Honey Island | Brazil

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Ilha do Mel, which means Honey Island, is located 5 km off the Brazilian coast. Hikers, surfers, bird watchers, stargazers and nature lovers alike are in awe of all that this little Atlantic island has to offer. No cars on the island!

The Cave of the Enchanted (La Gruta das Encantadas) is located in the south part of this island. This cave is a place of legends, where beautiful mermaids attract men to the cave and never return home...

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Serra do Mar | Brazil

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Serra do Mar is a 1,500km long system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeastern Brazil.

Serro do Mar is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves. The 25 protected areas that make up the site, contain some of the best and most extensive examples of Atlantic forests.

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The Town of Diamantina | Brazil

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In the heart of arid and rocky mountains in the state of Minas Gerais, the Historic Center of Diamantina rises 150m up the side of a steep valley.

The city's history dates back to the early 1700’s when an expedition found diamonds on the mountain slopes and along the rivers in this region. Mining blossomed in Diamantina in the 18th and early 19th century. After that, richer and better quality deposits in South-Africa were found.

The Historic Centre of the Town of Diamantina is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

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Church of Saint Francis of Assisi | Brazil

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The Pampulha Modern Ensemble was the centre of a visionary garden city project created in 1940 at Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Designed around an artificial lake, this cultural and leisure centre included a casino, a ballroom, the Golf Yacht Club and the São Francisco de Assis church. The buildings were designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer, in collaboration with innovative artists.

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Catedral de Maringá - Brazil

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Catedral de Maringá is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the city of Maringá, Brazil. With 124 m in height it is the tallest church in South America. 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

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Salvador da Bahia | Brazil

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Salvador is the third most populous Brazilian city, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The historic centre of Salvador, locally known as "Pelourinho", is famous for its Portuguese colonial architecture with historical monuments dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.

Stamps

(right) One of two stamps issued 2014 to celebrated diplomatic relationships with Philippines. Here you see the other bird stamp.

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Fernando de Noronha Islands | Brazil

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Fernando de Noronha is an archipelago of 20 islands in the Atlantic Ocean, about 500 km off the Brazilian coast. It is named after the Portuguese merchant Fernão de Loronha.

Did you know that this Brazilian hidden treasure allows to accommodate only 420 tourists at a given time slot? Being a small island with limited water resources and a fragile ecosystem, there is a maximum number of visitors allowed.

The archipelago is a World Heritage Site since 2001, because of the importance of its environment.

Stamp

(right) One of two stamps issued 2014 to celebrated diplomatic relationships with Philippines.

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A tree from Brasilia, capital of Brazil

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Some time ago I received this card also picturing Brasilia, capital of Brazil. I like the contrast between the tree and the modern building in the backround.

The tree is known as the Pink Trumpet Tree, Pink Tecoma or Rosy trumpet tree. The tree is native to the American tropics and subtropics from Mexico and the Carribean to Argentina.

Stamp

A matching stamp also picturing a Rosy trumpet tree. 

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JK Bridge, a postcard from Brasilia, the capital of Brazil

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JK Bridge crosses Lake Paranoá in Brasília. It is named after Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, former president of Brazil, who in the late 1950s decided to build Brasília as the new capital of the country.

Located in the central area of Brazil, the area that makes up Brasilia today resembled, a desert before 1960, with no people, scarce water, few animals and plants. This story made me think of another designed Capital: Astana.

Brasilia is one of the Host Cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.

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A Postcard from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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Corcovado mountain bears at 704 m above sea level the town symbol of Rio the Janeiro: the well known, 1000 tons weighting Christ the Redeemer seen from every corner of the metropolis.

Stamps

(left) From a series of four stamps about historical cities of Brazil: historic city of Mariana.

(right) Costureira (sewing)

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Sugarloaf Mountain | Pão de Açúcar from Brazil

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Sugarloaf Mountain, is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean. Rising 396 metres (1,299 ft) above the harbor, its name is said to refer to its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar.

Stamps

Sapateiro (shoemaking)

Costureira (sewing)

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Tel Aviv: The White City...from Brazil

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The city of Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 to the immediate north of the walled port city of Jaffa, on the hills along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. During the era of British rule in Palestine (1917-1948) it developed into a thriving urban centre, becoming Israel's foremost economic and metropolitan nucleus.

The White City was constructed from the early 1930s until the 1950s, based on the urban plan by Sir Patrick Geddes, reflecting modern organic planning principles. The buildings were designed by architects who were trained in Europe where they practiced their profession before immigrating.

The architects and designers of the city could not imagine that their choice of the Bauhaus style of architecture would eventually make Tel Aviv the largest open-air Bauhaus museum in the world.

Stamps

From a series of four stamps about historical cities of Brazil: historic city of Mariana.

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Brazilian waterfall



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Caracol Falls, or Cascata do Caracol, is a 426-foot (130 meter) waterfall about 7 km from Canela, Brazil in Caracol State Park. Canela, meaning Cinnamon in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian, is a town located in the Serra Gaúcha of Rio Grande do Sul. Rio Grande do Sul ( "Great River of the South") is the southernmost state in Brazil.

Stamps

(left) Obra Desaparecida means Missing Artwork. This is a missing painting called Marcel Gontrau by brazilian artist Candido Portinari (December 29, 1903 - February 6, 1962). He was one of the most important Brazilian painters and also a prominent and influential practitioner of the neo-realism style in painting.

(right) The stamp shows a panoramic view of the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant, a strong token of the close relations between Brazil and Paraguay.

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