Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the Territory into a single entity called the District of Columbia. It is for this reason that the city, while legally named the District of Columbia, is known as Washington, D.C. The city is located on the north bank of the Potomac River and is bordered by the states of Virginia to the southwest and Maryland to the other sides. The District has a resident population of 591,833; however, because of commuters from the surrounding suburbs, its population rises to over one million during the workweek. The Washington Metropolitan Area, of which the District is a part, has a population of 5.3 million, the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the country.

Kota Tinggi Waterfalls is a famous attraction in Kota Tinggi, Johor, Malaysia. The waterfalls are located in Lombong.

Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England and is one of only eight members of the English Core Cities Group.

Whilst the City of Nottingham unitary authority has a historically tightly drawn boundary which accounts for its relatively small population of 288,700, the wider Nottingham Urban Area has a population of 667,000 and is the seventh-largest urban area in the United Kingdom, ranking between those of Liverpool and Sheffield.[2]

Nottingham is famed for its links with the Robin Hood legend and, during the Industrial Revolution, obtained worldwide recognition for its lace-making industry. It was granted its city charter as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria in 1897 and has since been officially titled the City of Nottingham

Finland

Istana Nurul Iman - Brunei
The Istana Nurul Iman palace is the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah. The palace is located on a leafy, riverside sprawl of hills on the banks of the Brunei River directly south of Brunei's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, no more than a few miles outside the city center. Its name is taken from Arabic, meaning Palace of the Light of Faith. It is the largest residential palace in the world and the world's largest residence of any type. It was designed by Leandro V. Locsin, the National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture, and built by the Filipino firm, Ayala International.

Map card Germany

Upper Middle Rhine Valley
The 65km-stretch of the Middle Rhine Valley, with its castles, historic towns and vineyards, graphically illustrates the long history of human involvement with a dramatic and varied natural landscape. It is intimately associated with history and legend and for centuries has exercised a powerful influence on writers, artists and composers.

Duck in danger

Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur

Kenting National Park is a national park located in the Hengchun Peninsular of Pingtung County, Taiwan, covering Hengchun, Checheng and Manjhou Townships. Established on January 1, 1984, it is Taiwan's oldest and southernmost national park, covering the southernmost area of the Taiwan island. Administered by the Executive Yuan's Ministry of the Interior, this national park is well-known for its tropical climate and sunshine, scenic mountain and beach, the Spring Scream rock-band festival held in every March, and has long been one of the most favorite resort places in Taiwan.

Illustrated card from China

Triglav National Park is a national park located in Slovenia. It was named after mount Triglav, a national symbol of Slovenia.

Triglav is situated almost in the middle of the national park. From it the valleys spread out radially, supplying water to two large river systems having their sources in the Julian Alps: the Soča and the Sava, flowing to the Adriatic and Black Sea, respectively.

Prague - The Vltava River - The Lesser Town - The Prague Castle

Spring Play by Kaarina Kaila

Puerto Rico - The biggest and best and most easily accessible system is The Rio Camuy Cave Park near Lares, which was discovered in 1958. Operated by the Administracion de Terrenos, the extensive system of passageways has been mapped for 7 miles, although not yet all of it is open to the public. The capacity is 1,500 visitors per day.


Pantanal Matogrossense- The Pantanal Conservation Complex consists of a cluster of four protected areas with a total area of 187,818 ha. Located in western central Brazil at the south-west corner of the State of Mato Grosso, the site represents 1.3% of Brazil's Pantanal region, one of the world's largest freshwater wetland ecosystems. The headwaters of the region's two major river systems, the Cuiabá and the Paraguay rivers, are located here, and the abundance and diversity of its vegetation and animal life are spectacular.

Iguaçu National Park - The park shares with Iguazú National Park in Argentina one of the world’s largest and most impressive waterfalls, extending over some 2,700 m. It is home to many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, among them the giant otter and the giant anteater. The clouds of spray produced by the waterfall are conducive to the growth of lush vegetation.

The Pettson and Findus

Nuremberg is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and is Franconia's largest city. It is located about 170 kilometres north of Munich. The population (as of January 2006) is 500,132. Nuremberg and its closest suburbs make up an urban area of 1,020,000 (2001) habitants.

In the centre of the city, on the bank of the river Pegnitz, stands the Hospital of the Holy Spirit. Founded in 1332, this is one of the largest hospitals of the Middle Ages. Lepers were kept here at some distance from the other patients. It now houses elderly persons and a restaurant.

The wonderful Wizard of Oz, from Singapore

Finland, Cloud Berry
The Cricket and the mole.Janosch (real name Horst Eckert) (born March 11, 1931) is one of the best-known German artists and children's book authors. He was born in Hindenburg (now Zabrze, Poland) in Upper Silesia. He told in interview that he is Silesian and it is his nationality

Vietnam, Hoi-An. Hội An is a small city on the coast of the South China Sea in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is located in Quảng Nam province and is home to approximately 120,000 inhabitants.

In 1999, the old town was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO as a well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port of the 15th to 19th centuries, with buildings that display a unique blend of local and foreign influences.Hội An is a small city on the coast of the South China Sea in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is located in Quảng Nam province and is home to approximately 120,000 inhabitants.

In 1999, the old town was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO as a well-preserved example of a Southeast Asian trading port of the 15th to 19th centuries, with buildings that display a unique blend of local and foreign influences.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

China. The Yungang Grottoes are ancient Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the Chinese province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous ancient sculptural sites of China. The others are Longmen and Mogao.

The site is located about 16 km south-west of the city, in the valley of the Shi Li river at the base of the Wuzhou Shan mountains. The grottoes were mainly constructed in the period between 460-525 AD during the Northern Wei dynasty. They are an outstanding example of the Chinese stone carvings from the 5th and 6th centuries. All together the site is composed of 252 grottoes with more than 51,000 Buddha statues and statuettes. In 2001, the Yungang Grottoes were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site The Yungang Grottoes is considered by UNESCO a "masterpiece of early Chinese Buddhist cave art represent the successful fusion of Buddhist religious symbolic art from south and central Asia with Chinese cultural traditions, starting in the 5th century CE under Imperial auspices.

Three new cards!

Portugal, Sao Miguel
This is considered to be one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. It acces is restricted to the guests of Hotel Terra Nostra. It is located in Acores Island.
The Mansion (Baguio City) Phillippines
Built in 1908, it served as the official summer residence of the US governor-generals during the American Colonial period. It was badly damaged during the Second World War and was rebuilt in 1947. Since then, it serves as the holiday home and working office of the President of the Phillippines.

A handmade card from the USA

New cards

New-Zealand

Vietnam

China

Brazil

Four new cards!

The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection, which might later grow into a museum of national art. In 1892, Tretyakov presented his already famous collection to the Russian nation.

The façade of the gallery building was designed by the painter Viktor Vasnetsov in a peculiar Russian fairy-tale style. It was built in 1902–04 to the south from the Moscow Kremlin. During the 20th century, the gallery expanded to several neighbouring buildings, including the 17th-century church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi.

The collection contains more than 130,000 exhibits, ranging from Theotokos of Vladimir and Andrei Rublev's Trinity to the monumental Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky and the Black Square by Kazimir Malevich. In 1977 the Gallery kept a significant part of the George Costakis collection.


Minsk is the capital and largest city in Belarus, situated on the Svislach and Niamiha rivers. Minsk is also a headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). As the national capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is also the administrative centre of Minsk voblast (province) and Minsk raion (district). It has a population of 1,830,000 inhabitants (2008)

Plumeria (common name Frangipani) is a small genus of 7-8 species native to tropical and subtropical Americas. The genus consists of mainly deciduous shrubs and trees. P. rubra, native to Mexico, Central America, Southern India and Venezuela, produces flowers ranging from yellow to pink depending on form or cultivar. From Mexico and Central America, Plumeria has spread to all tropical areas of the world, especially Hawaii, where it grows so abundantly that many people think that it is indigenous to that island system.

Prague Castle is a castle in Prague where the Czech kings, Holy Roman Emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. The Czech Crown Jewels are kept here. Prague Castle is one of the biggest castles in the world (according to Guinness Book of Records the biggest ancient castle ) at about 570 meters in length and an average of about 130 meters wide.

New-York, Italy and Russia

The first card I received today is from my brother from New York, he is travelling through America.


The second card is from Italy, it is my very first UNESCO card. It is the Convent of Santa Maria Delle Grazie in Milan.

"The refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie forms an integral part of this architectural complex, begun in Milan in 1463 and reworked at the end of the 15th century by Bramante. On the north wall is The Last Supper, the unrivalled masterpiece painted between 1495 and 1497 by Leonardo da Vinci, whose work was to herald a new era in the history of art."

And a few weeks ago I won a lottery hosted by a girl from Russia. I won 12 interior view cards. They are very beautiful. I made a slide show of it. If you want more information about the picutes, look at my Flickr account.

Berliner Dom and Treviglio

First I received a very beautiful picture from the Berliner Dom. One day I really would like to visit Berlin!

The second one is from Italy.