Tel Aviv | תֵּל־אָבִיב capital of Israel

PostcardWhat makes a city a capital city? The city or town that functions as the seat of government and administrative centre of a country or region is the capital city. Israel refers to Jerusalem as the country's capital, and seats its government (Knesset) in that city. But the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Most countries, as well as the United Nations, recognize...

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The Hamar from Ethiopia

PostcardThe Hamar (or Hamer) are a tribe inhabiting southwestern Ethiopia. They are cattle herders and practice agriculture. They will stay for a few months wherever there is enough grass for grazing, putting up their round huts. When the grass is finished, they will move on. The Hamar practice various rituals like the bull jumping as a rite of passage for the man, whose female relatives demand to be whipped as part of the...

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The Arch of Triumph from Tyre, Lebanon

PostcardTyre is is an ancient Phoenician city located on the southern coast of Lebanon, 83 km south of Beirut.  It was an island in ages past, celebrated for its beauty. Tyre emerges today from the debris of centuries. Excavations on the site have uncovered remains of the Crusader, Arab, Byzantine and Graeco-Roman cities.Stamps(left) Horsh Ehden is a Nature Reserve located in North Lebanon, it contains a particularly...

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Porta Macedonia, a triumphal arch in Skopje

PostcardThe Skopje 2014 project aimed at rebuilding a city that lost many of its landmarks in a 1963 earthquake. The goal is to give the city a more monumental appearance. The project envisages the construction of almost 20 buildings, including, museums, theatres, concert halls, hotels and administrative offices. Many more bronze and marble statues are also being erected to adorn the surroundings.Porta Macedonia is a triumphal arch located...

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A postcard from the Kingdom of Swaziland

PostcardSwaziland is located in in Southern Africa and is bordered for the most part by South Africa and to the northeast by Mozambique. Swaziland is one of the smallest countries in Africa. It is no more than 200 kilometres by 130 kilometres.The king of Swaziland, Mswati III, currently has 27 children from his first 13 wives and wives-to-be. Thx Franc...

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Willems Toren Lighthouse, Bonaire

PostcardThe Willems Toren Lighthouse is located at the Southern tip of the island of Bonaire. Together with St. Eustatius and Saba the islands are known as Caribbean Netherlands. The lighthouse was established in 1837 and recently completely renovated. StampsIssued in 2012 as part of a set of four stamps about Sailing Ships. The Optimist is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy intended for use by children up to the...

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Volcanic beach on the island of St. Kitts

PostcardThe seashore formation known as Black Rocks is located on the north side of the island of St Kitts. A remnant of the once active volcano Mt. Liamuiga. This stratovolcano forms the western part of the island. These rocks being formed of the hot lava as it entered the cool Caribbean.StampsOn the left one more stamp issued by the Department of Tiny Stamps picturing a pineapple. On the right a Zebra butterfly.A big thank you for Olga!&n...

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THe ancient city of Butrint, Albania

PostcardButrint was anancient Greek and later Roman city located in southern Albania, close to the Greek border. Inhabited since prehistoric times, Butrint has been the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city and a bishopric. Following a period of prosperity under Byzantine administration, then a brief occupation by the Venetians, the city was abandoned in the late Middle Ages after marshes formed in the area. The present...

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Shuri castle | 首里城, Japan

PostcardThe castle is located on Okinawa Island which is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands. The Kingdom of the Ryukyus reigned over Japan's southwestern islands for approximately 450 years from 1429 to 1879.Shuri Castle was both the royal residence for the king and his family and the administrative center of the Shuri Royal Government. It also served as a religious center to administer the rituals performed...

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Gyeonghoeru Pavilion, South Korea

PostcardSeoul is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea, a megacity with over 10 million inhabitants.Changdeokgung is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). Gyeonghoeru (Pavilion of Joyous Meeting) is the oldest and most famous of Gyeongbokgung's pavilions.It was used as a royal banquet hall during the Joseon dynasty. This two story pavilion was built in 1412, burned...

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A tiger from the Kingdom of Bhutan

PostcardThe Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia bordered by China and India. The tiger lives in the lush tropical lowland and hardwood forests in the south. The Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation (BTFEC) is an independent grant-making organization that uses its annual investment income to finance conservation activities.StampIssued 2012, Year of the Dragon stamp. The postmark...

