Surprise + lottery card

2 cards today, a Montréal card sent by Sue and a London card sent from Milan by Irene "saphira555".

Like i said to Sue, i liked the card but i loved the marten stamp. I've a marten as avatar in the postcrossing forum and that's because marten in portuguese is marta.... my name is Marta :)

This card shows The Place D'Armes with it's masterpiece Notre-Dame Basilica and the statue of Paul de Chomedey, "Sieur de Maisonneuve" who founded Montréal in 1642.

"Trafalgar Square is a square in central London, England. With its position in the heart of London, it is a popular tourist attraction; its trademarks are Nelson's Column, which stands in the centre, the four lion statues that guard the Column, and the large amount of pigeons that live in the square. The name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), a British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars. The original name was to have been "King William the Fourth's Square", but George Ledwell Taylor suggested the name "Trafalgar Square"." - in: wikipedia.

Surprise Trade round 2

Only 1 card today. I've now received all the cards related to the Surprise Trade round 2.

"Red Deers" by Franz Marc sent by Martina.

Australian Capital Cities. Clockwise from top left: Darwin, Northern Territory; Brisbane, Queensland; Sydney, New South Wales; Canberra, Australian Capital Territory; Melbourne, Victoria; Hobart, Tasmania; Adelaide, South Australia; Perth, Western Australia.
The card was sent by Jaime "JMSilver."

Nice cards

These are the great cards i've received today. My 1st official card from Spain - ES-21804 - sent by a forum member Luis "luiseme" and a card from UK sent by Paola "paolandia" - "you choose used cards tag".

"Casa Batlló is a building restored by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol, built in the year 1877 and remodelled in the years 1905–1907; located at 43, Passeig de Gràcia, part of the Illa de la Discòrdia in the Eixample district of Barcelona.
The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), and indeed it does have a visceral, skeletal organic quality. It was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of Barcelona.

The building looks very remarkable — like everything Gaudí designed, only identifiable as Modernisme or Art Nouveau in the broadest sense. The ground floor, in particular, is rather astonishing with tracery, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work.
It seems that the goal of the designer was to avoid straight lines completely. Much of the façade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles (trencadís) that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues. The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinosaur. A common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of centre, terminating at the top in a turret and cross, represents the sword of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon." - in: wikipedia.

"Chichester Cathedral in Chichester, West Sussex, England is an Anglican Cathedral.
Chichester Cathedral has superposed "Norman" (English Romanesque) arcades in the nave and choir, with much Early English (Early Gothic) building. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner rated it 'the most typical English cathedral' (Buildings of England: Sussex). The nave is unusual in that its aisles were doubled in the 13th century. Chichester is the only mediæval cathedral in England with a separate bell tower, like a campanile, and also the only one visible from the sea.
The Cathedral was founded in 1075, after the seat of the bishop was transferred to the town from nearby Selsey. It was consecrated in 1108 under Bishop Ralph de Luffa but a subsequent fire created a need for substantial rebuilding, which was not completed until 1184." - in: wikipedia.

Tulips fields - Netherlands

RAS card from Laura "lauraarual".

NL - 26419
"The tulip originated over ten decades ago in Persia and Turkey, where it played a significant role in the art and culture of the time. Most likely commenting on the Turkish tradition of wearing tulips in one’s turban, Europeans mistakenly gave tulips their name, which comes from the Persian word meaning turban. As Europeans began taking to tulips, the flower’s popularity spread quickly, particularly in the Netherlands where a phenomenon dubbed tulip mania set in at one point during the 17th century. Tulips became so highly-prized that prices were sent soaring and markets crashing. Tulips are now grown throughout the world, but people still identify cultivated varieties as "Dutch tulips." The meaning of tulips is generally perfect love." - in: http://www.proflowers.com/flowerguide/flowermeanings/tulip-meanings.aspx

Official cards

My mail today, 2 official cards.

This card was sent by Cristina but she forgot to write the ID. It shows the Church of Our Lady of Conceição in Campinas, a city located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

CN - 15430 sent by "lachlan", a chinese boy in Shanghai.

This is a card sent by my best friend Liliana. She moved a few weeks ago to Germany. The card shows the Old City Hall of Dortmund.

This is the fort on the Pampus Island, one of the 42 Defence Line of Amsterdam - Unesco whs - fortifications. The card was sent by Jetske.

"Extending 135 km around the city of Amsterdam, this defence line (built between 1883 and 1920) is the only example of a fortification based on the principle of controlling the waters. Since the 16th century, the people of the Netherlands have used their expert knowledge of hydraulic engineering for defence purposes. The centre of the country was protected by a network of 45 armed forts, acting in concert with temporary flooding from polders and an intricate system of canals and locks." - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/759


CN - 15429. My first official card from China.

Unesco RR "ORC" Group 105

When i was having dinner my father gave me an envelope that ended up in my neighbours' mailbox. Now this RR is completed for me. I've received cards from Japan sent by "bimbim75" and Estonia from Anne "nanou".

Byodo-in Temple in Kyoto.

"The origins of Tallinn date back to the 13th century, when a castle was built there by the crusading knights of the Teutonic Order. It developed as a major centre of the Hanseatic League, and its wealth is demonstrated by the opulence of the public buildings (the churches in particular) and the domestic architecture of the merchants' houses, which have survived to a remarkable degree despite the ravages of fire and war in the intervening centuries." - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/822

GTKY lottery 3 prize

Finally at the end of the week, some nice stuff arrived in my mailbox :)

I was the Getting to Know You thread lottery lucky winner and Relie sent me all of these things.


