Plage des Raisins Clairs, Guadeloupe

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Guadeloupe is an overseas region of France located in the Caribbean. Guadeloupe is an integral part of France, as are the other overseas departments. The Guadeloupe Archipelago includes the large islands of Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre, the nearby islands of Marie-Galante and La Desirade and numerous smaller islands.

The 35 km coastline of St Francois is bordered by warm, turquoise-blue waters, and many of its shores are shaded by majestic, lush palm trees.

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The Friendly Island: St-Martin / St Maarten

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Saint Martin is an overseas collectivity of France located in the Caribbean. Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It encompasses the southern half of Saint Martin.

It is the smallest island in the world ever to have been partitioned between two different nations. The border is almost imperceptible and people cross back and forth without ever realizing they are entering a new country. 

Princess Juliana International Airport serves both the Dutch and the French part of the island. It is named after crown princess Juliana of the Netherlands in 1944, the year after the airport opened. The airport is famous for its short landing strip which is barely enough for heavy jets. Because of this, the planes approach the island flying extremely low, right over Maho Beach.
It’s a spectacular sight!

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From a set of three stamps issued 2011 about tourism.

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Cheetahs in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

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Tanzania's oldest and most popular national park is Serengeti National Park. It is a Unesco World Heritage site. Serengeti is famous for its annual migration of more than a million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra and 300,000 gazelle.

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(left) 350th death anniversary of Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640)

(right) Tanzania Safari (2007 issue): Zebra.

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Birds in Ngorongoro National Park, Tanzania

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The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is an immense expanse of protected highlands, grass and bush lands. It is a Unesco World Heritage Site. Over 500 bird species have been counted in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Going clockwise:  1 Crow 2 Blacksmith Plover 3 ? 4 Secretary bird (it feeds mainly on snakes, stamping them to death in a comical flailing dance) 5 Heron 6 Saddle-billed Stork.

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(left) 350th death anniversary of Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640)

(right) Wild Animals of Tanzania (2010 issue): Elephants.

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Harissa | حريصا - Téléférique - Lebanon

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Harissa is a mountain village in Lebanon which is located 650 meters above sea level. The village is located 20 km north of Beirut, and accessible from the coastal city of Jounieh either by road or by a nine-minute journey by a gondola lift, known as the "Téléférique".

One of Lebanon’s oldest and most visited tourist attractions, the gondolas of the Téléférique aerial cableway are a trip down memory lane, from a pioneering venture in 1965 to a beautifully preserved modern-day attraction offering breathtaking views of Jounieh and the surrounding city, the Téléférique is an impressive testimony to time gone by, a meter at a time.

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Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village, Taiwan

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Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village is an amusement park located in Taiwan. Featuring aboriginal cultures, combining tourism, culture and educational functions on 62 hectares.

It has five theme parks: the European Gardens, the Aladdin Plaza, the Aboriginal Villages, Amusement Isle and Ti Ka Er Rainforest. Amusement facilities in these five theme parks include joy ride, cultural square, artistic fountain, museums, 3-D theater, aboriginal dance show, etc.

One of the amusement rides are the Air Cable Cars. Overlook the beauty of the mountains and the woods in Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village with the flying birds in the breeze. 

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China's tallest buildings

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The Shanghai World Financial Center was planned to be the tallest building in the world when it was designed in 1997. The 97 Story building would surpass the spires of the Petronas Towers in Malaysia.

When Construction was restarted in 2003, the 508 Meter Taipei 101 in Taiwan was already underway to becoming the World's Tallest Building. Plans where changed but the Tower couldn’t be built any higher than its present height at 492 meters since the already done foundation was meant to support a 460 meter tall building. 

The slightly smaller skyscraper is the 420.5 meters high Jin Mao Tower. "Jin Mao" means "Golden Prosperity" in Chinese.

On the left you see the Oriental Pearl Broadcasting & TV Tower. With 468 meters one of the tallest broadcasting towers in the world.

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The tallest building in the world: Dubai's Burj Khalifa

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Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829 meters.Burj means Tower in Arabic language. It’s renamed after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi.

It was officially opened on Jan 4, 2010. Construction began in September 2004.

 

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Falconry is an integral part of desert life which has been practiced in the UAE for centuries. Originally, falcons were used for hunting, to supplement the Bedouin diet with some meat.

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The tallest broadcasting tower in the world: Tokyo Sky Tree

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Tokyo Skytree is a broadcasting, restaurant, and observation tower in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It is the tallest structure in Japan with a height of 634 metres (2,080 ft) and the second tallest structure in the world after Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).

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A Vietnamese traditional market.

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According to the back of the postcard this is a Hà Tây Country market.  Hà Tây is a former province of Vietnam, in the Red River Delta, now part of Hanoi. 

The traditional market is still the major channel of retail In Vietnam, dating back more than a thousand years since the very first urban areas arose and society went into an organized structure under the rule of dynasties. There are approximately 9000 traditional markets nationwide and up to 80% of all retail sales are conducted through these traditional channels.

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(left) This plant, Plumeria obtusa, is commonly known as Frangipani and is grown for its flowers. In Vietnam the Frangipani is also used for its healing qualities: the bark, mashed in alcohol, prevents skin inflammation, it is also used to treat indigestion and high blood pressure.

(right) Ao Daiis Vietnam's traditional dress, which was first designed over hundred years ago. It finally became Vietnam ladies' current formal dress, usually worn in formal events, festivals and is now a popular uniform for girl students.

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Pedro St. James, Cayman Islands

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The Cayman Islands, with a population of about 55,000, are a British Overseas Territory. The three Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, are located in the western Caribbean near Cuba, Miami Florida, and Jamaica.

At a time in the Cayman Islands when most people lived in tiny houses, a wealthy Englishman, using slave labour from Jamaica, created an astonishing 3-storey building called Pedro St. James “castle”.

Since its construction more than two centuries ago, Pedro St. James has been put to a variety of uses, including a courthouse, jail, and restaurant. In the 1990s, the Government of the Cayman Islands purchased Pedro St. James and restored the Great House to the splendor of its 18th century heritage.

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A set of stamps picturing Cayman Islands scenes, issued in 2007. Children enjoy one of Grand Cayman’s natural wonders – the blowholes along the iron-shore coastline in East End. 

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Greetings from the United Nations - New York

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The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) is the postal agency of the United Nations. It issues postage stamps and postal stationery for the United Nations offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna.

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.

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Issued 13 February 2013 celebrating the day when UN Radio was launched in 1946.

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Linden - Mining Town, Guyana

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Linden, the second-largest town in Guyana, is a bauxite mining town 112 kilometres south of Georgetown on the west bank of the Demerara River. Linden is a company mining town. The opencast mine is 60-90 metres deep and is said to have the world’s longest boom walking dragline. The town is dominated by a disused alumina plant and scarred by old bauxite pits. Today Linden, is popularly known as the Mining Town.

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In 2012 Guyana issued two sheets of four bird stamps. This one pictures the Anhinga bird, sometimes called Snakebird or Water Turkey. It is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word anhinga comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird.

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Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans, Ukraine

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The complex was the seat of the (arch)bishop of the Bukovinian Orthodox Church, which developed while this region was under Austrian Habsburg rule. It is located in the city of Chernivtsi and is now in use as a University. It was built by Czech architect Josef Hlavka from 1864 to 1882. 

The property also includes a seminary and monastery and is dominated by the domed, cruciform Seminary Church with a garden and park. 

It was included in the Unesco World Heritage list in 2011.

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900th Anniversary of the Charter of Vladimir Monomakh (1053 – 1125)

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