Penguin

"Alexie" surprised me with another beautiful postcard with penguins! The postcard says "What I always wanted to tell you"

Millaa Millaa Falls - Australia

"Shinta" from Indonesia sent this amazing waterfall! As she says on the card, "the view reminds me of Eden", and I agree!

"The Millaa Millaa Falls are adjacent to the town of Millaa Millaa, on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. Millaa Millaa is an Aboriginal word meaning plenty of water or waterfall. A popular destination of international tour operators, the falls are 18.3 metres high with a pool suitable for swimming at their base. The Millaa Millaa Falls are accessed by sealed road off the Palmerston Highway about 5 minutes from the township of Millaa Millaa." In: Wikipedia

Postcrossing Meeting in Lisbon and Sintra 05-06 August (Part II)

From the meeting with "kazinhabueno" in Sintra I received these great postcards:

"SusanaPortugal" sent this view not from the Nacional Palace of Sintra, as the postcard says, but from Regaleira Palace. "Quinta da Regaleira is an estate located near the historic center of Sintra, Portugal. It is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO within the "Cultural Landscape of Sintra". Along with other palaces in this area (such as the Pena, Monserrate and Seteais palaces), it is one of the principal tourist attractions of Sintra. It consists of a romantic palace and chapel, and a luxurious park featuring lakes, grottoes, wells, benches, fountains, and a vast array of exquisite constructions. The palace is also known as "Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire", from the nickname of its first owner, António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro." In: Wikipedia

"Martinha" sent this great natural waterfall from one of the many gardens in Sintra. One more card for my waterfalls collection!

Postcrossing Meeting in Lisbon and Sintra 05-06 August (Part I)

The postcroser "kazinhabueno" visited Portugal in August and a meeting was arranged in Lisboa and other in Sintra.

From the Lisboa meeting I received:

"PilotOne" sent this postcard with the Hieronymite Monastery, from the XVI century, a manueline gothic style.  It's an UNESCO heritage site.

"Gracinha" sent this multiview postcard, a resumé of the must see places of Lisboa.

CN-407240 - Giant Panda

CN-407240 sen by "denghui1971"

"The giant panda, or panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, literally meaning "black and white cat-foot") is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo. Pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents or carrion. In captivity they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared feed.

The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in the Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. Due to farming, deforestation and other development, the panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.

The panda is a conservation reliant endangered species. A 2007 report shows 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country. Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. Some reports also show that the number of pandas in the wild is on the rise. However, the IUCN does not believe there is enough certainty yet to reclassify the species from Endangered to Vulnerable.

While the dragon has historically served as China's national emblem, in recent decades the panda has also served as an emblem for the country. Its image appears on a large number of modern Chinese commemorative silver, gold, and platinum coins. Though the panda is often assumed to be docile, it has been known to attack humans, presumably out of irritation rather than predation." In: Wikipedia

LT-138461 - Vilnius

LT-138461 sent by "gizelle". A multiview postcard of Vilnius, Lithuania's capital. It shows St. Casimir Church, St. Anne Church and Benedict Monastery (at Vilnius Historic Center, UNESCO) and the Gedimino Avenue.

"Political centre of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the 13th to the end of the 18th century, Vilnius has had a profound influence on the cultural and architectural development of much of eastern Europe. Despite invasions and partial destruction, it has preserved an impressive complex of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and classical buildings as well as its medieval layout and natural setting." In: UNESCO

RU-499705 - Peter and Paul Fortress

RU-499705 sent by "Areoka". An aerial view of Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"The Peter and Paul Fortress (Russian: Петропа́вловская кре́пость, Petropavlovskaya Krepost) is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706-1740.

The fortress was established by Peter the Great on May 16 (by the Julian Calendar, hereafter indicated using "(J)"; May 27 by the Gregorian Calendar) 1703 on small Hare Island by the north bank of the Neva River, the last upstream island of the Neva delta. Built at the height of the Northern War in order to protect the projected capital from a feared Swedish counterattack, the fort never fulfilled its martial purpose. The citadel was completed with six bastions in earth and timber within a year, and it was rebuilt in stone from 1706-1740.

From around 1720, the fort served as a base for the city garrison and also as a prison for high ranking or political prisoners. The Trubetskoy bastion, rebuilt in the 1870s, became the main prison block. The first person to escape from the fortress prison (now an important destination for tourists) was the anarchist Prince Peter Kropotkin in 1876. Other people incarcerated in the "Russian Bastille" include Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Tsarevich Alexis, Artemy Volynsky, Tadeusz Kościuszko, Alexander Radishchev, the Decembrists, Grigory Danilevsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mikhail Bakunin, Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Josip Broz Tito." In: Wikipedia

US-1215156 - Armadillo

US-1215156 sent by "text"

"Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one". The Aztec called them azotochtli, Nahuatl for “turtle-rabbit.”

There are approximately ten extant genera and around 20 extant species of armadillo, some of which are distinguished by the number of bands on their armor. Their average length is about 75 centimetres (30 in), including tail; the Giant Armadillo grows up to 150 centimetres (59 in) and weighs up to 59 kilograms (130 lb), while the Pink Fairy Armadillos are diminutive species with an overall length of 12 to 15 centimetres (5 to 6 in). All species are native to the Americas, where they inhabit a variety of environments.

In the United States, the sole resident armadillo is the Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), which is most common in the central southernmost states, particularly Texas. Their range is as far east as South Carolina and Florida and as far north as Nebraska; they have been consistently expanding their range over the last century due to a lack of natural predators and have been found as far north as southern Illinois and Indiana." In: Wikipedia

San Gimignano's historic center - Italy

Piazza della Cisterna at San Gimignano sent by "micio"

"San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometres outside the town.

The town also is known for the white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, grown in the area." In: Wikipedia

" 'San Gimignano delle belle Torri' is in Tuscany, 56 km south of Florence. It served as an important relay point for pilgrims travelling to or from Rome on the Via Francigena. The patrician families who controlled the town built around 72 tower-houses (some as high as 50 m) as symbols of their wealth and power. Although only 14 have survived, San Gimignano has retained its feudal atmosphere and appearance. The town also has several masterpieces of 14th- and 15th-century Italian art." In: UNESCO

Santorini - Greece

An amazing view of Santorini, sent by Alexandra.

"Santorini , officially Thira, is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera. It forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km2 (28 sq mi) and a 2001 census population of 13,670. The municipality of Santorini is composed of the inhabited islands of Santorini and Therasia and the uninhabited islands of Nea Kameni, Palaia Kameni, Aspronisi, and Christiana. The total land area is 90.623 km2 (34.990 sq mi). Santorini is part of the Santorini peripheral unit.

Santorini is essentially what remains after an enormous volcanic explosion that destroyed the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island, and created the current geological caldera. A giant central lagoon, more or less rectangular, and measuring about 12 by 7 km (7.5 by 4.3 mi), is surrounded by 300 m (980 ft) high steep cliffs on three sides. The main island slopes downward from the cliffs to the surrounding Aegean Sea. On the fourth side, the lagoon is separated from the sea by another much smaller island called Therasia; the lagoon is connected to the sea in two places, in the northwest and southwest. The water in the centre of the lagoon is nearly 400 m (1,300 ft) deep, thus making it a safe harbour for all kinds of shipping. The island's harbours all lie in the lagoon and there are no ports on the outer perimeter of the island; the capital, Fira, clings to the top of the cliff looking down on the lagoon. The volcanic rocks present from the prior eruptions feature olivine and have a notably small presence of hornblende." In: Wikipedia