Neuschwanstein Castle

Postcard ID: DE-2099823
Country: Germany

Now I know what is absolutely happiness for postcrosser - finding an envelope in mailbox. No, no, not unusual envelope. A chubby envelope. When you open it, you’ll find 5 (five!!!) postcards there. Really happiness.

The first card introduce Bochum City where live the sender. Bochum is located in the deep west of Germany, 70 km to the Netherlands border. It’s a former coal mining area, now all mines are closed. Only a mining museum they have. But this museum is the biggest in the world! Look at the center of postcard.

On the second card you see the biggest National park in Germany with wild living wolves, lynx and bears.

The third card is about The University where study 38 000 students.

The forth card shows Hohenzollern Castle - the family seat of Prussian kings and the German emperors. Near the small town Hechinger, south of Stuttgart

And one more amazing castle is present on the last card. It’s the Cinderella Castle in Bavaria, the favourite castle of king Ludwig II of Bavaria.

This post was copied from my another blog that I had in 2013 :)

North Frisian Islands

Postcard ID: DE-3783064
Country: Germany

Those islands look so nice, that I want to visit it after visiting Berlin, Bonn, Bremen..)

The North Frisian Islands are a group of islands in the Wadden Sea, a part of the North Sea, off the western coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The German islands are in the traditional region of North Frisia and are part of the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park and the Kreis (district) of Nordfriesland. Occasionally Heligoland is also included in this group.

Sometimes the North Frisian Islands include also the Danish Wadden Sea Islands on the western coast of Jutland, Denmark. They belong to Tønder municipality and Esbjerg municipality. The ethnic group of Frisians lives only on the German-ruled islands.

Here is the German stamp:

German Wine Route

Postcard ID: DE-3595638
Country: Germany

When I'm going to Germany, I'll take this card :)

The German Wine Route or Wine Road is the oldest of Germany's tourist wine routes. Located in the Palatinate region of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the route was established in 1935.

The German Wine Route is marked by numerous open-air wine festivals, held annually from March to October, that make it a major tourist attraction. The largest wine festival worldwide with more than 600,000 visitors each year is the Wurstmarkt in front of the world's largest wine barrel, the Giant Cask or Riesenfass, in Bad Dürkheim in September. Other important wine festivals are the German Wine Harvesting Festival (Deutsches Weinlesefest) in Neustadt an der Weinstraße where the German Wine Queen is selected in October, the festival in Freinsheim (Stadtmauerfest in July), and in Deidesheim (Deidesheimer Weinkerwe in August). The first wine fest on the wine route is the Mandelblütenfest (Almond Blossom Festival) in Gimmeldingen held in March depending on the start of the flowering.

On the last Sunday in August, the route is closed to motorized traffic for German Wine Route Day (Erlebnistag Deutsche Weinstraße) with many wineries and Straußwirtschaften open air (seasonal wine bars) open to the hundreds of thousands of hikers, cyclers and inline skaters who visit this festival.

Through the Middle Ages

Postcard ID: CZ-487423
Country: Czech Republic

It's so interesting to have cards with different sizes from different countries. For example, this is the 3rd or 4th card from Czech Republic with this size. Taiwan or China usually sends postcard a bit more than standard 10x15.

As for image, I like to receive different maps. The old maps have their own atmosphere. I like to find out name of known places for me :)

By the way I often see in shops puzzles with map image.But think that is really difficult to collect such puzzle.

A little stamp from this card is:

Greetings from Pennsylvania, USA

Postcard ID: US-2339497
Country: USA

This is the 5th USA map card in this blog. I so like all these card. Every time when I receive it, I try to read all inscriptions on the card, to peruse all images. It's so wonderful to discover new associations.

Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, and the Great Lakes region. The state borders Delaware to the southeast, Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, Lake Erie and Ontario, Canada to the northwest, New York to the north and New Jersey to the east. The Appalachian Mountains run through the middle of the state.

Pennsylvania is the 33rd most extensive, the 6th most populous, and the 9th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state's four most populous cities are Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, and Erie. The state capital is Harrisburg. Pennsylvania has 82 km of coastline along Lake Erie and 92 km of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. The state is one of the 13 original founding states of the United States.

Here are 2 stamps, one with lovely butterfly :)

The northwestern part of the world map, France, 1708

Postcard ID: RU-2571332
Country: Russia

This postcard shows us a part of really big mapm created in 1708.

