Thursday 21 August 2014

Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1090

The pyramid-shaped, wooded mountain of Monte San Giorgio beside Lake Lugano is regarded as the best fossil record of marine life from the Triassic Period (245–230 million years ago). The sequence records life in a tropical lagoon environment, sheltered and partially separated from the open sea by an offshore reef. Diverse marine life flourished within this lagoon, including reptiles, fish, bivalves, ammonites, echinoderms and crustaceans. Because the lagoon was near land, the remains also include land-based fossils of reptiles, insects and plants, resulting in an extremely rich source of fossils.


Sender: Oscar,  Sent on: 5 Jul, 2014, Received on: 19 Jul, 2014, Travel time: 14 days

Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City, United Kingdom (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1150

Six areas in the historic centre and docklands of the maritime mercantile City of Liverpool bear witness to the development of one of the world’s major trading centres in the 18th and 19th centuries. Liverpool played an important role in the growth of the British Empire and became the major port for the mass movement of people, e.g. slaves and emigrants from northern Europe to America. Liverpool was a pioneer in the development of modern dock technology, transport systems and port management. The listed sites feature a great number of significant commercial, civic and public buildings, including St George’s Plateau.


Sender: Binnington,  Sent on: 3 Jul, 2014, Received on: 19 Jul, 2014, Travel time: 16 days

Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle, Kiew, Ukraine (Unesco Tentative)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/670/

Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle is a former Ruthenian-Lithuanian castle and a later three-part Polish fortress located in the historic city of Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine, in the historic region of Podolia in the western part of the country. Its name is attributed to the root word kamin', from the Slavic word for stone.
The complex is a candidate UNESCO World Heritage Site, nominated in 1989 by the Ukrainian representatives, and also one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine. Today, the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle is the most recognized landmark of the city, serving as an important regional and national tourist attraction.


Sender: AndyM,  Sent on: 29 Jun, 2014, Received on: 6 Aug, 2014, Travel time: 38 days

Friday 11 July 2014

The Dolomites, Italy (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1237

The site of the Dolomites comprises a mountain range in the northern Italian Alps, numbering 18 peaks which rise to above 3,000 metres and cover 141,903 ha. It features some of the most beautiful mountain landscapes anywhere, with vertical walls, sheer cliffs and a high density of narrow, deep and long valleys. A serial property of nine areas that present a diversity of spectacular landscapes of international significance for geomorphology marked by steeples, pinnacles and rock walls, the site also contains glacial landforms and karst systems. It is characterized by dynamic processes with frequent landslides, floods and avalanches. The property also features one of the best examples of the preservation of Mesozoic carbonate platform systems, with fossil records.


Sender: Gosia,  Sent on: 30 Jun, 2014, Received on: 10 Jul, 2014, Travel time: 10 days

City of Verona, Italy (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/797

The historic city of Verona was founded in the 1st century B.C. It particularly flourished under the rule of the Scaliger family in the 13th and 14th centuries and as part of the Republic of Venice from the 15th to 18th centuries. Verona has preserved a remarkable number of monuments from antiquity, the medieval and Renaissance periods, and represents an outstanding example of a military stronghold.


Sender: Gosia,  Sent on: 30 Jun, 2014, Received on: 10 Jul, 2014, Travel time: 10 days

Curonian Spit, Lithuania (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/994

Human habitation of this elongated sand dune peninsula, 98 km long and 0.4-4 km wide, dates back to prehistoric times. Throughout this period it has been threatened by the natural forces of wind and waves. Its survival to the present day has been made possible only as a result of ceaseless human efforts to combat the erosion of the Spit, dramatically illustrated by continuing stabilisation and reforestation projects.


Sender: MonikaValentaite,  Sent on: 30 Jun, 2014, Received on: 10 Jul, 2014, Travel time: 10 days

Monday 7 July 2014

Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains, Romania (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/906

Built in the 1st centuries B.C. and A.D. under Dacian rule, these fortresses show an unusual fusion of military and religious architectural techniques and concepts from the classical world and the late European Iron Age. The six defensive works, the nucleus of the Dacian Kingdom, were conquered by the Romans at the beginning of the 2nd century A.D.; their extensive and well-preserved remains stand in spectacular natural surroundings and give a dramatic picture of a vigorous and innovative civilization.



Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Mosque, Malaysia

The Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque is the state mosque of Selangor, Malaysia. It is located in Shah Alam. It is the country's largest mosque and also the second largest mosque in Southeast Asia after Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta in Indonesia. Its most distinguishing feature is its large blue and silver dome. The mosque has four minarets, one erected at each of the corners.


Sender: Manila,  Sent on: 3 Jun, 2014, Received on: 2 Jul, 2014, Travel time: 29 days

Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Germany (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/430

The ‘Roman Limes’ represents the border line of the Roman Empire at its greatest extent in the 2nd century AD. It stretched over 5,000 km from the Atlantic coast of northern Britain, through Europe to the Black Sea, and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast. The remains of the Limes today consist of vestiges of built walls, ditches, forts, fortresses, watchtowers and civilian settlements. Certain elements of the line have been excavated, some reconstructed and a few destroyed. The two sections of the Limes in Germany cover a length of 550 km from the north-west of the country to the Danube in the south-east. The 118-km-long Hadrian’s Wall (UK) was built on the orders of the Emperor Hadrian c. AD 122 at the northernmost limits of the Roman province of Britannia. It is a striking example of the organization of a military zone and illustrates the defensive techniques and geopolitical strategies of ancient Rome. The Antonine Wall, a 60-km long fortification in Scotland was started by Emperor Antonius Pius in 142 AD as a defense against the “barbarians” of the north. It constitutes the northwestern-most portion of the Roman Limes.

Postcard 1 : Saalburg Castle


Sender: Xiaoi,  Sent on: 24 Jun, 2014, Received on: 2 Jul, 2014, Travel time: 8 days

Tassili n'Ajjer, Algeria (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/179/

Located in a strange lunar landscape of great geological interest, this site has one of the most important groupings of prehistoric cave art in the world. More than 15,000 drawings and engravings record the climatic changes, the animal migrations and the evolution of human life on the edge of the Sahara from 6000 BC to the first centuries of the present era. The geological formations are of outstanding scenic interest, with eroded sandstones forming ‘forests of rock’.


Sender: Nihad,  Sent on: 9 Jun, 2014, Received on: 2 Jul, 2014, Travel time: 23 days

Tuesday 1 July 2014

Flag of Singapore

Two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; near the hoist side of the red band, there is a vertical, white crescent (closed portion is toward the hoist side) partially enclosing five white five-pointed stars arranged in a circle; red denotes brotherhood and equality; white signifies purity and virtue; the waxing crescent moon symbolizes a young nation on the ascendancy; the five stars represent the nation's ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice, and equality.


Sender: Janetblythe,  Sent on: 7 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 17 days

Bergischer Löwe (Bergischer Lion), Düsseldorf, Germany


Sender: Singalarius,  Sent on: 17 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 17 days

Flag of Hessen, Germany

The civil flag of Hesse consists of a bicolor of a red top and a bottom white stripe, in the proportion 3:5. The state flag is similar, except it is defaced with the coat of arms in the centre, and may only be used by government departments and services. It is the reverse of the flag of Thuringia and, apart from the proportions and the shades of red, identical to the flag of Indonesia and the flag of Monaco.


Sender: hsjoerdis,  Sent on: 10 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 14 days

Aurora from the Murmansk (Russians Arctic Territory), Russia


Sender: murman2014,  Sent on: 9 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 15 days

Chicago, USA

35 East Wacker Drive (left), 1926   -   United of America Building, 1962

Sender: wingy,  Sent on: 11 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 13 days

New York State Map, USA


Sender: Mikayla,  Sent on: 11 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 13 days

Monday 30 June 2014

Flag of Cyprus

The state flag features a map of the entirety of the island, with two olive branches below (a symbol of peace) on white (another symbol of peace). The olive branches signify peace between the Turks and Greeks. The map on the flag is a copper-orange colour, symbolizing the large deposits of copper ore on the island (chiefly in the form of chalcopyrite, which is yellow in colour), from which it may have received its name.


