Nassebar - Bulgaria

"Situated on a rocky peninsula on the Black Sea, the more than 3,000-year-old site of Nessebar was originally a Thracian settlement (Menebria). At the beginning of the 6th century B.C., the city became a Greek colony. The city's remains, which date mostly from the Hellenistic period, include the acropolis, a temple of Apollo, an agora and a wall from the Thracian fortifications. Among other monuments, the Stara Mitropolia Basilica and the fortress date from the Middle Ages, when this was one of the most important Byzantine towns on the west coast of the Black Sea. Wooden houses built in the 19th century are typical of the Black Sea architecture of the period." - in http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/217

It's an Unesco whs since 1983.

Card sent by Stefka.

Helsinki - Finland

South Harbour with Vicking Cruise Line, sent by Essi "Duffeli".

FI - 143942.

"Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is 565,186, making it the most populous municipality in Finland by a wide margin.
Helsinki is Finland's administrative center and the center of Finnish cultural life and business activity. There is a large and varied collection of museums, galleries, and performance spaces in the city." - in wikipedia

Zagreb - Croatia

I visited Croatia 9 months ago and i just loved Zagreb. I was there during the European Meeting of Taizé.

St. Marks Church, the Cathedral and the National Theatre of Croatia.

King Tomislav's Square.

Aalborg - Denmark

This card was the only one i received today. It was sent by Natália "Npds02" and it shows the Jens Bang's Stonehouse in Aalborg.

"The finest example of renaissance domestic architecture in Northern Europe, built in 1624 by the wealthy merchant Jens Bang. For over 300 years, the building has been the home of Aalborg's oldest pharmacy, and in all that time the house has never been sold." - in http://www.visitdenmark.com

Monte-Carlo - Monaco

I visited Monaco last January. It's a nice place and the color of the sea is absolutely beautiful.

The Prince's Palace.

"Monaco is a constitutional monarchy and city-state in Western Europe located along the French Riviera between the Mediterranean Sea and France. It is one of six microstates located in Europe.
Monaco is the world's most densely populated country and second-smallest independent nation." - in wikipedia.

Den Bosch - Netherlands

Today i received a card from Den Bosch in Netherlands, a lottery card sent by "Astrid1978."

Den Bosch is te capital of the North-Brabant province, located in the south of the country, 80 km's from Amsterdam. It was the birthplace and home of Hieronymus Bosch one of the greatest dutch painters.

Tipasa - Algeria

"On the shores of the Mediterranean, Tipasa was an ancient Punic trading-post conquered by Rome and turned into a strategic base for the conquest of the kingdoms of Mauritania. It comprises a unique group of Phoenician, Roman, palaeochristian and Byzantine ruins alongside indigenous monuments such as the Kbor er Roumia, the great royal mausoleum of Mauritania. " - in http://whc.unesco.org

The Roman Ruins of Tipasa are an Unesco whs since 1982.

This is another card that i bought in Lisbon during the Expo 98.

Hong Kong

Wanchai, Causeway Bay and North Point. This view from the Peak includes most of the Eastern part of urban Hong Kong Island with the Cross Harbour Tunnel and the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter in the centre. Central Plaza is the tall building on the left. This card was sent by Ameko.

Évoramonte Castle - Portugal

I really like to received cards from my own country and i received this card today from Luís "Ludovico".

This castle is from the XII century and it's located in Évora district.

Prague - Czech Republic

Prague is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, i'm sure it is and i really like these cards. One of my friends travels a lot due to his work and he bought me a few cards from different european countries, those from Czech Republic are my favorites. Thanks Sérgio :)

This card shows the Old Town Square.

Since 1992, the historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of Worl Heritage Sites.

Sousse - Tunisia

Sousse is a city of Tunisia, located 140 km south of Tunis, the capital city and it has 220,000 inhabitants. The Medina of Sousse is an Unesco World Heritage Site.
I bought this card in Lisbon during the Expo 98 (in full, 1998 Lisbon World Exposition).

Loire Valley - France

I'm really happy with these cards from the Loire Valley that i received today from Agnes "Agie". I really want to visit the castles of the Loire Valley someday.
"Loire Valley is known as the Garden of France and the Cradle of the French Language. It is also noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns and specially for its world-famous castles, such as the Châteaux d'Amboise, Château de Villandry and Chenonceau.
The landscape of the Loire Valley, and more particularly its many cultural monuments, illustrate to an exceptional degree the ideals of the Renaissance and the Age of the Enlightenment on western European thought and design. The Loire Valley is an outstanding cultural landscape of great beauty, containing historic towns and villages, great architectural monuments, its many châteaux, and fine wines. In 2000, UNESCO added the central part of the Loire River valley, between Maine and Sully-sur-Loire, to its prestigious list of World Heritage Sites."

"The royal Château de Chambord at Chambord, built between 1519 ‑ 1547, is one of the most recognizable châteaux in the world because of its very distinct French Renaissance architecture that blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Italian structures. It is the largest castle in the Loire Valley, but was built to serve only as a hunting lodge for King François I, who maintained his royal residences at Château de Blois and at Château d'Amboise." - in wikipedia.

