Sochi

Thank you Eleonora for this lovely card of Sochi, a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for 145 kilometers (90 mi) along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a permanent population of 343,285; up from 328,809 recorded in the 2002 Census, making it Russia's largest resort city.
Sochi will host the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games in 2014, as well as the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix from 2014 until at least 2020. It is also one of the host cities for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Sochi has a humid subtropical climate with mild winters (average +11 °C (52 °F) during the day and +4 °C (39 °F) at night in the period from December to March) and comfortable summers (average +24 °C (75 °F) during the day and +16 °C (61 °F) at night period from May to October).

Toronto

Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from the Mississaugas of the New Credit. The settlement was later established as the Town of York and proclaimed as the new capital of Upper Canada by its lieutenant governor, John Graves Simcoe. In 1834, York was incorporated as a city and renamed to its present name. The city was ransacked in the Battle of York during the War of 1812 and damaged in two great fires in 1849 and in 1904. Since its incorporation, Toronto has repeatedly expanded its borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities, most recently in 1998.
With over 2.6 million residents, it is the fifth most populous city in North America. Its cosmopolitan and international population reflects its role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada. Toronto is one of the world's most diverse cities by percentage of non-native-born residents, with about 49% of the population born outside Canada. 
As Canada's commercial capital and one of the world's top financial centres, Toronto is considered an alpha world city by the Globalisation and World Cities (GaWC) study group. It is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the world's seventh largest in terms of market value. Toronto contains more corporate headquarters than any other Canadian city, including those of Canada's five largest banks. Toronto's leading economic sectors include finance, business services, telecommunications, aerospace, transportation, media, arts, film, music, television production, publishing, software production, medical research, education, tourism, engineering, and sports industries. According to Forbes, Toronto is the tenth-most economically powerful city in the world and one of the fastest growing among the G7 nations, whilst PwC ranks the city as the world's second-best "metro powerhouse". Toronto was ranked twelfth in the world and fourth in the Americas in 2010 for economic innovation by 2thinknow. The cost of living in Toronto was ranked highest in Canada in 2011^[update]. Thank you Isabelle for this card with the wonderful aerial view of part of Toronto.

Wisely Said

Thank you Merja. I am in complete agreement with the Oracle who said this ;-))

Zwickau, Germany

Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the southwestern region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau. The city is situated in a valley at the foot of the Erzgebirge Mountains and is also part of the so-called Saxon triangle metropolitan area, an economic network that includes Leipzig-Halle, Dresden. The city has slightly fewer than 100,000 inhabitants but has a regional catchments area of over 480,000 people. The city can be easily reached by car via the nearby Autobahns A4 and A72. The city has a main railway station (Zwickau-Hbf) and is also reachable via a public airfield, which takes light aircraft.
Zwickau, known as the city of Automobiles and Robert Schumann (the famous composer), is the cradle of the Saxon automotive industry with an over one hundred year old tradition. The city has a long history of automotive development and automobile industry along with Auto Union. Well known beyond Germany's borders are trademarks such as Horch, Audi, Trabant and Volkswagen. The "Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau" - University of Applied Sciences - has therefore always been an important centre for automotive development.
The valley of the 166 km long Zwickauer Mulde River stretches from the Vogtland to the famous Colditz Castle at the other extreme. The Silver Road, Saxony's longest scenic road, connects Dresden with Zwickau. The German ADAC City Guide recently wrote, "The town of Zwickau has transformed itself over the years from a traditional mining town into an elegant Art-Nouveau town, which is well worth discovering.“ Sven sent this pretty card to me

Jyväskylä

Jyväskylä is a city and municipality in Central Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is the largest city in central Finland and on the Finnish Lakeland. Jyväskylä is located on the northern coast of Lake Päijänne, 147 kilometres (91 mi) northeast of Tampere and 270 kilometres (170 mi) north of Helsinki. The hilly and forested terrain in Jyväskylä is surrounded by hundreds of lakes. The summers in Jyväskylä are warm and winters cold and snowy.
Elias Lönnrot, the compiler of the Finnish national epic Kalevala (details are available in earlier posts on this blog), gave the city a nickname "Athens of Finland". This nickname is used to describe the major role of Jyväskylä as an education centre and the first place in the world to provide education in Finnish. The works of the most famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto can be seen throughout the city. The city hosts Neste Oil Rally Finland, which is part of the World Rally Championship. It is also home of the annual Jyväskylä Arts Festival.
As of 31 January 2012, Jyväskylä had a population of 131,997. The city has been one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The Jyväskylä sub-region includes Jyväskylä, Hankasalmi, Laukaa, Muurame, Petäjävesi, Toivakka and Uurainen. My friend Auli sent me this card.

Oscar Kleineh

My friend Merja sent me this nice painting of a Finnish yawl made by Oskar Kleineh in 1890. Oskar Conrad Kleineh (18 September 1846, Helsinki, Finland – November 16, 1919) was a Finnish painter. He attended the school of the Finnish Art Association in 1863-1864 and studied drawing, then in Düsseldorf, Karlsruhe, and in St. Petersburg, Russia as well as between the years 1866 and 1878 in Paris 1881-1885. Kleineh painted, inter alia, of the marine and coastal scenery of the coast of the Gulf of Finland, and in the high season, France, Denmark, Norway and the Mediterranean countries, as well as sailing images and city views from across Europe, such as the 1870 's, in Northern France. Kleineh was unmarried. No wonder he had so much time to paint so well ;-))

The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around 70 miles (113 km) long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire.
The river is now internationally famous thanks to the music of the 1960s known as Mersey beat and its strong association with Liverpool, which produced songs such as "Ferry Across The Mersey".
Over 30 acres of land within the heart of the Liverpool dock area. The site is a paradise to bird watchers and is an important area for seabirds and waders. Consisting of freshwater and salt lagoons it also provides a valuable source of food for the ducks that over-winter in Liverpool. For those interested in viewing the wildlife, three viewing hides are available for use, in one of the freshwater lagoons. Ross sent me this nice card.