Two covers from Algeria

Many thanks to Omar for these two covers from Algeria, but it was a pity that they are not real posted FDC, because the dates on the cancellations and postmarks are not the same.

Matthias Church

Matthias Church is a church located in Budapest, Hungary, at the heart of Buda's Castle District. According to church tradition, it was originally built in Romanesque style in 1015. The current building was constructed in the florid late Gothic style in the second half of the 14th century and was extensively restored in the late 19th century. It was the second largest church of medieval Buda and the sixth largest church of medieval Hungarian Kingdom. Officially named as the Church of Our Lady, it has been popularly named after king Matthias, who ordered the transformation of its original southern tower. In many respects, the 700 year history of the church serves as a symbol of the city's rich, yet often tragic history. Not only was the church the scene of several coronations, including that of Charles IV in 1916, it was also the site for King Matthias' two weddings.

During the century and a half of Turkish occupation, the vast majority of its ecclesiastical treasures were shipped to Pressburg (present day Bratislava) and following the capture of Buda in 1541 the church became the city's main mosque. Ornate frescoes that previously adorned the walls of the building were whitewashed and interior furnishings stripped out. Not only was the church restored to its original 13th century plan but a number of early original Gothic elements were uncovered. By also adding new motifs of his own Schulek ensured that the work, when finished, would be highly controversial. Today however, Schulek's restoration provides visitors with one of the most prominent and characteristic features of Budapest's cityscape.

Łazienki Palace

The Łazienki Palace also called the Palace on the Water and the Palace on the Isle, is a Neoclassical palace in Warsaw's Royal Baths Park.

The building began as a bathhouse for Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, owner of adjacent Ujazdów Castle. After 1678 the Lubomirski palace complex in Ujazdów, was enriched with four park pavilions: Arcadia, Hermitage, Frascati and the largest of them the Bathhouse. The marble building was constructed before 1683 according to design by Tylman Gamerski. Finished in 1689, it was intended to serve as a bathhouse, habitable pavilion and a garden grotto. Interiors of the newly built structure were embellished with profuse stucco decorations, also designed by Gamerski. Among the decorations were water deities (like Nereus), surrounding the main decorational feature of the pavilion - the fountain. Other chambers had richly decorated plafonds and supraportes, while the walls were covered with Delft tiles. The façades and interiors were decorated with sculptures, reliefs, Latin inscriptions (Musa Dryas, Nymphaeque boves et Pastor Apollo / Hic maneant, fugiat diva Minerva domus - Muse, dryad and nymphs, bullocks and Apollo the shepherd let stay here, the divine Minerva let disdain this house on the portal of the southern façade) and Lubomirski coat of arms - Szreniawa.

Stanisław August Poniatowski decided to convert it into private quarters, and it was remodeled by Domenico Merlini between 1764 to 1795. The palace was nearly destroyed by the Germans in World War II. Afterwards the palace served as a barracks. The palace is built on an artificial island that divides the lake into two parts, a smaller northern lake and a larger southern one. The palace is connected to the surrounding park by two Ionic colonnaded bridges. The façades are unified by an entablature carried by giant Corinthian pilasters that link its two floors and are crowned by a balustrade that bears statues of mythologic figures. The north façade is relieved by a central pedimented portico. On the south front, a deep central recess lies behind a screen of Corinthian columns.

Two covers from France

Many thanks to my two French friends for these two beautiful covers!

Skopun, Faroe Islands

Many thanks to Igor for this surprise from Faroe Islands! It's the first card/cover from the islands.

Skopun is a town in the Faroe Islands situated on the northern coast of Sandoy, Sand Island. Skopun is the second largest town on the island.Although the area has been inhabited since the Middle Ages, Skopun was not founded until 1833. The people of Skopun did not possess any land. They subsisted on fishing so the houses are close to the water. In 1897, Skopun's church was constructed out of timber taken from the old church of Vestmanna. The Faroe Islands' first road was built on Sandoy in 1918, connecting Skopun with Sandur, the island's main town, to the south. Skopun's harbor was built in 1926 and later extended. In 1982, the harbor was furnished with a gate which protects the dock from the sea. A 1988 hurricane destroyed the town's small forest. A car ferry used to connect Skopun with the capital, Tórshavn. Today, the ferry goes to the newly constructed port of Gamlarætt, located on the south coast of Streymoy.

