086 FRANCE - Lavezzi Islands in Corsica

Corsica is a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the Italian island of Sardinia. Mountains make up two-thirds of the island, forming a single chain. Before French domination, Corsica was under the ownership of the Republic of Genoa. Corsica is one of the 27 régions of France, although it is designated as a territorial collectivity (collectivité territoriale) by law. As a territorial collectivity, it enjoys some greater powers than other French régions. Corsica is referred to as a "région" in common speech, and is almost always listed among the other régions of France. Corsica is split into two departments, Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud, with its regional capital in Ajaccio, the prefecture of Corse-du-Sud. Bastia, the prefecture of Haute-Corse, is the second-largest settlement in Corsica.

Although the island is separated from the continental mainland by the Ligurian Sea and is closer to Italy than to the French mainland, politically Corsica is part of Metropolitan France. After rule from the Republic of Genoa starting in 1282, Corsica was briefly an independent Corsican Republic from 1755 until its conquest by France in 1769. Corsica's culture contains elements of both the French and Italian, and its constitution while a Republic was written in Italian. The native Corsican language is recognised as a regional language by the French government. The French emperor Napoléon Bonaparte was born in 1769 in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio. His ancestral home, Casa Buonaparte, is today used as a museum. The northern town of Calvi claims to be the birthplace of the explorer Christopher Columbus.

The Lavezzi Islands form a small archipelago of granite islands and reefs in the Strait of Bonifacio that separates Corsica from Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea. They are administered from Bonifacio on Corsica, itself a reigon of France.

About the sender

This postcard was sent from my friend Robin who visited Corsica in 2010.

085 CANADA - Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, Mt. Robson (WHS)

Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks comprises Banff National Park, Hamber Provincial Park, Jasper National Park, Kootenay National Park, Mount Robson Provincial Park, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park and Yoho National Park. The Canadian Rocky Mountains are oriented in a south-eastern to north-western direction along the Continental Divide and consist of the Western Ranges, the Main Ranges, the Front Ranges and the Foothills, all of which are represented within the parks. Active glaciers and ice fields still exist throughout the region, particularly in the Main Ranges. The most significant is the Columbia ice field, the largest in North America's subarctic interior. Covering 325 km2 , the ice field spans the Continental Divide and the boundary between Jasper and Banff National Parks. The Columbia ice fields of Jasper National Park are regarded as the hydrographic apex of North America and are the headwaters to three major river systems: the North Saskatchewan River, the Athabasca River and the Columbia River. The park waters of Yoho flow to the Pacific along Kicking Horse. Mount Robson Park encompasses the headwaters of Fraser River while Hamber Park encompasses Fortress Lake watershed. There are numerous lakes in Mount Assiniboine Park, most of which are located in broad alpine valleys and plateaus where they occupy glacially scoured depressions in the limestone bedrock.

The Rockies have been divided into three life zones or ecoregions: montane, subalpine and alpine. Montane vegetation occurs in major valley bottoms, on the foothills and sun-exposed slopes of lower mountain sides, especially in the front ranges. Forest is generally found between 1,200 m and 1,800 m and typical species include Douglas fir, white spruce, aspen and poplar. Montane wetlands and meadows occupy areas adjacent to major rivers. The subalpine ecoregion occupies mountainsides between 1,800 m and 2,100 m, and valley bottoms of high elevations. This is the most extensive ecoregion in the Rockies and can be subdivided into lower and upper subalpine. The alpine ecoregion occurs above the timberline. It is characterized by diminutive and hardy vegetation such as low-growing willow and dwarf birch, heath, mountain avens and sedge. A total of 56 mammalian species have been recorded. Characteristic species found in alpine meadows include Rocky Mountain goat, bighorn sheep, northern pika and hoary marmot. Forest mammals include moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, caribou, red deer and red squirrel. Carnivores include grey wolf, grizzly bear, black bear, wolverine, lynx and puma. Some 280 avifaunal species have been noted, including northern three-toed woodpecker, white-tailed ptarmigan, grey jay, mountain bluebird, Clark's nutcracker, golden eagle, mountain chickadee and rock pipit. Other recorded fauna includes one species of toad, three species of frog, one species of salamander and two species of snake.

