A postcard from each corner of the World
The Strawberry Poison-dart Frog, also called the Blue-jeans Frog, is one of the most ‘popular’ frogs in Costa Rica. Its brilliant red head and back and blue-to-purple legs comprise a coloration distinct from all other frogs. The frog’s bright colors warn off predators because the colors signal the toxicity for which the Poison-dart is named. The Strawberry Poison-dart frog is not known to be lethal to man, but its skin secretions may have unpredictable effects on humans.
The Spaceport in French Guiana – also known as the Guiana Space Center – is a French and European spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana. The strategically-located facility provides optimum operating conditions for Arianespace’s commercial launches with the European heavy-lift Ariane 5 rockets, Russian medium-size Soyuz rockets, and Italian-European lightweight Vega rockets.
I received this postcard in a beautiful envelope:
Pâté de pommes de terre is a speciality of the regions in Central France. This is basically a big potato pie. It can be served either as a side dish or as the main course. Its main ingredients are potato slices and crème fraîche, which are used to fill a puff pastry crust. The pie is then baked in the oven until the dish is covered with a golden-brown crust.
Fiji is an island country, archipelago of 333 tropical islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It’s famed for rugged landscapes, palm-lined beaches and coral reefs with clear lagoons. Fiji’s largest isle, Vitu Levu, is home to the official capital, Suva. Fiji was a British colony for 96 years until it gained its independence in 1970.
The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago, part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It comprises 18 rocky, volcanic islands located halfway between Iceland and Scotland in the North Atlantic Ocean. The islands were first settled in year 300 AD, although no one knows by whom. The first known settlers, according to stories passed down through generations, were Irish monks in the sixth century. The name Faroe Islands means “Sheep Islands”.
Tórshavn is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands.
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean consisting of two main Islands (East and West Falkland) and 778 smaller islands. At various times, the islands have had French, British, Spanish, and Argentine settlements. Britain reasserted its rule in 1833, although Argentina maintains its claim to the islands. The Falklands are home to five different penguin species, and the rockhopper penguin is pictured on this postcard.
I also have an envelope from Falkland Islands with these awesome stamps:
Harar is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. For centuries, Harar has been a major commercial center, linked by the trade routes with the rest of Ethiopia, the entire Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and, through its ports, the outside world. The walls surrounding this sacred city, considered “the fourth holy city” of Islam, were built between the 13th and 16th centuries and served as a protective barrier. There were five historic gates, which corresponded to the main roads to the town and also served to divide the city into five neighborhoods, but this division is not functional anymore.
I received this postcard in an envelope, and still looking for a written and stamped postcard from Ethiopia!
The culture of Estonia combines an indigenous heritage with Nordic cultural aspects. Due to its history and geography, Estonia’s culture has been influenced by the traditions of the adjacent area’s Baltic Finns, Balts, Germanic peoples and Slavs, as well as by cultural developments in the former dominant powers, Sweden and Russia.
The development of Estonian folk costume was, over the centuries, influenced by the fashions of the upper classes and the traditional costumes of neighboring countries. Clothes were usually made of homespun woolen or linen fabric: shirts and married women’s head-wear were mostly made from linen, while various outer garments, gloves, stockings and socks, were made from wool. Most of the clothes remained undyed: linen garments were bleached white, woolen outer garments were mainly sheep-brown or black. The wool for making skirts was dyed with herbal dyes. The bedstraw root was particularly widely used to produce red coloring. Indigo was the first dye to be widely bought during the 18th century.
Lake Ilopango is a central El Salvador. Occupying the crater of an extinct volcano, at an altitude of 442 m, it has an area of 100 sq k
m. In 1880 the water level rose, a natural channel was formed on the eastern side, and the resultant drainage left a volcanic island in the center of the lake. The island is known as Ilopango Volcano.
Aswan is a city in the south of Egypt. It is the smallest of the three major tourist cities on the Nile. The Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan. And nearly all the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt are found along riverbanks.
I received this postcard from another country, and unfortunately, it does not have Egyptian stamps.