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

Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, South Korea (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1319

The Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty form a collection of 40 tombs scattered over 18 locations. Built over five centuries, from 1408 to 1966, the tombs honoured the memory of ancestors, showed respect for their achievements, asserted royal authority, protected ancestral spirits from evil and provided protection from vandalism. Spots of outstanding natural beauty were chosen for the tombs which typically have their back protected by a hill as they face south toward water and, ideally, layers of mountain ridges in the distance. Alongside the burial area, the royal tombs feature a ceremonial area and an entrance. In addition to the burial mounds, associated buildings that are an integral part of the tombs include a T-shaped wooden shrine, a shed for stele, a royal kitchen and a guards’ house, a red-spiked gate and the tomb keeper’s house. The grounds are adorned on the outside with a range of stone objects including figures of people and animals. The Joseon Tombs completes the 5,000 year history of royal tombs architecture in the Korean peninsula.


Sender: Jennifer,  Sent on: 29 May, 2014, Received on: 13 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 15 days

Jongmyo Shrine, South Korea (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/738

Jongmyo is the oldest and most authentic of the Confucian royal shrines to have been preserved. Dedicated to the forefathers of the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), the shrine has existed in its present form since the 16th century and houses tablets bearing the teachings of members of the former royal family. Ritual ceremonies linking music, song and dance still take place there, perpetuating a tradition that goes back to the 14th century.


Sender: Jennifer,  Sent on: 29 May, 2014, Received on: 13 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 15 days

Flag of Friesland, Netherlands

The Flag of the province of Friesland or Frisian flag is the official flag of the Dutch province of Friesland.

It consists of four blue and three white diagonal stripes; in the white stripes are a total of seven red pompeblêden, leaves of yellow water-lily, that may remind of hearts, but according the official instructions "should not be heart shaped". The jerseys of the football club SC Heerenveen and the Blauhúster Dakkapel are modeled after this flag.


Sender: Ttruus,  Sent on: 2 Jun, 2014, Received on: 6 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 4 days

Friday 27 June 2014

Flag of Latvia

Though officially adopted in 1922, the Latvian flag was in use as early as the 13th century. The red colour is sometimes described as symbolizing the readiness of the Latvians to give the blood from their hearts for freedom and their willingness to defend their liberty. An alternative interpretation, according to one legend, is that a Latvian leader was wounded in battle, and the edge of the white sheet in which he was wrapped were stained by his blood. The white stripe may stand for the sheet that wrapped him. This story is similar to the legend of the origins of the flag of Austria.


Sender: Skilla,  Sent on: 13 May, 2014, Received on: 13 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 30 days

Delos, Greece (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/530

According to Greek mythology, Apollo was born on this tiny island in the Cyclades archipelago. Apollo's sanctuary attracted pilgrims from all over Greece and Delos was a prosperous trading port. The island bears traces of the succeeding civilizations in the Aegean world, from the 3rd millennium B.C. to the palaeochristian era. The archaeological site is exceptionally extensive and rich and conveys the image of a great cosmopolitan Mediterranean port.


Sender: Elena,  Sent on: 26 May, 2014, Received on: 6 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 10 days

Yungang Grottoes, China (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1039

The Yungang Grottoes, in Datong city, Shanxi Province, with their 252 caves and 51,000 statues, represent the outstanding achievement of Buddhist cave art in China in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Five Caves created by Tan Yao, with their strict unity of layout and design, constitute a classical masterpiece of the first peak of Chinese Buddhist art.


Sender: Zihu,  Sent on: 11 May, 2014, Received on: 6 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 25 days

Historic Centre of Brugge, Belgium (UNESCO)

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/996

Brugge is an outstanding example of a medieval historic settlement, which has maintained its historic fabric as this has evolved over the centuries, and where original Gothic constructions form part of the town's identity. As one of the commercial and cultural capitals of Europe, Brugge developed cultural links to different parts of the world. It is closely associated with the school of Flemish Primitive painting.


Sender: amiina,  Sent on: 11 Jun, 2014, Received on: 16 Jun, 2014, Travel time: 5 days