres - provided for tighter curves (100 metres instead of 300 metres) and lower construction costs. In all, there are no less than twenty-five tunnels, sixteen viaducts and fifteen metal bridges on the line’s 150 kilometres.

The ‘Train des Pignes’ (pinecone railway) finally reached Nice in 1911 and was inaugurated on 3 July.
Despite many obstacles - climate, finances, the rising popularity of automobiles, war... - and thanks to close fruitful cooperation with local economic players (local communities, schools, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, travel agencies, associations), CFSF- Chemins de Fer de Provence was able to anchor the railway in the local economic fabric, thereby offering regular transport by train from the Mediterranean Sea to the Alps, also revealing the wealth of the cultural and tourist heritage of the 30 communes along the line. This pretty maximum card was given to me by my dear friend Maria.

Parliament House in Budapest

As the millennial celebrations of 1896 approached, the nation's demand for representation channelled the conception of a unique Parliament building. The Palace of Westminster in part inspired the design, but a well-known Hungarian architect, Imre Steindl, laid out the plans in their entirety. The building stretches 268 meters in its length, along the Danube embankment. Ornamented with white neo-gothic turrets and arches, it forms the most outstanding landmark of the Pest side horizon. Statues of Hungarian monarchs and military commanders decorate the outer walls. The unique interior design includes huge halls, over 12,5 miles of corridors, a 96-meter high central dome, and 691 rooms. When the Parliament is not in session, all these can be visited (cameras are allowed); tours are offered in English, French, German, Russian, Hebrew, Japanese, Italian and Spanish.

The Hungarian Parliament Building is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, one of Europe's oldest legislative buildings, a notable landmark of Hungary and a popular tourist destination of Budapest. It lies in Lajos Kossuth Square, on the bank of the Danube, in Budapest. It is currently the largest building in Hungary. Similar to the Palace of Westminster, the Parliament Building is in the Gothic Revival style; it has a symmetrical facade and a central dome. It is 268 m (879 ft) long and 123 m (404 ft) wide. Its interior includes 10 courtyards, 13 passenger and freight elevators, 27 gates, 29 staircases and 691 rooms (including more than 200 offices). With its height of 96 m (315 ft), it is one of the two tallest buildings in Budapest, along with Saint Stephen's Basilica. The number 96 refers to the nation's millennium, 1896, and the conquest of the later Kingdom of Hungary in 896. The main façade faces the River Danube, but the official main entrance is from the square in front of the building. Inside and outside, there are altogether 242 sculptures on the walls.

On the façade, statues of Hungarian rulers, Transylvanian leaders and famous military people are displayed. Over the windows, there are pictures of coats of arms of kings and dukes. The main entrance is the stairs located on the eastern side, bordered by two lions. When entering the Parliament, visitors can walk up great ornamental stairs, see frescoes on the ceiling and pass by the bust of the creator, Imre Steindl, in a wall niche. Other statues include those of Árpád, Stephen I and John Hunyadi. One of the famous parts of the building is the hexadecagonal (sixteen-sided) central hall, with huge chambers adjoining it: the Lower House (today the National Assembly meets here) and the Upper House (until 1945). The Holy Crown of Hungary, which is also depicted in the coat of arms of Hungary, has been displayed in the central hall since 2000.

Further features include the stained glass and glass mosaic paintings by Miksa Róth. Due to its extensive surface and its detailed handiwork, the building is almost always under renovation. During the Communist regime, the government added a large red star to the central steeple at the dome of the building, but after its downfall, the star was removed from the steeple. This pretty post card was sent to me by Katalin from Budapest. She pasted some pretty stamps on the card too.

Rose Garden Lakes in Palermo, Buenos Aires

Viviana my friend in Argentina sent me this lovely card of Parque Tres de Febrero, also known as the Bosques de Palermo ("Palermo Woods"), is a city park of 25 hectares (62 acres) located in the neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located between Libertador and Figueroa Alcorta Avenues, it is known for its groves, lakes, and rose gardens (El Rosedal). Following the 1852 overthrow of strongman Juan Manuel de Rosas, his extensive northside Buenos Aires properties became public lands and, in 1862, a municipal ordinance provided for a city park on most of that land. On the initiative of Congressman Vicente Fidel López and President Domingo Sarmiento, work began in 1874 on Parque Tres de Febrero (February 3 Park), named in honour of February 3, 1852, the date of the defeat of Governor Rosas, among whose opponents had been Sarmiento. Designed by urbanist Jordán Czeslaw Wysocki and architect Julio Dormal, the park was inaugurated on November 11, 1875. The dramatic economic growth of Buenos Aires afterwards helped to lead to its transfer to the municipal domain in 1888, whereby French Argentine urbanist Carlos Thays was commissioned to expand and further beautify the park, between 1892 and 1912. Thays designed the Zoological Gardens, the Botanical Gardens, the adjoining Plaza Italia and the Rose Garden.

The Andalusian Patio and Munument to the Four Argentine Regions (the "Spaniards' Monument") were added in 1927, the Municipal Velodrome in 1951 and the Galileo Galilei planetarium, in 1966. Its Modernist architecture is distinctive in the city—a sphere supported by three arches. A popular field trip destination for the city's schoolchildren, the planets and other astronomical phenomena are projected on the dome, inside. The demolition of the original Japanese Garden in the Retiro area led to the 1967 opening of the current Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens, the World's largest outside Japan. An Edwardian-style former café on the grounds became the Eduardo Sívori Museum in 1996.

Many people use the park everyday, both on foot and bicycle, and this number increases greatly at the weekends. Boat rides are available on the three artificial lakes within the park. Close to the boating lake is the Poets' Garden, with stone and bronze busts of renown poets, including Jorge Luis Borges and William Shakespeare.

National personification of Finland

The Maiden of Finland is the national personification of Finland. She is a barefoot young woman in her mid-twenties with often-braided blonde hair, blue eyes, wearing a blue and white national costume or a white dress. She was originally called Aura after the Aura River in Turku. As a symbol, the Finnish Maiden has been used since the 19th century when she was pictured as a woman wearing a turreted crown, and then developing as Finland gained a national consciousness and independence.

The Maiden of Finland can also refer to the shape of Finland on the map. With a little imagination it looks like a female form, which has one hand, raised (and another before the Moscow Armistice of 1944), a head, and a skirt. The metaphor is so commonly used that the northwestern area around Enontekiö is known as the Arm (Käsivarsi) even in official contexts. My dear friend Pia sent me this card.