Kataklysmos Festival

The card shows ca 19^th century engraving depicting the Kataklysmos Festival in Larnaka in Cyprus. Kataklysmos, or the Flood Festival, takes place in Cyprus every year 50 days after Orthodox Easter. Larnaca organizes the biggest Festival of Flood in Cyprus and celebrates Kataklysmos for several days. The sea front promenade takes on the appearance of an open-air fair with scores of stalls selling toys and traditional food. Traditional culture takes pride of place with a competition for chatista or rhyming songs in the Cypriot dialect. Other performers include popular Greek and Cypriot singers and dance troupes. In line with the spirit of the celebrations, events include competitions in the water. Merja sent me this very interesting card.

The Archaic Period (750 - 475BC)

The picture on the card depicts a coin with a ram symbol. It is in fact a Silver Coin of the Archaic Period in Cyprus, namely 750-480 BC. These coins were circulated during the reign of King Evelthon of Salamis (560-525). This was the first coin struck in Cyprus as per the Cyprus Museum. The production and use of silver coins spread outwards from Asia Minor during the sixth century BC, and was taken up late in the century on the island of Cyprus. The city of Salamis was probably producing a primitive form of coinage by around 525 BC. The design of a lying ram on the obverse (front) of these coins was established early and would become common on Salaminian coinage. Remarkably, the reverse sides of the earliest issues were completely flat with no design at all, not even a punch mark. In this respect they were unlike those of Greece and Asia Minor.

By the accession of the greatest king of Salamis, Evagoras (about 411-374/3 BC), however, coin design was fully developed. Evagoras, a staunch ally of the city of Athens in the late fifth and early fourth centuries BC, produced a substantial coinage, in part to pay for his unsuccessful attempt to bring the entire island under his sway. The issue of his coinage represented by this silverstater features the head of Herakles on the front, a lying goat on the reverse. The inscription, written in the Greek language, but in a non-Greek script peculiar to Cyprus, reads 'Of King Evagoras'. Thank you Merja for this nice card.

Mountain Bike Racing

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the sport of mountain bike racing relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Purgatory, Colorado. The first mountain biking world cup series took place in 1991. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North America—and was sponsored by Grundig. In 1992, the Grundig-UCI world cup circuit expanded to ten races, and remained a trans-Atlantic series. Cross-country racing was the only world cup sport at this time, then in 1993 a six-event downhill world cup was introduced. In 1996, cross-country mountain biking events were added to the Olympic Games. NORBA refers to the Board of Trustees that represent the sport of mountain bike racing for USA Cycling. There are three USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Calendars: Endurance, Gravity and Ultra-Endurance. USA Cycling runs the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. In 2006, cross-country mountain biking events became part of the World Deaf Cycling Championships for the first time in San Francisco, USA.^[1] There are mountain bike racing types that are not recognized by the UCI, such as mountain bike orienteering, that are governed by the IOF.

Short track Cross-country – This card features these guys involved in Short Track Cross Country (XCC). A very short XC style event of about 800m in length but generally about 1 minute 30 seconds in winning time. A short, sharp exciting event to watch and participate in. Than you Alex for this nice card.

Kuopio

Kuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of 96,830 makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of 2,317.24 square kilometres (894.69 sq mi), of which 719.85 km² (277.94 sq mi) is water and half forest. The population density is only 61 /km²(160 /sq mi), but the city's urban areas are populated very densely (urban area: 1 617.6 /km²), nationally second only to capital Helsinki (urban area: 1,690.0/km²). The population of the entire Kuopio region is 119,472.

The city is surrounded by lake Kallavesi, and several parts of it are built on islands. Kuopio's ample waterfronts and islands are also utilized in the Saaristokaupunki (lit. Archipelago city) -project, the biggest residential area currently being built in Finland. Saaristokaupunki will accommodate a total of 14,000 inhabitants in 2015. All houses will be situated no more than 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the nearest lakeshore.

Kuopio has always been a city of education. Some of the first schools offering education in Finnish (such as the School for the Blind in 1871, and the Trade School in 1887) were established in Kuopio. Currently the most important institutions are the University of Eastern Finland, the Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Vocational College of Northern Savonia and the Kuopio department of the Sibelius Academy. Thank you Elina for this pretty card.

Season's Greetings

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Very Happy New Year

Windjammers

A windjammer is the ultimate type of large sailing ship with an iron or for the most part steel hull, built to carry cargo in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Windjammers were the grandest of merchant sailing ships, with between three and five large masts and square sails, giving them a characteristic profile. The windjammers were cargo ships designed for ultra-long voyages. They usually carried bulk cargo, such as lumber, guano, grain or ore from one continent to another, usually following the prevailing winds and circumnavigating the globe during their voyages. Several of these ships are still in existence — either as school ships, museum ships or restaurant ships.

Windjammers 0f the Future. Due to environmental concerns and rising fuel costs, there has recently been consideration of constructing windjammer-derived ships for commercial service. Many of these may not be "true" windjammers, as they will likely have multiple propulsion systems for non-ideal wind conditions. They may also include kites to catch even more wind. One proposal by B9 Energy would see modern cargo ships with sails plying European waters by 2012. Maria sent me this card wit a Dutch windjammer on it.

Parc de la Ciutadella - Barcelona

Cristina sent me this lovely card that shows The Parc de la Ciutadella or "Ciutadella Park" is a park in Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Spain. After its establishment during the mid 19 century, it was for decades the only green area in the city, and hitherto of the most popular. It is located at the north-eastern edge of the old town, and hosts within its 70 acres (280,000 m²) the city's substantial zoo (which was home to the famous albino gorilla Snowflake), the Parliament of Catalonia, a lake, some museums, and a fountain of considerable size designed by Josep Fontserè (with perhaps some attributions of the young student Antoni Gaudí, who at this time worked at Fontserès office). It is characterized by being a very busy place, crowded with tourists, and locals, who are usually going for a walk or taking their children to the special section for kids found near the upper margin of the park. This park is optimal for sports, like for example boating in the lake, cycling (both boat and bicycle can be hired), or jogging.

The main attraction has, from its establishment hitherto been the zoo. This was due to out of the 7,000 animals present the albino gorilla Snowflake, who has died in 2004. Near the zoo's entrance, the famous climbable gigantic stone mammoth is to be seen, just as the metallic cat in another perimeter of the park.
Another yet to be mentioned conspicuous characteristic is the park's paths' layout, one half being made up by sinuous and rather natural seeming trails, and the other by direct and refined ones. Along both, huge a variety of vegetation is assertively displayed, having small signposts at their front, serving as nametags.