Sender: papermoon,  Sent on: 10 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 14 days

Paphos, Cyprus (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/79

Paphos has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. It was a centre of the cult of Aphrodite and of pre-Hellenic fertility deities. Aphrodite's legendary birthplace was on this island, where her temple was erected by the Myceneans in the 12th century B.C. The remains of villas, palaces, theatres, fortresses and tombs mean that the site is of exceptional architectural and historic value. The mosaics of Nea Paphos are among the most beautiful in the world.

Postcard 1 : Mosaics of Paphos


Sender: papermoon,  Sent on: 10 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 14 days

Postcard 2: Tombs of the Kings


Sender: papermoon,  Sent on: 10 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 14 days

SGang Gwaay, Canada (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/157

The village of Ninstints (Nans Dins) is located on a small island off the west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii). Remains of houses, together with carved mortuary and memorial poles, illustrate the Haida people's art and way of life. The site commemorates the living culture of the Haida people and their relationship to the land and sea, and offers a visual key to their oral traditions.


Sender: Jason,  Sent on: 4 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 20 days

Landscape of Grand Pré, Canada (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1404

Situated in the southern Minas Basin of Nova Scotia, the Grand Pré marshland and archaeological sites constitute a cultural landscape bearing testimony to the development of agricultural farmland using dykes and the aboiteau wooden sluice system, started by the Acadians in the 17th century and further developed and maintained by the Planters and present-day inhabitants. Over 1,300 ha, the cultural landscape encompasses a large expanse of polder farmland and archaeological elements of the towns of Grand Pré and Hortonville, which were built by the Acadians and their successors. The landscape is an exceptional example of the adaptation of the first European settlers to the conditions of the North American Atlantic coast. The site – marked by one of the most extreme tidal ranges in the world, averaging 11.6 m – is also inscribed as a memorial to Acadian way of life and deportation, which started in 1755, known as the Grand Dérangement.


Sender: Jason,  Sent on: 4 Jun, 2014, Received on: 24 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 20 days

Yellowstone National Park, USA (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/28

The vast natural forest of Yellowstone National Park covers nearly 9,000 km2 ; 96% of the park lies in Wyoming, 3% in Montana and 1% in Idaho. Yellowstone contains half of all the world's known geothermal features, with more than 10,000 examples. It also has the world's largest concentration of geysers (more than 300 geyers, or two thirds of all those on the planet). Established in 1872, Yellowstone is equally known for its wildlife, such as grizzly bears, wolves, bison and wapitis.


Sender: Krdavis,  Sent on: 15 May, 2014, Received on: 13 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 28 days

Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek, USA (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/72

These parks comprise an impressive complex of glaciers and high peaks on both sides of the border between Canada (Yukon Territory and British Columbia) and the United States (Alaska). The spectacular natural landscapes are home to many grizzly bears, caribou and Dall's sheep. The site contains the largest non-polar icefield in the world.


Sender: Cognac,  Sent on: 10 May, 2014, Received on: 13 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 33 days

High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago, Sweden (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/898

The Kvarken Archipelago (Finland) and the High Coast (Sweden) are situated in the Gulf of Bothnia, a northern extension of the Baltic Sea. The 5,600 islands of the Kvarken Archipelago feature unusual ridged washboard moraines, ‘De Geer moraines’, formed by the melting of the continental ice sheet, 10,000 to 24,000 years ago. The Archipelago is continuously rising from the sea in a process of rapid glacio-isostatic uplift, whereby the land, previously weighed down under the weight of a glacier, lifts at rates that are among the highest in the world. As a consequence islands appear and unite, peninsulas expand, and lakes evolve from bays and develop into marshes and peat fens. The High Coast has also been largely shaped by the combined processes of glaciation, glacial retreat and the emergence of new land from the sea. Since the last retreat of the ice from the High Coast 9,600 years ago, the uplift has been in the order of 285 m which is the highest known ''rebound''. The site affords outstanding opportunities for the understanding of the important processes that formed the glaciated and land uplift areas of the Earth''s surface.


Sender: Merja,  Received on: 13 Jun, 2014

Flag of Spain

The flag of Spain as it is defined in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe. Traditionally, the middle stripe was defined by the more archaic term of gualda, and hence the popular name rojigualda (red-weld).


Sender: Yosinaga,  Sent on: 11 May, 2014, Received on: 13 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 33 days