About the sender

Katie Leung (direct swap) sent from Toronot (Canada) on 21.11.2013

084 GERMANY - My favourite football player, Sami Khedira

Sami Khedira is a German footballer currently playing for Real Madrid and the German national team. Khedira moved to Real Madrid from VfB Stuttgart in 2010. He is considered a dynamic midfielder with "flawless aerial ability" who can cover a lot of ground, recover the ball and quickly join in the team attack with his powerful mid-range shooting.
Before joining the youth team of VfB Stuttgart in 1995, he played at TV Oeffingen. In the first months of the 2006–07 season, he was called up into VfB's Bundesliga squad by manager Armin Veh. His debut followed on 1 October 2006 against Hertha BSC. He scored his first two goals on 29 October in a game against Schalke 04. On 29 January 2007 he signed his first professional contract at VfB, valid until June 2009. On 9 July 2008 he extended his contract until the summer of 2011.

On 30 July 2010 Khedira moved to Real Madrid for an undisclosed fee, signing a contract until 2015. Khedira was assigned the number 24 shirt, since 2011–2012 La Liga season he changed to the number 6 shirt. Khedira made his debut for Real Madrid on 13 August 2010 in a friendly match against FC Bayern Munich, which Real Madrid won 4–2 on penalties. This resulted in Real Madrid winning the Franz-Beckenbauer-Cup. His league debut came on 29 August, in a 0–0 draw against Mallorca. On 20 April 2011, he won his first title with Real Madrid: Spanish Copa del Rey, against FC Barcelona. On 3 August 2011, he scored his first goal for Real Madrid during a pre-season match against Guangzhou Evergrande. He scored his first competitive goal for Real Madrid in the Champions League, on 18 October 2011 against Olympique Lyonnais. He also scored his first Copa del Rey goal against Málaga CF in a 3–2 home win when Real Madrid were trailing behind 0–2. Khedira also scored his first official league goal against RCD Espanyol in a thrashing 5–0 home win for the whites. On 21 April 2012, Khedira scored his second league goal, in the El Clásico against arch rivals FC Barcelona. The goal was Real Madrid's 108th league of the season, breaking the previous La Liga record of 107, also set by Real Madrid in the 1989–90 season.

About the sender

Isabel Rink Postcrossing (direct swap) sent from Hannover (Germany) on 10.07.2013

083 PHILIPPINES - The Capital Manila

Manila is the capital city and the second largest city of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities (along with the municipality of Pateros) that make up the National Capital Region called Metro Manila which has a population of 12 million. The City of Manila is located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay and is bordered by the cities of Navotas and Caloocan to the north; Quezon City and San Juan to the northeast; Mandaluyong to the east; Makati to the southeast, and Pasay to the south. It has a total population of 1,652,171 according to the 2010 census and is the second most populous city in the Philippines, behind Quezon City. The populace inhabit an area of only 38.55 square kilometres (14.88 sq mi), making Manila the most densely populated city in the world. Bustling commerce and some of the most historically and culturally significant iconic landmarks in the country, as well as the seat of the executive and judicial branches of the government are found in the city. It is also home to many scientific and educational institutions, numerous sport facilities, and other culturally and historically significant venues. Listed as a global city, Manila has its strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport making it the historical, cultural, political, economic and educational center of the Philippines.

The earliest written account of the city is the 10th-century Laguna Copperplate Inscription which describes a context of a Malay kingdom maintaining diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Medang. By the 15th century, it was nominally islamized when the Spanish Conquistadors first arrived. They renamed the area into Nuevo Reino de Castilla (New Kingdom of Castille) and shortened the alternative name, Maynila to Manila. Manila eventually became the center of Spanish activity in the Far East and one end of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade route linking Europe, Latin America and Asia. The city would eventually be given the moniker of the "Pearl of the Orient", as a result of its central location in the vital Pacific sea trade routes. Several Chinese insurrections, local revolts, a British Occupation and a Sepoy mutiny also occurred shortly thereafter. Manila also saw the rise of the Philippine Revolution which was followed by the arrival of the Americans who made contributions to the city's urban planning and development only to have most of those improvements lost in the devastation of World War II. Since then the city has been rebuilt.

