Parliament House in Helsinki

The Eduskunta is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011. The card on display shows the Parliament House.

Parliament House is the seat of the Parliament of Finland. It is located in the Finnish capital of Helsinki, in the district of Töölö. In 1923 a competition was held to choose a site for a new Parliament House. Arkadianmäki, a hill beside what is now Mannerheimintie, was chosen as the best site. The architectural competition which was held in 1924 was won by the firm of Borg–Sirén–Åberg with a proposal called Oratoribus (Latin for "for the speakers"). Johan Sigfrid Sirén (1889–1961), who was mainly responsible for preparing the proposal, was given the task of designing Parliament House. The building was constructed 1926–1931 and was officially inaugurated on March 7, 1931. Ever since then, and especially during the Winter War and Continuation War, it has been the scene of many key moments in the nation's political life.

Thank you Ella for this pretty card.

The Wild West

This is the sort of Scene that inspires poets, writers of Western stories and Movies of non other than the American Wild West.

Thank you Norbert for this pretty card.

Notre-Dame Cathedral

Notre-Dame de Paris (for "Our Lady of Paris"), also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is an historic Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The cathedral is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and among the largest and most well-known church buildings in the world. The naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture.

As the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame is the parish that contains the cathedra, or official chair, of the archbishop of Paris, currently Archbishop André Vingt-Trois. The cathedral treasury is notable for its reliquary which houses some of Catholicism's most important first-class relics including the purported Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the True Cross, and one of the Holy Nails.

In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. An extensive restoration supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc began in 1845. A project of further restoration and maintenance began in 1991.

Thank you Marie for this nice card.

Vegetarian borshch with mushrooms

Let me tell you first that the correct Oxford transliteration for the Russian word борщ is not borscht, but borshch. There are as many variations of borshch as there are cooks in the former Soviet Union. Its origins are Ukrainian, but it has become a staple dish of Russia. Some like it hot. Some prefer a cold version. It could be meat-based, or meat-free.

I had lots and lots of it when I lived in Vladivostk a long long time ago. But, that’s another story. 

If you are really interested in the actual cooking method of the dish shown on the card sent to me by my friend from the Urals Olya, do contact me.

Gediminas Avenue in Vilnius

This card sent to me by Renata gives a view of Gediminas Avenue as seen towards the Cathedral Square in Vilnius where she lives.

Gediminas Avenue is the main street of Vilnius, where most of the governmental institutions of Lithuania are concentrated, including the government, parliament, Constitutional Court and ministries. It is also the place of cultural institutions such as Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, Bank of Lithuania, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and Martynas Mažvydas National Library Nowadays it is also a popular shopping and dining street. It is partially a pedestrian street in the evenings when the traffic is prohibited.

Named after the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas, the street terminates at the Žvėrynas Bridge over the Neris River near Seimas Palace on one end and at the Cathedral Square and Vilnius Castle Complex on the other, passing the Lukiškės Square. It connects the Old Town with Žvėrynas.

Aurora Borealis

Why do the Northern Lights occur?  A brief explanation of what happens according to me is, that, The Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights are caused when charged particles from the Sun collide with atoms and molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere at altitudes between 100 and 250 kms. Due to the collision, oxygen and nitrogen emit what is seen by us as auroral light. These lights are mostly seen in the areas north of the Arctic Circle, and rarely, below the Circle, and then only sometimes.

This card was sent to me by Tero .

The Riverwalk

San Antonio (Spanish for "Saint Anthony") is the seventh most populous city in the United States of America and the second most populous city in the state of Texas, with a population of 1.3 million

San Antonio was named for Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is on June 13, when a Spanish expedition stopped in the area in 1691.Famous for Spanish missions, the Alamo, the River Walk, the Tower of the Americas, the Alamo Bowl, Marriage Island and host to SeaWorld and Six Flags Fiesta Texas theme parks. The city is home to the four-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs and theannual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, one of the largest in the country.

San Antonio has a strong military presence—it is home to Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base (which constitute Joint Base San Antonio), Lackland AFB/Kelly Field Annex and Brooks City-Base, with Camp Bullis and Camp Stanley outside the city. Kelly Air Force Base operated out of San Antonio until 2001, when the airfield was transferred over to Lackland AFB .

The picture on the card sent to me by Diane Marie of San Antonio is that of The famous San Antonio River Walk (also known as Paseo del Río) is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, one story beneath the streets of Downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA. Lined by bars, shops and restaurants, the River Walk is an important part of the city's urban fabric and a tourist attraction in its own right.

Today, the River Walk is an enormously successful special-case pedestrian street, one level down from the automobile street. The River Walk winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shops, connecting the major tourist draws from the Alamo to River centre Mall, to the Arneson River Theatre, to Marriage Island, to La Villita, to Hemis Fair Park, to the Tower Life Building, to the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the Pearl Brewery. During the annual springtime Fiesta San Antonio, the River Parade features flowery floats that "float" down the river.