Gerês - Portugal

Gerês, sent by "nikwis"

I got this postcard from the hangover game at Postcrossing Forum. It's a vintage card of Gerês, a protected area of Peneda-Gerês National Park. This lagoon and waterfall is just beside the rood that goes to Portela-do-Homem.

Castelo Branco - Portugal

From "geminiscp" I've got this map postcard of the Castelo Branco district. It shows the cities of Covilhã, Belmonte, Fundão, Penamacor, Castelo Branco, Sertã, Vila de Rei, Vila Velha de Rodão and Idanha-a-Nova.

TW-357389 - Clemantis montana buch

TW-357389 sent by "appletea", a maxicard with the Clematis montana buch.

"Clematis montana (NT$10): The plant can be found creeping in meadows or scrambling over shrubs on the sunny side of mountains at high elevations. The elegant white flower’s four large petal-like surfaces are actually its white sepals. The pale yellow filaments in the center of its blossoms are its stamen and pistil." In: Chunghwa Post

Postcrossing Meeting in Lisboa and Sintra

As I said a few posts back (part I and part II), Karina from Brasil visited Portugal. Ludovico made this postcard from the group photos of that meeting.

Pinhão - Portugal

This month I took a cruise at Douro River with some friends from work. We made the course from Gaia to Pinhão. It's a great cruise to make, the landscape is magnificent! From the river you have a completely view of the UNESCO classified area! As a souvenir, I mailed myself this postcard of the historic train at Pinhão train station.

"Spectacularly located at the confluence of the Douro and Pinhão rivers, 22 km upstream from Peso da Régua, the small town of Pinhão is the epicentre of the Port winemaking area, and a place where the soil and climatic conditions are considered to be at their very best.

Although a sleepy town for most of the year, Pinhão bursts into life in autumn during the annual grape harvest, attracting pickers from all over the country.

What to see. Popular for its peaceful riverside location and surrounding scenery, Pinhão is a mecca for lovers of fine wine.

Built on the site of an 18th century wine estate, the four-star Vintage House Hotel operates regular tastings and courses covering a wide range of aspects, such as the main types, how the wine is made and buying and storing.

Nearby. Between Pinhão and Pocinho, a small town 40 km eastwards along the River Douro, the railway line passes within view of some of the most famous Port vineyards. Croft’s Quinta da Roeda, Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos and Cockburn’s Tua are all within sight of the train. Further along are two of the grandest of all vineyard estates: Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas and the Symingtons’ Quinta do Vesúvio, both of which have their own private railway stations.

Sabrosa, a short drive to the north of Pinhão, is the birthplace of Fernão de Magalhães (Ferdinand Magellan), who was born there in 1480. One ship of his fleet of five (commanded by the Basque Juan Sebastián de Elcano) was the first to circumnavigate the globe between 1519 and 1522. Magellan himself was killed en route in the Philippines.

Another attraction in close proximity to Sabrosa is Vila Mateus, home to the world-famous rosé wine." In: Portugal Travel Guide

Postcrossing Meeting in Vaduz 10-09-2011

Liechtenstein is a very small country, but also a great place for a meeting! The 4th Swiss meeting was in Vaduz, Liechtenstein capital. The postcard was sent by Alex.

"Vaduz Castle (German Schloss Vaduz) is the palace and official residence of the Prince of Liechtenstein. The castle gave its name to the town of Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, which it overlooks from an adjacent hilltop." In: Wikipedia

"Visible from far and wide yet so close you could almost touch it, the emblem of Liechtenstein towers over Vaduz on a rock terrace which can be reached along a romantic footpath.

The castle was first built some 700 years ago. Since 1712 it has been in the possession of the Prince of Liechtenstein. Furthermore, since 1938 it has been the residence of the prince’s family, so it is not open to the public. The 12th century keep and the structures on the east side are the oldest parts of the castle." In: Tourismus

US-1286766 - Lockheed Vega

US-1286766 sent by "greenqueen", a reproduction of 0,32 cents stamp of the Lockheed Vega from the Classic American Aircraft issue.

