5 Unesco cards RR - Group 82 (Joanna)

Joanna sent me cards from 5 different countries and the card from the US is from a new Unesco site :D Carlsbad Caverns. The other cards are from Bergen, Norway; Wachau, Austria; Pannonhalma Abbey in Hungary and Lake Louise in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

Bergen, on the south-western coast of Norway, is the 2nd largest city in the country. Bergen's old quayside, Bryggen is on Unesco's WHS list since 1979.

Bryggen is a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings lining the eastern side of the fjord coming into Bergen. The area of the present Bryggen constitutes Bergen's oldest part. Around 1360 a Kontor of the Hanseatic League was established there, and as the town developed into an important trading centre, the wharfs were improved. The buildings of Bryggen were gradually taken over by the Hanseatic merchants. The warehouses were filled with goods, particularly fish from northern Norway, and cereal from Europe.

Throughout history, Bergen has experienced many fires, since, traditionally, most houses were made from wood. This was also the case for Bryggen, and as of today, around a quarter dates back to the time after 1702, when the older wharfside warehouses and administrative buildings burned down. The rest predominantly consists of younger structures, although there are some stone cellars that date back to the 15th century. - in: wikipedia

The Wachau is an Austrian valley with a landscape of high visibility formed by the Danube river. The Wachau was inscribed as "Wachau Cultural Landscape" in the Unesco's WHS list in 2000.On the card there's the Göttweig Abbey, the Steiner Tower in Kreams, the Göttweig Abbey again, Dürnstein and the Aggstein ruins.

The Benedictine Pannonhalma Archabbey is the most notable landmark in Pannonhalma and one of the oldest historical monuments in Hungary. It was founded as the first Hungarian Benedictine monastery in 996 by Prince Géza. (...)
In 1996, "the Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment" was elected among the World Heritage sites. - in: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2388953

Lake Louise is a lake in Alberta, Canada. The glacial lake is located in Banff National Park, 5 km (3.1 mi) from the hamlet of Lake Louise and the Trans-Canada Highway.

Lake Louise is named after the Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and the wife of the Marquess of Lorne, who was the Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883.

The emerald colour of the water comes from rock flour carried into the lake by melt-water from the glaciers that overlook the lake. The lake has a surface of 0.8 km2 (0.31 sq mi) and is drained through the 3 km long Louise Creek into the Bow River.

Fairmont's Chateau Lake Louise, one of Canada's grand railway hotels, is located on Lake Louise's eastern shore. It is a luxury resort hotel built in the early decades of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway. - in: wikipedia

Carlsbad Caverns' karst landscape, in the state of New Mexico, comprises over 80 recognized caves. They are outstanding not only for their size but also for the profusion, diversity and beauty of their mineral formations.
Carlsbad Caverns includes a large cave chamber, the Big Room, a natural limestone chamber which is almost 4,000 feet (1,220 m) long, 625 feet (191 m) wide, and 350 feet (110 m) high at the highest point. It is the third largest chamber in North America and the seventh largest in the world.

5 Unesco cards RR - Group 82 (Simona)

I haven't joined any RR in the last months but a few weeks ago Violet invited me to join her Unesco RR. I thought it could be a nice opportunity to get new and different cards, so i joined group 82.

Simona "lunanai" from Slovenia sent me cards from her country, Germany, Mexico and China.

Due to their exceptional significance, the Škocjan Caves were entered on UNESCO’s list of natural and cultural world heritage sites in 1986. International scientific circles have thus acknowledged the importance of the Caves as one of the natural treasures of planet Earth.
Ranking among the most important caves in the world, the Škocjan Caves represent the most significant underground phenomena in both the Karst region and Slovenia. - in: http://www.park-skocjanske-jame.si/eng/caves.shtml

On the card there's the Cekvenik bridge in Šumeča jama Cave, which crosses the Reka river.

Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers. One of the main sights of the city is the medieval Stone Bridge, built betweeen 1135–1146. The knights of the 2nd and 3rd crusade used it to cross the Danube on their way to the Holy Land.
The large medieval centre of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2006.


A view of the Kukulcan Pyramid at Chichen Itza during the Sprin Equinox.