082 CZECH REPUBLIC - Meteora (WHS)

'Suspended in the air' (the meaning of Meteora in Greek), these monasteries represent a unique artistic achievement and are one of the most powerful examples of the architectural transformation of a site into a place of retreat, meditation and prayer. The Meteora provide an outstanding example of the types of monastic construction which illustrate a significant stage in history, that of the 14th and 15th centuries when the eremitic ideals of early Christianity were restored to a place of honour by monastic communities, both in the Western world (in Tuscany, for example) and in the Orthodox Church. Built under impossible conditions, with no practicable roads, permanent though precarious human habitations subsist to this day in the Meteora, but have become vulnerable under the impact of time. The net in which intrepid pilgrims were hoisted up vertically alongside the 373 m cliff where the Varlaam monastery dominates the valley symbolizes the fragility of a traditional way of life that is threatened with extinction. The monasteries are built on rock pinnacles of deltaic origin, known as Meteora, which rise starkly over 400 m above the Peneas valley and the small town of Kalambaka on the Thessalian plain. Chemical analysis suggests that the pinnacles were created some 60 million years ago in the Tertiary period, emerging from the cone of a river and further transformed by earthquakes. 

The Meteora are enormous residual masses of sandstone and conglomerate which appeared through fluvial erosion. Seismic activity increased the number of fault lines and fissures and hewed the shapeless masses into individual sheer rock columns. Hermits and ascetics probably began settling in this extraordinary area in the 11th century. In the late 12th century a small church called the Panaghia Doupiani or Skete was built at the foot of one of these 'heavenly columns', where monks had already taken up residence. During the fearsome time of political instability in 14th century Thessaly, monasteries were systematically built on top of the inaccessible peaks so that by the end of the 15th century there were 24 of them. They continued to flourish until the 17th century. Today, only four monasteries - Aghios Stephanos, Aghia Trias, Varlaam and Meteoron - still house religious communities. The area includes forested hills and river valley with riverine forests of Platanus orientalis and species such as the endemic Centaurea lactifolia (found near Koniskos village) and Centaurea kalambakensi. The nearest protected area is Trikala Aesthetic Forest (28 ha), created in 1979, which has been planted with Pinus halepensis and Cupressus sempervivens. The potential vegetation cover is described as supra-Mediterranean, with climax cover of Quercus andOstrya species and Fagus sylvatica beech forest above 700 m.

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Kát'uska Pipková (direct swap) sent from Brno (Czech Republic) on 21.11.2013

081 TAIWAN - Taipei 101

Taipei 101, formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Republic of China (ROC). The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010. In July 2011, the building was awarded LEED Platinum certification, the highest award in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and became the tallest and largest green building in the world. Taipei 101 was designed byC.Y. Lee & partners and constructed primarily by KTRT Joint Venture. The construction was finished in 2004. The tower has served as an icon of modern Taiwan ever since its opening. Fireworks launched from Taipei 101 feature prominently in international New Year's Eve broadcasts and the structure appears frequently in travel literature and international media. Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground and 5 floors underground. The building was architecturally created as a symbol of the evolution of technology and Asian tradition. Its postmodernist approach to style incorporates traditional design elements and gives them modern treatments. The tower is designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes. A multi-level shopping mall adjoining the tower houses hundreds of fashionable stores, restaurants and clubs. Taipei 101 is owned by the TFCC and managed by the International division of Urban Retail Properties Corporation based in Chicago. The name originally planned for the building, Taipei World Financial Center, until 2003, was derived from the name of the owner. The original name in Chinese was literally, Taipei International Financial Center.

The Taipei 101 tower has 101 stories above ground and five underground. Upon its completion Taipei 101 claimed the official records for:

• Ground to highest architectural structure (spire): 508 m (1,667 ft). Previously held by the Petronas Towers 451.9 m (1,483 ft).
• Ground to roof: 449.2 m (1,474 ft). Formerly held by the Willis Tower 442 m (1,450 ft).
• Ground to highest occupied floor: 438 m (1,437 ft). Formerly held by the Willis Tower 412.4 m (1,353 ft).
• Fastest ascending elevator speed: designed to be 1,010 meters per minute, which is 16.83 m/s (55.22 ft/s) (60.6 kilometres per hour (37.7 mph)).
• Largest countdown clock: Displayed on New Year's Eve.
• Tallest sundia

About the sender

amychen (postcrossing) sent from Taichung City (Taiwan) on 04.08.2013.