Postcards.

And a Winnie the Pooh notebook, aeroplanes clips, bookmarks and Betty Boop stickers.

Forbidden City - China

This is a new Unesco card showing the Hall of Preserving Harmony and Hall of Central Harmony part of the Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang. The card was sent by "lingmusic".

"Seat of supreme power for over five centuries (1416-1911), the Forbidden City in Beijing, with its landscaped gardens and many buildings (whose nearly 10,000 rooms contain furniture and works of art), constitutes a priceless testimony to Chinese civilization during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Imperial Palace of the Qing Dynasty in Shenyang consists of 114 buildings constructed between 1625–26 and 1783. It contains an important library and testifies to the foundation of the last dynasty that ruled China, before it expanded its power to the centre of the country and moved the capital to Beijing. This palace then became auxiliary to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. This remarkable architectural edifice offers important historical testimony to the history of the Qing Dynasty and to the cultural traditions of the Manchu and other tribes in the north of China." - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/439

Vancouver - Canada

"Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport, located on the mainland of southwestern British Columbia. It is bounded by the Strait of Georgia, the Fraser River, and the Coast Mountains. Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer.
Vancouver is consistently ranked one of the three most livable cities in the world." - in: wikipedia.

Vancouver Canada Place sent by Samantha "Jaid332".
Canada Place, a mixed-use commercial facility, is home to the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, The Pan Pacific Hotel, The Vancouver Port Authority Corporate Offices, Cruise Ship Terminal, The CN IMAX Theatre, World Trade Centre Office Complex and Citipark parking facility.

Aerial view of downtown Vancouver and the snowy North Shore mountains. Included in this view is Stanley Park, B.C. Place, GM Place and Yaletown along False Creek.

Sent by Paige "towhateverend".

New York - USA

These are the great cards i've received today, all of them sent by Linda "linda718".

"The Statue of Liberty was presented to the United States by the people of France in 1886. It stands at Liberty Island as a welcome to all visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans. The copper patina-clad statue, dedicated on October 28, 1886, commemorates the centennial of the United States and is a gesture of friendship from France to the U.S. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi sculpted the statue, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel engineered the internal structure. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was responsible for the choice of copper in the statue's construction and adoption of the repoussé technique." - in: wikipedia.

Since 1984 is classified as Unesco World Heritage Site.

Statue of Liberty and multiple scenes of New York.

"The World Trade Center in New York City, was a complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan. It was initiated in 1960 by a Lower Manhattan Association. The World Trade Center, New York, like most World Trade Centers located around the globe, belonged to the family of World Trade Centers Association.
All seven original buildings in the complex were destroyed by terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda on September 1, 2001." - in: wikipedia.

"The Brooklyn Bridge, one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States, stretches 5,989 feet (1825 m) over the East River connecting the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. On completion, it was the largest suspension bridge in the world and the first steel-wire suspension bridge. Since its opening, it has become an iconic part of the New York skyline. In 1964 it was designated a National Historic Landmark." - in: wikipedia.

San Juan - Puerto Rico

This is an used Puerto Rico card i won in a lottery and it was sent from Norway by "BenteA".
Before postcrossing i thought Puerto Rico was a country but is a semi-autonomous territory of the United States.

This is "the Castillo de San Cristóbal is a Spanish fort in San Juan. It was built by the Spaniards to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan. It is part of San Juan National Historic Site (includes colonial-era forts, bastions, powder houses, and three fourths of the old city wall - classified as an Unesco World Heritage Site since 1983.)
Castillo de San Cristóbal is the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World. When it was finished in 1783 it covered about 27 acres of land, basically wrapping the city of San Juan. Entry to the city was sealed by San Cristóbal's double gates. After close to one hundred years of relative peace in the area, part of the fortification (about a third) was demolished in 1897 to help ease the flow of traffic in and out of the walled city." - in: wikipedia.

Olsztyn - Poland

"Olsztyn is a city in northeastern Poland, on the River Łyna.
Historically the capital of the Warmia region, Olsztyn has been the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999.

The city is situated in a lake region of forests and plains. There are 15 lakes inside the administrative bounds of the city." - in: wikipedia.

Gothic castle of the Warmia Bishops in Olsztyn, built during the 14th century, that once served as a home for Nicolaus Copernicus.

Old Town Hall on the Market Square - built in mid-14th century.
Cards sent by Sylwia.

Brazil, Czech Republic

2 of the 4 cards i got today sent by Andréa "andreaeiko".

Brno is the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1243 although the area had been settled since the 5th century.

The São Francisco Square is situated in São Cristóvão, the 4th oldest city in Brazil, located 25 km's from the State's capital city. Classified as an historical landmark by the national Artistic and Historical Heritage, it preserves its stone-paved streets and the treasures that date back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

Dominican Rep. beaches

Algarve - Portugal

After an holiday without receiving cards, it's always good to get some on the next day, and today I got a surprise card sent by Ana "ninocas".

Algarve is the southernmost region of mainland Portugal.

"In the 1960s the Algarve became a very popular destination for tourists, mainly from Britain. It has since become a common destination for Germans, Dutch and Irish people. Many of these tourists own their own property in the region. There are Algarve-based English-written publications and newspapers specifically addressed to this community. In addition to the natural beauties and plenty of beaches, the Algarve has invested in the creation of a network of golf courses. Well-known beaches in the Algarve range from Praia da Luz to Armação de Pêra." - in: wikipedia.