Shangri-La

Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. In the book, "Shangri-La" is a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Shangri-La has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia — a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. In the novel Lost Horizon, the people who live at Shangri-La are almost immortal, living years beyond the normal lifespan and only very slowly aging in appearance. The word also evokes the imagery of exoticism of the Orient. In the ancient Tibetan scriptures, existence of 7 such places are mentioned as Nghe-Beyul Khimpalung. One of such places is mentioned to be situated somewhere in the Makalu-Barun region.

In China, Tao Qian of the Jin Dynasty described a Shangri-La in his work Story of the Peach Blossom Valley. In modern China, the Zhongdian county was renamed to 香格里拉 (Shangri-La in Chinese) in 2001, to attract tourists. The legendary Kun Lun Mountains in Tibet offer other possible Shangri-La valleys. A popularly believed inspiration for Hilton's Shangri-La is the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan, close to the Tibetan border, which Hilton visited a few years before Lost Horizon was published. Being an isolated green valley surrounded by mountains, enclosed on the western end of the Himalayas, it closely matches the description in the novel. A Shangri-La resort in the nearby Skardu valley is a popular tourist attraction. Today, various places claim the title, such as parts of southern Kham in southwestern Yunnan province, including the tourist destinations of Lijiang and Zhongdian. Places like Sichuan and Tibet also claim the real Shangri-La was in its territory.

FDC from Hong Kong: Expo 2010

Many thanks to Hiu Fan for this FDC on the theme of Expo 2010 held in Shanghai!

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. With a population of 1,659,000 (2009), Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average. Perth was founded on 12 June 1829 by Captain James Stirling as the political centre of the free-settler Swan River Colony. It has continued to serve as the seat of government for Western Australia to the present day. Its port, Fremantle, is a city in its own right and slightly older than Perth.

The metropolitan area is located in the south-west of the continent between the Indian Ocean and a low coastal escarpment known as the Darling Range. The central business district and suburbs of Perth are situated on the Swan River. Perth is tied for ninth place in The Economist's 2010 list of the World's Most Livable Cities. Perth became known worldwide as the "City of Lights" as city residents lit their house lights and streetlights as American astronaut John Glenn passed overhead while orbiting the earth on Friendship 7 in 1962. The city repeated its feat as Glenn passed overhead on the Space Shuttle in 1998.

Ravensberg Spinning Mill, Bielefeld

This Spinning Mill was Constructed between 1855 and 1857, the imposing castellated factory buildings of the Ravensberg Spinning Mill became one of the largest flax spinning mills in Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries, housing up to 20,000 whirring spindles at a time. Now the site includes a park, an attractive cultural and events venue with two museums, a cinema, an adult education centre and a restaurant in the old carding works.

Negombo, Sri Lanka

My first postcard from Sri Lanka and many thanks to Ravindra!

Negombo is a town of about 65,000, approximately 37 km north of Colombo, in Sri Lanka. It is located at the mouth of the Negombo lagoon, about 7 km from the Bandaranaike International Airport. Negombo has a small port, and its economy is mainly based on tourism and its centuries-old fishing industry, though it also produces cinnamon, ceramics, and brass ware. The name "Negombo" was first used by the Portuguese, a corruption of the Sinhala name Mīgamuva". The town is situated by the shores of a lagoon of the same name, and was a trading port during the periods of Portuguese and Dutch colonization.

Negombo offers some of the better beaches on the west coast of Sri Lanka, and draws tourists who stop over for a day on their way to or from the airport. Some quiet stretches of the beach are maintained by the tourist hotels, while others are always busy with fisherman and their equipment. Water-sports and diving are also extremely popular among visitors, with a few well preserved coral reefs and a 50 year old shipwreck (Kudapaduwa) that serves as an artificial reef for many varieties of fish. Since the beginning of European Colonization, the township of Negombo has a majority of Roman Catholics along with Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims. Negombo has been given the name "Little Rome" due to the highly ornate Portuguese-era Roman Catholic churches found within the township. The Katuwapitiya Church and the Grand Street Church are two biggest parishes in Negombo. "Agurukaramulla Pansala" is a famous Buddhist temple bringing Buddhists from all over Sri Lanka to Negombo every year.