080 GERMANY - The Wadden Sea (WHS)

The Wadden Sea is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It is rich in biological diversity. In 2009, the Dutch and German parts of the Wadden Sea were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. According to C. Michael Hogan, the Wadden Sea is one of the world's seas whose coastline has been most modified by humans, via systems of dikes and causeways on the mainland and low lying coastal islands. The Wadden Sea stretches from Den Helder in the Netherlands in the southwest, past the great river estuaries of Germany to its northern boundary at Skallingen north of Esbjerg in Denmark along a total length of some 500 km and a total area of about 10,000 km². Within the Netherlands it is bounded from the IJsselmeer by the Afsluitdijk. The islands in the Wadden Sea are called the Wadden Sea Islands or Frisian Islands, named after the Frisians. However, on the westernmost Dutch island, Texel, the Frisian languagehas not been spoken for centuries. The Danish Wadden Sea Islands have never been inhabited by Frisians. The outlying German island of Heligoland, although ethnically one of the Frisian Islands, is not situated in the Wadden Sea.

The word wad is Dutch for "mud flat". The area is typified by extensive tidal mud flats, deeper tidal trenches (tidal creeks) and the islands that are contained within this, a region continually contested by land and sea. The landscape has been formed for a great part by storm tides in the 10th to 14th centuries, overflowing and carrying away former peat land behind the coastal dunes. The present islands are a remnant of the former coastal dunes. The islands are marked by dunes and wide, sandy beaches towards the North Sea and a low, tidal coast towards the Wadden Sea. The impact of waves and currents, carrying away sediments, is slowly changing the layout of the islands. For example, the islands of Vlieland and Ameland have moved eastwards through the centuries, having lost land on one side and grown on the other. The Wadden Sea is famous for its rich flora and fauna, especially birds. Hundreds of thousands of waders (shorebirds), ducks, and geese use the area as a migration stopover or wintering site, and it is also rich habitat for gulls and terns.

About the sender

Patricia Arndt (direct swap) sent from Nürnberg (Germany) on 22.11.2013

079 USA - A Bird's Eye View of Newport

Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. It is located 23 miles (37 km) south of Providence, and 61 miles (98 km) south of Boston. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and a major United States Navy training center. A major 18th-century port city, Newport now contains among the highest number of surviving colonial buildings of any city in the United States.  The city is the county seat of Newport County (a county that no longer has any governmental functions other than court administrative and sheriff corrections boundaries). Newport was known for being the city of some of the "Summer White Houses" during the administrations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. The population was 24,672 at the 2010 census.

Since the colonial era, Rhode Island would rotate its legislative sessions between Providence, Newport, Bristol, East Greenwich and Kingston and did not have a fixed capital. In 1854 the sessions in the cities other than Providence and Newport were eliminated and finally in 1900, Newport was dropped. A constitutional amendment that year restricted the meetings of the legislature to Providence. Connecticut was the only other state to have more than one capital at one time.

About the sender

Grayslate (postcrossing) sent from Barrington (USA) on 16.07.2013

078 SPAIN - Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago, with a population of 838,397 which constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the archipelago. Located in the Atlantic Ocean about 150 kilometers (~93 miles) off the northwestern coast of Africa and about 1350 km (~838 miles) from Europe. Gran Canaria was populated by the Canarii (Guanches), who may have arrived as early as 500 BC. The Canarii called the island Tamarán or Land of the Brave. After over a century of European (French, Portuguese...) incursions and attempts at conquest, the island was conquered on April 29, 1483, after a campaign that lasted 5 years, by the Kingdom of Castile, with the support of Queen Isabella I, a conquest which turned out to be an important step towards the expansion of the unified Spain. The capital city of Las Palmas was founded on June 24, 1478, under the name "Real de Las Palmas", by Juan Rejón, head of the invading Castilian army. In 1492, Christopher Columbus anchored in the Port of Las Palmas (and spent some time on the island) on his first trip to the Americas. Las Palmas is, jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands.

Gran Canaria is noted for its rich variety of micro climates. Generally speaking though, the average daytime high ranges from 20°C in winter, to 26°C in summer. Some cool nights occur in winter, but lows below 10°C are unknown near the coast. Inland the climate is still mild but mountainous areas see the occasional frost or snow. Annual rainfall averages 228 mm, most of this falling in the cooler months, with July, August and September normally rainless. Rainfall is unevenly distributed through the island with some areas being much drier than others. Cloud cover and sunshine is often quite variable during the cooler months, and there can be several rather cloudy days at times in winter. Summers are generally quite sunny however, with the south of the island being most favoured.

About the sender

This postcard was sent by my grandparents from Gran Canaria

077 CHINA - Snowscape in Ganhaizi

It's very hard to find something about this postcard: I only figured out that this postcard shows the Ganhaizi Area. There is no moving water in Ganhaizi but it is full of charme of snow and ice. Ganhaizi is located in Central China. I think that's all! Sorry!

