09 September 2014

Talafofo Falls

postcard, guam, talafofo river
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Backside text:
Talofofo Falls, Guam's favorite waterfall, provides a refreshing swimming spot at the end of a one-hour hike up the banks of the Talofofo River.
It seems that the hike there is the fun part of the falls.

As you know, Guam uses US stamps, this one showing the Liberty Bell.

stamps, guam, usa

07 September 2014

National Museum of History

postcard, moldova, chișinău, capitoline wolf
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Here's the National Museum of History of Moldova (Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei). The wolf statue in the small picture is one of five copies of the Capitoline Wolf in Rome that Italy gave to Romania during the 1920s.

The stamp shows a painting of the birth of Christ, also exhibited in the National Museum.

birth of christ

Séga Dance

postcard, mauritius, beach, danse du séga
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Sega music is very popular in Mauritius. Here's an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrxwP76PyW0

Glaciers and a golden statue

postcard, kyrgyzstan
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To be frank with you, I've got no clue who that guy is. Clearly he had a soft spot for gold and peculiar hats, but that's all I know for now. If you have more information, please enlighten me.

I think the stamp shows a yak, although it has got no horns. A female perhaps?


yak

These stamps show the Tian Shan mountain ranges.
From left to right, from top to bottom:
1. Ak-Say Glacier
2. Kotur Glacier
3. Semenovsky Glavier at Khan Tengri mountain
4. Zvezdochka Glacier at Jengish Chokusu mountain
5. North Inyltschek Glacier
6. South Inyltschek Glacier, both also at Khan Tengri mountain

khan tengri, jengish chokusu, inyltschek, kotur, ak-say

A Mountain View

postcard, macedonia, mountain
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Behold the mighty mountains of Macedonia! The village that can be seen in the valley is called Velebrdo.

The stamp commemorates the 50th anniversary of the World Meteorological Organization.

world meteorological organization, 50 years

Rock-cut church

postcard, ethiopia, biete giyorgis, lalibela
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This is the Church of Saint George (Bete Giorigis), one of eleven monolithic churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia. They're quite astonishing structures, all built below ground level and dating back to the 12th century. And they are a UNESCO world heritage site nowadays.

postcard, ethiopia, jugol
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This is one of the five Harar Gates, part of a city wall (the "Jugol") from the 16th century that was not destroyed until this very day.

Left: Debre Damo is a monastery and the earliest existing church building in Ethiopia and may only be visited by men. If that's no crazy enough for you, imagine that is can only accessed by making one's way hand over hand along a rope (see picture). It is unrecorded weather Abuna Aregawi, the founder of the monastery, was a keen mountaineer.
Right: Tragelaphus seriptus meneliki, the Menelik's Bushbuck.


menelik's bushbuck, debre damo, monastery, abuna aregawi

Free State of Fiume

postcard, croatia, fiume
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In this postcard, you can see the Port of Rijeka, in Croatia. it used to be part of the tiny Free State of Fiume (previous town name of Rijeka) that existed between 1920 and 1924. After World War I, it was a buffer state between Italy and Yugoslavia. During its short existence, the free state saw various different governments, but finally became part of Italy.

Međimurje County is a region in Croatia, sometimes called Hortus Croatiae, "the flower garden of Croatia". Thus the motive.

međimurje county, flower, garden