Germany – Lindau

Lindau is a Bavarian town and an island in the eastern part of the Lake Constance, the Bodensee. It is the capital of the Landkreis or rural district of Lindau. The historic city of Lindau is located on a 0.68-square-kilometre (0.26 sq mi) island, which is connected with the mainland by bridge and railway. The name Lindau was first mentioned by a monk from St. Gallen in a document of 882, stating that Adalbert, Count of Raetia, had founded a nunnery on the island. However remains of an early Roman settlement dating back to the 1st century have been found in the district of Aeschach. The Lake Constance - "Bodensee" is the German word - is located between Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On the Swiss side are the famous Rhine falls, best reached from Schaffhausen. The lake area has one of the warmest summer microclimates in the country.

There are many outdoor activities that one can do including water sports sailing and hiking. There are many beautiful resort towns along its shores notably Meersburg which is surrounded by vineyards and which has half-timbered houses and the oldest castle in Germany. You can also visit the islands of Mainau (lush tropical vegetation) and Reichenau (ancient monastery) near Konstanz at the western end of the lake or Lindau or Bregenz at the eastern end if you have a chance. There is ferry service across the lake from Friedrichshafen into Switzerland. Clemens sent me this card.

UK - HMS Alacrity

Dorothy sent me this nice card.

Wau kites

The picture is of Encik Ismail bin Jusoh with his hand-made “wau” kite. He is famous for his very pretty wau’s. Indigenous to the people living in Kelantan and Terengganu, these kites are a special craft of West Malaysia. Due to its similarity with the shape of an Arabic letter, these kites are known as "Wau" in Malay. Also when the kites are flown in the sky, it produces a humming sound, which is similar to "wauuuu". So symbolic is the Wau that Malaysian Airlines has even used it as its logo.

Making these kites is a tedious job and requires a great amount of patience. First, bamboo is used to make the frames for the kites, which keeps the kites sturdy and lightweight. Next, motifs are carved out of coloured paper and shiny glazed paper. The intricacy of the carvings is what sets a good kite maker apart from the others. The carvings are then meticulously glued onto the frames. Finally the kite is decorated with bright paper tassels. The motifs on the kites are normally flowers with vines. The flowers represent the man while the vines represent the ladies. After the harvest period, these kites are commonly flown over the paddy fields. This is a break time for all the farmers who had worked hard through the rice-planting season. Ethen sent me this pretty card.

Canada - Ottawa - Parliament Hill

This nice card showing Parliament Hill In winter was sent to me by Sandi.

Finland - Lapland

This is another nice picture post card featuring a scene in Lapland. This nice card was sent to me by Esa.

Vladivostok.

Vladivostok is Russia's largest port city on the Pacific Ocean and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai. It is situated at the head of the Golden Horn Bay, not far from Russia's border with China and North Korea. It is the home port of the Russian Pacific Fleet.
Stepan Osipovich Makarov (January 8 1849— April 13 1904) was a famous Russian vice-admiral, a highly accomplished and decorated commander of the Imperial Russian Navy, and a distinguished oceanographer, awarded by the Russian Academy of Sciences, and author of several books. According to his honour, "Shiritoru", where was a town in Sakhalin island, was renamed as Makarov in 1946. Makarov was highly decorated for his service as a captain of the Russian torpedo boat tender Velikiy Knyaz Konstantin in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. He was one of the first adopters of the idea of torpedo boats and he himself went to action in torpedo boats. On January 16, 1877 he was first in the world to launch torpedoes from a boat (which itself was launched from a tender) against a Turkish armed ship Intibah.
This is a monument in honour of that Great Russian Admiral . It overlooks the sea at the far Eastern Russian port of Vladivostok. I was fortunate to be a resident of this wonderful city for two winters. This pretty card was sent to me by my friend Elena.

Czech Republic – Ještěd Tower

Ještěd Tower is a 94 metre-tall tower used to transmit television signal built on the top of Ještěd mountain near Liberec in the Czech Republic. Ještěd Tower is a reinforced concrete construction with a shape called hyperboloid, built between 1963 and 1968. Its architect was Karel Hubáček. The shape was chosen since it naturally extends the silhouette of the hill and moreover well resists the extreme climate conditions on the top of the hill. In the Tower's lowest sections it contains a hotel and a tower restaurant. It serves as a dominant attraction in the city and as a place to oversee much of Bohemia and parts of Poland and Germany. This superb card was sent to me by Stan.