La Pedrera | Spain

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Casa Mila is a building designed by the architect Antoni Gaudi. The name, ‘Casa Milà’ comes from the fact that it was the new home of the Milà family.

The building is known as La Pedrera (meaning stone quarry) because it resembles an open quarry in appearance.


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The Spanish Marbled White (Melanargia ines) is a butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae. It can be found on the Iberian Peninsula and western North Africa.

Antoni Gaudi's Casa Batllo | Spain

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Casa Batlló is a building restored by Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol. Between 1984 and 2005 seven of Gaudi’s  works were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO:

- Parque Güell
- Palacio Güell
- Casa Mila
- Casa Vicens
- Nativity Façade and Crypt of the Sagrada Familia
- Casa Batlló
- Crypt at the Colònia Güell 

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Charaxes jasius, also called Two-tailed Pasha or Erdbeerbaumfalter is a very great butterfly which occurs in the Mediterranean region and Africa.

New York Statue of Liberty

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The Statue of Liberty National Monument officially celebrated her 100th birthday on October 28, 1986. The people of France gave the Statue to the people of the United States over one hundred years ago in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution.

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Two USA first class forever stamps. A forever stamp is a postage stamp in the United States that is valid for First- Class postage no matter when it is used.

The clock stamp is part of the American Design series stamps. It celebrates the craftsmanship of Simon Willard, a noted clockmaker in early 19th century Roxbury, Massachusetts. The stamp features a rendering of a dial of a Simon Willard Improved Timepiece, or banjo clock, by artist Lou Nolan.

Indonesian Dayak people

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The Dayak or Dyak are the native people of Borneo.

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Two greetings stamps: Ucapan Selamat. Which means congratulations.

World in Postcards Swap: Ha'penny bridge from Ireland

 

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The Ha'penny Bridge is a pedestrian bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland.

 

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Wild flowers of Ireland: Sea Aster. This plant is to be found in coastal saltmarshes, estuaries and on coastal cliffs.

Monastery from Moldova

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The Rudi (Rughi) Monastery (1777) is a monastery in Rudi, Moldova.

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(left) Although tulips are often associated with The Netherlands, commercial cultivation of the flower began in the Ottoman Empire.

(middle) The Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. There are four subspecies and it occurs in most parts of Europe and in western Asia.

(right) Campanula persicifolia or Peach-leaved Bellflower is a plant species of the genus Campanula. It can be almost one meter high. It is common in the Alps and other mountains in Europe.

Historical view on Hungarian city of Esztergom

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Esztergom is a city in northern Hungary, 46 km north-west of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom county, on the right bank of the river Danube, which forms the border with Slovakia there. Esztergom was the capital of Hungary from the 10th till the mid-13th century when King Béla IV of Hungary moved the royal seat to Buda.

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Rákóczi Museum of the Hungarian National Museum – Sarospatak.

A temple from INDIA

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Wall panels in Hoysaleswara temple which is a temple dedicated to Hindu God Shiva. It was built in Halebidu (in modern Karnataka state) during the Hoysala Empire rule in the 12th century by King Vishnuvardhana.

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On the left: B R Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956), also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, Buddhist activist, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, revolutionary and a revivalist for Buddhism in India.

On the right: Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, (7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970) was an Indian physicist whose work was influential in the growth of science in the world. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930 for the discovery that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the light that is deflected changes in wavelength. This phenomenon is now called Raman scattering and is the result of the Raman effect.

Venezuela

Venezuela, officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south.

Choroní is a coastal village in the state of Aragua, Venezuela. Choroní has its main roots in the colonial era. The village is located about 3 kilometres (2 miles) away from the coastline. The slaves working at the haciendas used to live here.

Gypsies from Pakistan

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“ A travelling caravan of Gypsies in Punjab,  Pakistan.”

Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 56% of the country's total population. Lahore has traditionally been the capital of Punjab for a thousand years; it is Punjab's main cultural, historical, administrative and economic center.

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Left: Muhammad Ali Jinnah. (December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948) was a 20th century lawyer, politician, statesman and the founder of Pakistan.

Middle: 30 years of Allama Iqbal Open University (or AIOU), founded in 1974, is a university in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is one of the world's largest universities.

On the right, dresses of Pakistan, SINDH.  Sindh is one of the five provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people.

Look at the cancellation: Philatelic Bureau Karachi.

Thx for sending Malik!

Tour de Bangladesh in three postcards.