About the sender

Vongola (postcrossing) sent from Chengdu (China) on 18.06.2013

076 TURKEY - Historic Areas of Istanbul (WHS)

Istanbul bears unique testimony to the Byzantine and Ottoman civilizations. Throughout history, the monuments in the centre of the city have exerted considerable influence on the development of architecture, monumental arts and the organization of space, in both Europe and Asia. Thus, the 6,650 m terrestrial wall of Theodosius II with its second line of defences, created in AD 447, was one of the leading references for military architecture even before St Sophia became a model for an entire family of churches and later mosques and before the mosaics of the palaces and churches of Constantinople influenced Eastern and Western Christian art. Istanbul was built at the crossroads of two continents; it was successively the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire, and it has constantly been associated with major events in political history, religious history and art history in Europe and Asia for some 20 centuries. At the same time, however, Istanbul is a large metropolis. With its population of some 3 million inhabitants, this historic city has undergone population growth in the past 30 years, which has profoundly changed its conservation conditions. The threat of pollution arising from industrialization and rapid and initially uncontrolled urbanization have jeopardized the historical and cultural heritage of the old town.

The ancient city and the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire are both represented: by the hippodrome of Constantine (324) in the Archaeological Park, by the aqueduct of Valens (378) in the Süleymaniye quarter, and by the ramparts built starting in 413 upon the order of Theodosius II, located in the last of the four zones. The capital of the Byzantine Empire is highlighted by several major monuments. In the Archaeological Park there are the churches of St Sophia and St Irene, which were built in the reign of Justinian (527-65); In the Zeyrek quarter there is the ancient Pantocrator Monastery which was founded under John II Comnenus (1118-43) by the Empress Irene; in the zone of the ramparts there is the old church of the Holy Saviour in Chora (now the Kariye Camii) with its marvellous mosaics and paintings from the 14th and 15th centuries. Moreover, the current layout of the walls results from modifications performed in the 7th and 12th centuries to include the quarter and the Palace of the Blachernes. The capital of the Ottoman Empire is represented by its most important monuments: Topkapı Saray and the Blue Mosque in the archaeological zone; the Sehzade and Süleymaniye mosques, which are two of the architect Koça Sinan's major works, constructed under Süleyman the Magnificent (1520-66) in the Süleymaniye quarter; and the vernacular settlement vestiges of this quarter (525 wooden houses which are listed and protected).

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Muammer Koker (direct swap) sent from Ankara (Turkey) on 18.10.2013

075 FRANCE - White Lions

The white lion is a rare color mutation of the Kruger subspecies of lion (Panthera leo krugeri) found in some wildlife reserves in South Africa and in zoos around the world. White lions are not a separate subspecies and are thought to be indigenous to the Timbavati region of South Africa for centuries, although the earliest recorded sighting in this region was in 1938. Regarded as divine by locals, white lions first came to public attention in the 1970s in Chris McBride's book The White Lions of Timbavati. Up until 2009, when the first pride of white lions was reintroduced to the wild, it was widely believed that the white lion could not survive in the wild. It is for this reason that a large part of the population of white lions now reside in zoos. White lions are not albinos. Their white colour is caused by a recessive trait derived from a less-severe mutation in the same gene that causes albinism, distinct from the gene responsible for white tigers. They vary from blonde to near-white. This coloration does not appear to disadvantage their survival. The white lions of the Global White Lion Protection Trust (GWLPT) have been reintroduced into their natural habitat and have been hunting and breeding successfully without human intervention for a significant amount of time.

White lions are not albinos but are leucistic. They have pigment visible in the eyes (which may be the normal hazel or golden color, blue-gray, or green-gray), paw pads and lips. Blue-eyed white lions exist and may be selectively bred. The leucistic trait is due to a recessive mutation in the gene for Tyrosinase (TYR), an enzyme responsible for the production of melanins. More severe mutations in the same gene have been found to cause albinism in many species, while another less severe mutation in the same gene is responsible for the Chinchilla coloring trait seen in several mammals. Reduced pigment production decreases the deposition of pigment along the hair shaft, restricting it to the tips. The less pigment there is along the hair shaft, the paler the lion. As a result, "white" lions range from blonde to near-white. The males have pale manes and tail tips instead of the usual dark tawny or black.

About the sender

annickjouan (postcrossing) sent from Vire (France) on 10.10.2013