DE-7002682 & DE-6934114

Snow again. I really wouldn't mind to go on holidays to a place like these on the cards. Just a lot of snow, a little wooden house and a nice fireplace.

Foto: Klaus Scholz

DE-7002682, sent by Michael. 

Wow, that's a lot of snow!!

This cute and strong wooden house sits somewhere in a forest in Kranzberg, in the district of Freising, in the administrative region of Oberbayern, the German state of Bavaria.

Christian Müringer

DE-6934114, sent by Carmelo.

A restaurant in the ski resort of Klausberg in northern Italy, in the region of Trentino-Alto Adige.

Santillana del Mar - Spain

Santillana del Mar is one of the most visited places in Cantabria. There is an old saying that Santillana del Mar is The Town of Three Lies, since it is neither a Saint (Santo), nor flat (llana), nor is it by the sea (Mar) as implied by its name.

The village was declared a historical-artistic site in 1889. Near the village lies the Altamira Cave, protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Since July 2013, Santillana del Mar is part of the network of the most beautiful villages in Spain.

As for these postcards, they were sent by Luís and Paulo.

Santillana del Mar is one of the places with the highest historical-artistic value of Spain and the main tourist attraction of Cantabria. The village is home to true architectural treasures, with the Collegiate Church of Santa Juliana being the most representative building of Santillana del Mar and the most important Romanesque jewel in Cantabria.

© FISA - ESCUDO DE ORO, S. A. - Barcelona * L. DOMINGUEZ, S. A. - Madrid

The Collegiate Church of Santa Juliana has its origin in a monastery dating back to 870 and which, according to tradition, kept the relics of Saint Juliana.

Throughout the eleventh century, it was transformed into collegiate church, although the present building dates back to the twelfth century.

Carrasqueira - Portugal

I´ve said in the previous post that Paulo had sent me, a few days ago, one of the postcards of Idanha-a-Velha but that postcard was not the only he sent me. He sent around 200 cards, maybe more, I'm still counting them. Most of them are from Portugal and there are also some from Spain and other countries. In the next few days I will show you some. These two are from Carrasqueira, a village in the municipality of Alcácer do Sal, located in the Sado's Estuary Natural Reserve.

A masterpiece of the popular architecture, the Carrasqueira’s Palafitte dock, unique in Europe, is built out of irregular timber stakes, apparently frail, from the 1950’s and 1960’s decades, which serve as pier to the fishing boats that anchor there. The stakes are either buried in mud, or water, according to the tides.

The riverside village contains hundreds of meters of piling through the muddy sea inlets of the river Sado.

Touristic attraction site, it is one of the most visited places in the county; the dock goes on, nevertheless, accomplishing the mission for which it was built: To allow to the fishermen boat access, even during the low tide. - in: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC3RGFN_cais-palafita-da-carrasqueira?guid=48827a4e-aa72-47b6-879e-fd819d11144a

Constructed with reeds and wood, the thatched huts that still today can be seen in large numbers in Carrasqueira remind us of the difficult lives of the rural workers, fishermen and salt workers who once inhabited the vast lands of Herdade da Comporta.
These constructions arose from the necessity of housing the workers of the homestead and had a provisional shelter character. Landowners did not allow their employees to build dwellings on more solid and durable materials, as this could subsequently give them some tenure rights. The workers were thus obliged to construct thatched huts, whose floors were of beaten earth or clay.
The houses were built of highly flammable materials. In this way, the construction of two huts with different functions for each two families was established: in one of the rooms were the rooms and the living room, while the other worked as a kitchen. This division made it possible to avoid many fires.
Nowadays, thatched cottages are considered cultural heritage, some of them being used as eco-tourist accommodation.

Idanha-a-Velha - Portugal

Idanha-a-Velha was the last of the 12 portuguese Historical Villages that i've visited and I must confess that it was the one I liked the least Maybe it was the heat that discouraged me for a longer walk around the village. No cards found and that didn't help either but fortunately I already had postcards from there. These 2 were sent by Paulo, the 1st last week and the 2nd already a few years ago.