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Vicuñas grazing in Puna Catamarqueña, Argentina

PostcardPuna Catamarqueña is a desert high plateau at more than 3,000 meters height, located in Catamarca, a province in the Argentine Northwest, about 1.500 km away from the city of Buenos Aires. Its climate is arid and extreme, with less than 200 mm of annual rainfall.The Vicuña is a wild South American camelid which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes. Vicuñas live exclusively in South America, primarily in...

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Guyana, Scenes of the Interior

PostcardGuyana is located in South America. It borders Venezuela, Brazil, Suriname and the Atlantic Ocean. Guyana is known for its rich bio-diversity, particularly bird species. The inaccessibility of Guyana’s tropical rainforest is fundamental to the survival of some of the world’s most endangered species such as the Harpy Eagle, Cock of the Rock, Arapaima, Giant Otter, Giant Anteater, Jaguar and Black Caiman. In Guyana, with more than 250...

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Tovar Colony, a German colonist town in Venezuela

PostcardColonia Tovar (Tovar Colony in English) is a town in Venezuela, founded in 1843 by a group of almost 400 immigrants from Germany. For nearly a hundred years they lived up there, without even a road connecting them to the rest of the country. Speaking German, preserving their own culture, and marriage outside of the community was prohibited. Today this town is a major tourist attraction. Many of the houses are built in Bavarian style.   StampsTwo...

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Coatepeque Caldera, El Salvador

PostcardSanta Ana, El Salvador's highest volcano, is a massive, 2381-m-high stratovolcano that rises immediately west of Coatepeque caldera.A volcano caldera is a depression in the ground created by the collapse of land after a volcanic eruption. In some cases, the caldera is created slowly, when the ground sinks down after a magma chamber is emptied. In other situations, the magma explodes violently, and the caldera is the deep pit in the ground...

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Antigua Guatemala

PostcardThe city of Antigua in Guatamala is known as the best-preserved Spanish colonial city in Central America. It was founded in the early 16th century, 1,500 m above sea-level, in an earthquake-prone region. Volcán de Agua or the Water Volcano is a dormant volcano since the mid-16th century. Its name traces back to 1541, when water and mudslides from the volcano wiped out Guatemala's then-capital city.Thx Pat! StampPart of a set of four...

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The Masai Shuka

PostcardThe Shuka is an African piece of clothing. It is the main garment worn by the Masai, initially made out of animal skins but today cotton is the main material. It is a dress-like cloth, traditionally worn wrapped around the body, and over each shoulder. It isn’t specially patterned to fit like this, but is simply a very large square cloth. They are almost always red, and usually have a plaid or striped pattern on them. The patterns are...

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Traditional Fishing Dhow from Bahrain

PostcardThe word 'dhow' is used to describe all types of local boats along the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and East Africa. Dhow is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen (triangle shaped) sails.“Nobody had made a wooden dhow in Bahrain for 20 years – until recently to fulfil an order for the king. Ibrahim is...

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Carribean traditional dress: miss Wob Dwiyet, Dominica

PostcardDominica is a lush green mountainous island located midway down the chain of Caribbean Islands east and south of Puerto Rico. The national dress of Dominica is the ‘Wob Dwiyet’.  The dress is believed to have originated from Southern France and that style of dress became popular in the French West Indies towards the end of the 18th century. Today, Dominicans and other Caribbean islands take pride in wearing the dress...

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Catedral Santa Maria la Menor, Dominican Republic

PostcardSanto Domingo is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. After Christopher Columbus's arrival on the island in 1492, Santo Domingo became the site of the first cathedral of the Americas:Catedral Santa María La Menor.The cathedral was constructed between 1514 and 1542, one of the architectural wonders of the Colonial City. The city's Colonial Zone, including the cathedral, was declared as a World Heritage Site by...

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Montevideo, capital of Uruguay

PostcardMontevideo is the capital city of Uruguay. It is also the largest city and the main port of Uruguay. The Hotel Casino Carrasco is a historic hotel and casino. Construction started in 1912 and it was completed in 1921. StampsIn 2013 Uruguay issued nine permanent stamps about the rights of rural workers.&nb...

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