The ruins of Chichen Itza archeological site and Dzibilchaltún are the two best places to appreciate the equinox. This is an archaeo-astronomical phenomenon, where Earth is illuminated by the sun the same way in the northern hemisphere and in the south.

On the evening of 21 March and 22 September during the spring and fall equinoxes, respectively, there is a solar projection consisting of seven triangles of light, inverted, as a result of the shadow of the nine platforms of the pyramid, at sunset, simulating the image of a snake down through the banisters of the stairs of the north staircase of the Kukulcan Pyramid or El Castillo at Chichen Itza.
This phenomenon of light simulates a snake descending majestically through the banisters of the stairs of the Kukulcan Pyramid at Chichen Itza. The first shadows of the pyramid begins to draw isosceles triangles that make up the body of the feathered serpent that seems to move slowly downward until the head of the snake reaches bottom of the balustrade.

When the last of the triangle reaches the base of the balustrade, all spectators stand up and raise their hands to absorb the positive energy that emanates from this phenomenon. - in: http://www.discoverchichenitza.com/chichen-itza-mexico/spring-2010-equinox-at-chichen-itza/

Summer Palace in Beijing.

Vall de Boí - Spain

This was the 1st card i picked from Luis trade albuns because it is from an Unesco place, an hard to get one. Vall de Boí was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.

The Vall de Boí is a narrow, steep-sided valley and a small municipality in the province of Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia, northern Spain. The valley is best known for its nine Early Romanesque churches, making it the site of the densest concentration of Romanesque architecture in Europe. - in: wikipedia

Trujillo - Spain

A card from Trujillo in Extremadura, sent by Luis.
Trujillo is a Spanish city located in the province of Cáceres, in the Extremadura region. It was the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro and his brothers, conquerors of Peru, as well as of Francisco de Orellana.

The card shows the Juan Pizarro de Orellana, a cousin of Fransisco Pizarro. This 16th century palace is quite special in the history of Trujillo and the New World because it once served as the Casa de Contratación, or House of Contracts. It was in this place that the people who wished to travel to the Americas and continue the colonization and conquest signed the contract to do so. Therefore this palace played a very significant role in the expansion of the empire into the New World.

Badajoz - Spain

Today i've received more spanish cards, the last of the week. I've been waiting for these cards since April or May and i've finally got them.

The envelope was sent by Luis who lives in Badajoz, a city in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border.

On this 1st card there's the Convent of the Sisters Adorers, Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity! The actual convent is from 1917 in neo-gothic style but its origin dates back from the 13 century.

The Puerta de Palmas is a gate built as an entrance to the medieval, walled city and dates from 1460.

Montserrat Monastery - Spain

The Montserrat Monastery was one of the places Déa "andreaeiko" visited in Spain. This is my 1st card from this place and i've lots of spanish cards.

Santa Maria de Montserrat is a Benedictine abbey located on the mountain of Montserrat, in Monistrol de Montserrat, in Catalonia, Spain.

It hosts the Virgin of Montserrat, and the Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, a publishing house, one of the oldest presses in the world, still running, with the first book published in 1499.

The monastery is Catalonia's most important religious retreat and groups of young people from Barcelona and all over Catalonia make overnight hikes at least once in their lives to watch the sunrise from the heights of Montserrat.

Virgin of Montserrat (the black virgin), is Catalonia's favourite saint, and is located in the sanctuary of the Mare de Deu de Montserrat, next to the Benedictine monastery nestling in the towers and crags of the mountain.

The Basilica houses a museum with works of art by many prominent painters and sculptors including works by El Greco, Dali, Picasso and more.

Montserrat's highest point, Sant Jeroni, can be reached by a footpath from the topstation of the funicular Sant Jeroni. From Sant Joan, almost all of Catalonia can be seen and on a clear day the island of Majorca is visible. - in: wikipedia

Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe - Spain

This is another card from a spanish Unesco site, the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe but not my 1st card from there though. That's a very impressive building, i'm sure i'd love to visit it and most of all, take some pictures of it. That's the kind of things i like to photograph.

The monastery is an outstanding repository of four centuries of Spanish religious architecture. It symbolizes two significant events in world history that occurred in 1492: the Reconquest of the Iberian peninsula by the Catholic Kings and Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas. Its famous statue of the Virgin became a powerful symbol of the Christianization of much of the New World. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/665