Great Smoky Mountains N. P. - USA

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular National Park in the country and hosts well over ten-million annual visitors. It gets more annual visitors than the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone combined. This beautiful mountain range reaches towering heights of nearly seven-thousand feet, but is famous for its magical, smoky haze. - in: https://smokymountains.com/park/

 

Photographer: J. H. Robinson

US-11794589, sent by Katrina.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park.

 © J. Scott Graham

US-6622489, sent by Ree. 

It is the most visited national park in the United States. The park was chartered by the United States Congress in 1934 and officially dedicated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940.

The park was designated an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976, was certified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983." - in: wikipedia

On this cards there's the Abrams Falls, one of the best trout streams in the Great Smoky Mountains. It was named after a Cherokee Indian Chief.

US-803377, sent by Renae.

On the back of the card: "Autumns colors reach their peak October 15-31 in the Smokies. By mid-September the foliage starts to change in the northern hardwood forest above 4500 feet before spreading into the hardwoods in lower elevations. Reds generally are red maple, pin cherry and mountain ash; yellows are American beech, yellow birch and yellow buckeye."

Did you know?

The majority of trees in the park are deciduous which make for an amazing show of color in the fall.

The last three weeks of October attract large number of sightseers for the fall color display.

Colors begin to change in higher elevations first and travel down the mountains to the lower elevations, making "peak" season difficult to predict with precision.

Fall color in the park's lower elevations is most spectacular; it includes sugar maple, scarlet oak, sweetgum, red mapleand hickories. 

Mount Fuji - Japan

If you want a perfect postcard like picture of Japan's highest mountain, know that the cherry blossoms around the Fuji Five Lakes typically peak around mid April. 

Marie didn't get to see the cherry blossoms but saw Mount Fuji during the high speed train journey from Osaka to Tokyo. She sent me the card that also depicts Arakura Sengen Shrine.

 

Mount Fuji is a dormant volcano, which most recently erupted in 1708. It stands on the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures and can be seen from Tokyo and Yokohama on clear days.

© PIN UP CO., LTD. AOYAMA, TOKYO

JP-1238277, sent by Nana.

The easiest way to view Mount Fuji is from the train on a trip along the Tokaido Line between Tokyo and Osaka. If you take the shinkansen from Tokyo in direction of Nagoyo, Kyoto and Osaka, the best view of Mount Fuji can be enjoyed from around Shin-Fuji Station on the right hand side of the train, about 40 to 45 minutes after leaving Tokyo.

Note however, that clouds and poor visibility often block the view of Mount Fuji, and you have to consider yourself lucky if you get a clear view of the mountain. Visibility tends to be better during the colder seasons of the year than in summer, and in the early morning and late evening hours.

JP-168167, sent by Masayo.

If you want to enjoy Mount Fuji at a more leisurely pace and from a nice natural surrounding, you should head to the Fuji Five Lake (Fujigoko) region at the northern foot of the mountain, or to Hakone, a nearby hot spring resort. Mount Fuji is officially open for climbing during July and August via several routes." - in: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2172.html

Nijo Castle - Japan

 Last month Marie went on a big trip to Asia. She's now in the Philippines but she 1st visited Japan and sent me this card of the Nijo Castle in Kyoto. 

Nijo Castle (二条城, Nijōjō) was built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1868).
After the Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1867, Nijo Castle was used as an imperial palace for a while before being donated to the city and opened up to the public as a historic site. Its palace buildings are arguably the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan's feudal era, and the castle was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994.
Nijo Castle can be divided into three areas: the Honmaru (main circle of defense), the Ninomaru (secondary circle of defense) and some gardens around them.

 

The Ninomaru Palace served as the residence and office of the shogun during his visits to Kyoto. Surviving in its original form, the palace consists of multiple separate buildings that are connected with each other by corridors with so called nightingale floors, as they squeak when stepped upon as a security measure against intruders. The palace rooms are tatami mat covered and feature decorated ceilings and beautifully painted sliding doors (fusuma). - in: https://www.japan-guide.com

Kulangsu - China

Back in 2017 China added 2 sites to the World Heritage List. Fortunately those were not that hard to get sites and I immediatly got cards from both of them, sent by sent by Wei. One of those cards was from Kulangsu, (also known as Gulangyu), an Historic International Settlement. 

Wei's card is the middle one and the other are officials. 

 

 CN-4135737, sent by Yaya.

