PT vs 3 Other Countries RR

A few weeks ago i've join this Kel's RR, Portugal vs 3 other countries, in this case, Netherlands, France and Finland. The cards arrived very fast.

Tiffany "tiffie" sent this beautiful card from Schermerhorn, a village in the Dutch province of North Holland.
I love the colors of the card.

I wasn't expecting a card from such an exotic location. Marion "perfecta" sent me this card from Martinique with the Pelée Volcano.
"Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of 1,128 km² (436 sq mi). It is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St. Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados. As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is one of the twenty-six regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic.

Mount Pelée is an active volcano, it is among the deadliest stratovolcanoes on Earth. The volcano is now famous for its extremely destructive eruption in 1902 and the destruction that resulted, now dubbed the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century. The eruption killed about 30,121 people, most deaths in the destroyed Saint-Pierre, at that time the largest city in Martinique, due to its deadly pyroclastic flows. The eruption left only two survivors in the direct path of the volcano, one alive because he was in a poorly ventilated, dungeon-like jail cell and the other, living on the edge of the city, escaped with severe burns. Mount Pelée is made up mostly of pyroclastic material. The event marked the only major volcanic disaster in the history of France and its overseas territories." - in: wikipedia

Finally, from Finland, a snowy card sent by Nina "kaheli".

Conwy Castle - Wales

I've received a few cards this week but i didn't have time to scan and upload them, i want to do that tomorrow. This one is a new unesco from UK sent by Johnson.
Conwy Castle is a castle in Conwy, on the north coast of Wales. It was built between 1283 and 1289 during King Edward I's second campaign in North Wales, as one of the key fortresses in his 'iron ring' of castles to contain the Welsh. It is part of the World Heritage Site entitled "Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd".

"Conwy castle is a gritty, dark stoned fortress which has the rare ability to evoke an authentic medieval atmosphere. The first time that visitors catch sight of the castle, commanding a rock above the Conwy Estuary and demanding as much attention as the dramatic Snowdonia skyline behind it, they know they are in the presence of a historic site which still casts a powerful spell.
A distinguished historian wrote of Conwy, 'Taken as a whole, Conwy's incomparably the most magnificent of Edward I's Welsh fortresses'. In comparison to other great Edwardian castles it is also relatively straightforward in design, a reflection of the inherent strength of its siting.
There are no concentric 'walls within walls' here, because they were not needed. Conwy's massive military strength springs from the rock on which it stands and seems to grow naturally. Soaring curtain walls and eight huge round towers give the castle (a World Heritage Inscribed site) an intimidating presence undimmed by the passage of time.
The views from the battlements are breathtaking looking out across mountains and sea and down to the roofless shell of the castles 125ft Great Hall. It is from these battlements that visitors can best appreciate Conwy's other great glory, its ring of town walls." - in: www.convy.com

"The Kernavė Archaeological site, about 35 km north-west of Vilnius in eastern Lithuania, represents an exceptional testimony to some 10 millennia of human settlements in this region. Situated in the valley of the River Neris, the site is a complex ensemble of archaeological properties, encompassing the town of Kernavė, forts, some unfortified settlements, burial sites and other archaeological, historical and cultural monuments from the late Palaeolithic Period to the Middle Ages. The site of 194,4 ha has preserved the traces of ancient land-use, as well as remains of five impressive hill forts, part of an exceptionally large defence system. Kernavė was an important feudal town in the Middle Ages. The town was destroyed by the Teutonic Order in the late 14th century, however the site remained in use until modern times." - in: www.whc.unesco.org/en/list/1137

MY-34190

I didn't get any cards today but last friday arrived this official from Malaysia.

MY-34190, sent by Putri.

The card shows a monkey and its master. The monkey helped its master to pick up coconuts. Putri says that nowadays it's harder to see monkeys picking up coconuts because the coconut trees are not that tall as they used to be.

Band-e-Amir Lake - Afghanistan

And the last card send by Chiara was this one from Afghanistan.

"Band-e Amir (meaning "Commander's Dam"--a reference to the Commander of the Faithful, Iman Ali, the first imam of the Shia Muslims and the fourth Caliph of the Sunni Muslins) refers to five lakes high in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Central Afghanistan at approximately 3000 meters elevation, west of the famous Buddhas of Bamiyan. They were created by the carbon dioxide rich water oozing out of the faults and fractures to deposit calcium carbonate precipitate in the form of travertine walls that today store the water of these lakes.
In 2008, Band-e Amir was finally declared Afghanistan's first national park.

