Helsinki Stamp Fair

This maxicard was issued by Aland to commemorate the Helsinki Stamp Fair 2013. On the card is depicted a 2012 model Nissan Note postal car.

Thank you Ella.

Kyrenia II

This maxicard was released in Paphos, Cyprus on 22.2.1991 to commemorate the “Kyrenia Ship” which was built during the 4^th Century BC, and sank around 300 BC near the harbour of Kyrenia. This ship was salvaged, restored, reassembled and is today the world's oldest preserved vessel.

Kyrenia II which is a full size replica of the original ancient ship was built in 1987 and travels the world. The scope of her travel: a message for freedom, for the old vessel and her hometown Kyrenia which are both illegally in Turkish hands since the bloody invasion of the island by Turkish troops in July 1974.

Thank you Merja for this lovely card.

Kenting National Park

Kenting National Park is a national park located in the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, Taiwan, covering Hengchun, Checheng and Manzhou Townships. Established on January 1, 1984, it is Taiwan's oldest and southernmost national park, covering the southernmost area of the Taiwan Island. Administered by the Executive Yuan's Ministry of the Interior, this national park is well known for its tropical climate and sunshine, scenic mountain and beach, the Spring Scream rock-band festival held in every March, and has long been one of the most favorite resort places in Taiwan.

Thank you Yan-Ru for this lovely card.

The Goldcrest

The Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family. Its colourful golden crest feathers gives rise to its English and scientific names, and possibly to it being called the "king of the birds" in European folklore. Several subspecies are recognised across the very large distribution range that includes much of Eurasia and the islands of Macaronesia. Birds from the north and east of its breeding range migrate to winter further south.

This kinglet has greenish upper-parts, whitish under-parts, and has two white wingbars. It has a plain face contrasting black irises and a bright head crest, orange and yellow in the male and yellow in the female, which is displayed during breeding. It superficially resembles the Firecrest, which largely shares its European range, but the latter's bronze shoulders and strong face pattern are distinctive. The song is a repetition of high thin notes, slightly higher-pitched than those of its relative. Birds on the Canary Islands are now separated into two subspecies of the Goldcrest, but were formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Common Firecrest or a separate species, Regulus teneriffae.

The Goldcrest breeds in coniferous woodland and gardens, building its compact, three-layered nest on a tree branch. Ten to twelve eggs are incubated by the female alone, and the chicks are fed by both parents; second broods are common. This kinglet is constantly on the move as it searches for insects to eat, and in winter it is often found with flocks of tits. It may be killed by birds of prey or carry parasites, but its large range and population mean that it is not considered to present any significant conservation concerns.

Halina sent me this lovely card.

Sault Ste. Marie

Now here’s an interesting place in the US of A. Sault Ste. Marie is a city in and the county seat of Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It lies on the northeastern end of Michigan'sUpper Peninsula, on the Canadian border, separated from its twin city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, by the St. Marys River. The city is relatively isolated from other communities in Michigan. The population was 14,144 at the 2010 census, making it the second most populous city in the Upper Peninsula.

Sault Ste. Marie was already a place of Native American settlement 500 years ago. It became the first European settlement in the region that became the Midwestern United States, when, in 1668, Father Jacques Marquette, having heard of the Native American village, traveled there to found a Catholic mission. A fur-trading settlement quickly grew at the crossroads that straddled the banks of the river, the center of a trading route of 3,000 miles (4,800 km) that extended from Montreal to the Sault, and from the Sault to the country north of Lake Superior.

The settlement formed a single community until 1817, when a US–UK Joint Boundary Commission fixed the border between the Michigan Territory of the USA and the British Province of Upper Canada to follow the river in this area. The American and Canadian communities were each incorporated as municipalities toward the end of the nineteenth century.

Sault Sainte-Marie translates from French as "the Rapids of Saint Mary". The Saint Mary's River runs from Lake Superior to Lake Huron, separating the twin border cities.

No hyphens are used in the English spelling, which is otherwise identical to the French, but the pronunciations differ; Anglophones say /ˌsuː seɪnt məˈriː/ and Francophones say [so sɛ̃t maʁi]. In both languages, the name is often written Sault Ste. Marie. On both sides of the border, the towns and the general vicinity are called The Sault or The Soo.

The two cities are joined by the International Bridge which connects Interstate Highway 75 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Huron Street in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Shipping traffic in the Great Lakes system bypasses the rapids via the American Soo Locks, the world's busiest canal in terms of tonnage passing through it, while smaller recreational and tour boats use the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie Canal. The city's downtown sits on an island, with the locks to the north, and the Sault Ste. Marie Power Canal to the south.

People come from around the world to view shipping traffic pass through the locks. The largest ships are 1,000 feet (300 m) long by 105 feet (32 m) wide. These are domestic carriers (called lakers) too large to transit the Welland Canal that bypasses Niagara Falls and, consequently, are land-locked. Foreign ships (termed salties) are smaller.

Sault Ste. Marie is also the home of the International 500 Snowmobile Race (commonly called the I-500), which takes place annually and draws participants and spectators from all over the U.S. and Canada. The race, which was inspired by the Indianapolis 500, originated in 1969 and has been growing ever since.

Thank you Bethaney for this nice card.

Inside Hitler's Wolf's Lair On 20 July 1944

On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg,East Prussia. The apparent purpose of the assassination attempt was to seize political control of Germany and its armed forces from the Nazi Party (including the SS) in order to obtain peace as soon as possible. The underlying desire of many of the involved high ranking Wehrmacht officers was apparently to show to the world that all Germans were not like Hitler and the NSDAP. However, no details of intended peace initiatives to be proposed by the conspirators have been identified.

The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government. The failure of both the assassination and the military coup d'état which was planned to follow it led to the arrest of at least 7,000 people by the Gestapo. According to records of the Führer Conferences on Naval Affairs, 4,980 of these were executed.

Thank you Maria.

Early Morning in Juilin

A lovely early morning Sun over rice fields in Juilin in China. This pretty card was sent to me by pcsuen from Hong Kong.