"The Vega was a six-passenger monoplane built by the Lockheed company starting in 1927. It became famous for its use by a number of record breaking pilots who were attracted to the rugged and very long-ranged design. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly the Atlantic single handed in one, and Wiley Post flew his around the world twice." In: Wikipedia

Ponte Vecchio in Firenze - Italy

Firenze (in English Florence) is one of my favorite cities in Italy! I've already been there twice, but I want to go there again!

"The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge") is a Medieval stone closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. The Ponte Vecchio's two neighbouring bridges are the Ponte Santa Trinità and the Ponte alle Grazie." In: Wikipedia

"The bridge spans the Arno at its narrowest point where it is believed that a bridge was first built in Roman times, when the via Cassia crossed the river at this point. The Roman piers were of stone, the superstructure of wood. The bridge first appears in a document of 996. After being destroyed by a flood in 1117 it was reconstructed in stone but swept away again in 1333 save two of its central piers, as noted by Giovanni Villani in his Nuova Cronica. It was rebuilt in 1345, Giorgio Vasari recorded the tradition in his day, that attributed its design to Taddeo Gaddi, besides Giotto one of the few artistic names of the trecento still recalled two hundred years later. Modern historians present Neri di Fioravanti as a possible candidate. Sheltered in a little loggia at the central opening of the bridge is a weathered dedication stone, which once read Nel trentatrè dopo il mille-trecento, il ponte cadde, per diluvio dell' acque: poi dieci anni, come al Comun piacque, rifatto fu con questo adornamento. The Torre dei Mannelli was built at the southeast corner of the bridge to defend it.

The bridge consists of three segmental arches: the main arch has a span of 30 meters (98 ft) the two side arches each span 27 meters (88 ft). The rise of the arches is between 3.5 and 4.4 meters (11½ to 14½ feet), and the span-to-rise ratio 5:1.

It has always hosted shops and merchants who displayed their goods on tables before their premises, after authorization of the Bargello (a sort of a lord mayor, a magistrate and a police authority). The back shops (retrobotteghe) that may be seen from upriver, were added in the seventeenth century.

It is said that the economic concept of bankruptcy originated here: when a merchant could not pay his debts, the table on which he sold his wares (the "banco") was physically broken ("rotto") by soldiers, and this practice was called "bancorotto" (broken table; possibly it can come from "banca rotta" which means "broken bank"). Not having a table anymore, the merchant was not able to sell anything.

During World War II, the Ponte Vecchio was not destroyed by Germans during their retreat of August 4, 1944, unlike all other bridges in Florence. This was allegedly because of an express order by Hitler. Access to Ponte Vecchio was, however, obstructed by the destruction of the buildings at both ends, which have since been rebuilt using a combination of original and modern design." In: Wikipedia

Kiev Pechersk Lavra - Ukraine

I got this postcard from a swap with Elena. It shows a panoramic view of Lavra.

"Kiev Pechersk Lavra or Kyiv Pechersk Lavra), also known as the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Orthodox Christian monastery which gave its name to one of the city districts where it is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

Since its foundation as the cave monastery in 1015 the Lavra has been a preeminent center of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe. Together with the Saint Sophia Cathedral, it is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The monastery complex is considered a separate national historic-cultural preserve (sanctuary), the national status to which was granted on March 13, 1996. The Lavra also not only located in another part of the city, but is part of a different national sanctuary than Saint Sophia Cathedral. While being a cultural attraction, the monastery is currently active. It was named one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine on August 21, 2007, based on voting by experts and the internet community.

Currently, the jurisdiction over the site is divided between the state museum, National Kiev-Pechersk Historic-Cultural Preserve, and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchy) as the site of the chief monastery of that Church and the residence of its leader, Metropolitan Volodymyr.

In the late 2010 a monitoring mission of UNESCO was visiting the Kiev Pechersk Lavra to check on situation of the site. According to the Minister of Culture Mykhailo Kulynyak the Kiev's historic site along with the Saint Sophia Cathedral is not threatened by the "black list" of the international organization" In: Wikipedia

Postcrossing Meeting in Kuala Lumour in 19-12-2010

"Kiie" has participated at the Postcrossing Meeting in Kuala Lumour in 2010-12-19. She sent this postcard showing the Dusky Leaf Monkey from the Langkawi Island.