Band-e Amir is situated at approximately 75 kilometers to the north-west of the ancient city of Bamyan, close to the town of Yakawlang. Together with Bamiyan, they are the heart of Afghanistan's tourism, attracting thousands of tourists every year and from every corner of the world.

The Band-e Amir lakes are primarily a late spring and summertime tourism destination, as the high elevation central Hazarajat region of Afghanistan is extremely cold in winter, with temperatures reaching as low as -20C." - in: wikipedia

Suq al-Wadi - Yemen

Another card sent by Chiara. This one is from Yemen and it shows the old house of the Iman Yahya Hamid ed-Din.

In the village of Suq al-Wadi, stands a famous rock palace. Its commanding position and evidence of an ancient well suggest that the site has been used as a lookout post for centuries. It is a classic example of Yemeni architecture and was built in 1786 by Imam Mansour Ali Bin Mahdi Abbas; in the 1930s Imam Yahya Hamid Al Din extended it as a summer residence.

Today, the palace is an open museum of sorts, and a very popular place to visit, not only for tourists but also for local Yemeni families. Different rooms have descriptive labels in English and Arabic. Nearby is the village of Qaryat al- Qabil, with its walled pathways, orchards and vineyards. Here on Fridays from 09.00 – 12.00 Yemenis gather for wedding celebrations.

Marsh Arabs - Iraq

One of the new countries Chiara sent me was Iraq.
This is a card from southern Iraq with a floating island of the Marsh Arabs.

"The Marsh Arabs, also known as the Maʻdān, are inhabitants of the Tigris-Euphrates marshlands in the south and east of Iraq and along the Iranian border.

Comprising members of many different tribes and tribal confederations, such as the Āl Bū Muḥammad, Ferayghāt, Shaghanbah and Banī Lām, the Maʻdān had developed a unique culture centred around the marshes' natural resources. Many of the marshes' inhabitants were displaced and the wetlands themselves destroyed during and after the 1991 uprisings in Iraq.

Madan means "dweller in the plains (ʻadan)" and was used disparagingly by desert tribes to refer to those inhabiting the Iraqi river basins, and by those who farmed in the river basins to refer to the population of the marshes. There was a considerable historic prejudice against the Maʻdān, partly as they were considered to have Persian or other "mixed" origin and partly due to their practice of temporary marriage.

Most Marsh Arabs lived in arched reed houses considerably smaller than a mudhif. The typical dwelling was usually a little more than 2 meters wide, about 6 meters long, and a little less than three meters high, and was either constructed at the waterside or on an artificial islands of reeds called a kibasha; a more permanent island of layered reeds and mud was called a dibin. Houses had entrances at both ends and a screen in the middle; one end was used as a dwelling and the other end (sometimes extended with a sitra, a long reed structure) was used to shelter animals in bad weather. A raba was a higher-status dwelling, distinguished by a north-facing entrance, which also served as a guesthouse where there was no mudhif. Traditional boats (the mashoof and tarada) were used as transport: the Maˤdān would drive buffaloes through the reedbeds during the season of low water to create channels, which would then be kept open by constant use, for the boats." - in: wikipedia

Loreto - Italy

Yesterday i've received 2 envelopes from Italy. One of them had this card and 3 cards from new countries. The envelope was sent by Chiara.

"Loreto is a hilltown and comune of the Italian province of Ancona, in the Marche. It is mostly famous as the seat of the Basilica della Santa Casa, a popular Catholic pilgrimage site
The basilica is a Late Gothic structure continued by Giuliano da Maiano, Giuliano da Sangallo and Bramante. The handsome façade of the church was erected under Sixtus V, who fortified Loreto and gave it the privileges of a town (1586); his colossal statue stands in the middle of the flight of steps in front. Over the principal doorway is a life-size bronze statue of the Virgin and Child by Girolamo Lombardo; the three superb bronze doors executed at the latter end of the 16th century and under Paul V (1605-1621) are also by Lombardo, his sons and his pupils, among them Tiburzio Vergelli, who also made the fine bronze font in the interior. The doors and hanging lamps of the Santa Casa are by the same artists.
The richly decorated campanile (1750 to 1754), is of great height; the principal bell, presented by Leo X in 1516 , weighs 11 tons. The interior of the church has mosaics by Domenichino and Guido Reni and other works of art, including statues by Raffaello da Montelupo. In the sacristies on each side of the right transept are frescoes, on the right by Melozzo da Forli, on the left by Luca Signorelli. In both are fine intarsias. The basilica as a whole is thus a collaborative masterpiece by generations of architects and artists." - in: wikipedia