The whole map by the world famous Jean Baptiste Nolin is probably the last card of this genre, decorated  so rich. Then 18 century came, this was century of revolutions and simplicity. This map is decorated with six scenes from the Old Testament. The hemispheres keep on the shoulders  the four seasons of the year. On whole map we can see six days of world creation, but on the postcard came to me - only 3.

Here is a stamp from this card:

Kiel, Germany

Postcard ID: DE-2498592
Country: Germany

Here is one more map card to my collection. When I'm going to Kiel, I can take this card instead of real map ;) you can see on the card how many interesting places in this city!

Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 242,041.

Kiel lies approximately 90 kilometres north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea, Kiel has become one of the major maritime centres of Germany. For instance, the city is known for a variety of international sailing events, including the annual Kiel Week, which is the biggest sailing event in the world. The Olympic sailing competitions of the 1936 and the 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Kiel.

Kiel has also been one of the traditional homes of the German Navy's Baltic fleet, and continues to be a major high-tech shipbuilding centre. Located in Kiel is the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) at the University of Kiel. Kiel is an important sea transport hub, thanks to its location at the Kiel Fjord and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostsee-Kanal). A number of passenger ferries to Sweden, Norway, Russia, and other countries operate from here. Moreover, today Kiel harbour is an important port of call for cruise ships touring the Baltic Sea.

Within Germany and parts of Europe, the city is known for its leading handball team, THW Kiel. The city is home to the University of Kiel (established in 1665).

Having fun in Indiana!

Postcard ID: US-2612890
Country: USA

This is the 4th map of United States. And as usual, map card is great :)

Indiana is a U.S. state located in the midwestern and Great Lakes regions of North America. Indiana is the 38th largest by area and the 16th most populous of the 50 United States. Indiana is the least extensive state in the contiguous United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th U.S. state on December 11, 1816.

Before it became a territory, varying cultures of indigenous peoples and historic Native Americans inhabited Indiana for thousands of years. Since its founding as a territory, settlement patterns in Indiana have reflected regional cultural segmentation present in the Eastern United States; the state's northernmost tier was settled primarily by people from New England and New York, Central Indiana by migrants from the Mid-Atlantic states and from adjacent Ohio, and Southern Indiana by settlers from the Southern states, particularly Kentucky and Tennessee.

Indiana has several metropolitan areas with populations greater than 100,000 and a number of smaller industrial cities and towns. Indiana is home to several major sports teams and athletic events including the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, the NBA's Indiana Pacers, the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, and the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 motorsports races.

I would like to visit Indianapolis one day.

A stamp is in Christmas theme:

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Postcard ID: US-2576687
Country: USA

Hurray! This is one more map of USA state! So love it :) Here in Minsk I have a shirt with inscription "Massachusetts", so I have special love to this state :)

Nickname: Bay state

Capital: Boston

From the quite Berkshire Hills, through bustling Boston, to the sands of Cape Cod, Massachusetts is a vacationer's paradise. The state has interesting historic sites, well kept woodland parks and ocean beaches, superb museums, fine hospitals and universities, excellent restaurants and always more to see and do than almost anyplace else.

Great description! Here are some more amazing stamps:

Greetings from Nebraska

Postcard ID: US-2535893
Country: USA

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. Its state capital is Lincoln. Its largest city is Omaha, which is on the Missouri River.

The state is crossed by many historic trails, but it was the California Gold Rush that first brought large numbers of non-indigenous settlers to the area. Nebraska became a state in 1867.

There are wide variations between winter and summer temperatures, and violent thunderstorms and tornadoes are common. The state is characterized by treeless prairie, ideal for cattle-grazing, and it is a major producer of beef, as well as pork, corn, and soybeans.

Nebraska is the 9th least-densely populated state of the United States. Ethnically, the largest group of Nebraskans are German-American. The state also has the largest per capita population of Czech-Americans among U.S. states.

This snowman came to me with the card:

Also there are nice stamsp:

Arizona, USA

Postcard ID: US-2496240

Country: USA

Here is the description from the backside of the card:

Arizona became the 48th state on February 1912, and is the sixth largest state in the U.S. at 114,006 square miles. The statealso carries the distinction of leading the  nation in copper production.

I think that this is absolutely amazing card. I'm so happy to receive this one!

Here is the flag from the back side...

...and the stamp:

The Flags of Canada, the provinces and the territories

Postcard ID: CA-356005
County: Canada

To be honest before receiving this card I've known only about 2 provinces: Quebec and Newfoundland.

So this postcard discovers to me parts of this great country! 

I kindly share with you my new knowledge :)

Look at Canadina stamp from this card: