Flowers of Mauritius

Many thanks to David for his second card from Mauritius!

Chania, Greece

Chaniá is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania Prefecture. It lies along the north coast of the island, about 70 km (43 mi) west of Rethymno and 145 km (90 mi) west of Heraklion. The official population of the municipal area is 57,838 but around 130,000 people live in the greater area of Chania. With 4,248.1 inhabitants/km², the municipality is the most densely populated in Greece outside the Athens and Thessaloniki metropolitan areas.

Fortunately, Chania and Crete in general escaped the disastrous consequences of the Greek Civil War of the postwar years. The city of Chania was slowly regaining its normal pace of development during the 1950s, trying to overcome the difficulties that the war had left as an aftermath. During the 1970s Crete became a major tourist destination for Greek and international tourists, something that gave a significant boost to the city's economy and affected the everyday life and the overall culture of the locals. The capital of Crete was moved to Heraklion in 1971. Chania and the rest of the island of Crete, unline the mainland of Greece, it is not suffering from the economical crisis, as the local economy is based on the horticulture products like the olive oil.

Cover from Germany: Hex-Hex

Jinmu Coner

Jinmu Coner is located in the Hainan Province, South China.

Cover from India: Commonwealth Games

Graz, Austria

Graz is the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna and the capital of the federal state of Styria. It has a population of 291,890 as of 2010 (of which 258.605 have principal residence status).

Graz has a long tradition as a student city: its six universities have more than 44,000 students. Graz's "Old Town" is one of the best-preserved city centres in Central Europe. Politically and culturally, Graz was for centuries more important for Slovenes than Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and still remains influential. In 1999, Graz was added to the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage Sites, which was extended in 2010 by Schloss Eggenberg. Graz was sole Cultural Capital of Europe for 2003 and has got the title of a City of Culinary Delights in 2008.

FDC from Portugal: Dia De Portugal 2010

Many thanks to Luis for this nice cover from Portugal!

Luxembourg

Many thanks to Arturo for this nice card from Luxembourg!

Mushroom

Cover from Belarus

Madrid, Spain

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain.The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million (as of December 2009); the entire population of the metropolitan area (urban area and suburbs) is calculated to be nearly 6.5 million. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous in the European Union after Paris and London. The city spans a total of 698 km² (234 sq mi).

Madrid is the most touristic city of Spain, ahead of Barcelona, and the fourth-most touristic of the continent. The city is located on the river Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid (which comprises the city of Madrid, its conurbation and extended suburbs and villages); this community is bordered by the autonomous communities of Castile and León and Castile-La Mancha. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political center of Spain. The current mayor is Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón from the Popular Party (PP). He has been in office since 2003, when he left the Presidency of the Autonomous Community of Madrid and stood as the candidate to replace outgoing mayor José María Álvarez del Manzano, also from the PP. In the last local elections of 2007, Ruiz-Gallardón increased the PP majority in the City Council to 34 seats out of 57, taking 55.5% of the popular vote and winning in all but two districts.

Madrid urban agglomeration has the 4th largest GDP on the continent amounting 230 billion euro in 2009. Due to its economic output, high standard of living, and market size, Madrid is considered the major financial centre of Southern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula; it hosts the head offices of the vast majority of the major Spanish companies, as well as the headquarters of three of the world's 100 largest companies (Telefónica, Repsol-YPF, Banco Santander).

FDC from Indonesia

Many thanks to Irene for this nice cover from Indonesia!

Eye on Malaysia

The Eye on Malaysia is a 60-metre (200 ft) tall transportable Ferris wheel that was previously installed at Titiwangsa Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was relocated to Malacca on November 8, 2008. The wheel comprises 42 gondolas (including 1 VIP gondola) and was unveiled in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007 on January 6, 2007 by the Prime Minister at that time, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Prior to its relocation, the Eye on Malaysia allowed visitors to experience a 360-degree panoramic view of the city centre and over 20 kilometres of its surroundings such as the Kuala Lumpur Tower, the Istana Budaya and the Petronas Twin Towers, during a 12-minute ride.

Fitraco, a leisure equipment leasing company based in Belgium, initiated legal proceedings against MST Ad Suria on Sept 15 2009 to take over the ferris wheel or The Giant Wheel after it failed to repay the loan and it has closed its doors to the public from 9.30am 7 Jan 2010 when lawyers and receivers of Fitraco NV arrived to enforce a Nov 26 injunction granted by the High Court against MST Ad Suria Sdn Bhd and Eye On Malaysia Sdn Bhd (EOM).

FDC from France: Sandro Botticelli

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli or Il Botticello "The Little Barrel"; (c. 1445 – May 17, 1510) was an Italian painter of the Florentine school during the Early Renaissance (Quattrocento). Less than a hundred years later, this movement, under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici, was characterized by Giorgio Vasari as a "golden age", a thought, suitably enough, he expressed at the head of his Vita of Botticelli. His posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century; since then his work has been seen to represent the linear grace of Early Renaissance painting. Among his best known works are The Birth of Venus and Primavera.

La Poste issued a minisheet on one of his master works: Primavera. Primavera (c. 1482): icon of the springtime renewal of the Florentine Renaissance, also at the summer palazzo of Pierfrancesco de' Medici, as a companion piece to the Birth of Venus and Pallas and the Centaur. Left to right: Mercury, the Three Graces, Venus, Flora, Chloris, Zephyrus.

Many thanks to Eric for this great FDC!

Katowice, Poland

Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers (tributaries of the Oder and the Vistula respectively). Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about 50 km (31 mi) north of the Silesian Beskids (part of the Carpathian Mountains) and about 100 km (62 mi) southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.

It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2 million. Katowice is the center of science, culture, industry, business and transportation in southern Poland. It is the main city in the Upper Silesian Industrial Region and of the 2,7 million conurbation, the Katowice urban area, within a Silesian metropolitan area populated by 5,294,000 people.The population within the city limits is 308,724. Katowice has been the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999. Previously, it was the capital of the Katowice Voivodeship, before then, of the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship and before then Province of Upper Silesia in Germany

Johnston Road, Hong Kong

Johnston Road is a major road in Wan Chai on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. It spans from the junction with Heard Street, Hennessy Road and Stewart Road are at its east towards another junction with Hennessy Road and Queensway at its west near Asian House. It is shaped like a bow with the string being Hennessy Road and the Caltex gas station, Southorn Playground and Methodist House in between.

The road was named after Alexander Robert Johnston, the British Deputy Superintendent of Trade during the First Opium War. He was the government administrator even before Sir Henry Pottinger was appointed the first Hong Kong governor in 1842. The fact that the street was named after Sir Reginald Johnston was actually a myth. The road is built on the margin of the oldest building cluster in Wan Chai. Many Hong Kong residents are trying to preserve the old buildings and trees from redevelopment. The century old transport Hong Kong Tramways goes through the road with its first service opening in 1904. Although the name of Johnston Road named in 1920s, part of the road can be traced back to 1851 or earlier when the area was known as Praya East. The section from Spring Garden Lane to Wan Chai Road was known as "Strand Road", for its proximity to the coast.

Cover from Cyprus

Many thanks to Nasia for this nice cover from Cyprus!

Praia Brava, Brazil

Peggy's Cove

Peggys Cove (2009 population: approx. 46), also known as Peggy's Cove from 1961 to 1976, is a small rural community located on the eastern shore of St. Margarets Bay in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality.From its inception, the community's economy revolved around the fishery, however, tourism began to overtake fishing in economic importance following the Second World War. Today, Peggys Cove is primarily a tourist attraction, although its inhabitants still fish for lobster, and the community maintains a rustic undeveloped appearance. The regional municipality and the provincial government have strict land-use regulations in the vicinity of Peggys Cove, with most property development being prohibited. Similarly there are restrictions on who can live in the community to prevent inflation of property values for year-round residents. The historic Carpenter Gothic style St. John's Anglican Church, the only church in Peggys Cove, is a municipally designated heritage site.

Cover from Argentina

Many thanks to Vibiana for this interesting cover from Argentina!

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. As of 2009, the population of Dallas was at 1.3 million according to the US Census Bureau. The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2010 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of roughly 6.5 million as of July 2009. The metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan in the the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States.

Founded in 1841 and formally incorporated as a city in February, 1856, the city's economy is primarily based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, computer technology, energy, and transportation, home to several Fortune 500 companies. Located in North Texas and a major city in the American South, Dallas is the core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the United States that lacks any navigable link to the sea. The city's prominence arose from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries, its position along numerous railroad lines, a strong industrial and financial sector, and its status as a major inland port (due largely to the presence of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, one of the largest and busiest in the world). It was rated as a beta world city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network.

Das Centrum

Mail box of Shanghai

You may easily find such a mail box in Shanghai.

This is Portugal

Many thanks to Luis for this nice card from Portugal!

Two covers from France

Many thanks to Yves from these two beautiful covers from Nice, France!

Night view of Singapore

Kurobe Dam

The Kurobe Dam or Kuroyon Dam, is a variable-radius arch dam on the Kurobe River in Toyama Prefecture on the island of Honshū, Japan. It supports the 335 MW Kurobe No. 4 Hydropower Plant and is owned by Kansai Electric Power Company. At 186 metres (610 ft) high, it is the tallest dam in Japan. It was constructed between 1956 and 1963 at a cost of ¥51.3 billion yen. The project was a difficult engineering feat for the rapidly growing post-World War II Japan, and claimed the lives of 171 people.

The Kurobe Dam is a 492 m (1,614 ft) long and 186 m (610 ft) high variable-radius (dome) arch dam. The dam is 39.7 m (130 ft) wide at its base, 8.1 m (27 ft) wide at its crest and contains 1,582,845 m3 (2,070,283 cu yd) of concrete. The dam is flanked and supported by two "wing" dams; the one on the left bank is 69 m (226 ft) long and the right is 56 m (184 ft). The dam withholds a reservoir with a capacity of 199,285,175 m3 (260,655,168 cu yd) of which 148,843,000 m3 (194,679,000 cu yd) is live (active or "useful") storage. The reservoir also has a catchment area of 188.5 km2 (72.8 sq mi) and surface area of 3.49 km2 (1.35 sq mi). The dam's spillway is located on its crest and contains 10 11.5 m (38 ft) wide uncontrolled openings with a maximum discharge capacity of 906 m3/s (32,000 cu ft/s). Three other openings exist in the dam's orifice which consist of 1.5 m (4.9 ft) diameter pipes, two of which can discharge a maximum of 88 m3/s (3,100 cu ft/s) each and the third 44 m3/s (1,600 cu ft/s). The dam's crest elevation is 1,454 m (4,770 ft) above sea level while the reservoir's normal operating level is 1,448 m (4,751 ft) and low level is considered 1,338 m (4,390 ft). The dam's power station, Kurobe No. 4, is located underground and contains four generators which are powered by Pelton turbines for a total installed capacity of 335 MW and average annual generation of 1 billion kWh. The power station is 22 m (72 ft) wide, 33 m (108 ft) high and 117 m (384 ft) long. The penstock serving water to the power station is 10,909.6 m (35,793 ft) long and utilizes a maximum effective hydraulic head of 545.5 m (1,790 ft) while transferring a maximum of 72 m3/s (2,500 cu ft/s) to the turbines. The plant's surge chamber is 145.6 m (478 ft) long and 5 m (16 ft) high.

Cover from Croatia

Many thanks to Josip for this nice cover from Croatia!

Obudu Ranch, Nigeria

This is my first card from Nigeria and many thanks to my Chinese friend!

Obudu Cattle Ranch (now known as the Obudu Mountain Resort) was developed in 1951 by Mr. McCaughley, a Scottish who first explored the mountain ranges in 1949.He camped on the mountaintop of the Oshie Ridge on the Sankwala Mountains for a month before returning with Mr. Hugh Jones a fellow rancher who, in 1951, together with Dr Crawfeild developed the Obudu Cattle Ranch.Although the ranch has been through troubles since, it has very recently been rehabilitated to its former glory by the Protea South African Hotel chain.It is found on the Obudu Plateau close to the Cameroon Border in the North Eastern part of Cross River State of Nigeria, approximately 110 km east of the town of Ogoja and 65 km from the town of Obudu in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State.It is about 30 minutes drive from Obudu town and is about 332 km drive from Calabar,the Cross River State capital.

Rapa Nui(Easter Island)

Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile annexed in 1888, Easter Island is widely famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai (pronounced /ˈmoʊ.aɪ/), created by the early Rapanui people. It is a World Heritage Site (as determined by UNESCO) with much of the island protected within the Rapa Nui National Park. In recent times the island has served as a cautionary tale about the cultural and environmental dangers of overexploitation. Ethnographers and archaeologists now argue that the introduction of diseases carried by European colonizers and the slave raiding that devastated the population in the 1860s had a much greater social than environmental impact.

Many thanks to Hernan for this great card!