"This famous Renaissance castle built on an island in the Loire tributary Indre. Azay-Le-Rideau was built by Gilles Berthelot (Treasurer of François I) between 1518 and 1527. Suspected of embezzlement by King François I, Gilles Berthelot was forced to flee from Azay-Le-Rideau, leaving the castle uncompleted behind him forever. He died a few years later whereas he was still in exile." - in http://perso.orange.fr/chateauxdelaloire/azaye.htm

Picklet Parrot - Jamaica

Pickled Parrot it's a Guest House located in Negril, where e can find the a seven miles long beach, the biggest/longest beach over there.
This is my only card from Jamaica and it was sent by dear Wendy "Wendzefx".

Borgund Stave Church - Norway

"Borgund stave church is classified the best preserved of Norway's 28 extant stave churches. It was probably built in the end of the 12th century, and has not changed structure or had a major reconstruction since that date. A stave church is a medieval wooden church with a post and beam construction related to timber framing." - in wikipedia.

This beautiful lottery card was sent by Joey "coveralls".

Budapest - Hungary

I just have a few cards from Hungary, most of them from Budapest and from what i can see so far, Budapest is a beautiful city.

This 1st card sent by "keadamna" shows a Budapest panorama with Danube and Gellért-mountain.

"Budapest is the capital city of Hungary and the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial and transportation centre. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with the amalgamation on 17 November 1873 of right-bank (west) Buda and Óbuda together with Pest on the left (east) bank." - in wikipedia.

This is a Buda Castle card sent by Edina "Apoletta". "Buda Castle is the historical castle of the Hungarian kings in Budapest. In the past, it was also called Royal Palace and Royal Castle.
Buda Castle was built on the southern tip of Castle Hill, next to the old Castle District, which is famous about its medieval, Baroque and 19th century houses and public buildings. It is linked to Adam Clark Square and the Széchenyi Chain Bridge by the Castle Hill Funicular.
Buda Castle is part of the Budapest World Heritage Site, declared in 1987." - in wikipedia.

Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed - Moscow

"The cathedral was commissioned by Ivan IV (also known as Ivan the Terrible) and built between 1555 and 1561 in Moscow to commemorate the capture of the Khanate of Kazan. In 1588 Tsar Fedor Ivanovich had a chapel added on the eastern side above the grave of Basil Fool for Christ a Russian Orthodox saint after whom the cathedral was popularly named.
Saint Basil's is located at the southeast end of Red Square, just across from the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin. Not particularly large, it consists of nine chapels built on a single foundation." - in wikipedia.
card sent by "MZebra."

Unesco RR - only real cards

This is a really nice RR but i only took part once and i received cards from Spain and Romania.
This first one was sent by "maestla" from Spain and the second one from "lindus" from Romania.

La Lonja de la Seda de Valência - "Built between 1482 and 1533, this group of buildings was originally used for trading in silk (hence its name, the Silk Exchange) and it has always been a centre for commerce. It is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. The grandiose Sala de Contratación (Contract or Trading Hall), in particular, illustrates the power and wealth of a major Mediterranean mercantile city in the 15th and 16th centuries." - in http://whc.unesco.org.

Wooden Churches of Maramureş - "These eight churches are outstanding examples of a range of architectural solutions from different periods and areas. They show the variety of designs and craftsmanship adopted in these narrow, high, timber constructions with their characteristic tall, slim clock towers at the western end of the building, either single- or double-roofed and covered by shingles. As such, they are a particular vernacular expression of the cultural landscape of this mountainous area of northern Romania." - in http://whc.unesco.org.

Kinderdijk - The Netherlands

The windmills of Kinderdijk seems to be one of the best known Dutch Unesco whs. Here you can see 2 diferent cards of the same place on diferent seasons.

This card was sent by Jeroen.

And this one by Roos.

"Kinderdijk is in a polder at the confluence of the rivers Lek and Noord. To drain the polder, a system of 19 windmills was built around 1740. This group of mills is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands." - in wikipedia.

Today's mail

There's nothing better than receive nice cards at the beginning of the week. Today i received 1 card from Austria and another 1 from Brazil.

Salzburg. 1. The Leopoldskron-Palace; 2. The "Wedding-Church" in Mondsee; 3. The Gazebo in Bellbrunn; 4. The authentic Trapp-House in the Suburb of Aigen; 5. The Mirabell-garden of Salzburg; 6. The Convent of Nonnberg; 7. The "Fronburg"-Residence (home of Trapp-Family in movie). Card sent by Manuela "Vanilla_angel".

São Paulo. Aerial view of Ibirapuera Park. PT2PT tag from Paula "Paula_LC".

PT RR - Churches

4th RR in portuguese. This time the theme was "churches".

Saint Benedito Church in Cabo Frio, Rio de Janeiro - Brasil. Sent by Jucielly "Jucy".

Holy Virgin Church in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo - Brasil. Sent by Luciana "Lucca.".

Piedade Chapel in Redondo - Portugal. Sent by Joana "Joaninha".

A church in Pombal - Portugal sent by Zé "Zepombal".

Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon. Sent by Luís "Ludovico".

Trakai Castle - Lithuania

"Trakai Castle is located in Trakai, on an island in Lake Galvė. The castle is sometimes referred to as "Little Marienburg". The construction of the stone castle was begun in the 14th century and around 1409 major works were completed."

Card sent by Vilma "S_vlm".