Open Air Restaurant in Helsinki

This is a quaint little open air restaurant in Helsinki where my good friend Ella spends many of her lunch breaks I am sure. I would do the same if I were there :-))

Kamchatka Peninsula

The Kamchatka Peninsula   is a 1,250-kilometre (780 mi) peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about 270,000 km² (100,000 sq mi). It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west. Immediately offshore along the Pacific coast of the peninsula runs the 10,500-metre (34,400 ft) deep Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. The Kamchatka Peninsula, the Commander Islands, and Karaginsky Island constitute the Kamchatka Krai of the Russian Federation. The vast majority of the 322,079 inhabitants are Russians, but there are also about 8,743 Koryaks (2002). More than half of the population lives in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (179,526 people in 2010) and nearby Yelizovo (38,980).
The Kamchatka peninsula contains the Volcanoes of Kamchatka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kamchatka receives up to 2,700 mm (110 in) of precipitation per year. The summers are moderately cool, and the winters tend to be rather stormy with rare amounts of lightning. Merja gave me this card which shows a Coast Guard vessel off the Kamchatka peninsula.

Rhinoceros Beetle

Dynastinae or rhinoceros beetles are a subfamily of the scarab beetle family. Other common names – some for particular groups of rhino beetles – are for example Hercules beetles, unicorn beetles or horn beetles. Over 300 species of rhinoceros beetles are known. Many rhinoceros beetles are well known for their bizarre shapes and large sizes. Some famous species are, for example, the Atlas beetle, common rhinoceros beetle, elephant beetle, European rhinoceros beetle, Hercules beetle, Japanese rhinoceros beetle or, ox beetle and the unicorn beetle. Rhinoceros beetles are popular as pets in parts of Asia, in part due to their being clean, easy to maintain and safe to handle. Also in Asia, male beetles are used for gambling fights. Since males naturally have the tendency to fight each other for the attention of females, they are the ones used for battle. To get the two male beetles to lock in combat, a female beetle or a small noisemaker is used to duplicate the female's mating call.
Some species can become major pests, e.g., in tree plantations. Usually though, beetle population densities are not as high as in some other pest insects, and food trees which are typically already sick or dying from some other cause are preferred. Some species' larvae, however, will attack healthy trees or even root vegetables, and when they occur in large numbers, can cause economically significant damage. 
Dr. MinJun Kim, leading a team of engineers in National Science Foundation-funded research, examined the function and aerodynamics of the Allomyrina dichotoma beetle, with the help of researchers in Drexel University's Mechanical Engineering Department and in collaboration with Konkuk University in South Korea. Rhinoceros beetles could play a big part in the next generation of aircraft design. Thank you Natalia for this lovely maxicard from Belarus.

Kherson, Ukraine

Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast (province), and is designated as its own separate raion (district) within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major shipbuilding industry. The current estimated population is 329,000 (as of 2007).

Until 1774, the region belonged to the Crimean Khanate. Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin founded Kherson in 1778, on the orders of Catherine the Great. The city was built under the supervision of General Ivan Gannibal on the site of a small fortress called Aleksanderschanz. The name Kherson is a contraction of Chersonesos, an ancient Greek colony founded approximately 2500 years ago in the southwestern part of Crimea. One of the first buildings in the Kherson Fort was the Church of St. Catherine where Potemkin was eventually buried. The last tarpan was caught near Kherson in 1866.

Garden of Ukraine In the Kherson region has all conditions for the development of vegetable production. Perhaps it is time the region competes not just for the title of "Garden of the country”, and become "the garden of Europe"? Tourists visiting Kherson are known to call it the “Capital of Watermelon and Tomatoes”.

The picture on the card is of the Railway Station at Kherson, and it was sent to me from there by Anna.

Channel Squadron Gate

Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, stands in the centre of the island, on the Plain of the Mesorea, four hundred feet above the sea. It is connected with Larnaca by a carriage-road, which has recently been repaired and rendered available for an omnibus that piles daily between the fort and the capital. This road runs direct to the Channel Squadron Gate (so named by British blue-jackets when they took possession). The wall and gates are strongly built of stone, and are in good preservation, although traces of neglect and decay are to be met with everywhere around. The moslems, as a military people, have made languid and fitful attempts to keep the ramparts in repair, while within the walls they appear to have left nothing worth the cost of a siege. The air was tainted close to the gateway, for animals were being slaughtered in an enclosed space hard by. The poor, make-shift abodes in the immediate neighborhood are strangely at variance with relics of the ancient magnificence of Nicosia; and the motley crowd that now-a-days passes to and fro through the massive archway, would form a striking contrast to the chivalrous bands that followed in the train of the Lusignan Princes when the town became a royal residence. A writer of the fourteenth century states that the nobility of Cyprus were, at that time, the richest in the world. But they have passed away, and their wealth and fame are almost forgotten. What of their descendants? The writer heard a poor muleteer (a man of the fine physique and courtly bearing) boast that he was a descendant of one of the most noble families of Cyprus. Merja sent me this nice maxi card.

East Sea Ships

Latvia is a European state, which is situated on the coast of Baltic Sea. One of the three Baltic states, Latvia is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Belarus on the south east, and the Baltic Sea on the west. The most famous travel spot is the capital Riga, a World Heritage Site. There are also many other great places to see, both urban and rural, such as Liepaja with its unique former secret military town of Karosta and a magnificent beach. Kuldiga with Europe’s widest waterfall and Cesis with its medieval castle ruins are also interesting. Tourists can also enjoy the wild beauty of Latvia's unspoilt seacoast, which is 500 km long and consists mainly of white, soft sandy beaches. Forests, which cover approximately a half of Latvia's territory, offer many nature trails and nature parks.

The stamp on this maxi card is one of a set of three which formed a set which was a Joint issue between Latvia and Lithuania Post, and was issued on May 10, 1997. My friend Merja sent me this extremely pretty maxi card. The ship shown on the card Battle-ship Das Wappen der Herzogin von Kurland (17th century). Shipbuilding flourished in the former Duchy of Kurland in present-day Latvia under Duke Jacob (1642-82). Ships were built at the Ventspils and Kuldiga shipyards, at first by German and Dutch, craftsmen invited by Duke Jacob, and later by local shipwrights. During Duke Jacob’s rule ships of all kinds of ships were built in Kurland, and not only for local needs but also for England, France, Spain and other countries. The biggest battle-ship built for Kurland itself, Das Wappen der Herzogin van Kurland was a four-decked three master armed with 72 naval guns and capable of holding 400 sailors and 100 soldiers. The ship was modelled after the English battleship Sovereign of the Seas.

Chief Buckskin Charley

Chief Sapiah was the leader of the Southern Ute tribe from 1880 until his death in 1936. He was born around 1840 in the Ute lands before settlements. He was recognized as Chief of the Mauche and Servero Bands and Principal Chief of the Capote. He succeeded Chief Ouray as the official treaty negotiator. He learned English and took the "white man's name" Charles Buck, but he was best known as Buckskin Charley. He led the rescue of women and children who were abducted during the Meeker massacre. In 1890, he was given the Rutherford Hayes Indian Peace Medal by President Benjamin Harrison. He rode with Geronimo in Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 Inaugural Parade. His son, Antonio Buck Sr., succeeded him as hereditary chief and became the first elected chairman of the Southern Ute tribe. Fred sent this wonderful card to me. Thank you Fred for the nice stamps on the card. They have an historical background too.