Fotografia: Homem Cardoso

Thanks to its fine collection of ruins, it has some of the country's most important archaeological sites. It stands in a place where a Roman city once lay, the capital of Civitas Igaeditanorum (1st century BC) and later the episcopal seat during occupation by the Suebi and Visigoths. It was occupied by Muslims in the 8th century and taken back by Christians in the 12th century. It was donated to the Knights Templar in the 13th century and still has traces of different ages that attest to permanent occupation by various civilisations.

Both the Parish Church and the Pillory are located at the Church Square.

The Parish Church, once Misericórdia Church is in renaissance style (17th and 18th century) with popular influences.

The pillory is the symbol of Idanha-a-Velha’s municipal independence. It is in Manueline style and classified as property of public interest. It was presumably built in 1510, the year of King Manuel I’s charter. - in: http://www.aldeiashistoricasdeportugal.com/en/idanha-a-velha

Porto - Portugal

A postcard from one of my favorite portuguese cities, that I won in a FB lottery and sent by Anne Silva. 

Fotos: Manuel M. Pinturache, Nuno Perestrelo, Sérgio Duarte © 2016 - Ed. 19 de Abril: 179

On the bigger image of the card, you can see the twin churches of Carmo and Carmelitas. Carmo Church, built between 1756 and 1768 in rococo style, has a beautiful azulejo-covered exterior. The tiles were added in 1912. The church stands next door to the Carmelitas Church, part of a 17th century convent. 

The two churches are separated by a very narrow (1m wide) house that was inhabited until the 1980's. The house was built so that the two churches would not share a common wall and to prevent any relations between the nuns of Carmelitas Church and the monks of Carmo Church.

PT RR - Surprise Group * March

March is almost over, finally, I can't wait for April and my holidays, holidays mean to travel, of course. I'll write about that later but now it's time to write about cards. These are from this month's surprise group.

I have already received postcards from many places, countries and continents but receiving a postcard from another planet was something that had never happened before. Paulo saw that I like volcanoes and sent me this postcard with a volcanic plain in .... Mercury!!

On the back of the card: This enhanced-color MESSENGER image shows Mercury's epic volcanic plains in the planet's northern hemisphere. In the bottom right of the image is the Mendelssohn impact basin, which is 181 miles (291 kms) in diameter. 

Mont-de-Marsan, a town in the french region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in southwestern France, is where Joana lives. She says there's not much to see in the town except for these houses, which house the local tourism office. 

 Foto: António Cunha

Inês Barbosa always manages to find new and unknown churches for my collection. I had never seen this church and had never heard about Marmelar, an old parish of Vidigueira where the church, dedicated to Stª Brigid is located.

This small and pretty church was possibly built in the first half of the 16th century and still retains its original Manueline-Mudéjar style.

imagem: Oswaldo Santos

Sandra says that it is difficult to choose a postcard to send me, I really have many, but she still managed to send me a postcard that I didn't have.

Cabreira Waterfall is located in the village of Silva Escura, Sever do Vouga municipality. It originates in the waters of the Mau River and gains speed and strength on a rocky slope 25 meters high.

Polar Bears in Canada

It's no secret that many polar bear populations are disappearing. Changes in the world's climate have destroyed much of the sea ice these creatures call home, making it harder for them to find food. 

There are 19 recognized subpopulations of polar bears throughout the world. 5 of these subpopulations are declining, and 7 more may be facing the same problem (though there is currently not enough data to determine their status).

Despite these alarming trends, there are still a few places where the world's largest land predators can be seen in great numbers. In certain parts of Canada, scientists believe that the amount of bears might actually be increasing. The town of Churchill, Manitoba is often referred to as the "polar bear capitol of the world."

US-2594697, sent by Rori.

As Canada's polar bears migrate from the inland to the shores of Hudson Bay, many of them converge in Churchill. It is estimated that 1,200 or more of these creatures move through the area each autumn.

The window period to see these bears is very brief, lasting from October to early November. As soon as sturdy ice forms on Hudson Bay, they leave the area to hunt seals for the winter. - in: http://www.canadapolarbears.com/articles/churchill-polar-bears