Kulangsu is a tiny island located on the estuary of the Chiu-lung River, facing the city of Xiamen. With the opening of a commercial port at Xiamen in 1843, and the establishment of the island as an international settlement in 1903, this island off the southern coast of the Chinese empire suddenly became an important window for Sino-foreign exchanges

 

 Kulangsu is an exceptional example of the cultural fusion that emerged from these exchanges, which remain legible in its urban fabric. There is a mixture of different architectural styles including Traditional Southern Fujian Style, Western Classical Revival Style and Veranda Colonial Style. The most exceptional testimony of the fusion of various stylistic influences is a new architectural movement, the Amoy Deco Style, which is a synthesis of the Modernist style of the early 20th century and Art Deco. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1541

 

 

 

 CN-651167, sent by Wuai.
As a place of residence for Westerners during Xiamen's colonial past, Gulangyu is famous for its architecture. This the balcony of an old house in #64 Zhangzhou Rd.

Roman Baths of Bath - England

Bath is propably the city I want to visit the most in England. The city is famous for its sweeping Georgian crescents, Roman baths and unique heritage. 

Bath became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and the Roman Baths were later added to the transnational World Heritage Site known as the "Great Spa Towns of Europe" in 2021. 

I already had cards of the city but was still missing a card of the bath, which I finally got thanks to Adam.

 Photography by James Davies

The Roman Baths, located in the city of Bath, are one of the most well-preserved examples of Roman architecture and engineering in the world. Built in the 1st century AD, the complex includes the remains of a temple, baths, and a changing room, and was used for bathing, socializing, and conducting business. The Roman Baths were also an important part of Roman culture and society, playing a role in religion, entertainment, health and hygiene, and politics. - in: https://dappshillhaven.co.uk

Dresden - Germany

Before World War II, Dresden was called “the Florence of the Elbe” and was regarded as one the world’s most beautiful cities for its architecture and museums. 

At the end of the war, Dresden was so badly damaged that the city was basically leveled. A handful of historic buildings–the Zwinger Palace, the Dresden State Opera House and several fine churches–were carefully reconstructed out of the rubble, but the rest of the city was rebuilt with plain modern buildings. - in: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-dresden

 In the last months of World War II, Allied bombers from the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force conducted several major bombing raids on the eastern German city of Dresden. Beginning on the night of February 13, 1945, more than 1,200 heavy bombers dropped nearly 4,000 tons of high-explosive and incendiary bombs on the city in four successive raids. 

 

 DE-8360341, sent by Heiko.

An estimated 25,000 people were killed in the bombings and the firestorm that raged afterward. More than 75,000 dwellings were destroyed, along with unique monuments of Baroque architecture in the historic city center. - in: https://www.theatlantic.com

DE-15872662, sent by Manuela.

On the left bank of the Elbe is Dresden's historical centre with buildings from the Renaissance, the Baroque and the 19th century. Despite being devastated in the Second World War, the Altstadt (Old Town) has kept or regained its attractive buildings.

© Schöning GmbH & Co. KG

DE-5174131, sent by Manuela.

The most well-known symbol of the rebuilding of the city centre is Dresden Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), the magnificent domed Baroque church which again dominates the Dresden skyline. After the Second World War, Neumarkt square and the symbolic ruins of the Frauenkirche remained almost untouched for half a century before also coming up for construction.

 

 

 Photo: F. Ihlow, H. Voigt, F. Exss, Verlag

The Altstadt is the centre of city life: it is home to the city hall, the Saxon state parliament and important cultural institutions from the Old Masters Picture Gallery, Semper Opera House and the State Theatre to the Green Vault. Between Altmarkt and Neumarkt squares, Prager Strasse and Postplatz you will find plenty of places to shop, eat and drink. - in: https://www.dresden.de

 

Burano - Italy

Last month I traveled to Italy and stayed in Venice. One of the must do's when in Venice, is a day trip to it's islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello. I visited them and it was a wonderful trip. 

I've sent myself a card of Burano and I'm posting it with a card that Sarah sent me back in 2013. 

 

www.rotalsele.com

Burano is an island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy; like Venice itself, it could more correctly be called an archipelago of four islands linked by bridges. It is situated near Torcello at the northern end of the Lagoon, and is known for its lacework and brightly coloured homes.

Copyright 2006 by Mazzega Art & Design s. r. l. - Venezia * Foto: archivo Mazzega Art & Design

Burano is known for its small, brightly painted houses, popular with artists. The colours of the houses follow a specific system originating from the golden age of its development; if someone wishes to paint their home, one must send a request to the government, who will respond by making notice of the certain colours permitted for that lot. - in: wikipedia