Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal. It is recognised as a global city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education and tourism. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, and the oldest in Western Europe, predating other modern European capitals such as London, Paris and Rome by centuries.

Portugal postcard

Portugal stamp

The Palace of the Shirvanshahs – Azerbaijan

The Palace of the Shirvanshahs is a 15th-century palace built by the Shirvanshahs – rulers of Shirvan, located in modern Azerbaijan. It is located in the Inner City of Baku, Azerbaijan and, together with the Maiden Tower, forms an ensemble of historic monuments inscribed under the UNESCO World Heritage List of Historical Monuments.

Built on a site inhabited since the Palaeolithic period, the Walled City of Baku reveals evidence of Zoroastrian, Sasanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian presence in cultural continuity. The Inner City (Icheri Sheher) has preserved much of its 12th-century defensive walls. The 12th-century Maiden Tower (Giz Galasy) is built over earlier structures dating from the 7th to 6th centuries BC, and the 15th-century Shirvanshahs’ Palace is one of the pearls of Azerbaijan’s architecture.

Azerbaijan postcard

Azerbaijan stamps

Vienna, Austria

Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. It’s metropolitan area population is about 2.6 million, nearly one third of Austria’s population! It is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union.

Vienna is being regarded as the City of Music: musical luminaries including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Ferdinand Ries, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, Robert Stolz, and Arnold Schoenberg have worked there. Vienna is also said to be “The City of Dreams” because it was home to the world’s first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud.

I briefly visited Vienna in 2015 — it’s a stunning city!

Austria postcard

Austria stamp

Banjo Paterson, an Australian bush poet

Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas. Paterson’s more notable poems include “Waltzing Matilda”, “The Man from Snowy River” and “Clancy of the Overflow”.

This, so far, my only maximum card received via mail.

Australia maximum postcard

The Perito Moreno Glacier – Patagonia, Argentina

The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the most important tourist attractions in the Argentinian Patagonia. This 250 km2, 30 km (19 mi) in length, ice formation is the world’s third largest reserve of fresh water. The glacier is unusual in that it is advancing, while most glaciers worldwide are retreating.

Pressures from the weight of the ice slowly pushes the glacier over the southern arm (“Brazo Rico”) of Argentino Lake, damming the section and separating it from the rest of the lake. With no outlet, the water level on the “Brazo Rico” side of the lake can rise by as much as 30 meters above the level of the main body of Argentino Lake. Intermittently, the pressure produced by the height of the dammed water breaks through the ice barrier causing a spectacular rupture, sending a massive outpouring of water from the Brazo Rico section to the main body of Lake Argentino. As the water exits Brazo Rico, the scored shoreline is exposed, showing evidence of the height of the water build-up. This dam–ice-bridge–rupture cycle recurs naturally between once a year to less than once a decade.

Such rapture phenomenon is captured on this awesome postcard.

Patagonia Postcard

Argentina Stamps

QSL Card from Argentina

I received this cool QSL card from amateur radio enthusiast in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Not your typical touristic postcard, yet has Argentinian tango going, I assume, on the streets of Argentina 🙂 Awesome!

And here are the stamps that were on the envelope it came in. I really like that couple of communication stamps were used to match card’s theme.

Argentina Stamps