Postcard #1

Lalbagh Fort

The capital city Dhaka predominantly was a city of the Mughals. In hundred years of their vigorous rule successive Governors and princely Viceroys who ruled the province, adorned it with many noble monuments in the shape of magnificent palaces, mosques, tombs, fortifications and Katras often surrounded with beautifully laid out gardens and pavillions. Among these, a few have survived the ravages of time, aggressive tropical climate of the land and vandal hands of man. But the finest specimen of this period is the Aurangabad Fort, commonly known as Lalbagh Fort.

It contains within its fortified. perimeter a number of splendid monuments, surrounded by attractive garden. These are, a small 3-domed mosque, the mausoleum of Bibi Pari, the reputed daughter of Nawab Shaista Khan and the Hammam and Audience Hall of the Governor.

The main purpose of this fort, was to provide a defensive enclosure of the palatial edifices of the interior and as such was a type of palace-fortress rather than a seize-fort.

Stamps

Strangely the stamps were attached to the front of the postcard. As you can see on the other two postcards. (Yes, I received 3 today!)  I think because they are fairly large stamps. But very loosely so I could remove them with the tip of my finger. It’s a miracle they stayed on.  

Inauguration of Probashi Kallyan Bank (expatriates' welfare bank)

There are around 8 million skilled and unskilled Bangladeshi migrants are working in more than 108 countries starting from Middle East to the Far East and also Europe to North America. Wage earners contribute almost 15% in our gross domestic product (G.D.P) through sending hard earned remittance to Bangladesh. But the progression in this booming foreign currency-earning sector has been following a regressional course than a progressional one due to several reasons. The migration cost in Bangladesh is very high compared with that of other labor sending countries of South Asia.

Probashi Kallyan Bank will operate as a specialized bank for benefit and welfare of the wage earners. Its main focus of emphasis will be the facilitator for the out bound workers, swift and safe remittance of their wages and rehabilitation of the retrenched workers. This bank will be an institution enriched with modern IT technology and professionally skilled employees.

Postcard #2

Foy's Lake is a man-made lake in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It was dug in 1924 and was named after the Railway engineer Foy. An amusement park, managed by the Concord group, is located here. The lake is next to Batali Hill, the highest hill in Chittagong Metropolitan area.

Postcard #3

Hilsa Fishing in Padma.

Hilsa locally known as Ilish, the fish has been designated as the national fish of Bangladesh. Body length may reach up to 60 cm, but commonly found specimens measure 35 to 40 cm. A large-sized hilsa weighs about 2.5 kg. The hilsa is known to be a fast swimmer, and attains maturity in one to two years.

The Padma is a major trans-boundary river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, which originates in the Himalayas.

Iceland: Þingvellir National Park

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Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is a place in Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland, near the peninsula of Reykjanes and the Hengill volcanic area. Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological importance and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland.

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(left) Fimmvörðuháls is the area between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull (we all remember the 2010 eruptions) and Mýrdalsjökull in southern Iceland. The route between Skógar and Thórsmörk goes through this pass and is one of the most popular walking routes in Iceland, despite being 22km long and involving 1000m of climbing.

(right) The Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) belongs to the genus Branta of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species.

Maria wrote on the back of the postcard: "In Iceland, there are very few trees, no Mc Donalds, and the population is only about 320.000." I think its a special country. Thx for sending Maria!

A postcard from Sandanski, Bulgaria

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Sandanski is a town and a recreation centre in south-western Bulgaria, part of Blagoevgrad Province. Named after revolutionary Yane Sandanski, it is located in a valley at the foot of Pirin Mountain, on both banks of the Sandanska Bistritsa River.

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Atlantic City, grandeur of the old days

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(front) The Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel was a historic resort hotel property in Atlantic City, New Jersey, built in 1902-1906, demolished in 1979.

The history of the Dennis Hotel follows that of Atlantic City itself. It started out, like many A.C. hotels, as a group of wooden cottages on the beach, and very likely opened shortly after 1854, when the seaside resort was founded.

The Shelburne Hotel was a resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey located at Michigan Avenue and the Boardwalk. Built and opened in 1869.

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The text on the stamp: First-Class Forever

A forever stamp is a postage stamp in the United States that is valid for First-Class postage no matter when it is used. By concept, once purchased, a forever stamp is a perpetual stamp that never expires or declines in value. It's value is the First-Class Mail stamp postage rate for a one ounce letter at the time of use.