Winter Greetings

Yes, Ella this maxicard is perfect for various winter greetings. Janne Harju, an award-winning illustrator, has designed this stamp which depicts two snowmen admiring a bright evening star in mild snowfall.

Thank you Ella.

Panorama of the Danube in Budapest

The Danube is a river in Central Europe, the European Union's longest and the continent's second longest (after the Volga).

Classified as an international waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen--which is in the Black Forest of Germany--at the confluence of the rivers Brigach and Breg. The Danube then flows southeast for 2,872 km (1,785 mi), passing through four Central European capitals before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine.

Once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, the river passes through or touches the borders of ten countries: Romania (29.0% of basin area), Hungary (11.6%), Serbia (10.2%), Austria (10.0%), Germany (7.0%), Bulgaria (5.9%), Slovakia (5.9%), Croatia (4.4%), Ukraine (3.8%), and Moldova (1.6%).^[1] Its drainage basin extends into nine more.

view of Budapest with the building of Hungarian Parliament,

The Hungarian Parliament Building (Országház or House of the Country or House of the Nation) 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. It is currently the largest building in Hungary^[1] and still the tallest building in Budapest.

Budapest is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, and one of the largest cities in the European Union. It is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre, sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. In 2011, according to the census, Budapest had 1.74 million inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter Area is home to 3.3 million people. The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres (202.7 sq mi) within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of west-bank Buda and Óbuda with east-bank Pest.

Sochi 2014

Ludmila sent me this card that depicts the Bolshoy Ice Dome is a 12,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Sochi, Russia, that was opened in 2012. "Bolshoy" literally means "Huge or big", hence the correct English name for the Bolshoi Ice Palace would be the "Huge Ice Palace". It was opened in 2012. It will host some of the ice hockey events at the 2014 Winter Olympics along with Shayba Arena. The venues will be located 300 m apart.

It cost about $180.1 million to build the venue, including the temporary works for the Olympics. After the Olympics, it will serve as a sports arena and concert venue.

Hong Kong

I can say without any hesitation that HK will always be my favourite destination for a short or even a long holiday. I had thoroughly enjoyed my stay there in the years 2002 and 2007. The last time I went to HK the skyscraper in the picture to the top right was the tallest building in Hong Kong. However, another building on the other side of the bay, namely, in Kowloon is now I believe the tallest building there.

Hong Kong alternatively known by its initials H.K., is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Macau. It is situated on China's south coast and, enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is known for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour. With a land mass of 1,104 km² (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is 93.6% ethnic Chinese and 6.4% from other groups. Hong Kong's Cantonese-speaking majority originate mainly from the neighbouring Canton (now Guangdong) province from which many of them fled to escape wars and Communist rule in China from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). The Hong Kong Island was first ceded to the UK in perpetuity, followed by Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories was put under lease in 1898. It was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War (1941–45), after which the British resumed control until 1997, when China resumed sovereignty. The region espoused minimum government intervention under the ethos of positive non-interventionism during the colonial era. The time period greatly influenced the current culture of Hong Kong, often described as "East meets West", and the educational system, which used to loosely follow the system in England until reforms implemented in 2009.

Under the principle of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong has a different political system from mainland China. Hong Kong's independent judiciary functions under the common law framework. Hong Kong Basic Law, its constitutional document, which stipulates that Hong Kong shall have a "high degree of autonomy" in all matters except foreign relations and military defence, governs its political system. Although it has a burgeoning multi-party system, a small-circle electorate controls half of its legislature. The head of the government, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, is chosen by an Election Committee of 400 to 1,200 members, a situation that will be in effect during the first 20 years of Chinese rule.

Hong Kong is a world city. It is one of the Al­pha+ cities and it is usually considered as the fifth most important city in the world, after New York City, London, Paris and Tokyo. Also, a Time Magazine article in 2008 coined the phrase "Nylonkong", which referred to New York City, London and Hong Kong, that these three cities form a global network that facilitates the global economy. As one of the world's leading international financial centres, Hong Kong has a major capitalist service economy characterised by low taxation and free trade, and the currency, Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world. The lack of space caused demand for denser constructions, which developed the city to a centre for modern architecture and the world's most vertical city. Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. The dense space also led to a highly developed transportation network with the public transport travelling rate exceeding 90 percent, the highest in the world. Hong Kong has numerous high international rankings in various aspects. For instance, its economic freedom, financial and economic competitiveness, quality of life, corruption perception, Human Development Index are all ranked highly. According to estimates from both UN and WHO, Hong Kong had the longest life expectancy of any region in the world in 2012. Hong Kong also has the highest average IQ score in 81 countries around the world.

Thank you Cadence Chan Sin Ting from Hong Kong for this lovely card.

Turku

Turku is a city on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper. Turku, as a town, was settled during the 13th century and founded most likely at the end of the 13th century, making it the oldest city in Finland. It quickly became the most important city in Finland, a status it retained for hundreds of years. After Finland became part of the Russian Empire (1809), and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland was moved to Helsinki (1812), Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland, until the end of the 1840s. Today it remains a regional capital and an important business and cultural center.

Because of its long history it has been the site of many important events and has extensively influenced Finnish history. Along with Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Turku was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996 it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland.

Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport with over three million passengers travelling through the Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn.

As of 31 August 2013, Turku’s population was 181,569, making it the sixth largest city in Finland.  As of 31 August 2008 there were 303,492 inhabitants living in the Turku sub-region, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region. The city is officially bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother-tongue.

Thank you Johanna for this nice card.

Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of 217,767, growing to 313 058 people in the urban area and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is second-largest urban area and third most-populous municipality in Finland, after the Greater Helsinki municipalities of Helsinki and Espoo. In 2007, the entire Pirkanmaa region had around 470,000 residents, of which 230,000 were employed, and a turnover of 25 billion euros.

Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Since the two lakes differ in level by 18 metres (59 ft), the rapids linking them, Tammerkoski, have been an important power source throughout history, most recently for generating electricity. Tampere is dubbed the "Manchester of Finland" for its industrial past as the former centre of Finnish industry, and this has given rise to its Finnish nickname "Manse" and terms such as "Manserock".

The card shows the The Tampere City Hall is a neo-renaissance building in Tampere, Finland, situated at the edge of the Tampere Central Square. The current city hall was built in 1890 and was designed by Georg Schreck. The palatial building has many halls and the city of Tampere holds many events there. During the Great Strike in 1905, the so-called "Red Manifest" was read from the balcony of the Tampere City Hall.

Thank you IIris for this nice card.

Winter's scene in South Korea

This card depicting a Winter's scene in South Korea was sent to me by JeongJu. 
But, I have not been able to figure out who those characters on the path are, or what they signify. If someone can unravel this mystery it will be nice.