Cat and the window, Tagetes and Eurasian lynx - a card from Germany

CAT AND THE WINDOW

Country: Germany

Place: Kaiserslautern
Received: 30/03/2013

Distance: 1 450 km
Travelled: 20 days

Cat and the window

Kaiserslautern has the population of almost 99 500 people, and its historic center dates to the 9th century. Additionally, Kaiserslautern is a home for about 50 000 people from NATO military community. The early American military population had some difficulties with pronouncing the German name, and Kaiserslautern is also named as “K-town” for this reason.

Tagetes flower stamp

Eurasian lynx stamp

Lynx is widely used in heraldry, symbolizing visual acuity. Due to this, the constellation was named after the lynx by Johannes Hevelius in 1690. Hevelius commented his choice: “Only small stars are located in this part of the sky, and you are to have the lynx’s eyes to distinguish between them and recognize.”

Map of Taiwan, Rosalia formosa and Delonix regia - a card from Taiwan

MAP OF TAIWAN

Country: Taiwan

Place: Kaohsiung
Received: 21/03/2013

Distance: 8 176 km
Travelled: 30 days

Map of Taiwan

Taiwan (officially the Republic of China) was based in mainland China originally. Now the Republic of China governs the island of Taiwan and some minor islands nearby only.

The status of Taiwan is a bit uncertain, as the People's Republic of China claims Taiwan’s government to be illegitimate. The Republic of China, however, has constitution, president and army, viewing itself as a sovereign state. The present territory of Taiwan has never been controlled by the People's Republic of China.

The Capital of Taiwan is Taipei, and Standard Chinese is the official language. Taiwan, alongside with South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, is one of the "Four Asian Tigers" due to the quick industrial growth and development during the 2^nd half of the 20^th century.

By the way, Scriptor has the similar card in his blog too :)

Rosalia formosa conviva stamp

Rosalia is a member of a diverse family of longhorn beetles.

Delonix regia stamp

Delonix regia is a plant noted for its leaves and flowers and grown as an ornamental tree in many parts of the world. Its English name is Royal Poinciana or Flamboyant. In India it is called Gulmohar – “Gul” means “Flower” and “Mor” means “Peacock”, which is very close to the tree’s appearance.

Bears and other treasures - a letter from Great Britain

BEARS AND OTHER TREASURES

Country: Great Britain

Place:  Wirral
Received: 13/03/2013

Distance: 1 857 km
Travelled: 21 days

A letter from Scriptor

Great envelope

My partner likes this chubby bear. When I take my second portion of sweets sometimes, he jokes and says "Come on, where's our envelope?". A hint: "Dear, you are about to look like this bear soon" :)

"Do you like my hat?"

This card is magnificent! Unfortunately, I was not able to find any origins except of it's title...

Baby's First Book

"Baby's First Book" is a picture book for toddlers. It was written by B.Lewis and published with this cover in 1954.

Royal Liver Building

The Royal Liver Building in Liverpool was built in 1911 and is the home of the Royal Liver Assurance Group. With the height of 90 m it was the tallest building in Europe until 1934 and in the United Kingdom until 1961. The building has clocks 7.6 m in diameter, which is more than Big Ben's. They were named George clocks, because of being started at the time that King George V was crowned on 22 June 1911.

Double-decker

Double-decker buses are common in the United Kingdom and became a national symbol of England and British Isles. The first woman licensed to drive a double-decker became Miss Phyllis Thompson in 1941.

Elizabeth II

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is a famous fairy-tale by Robert Southey, published in 1837 and translated into many languages.

Paddington Bear

You may find more about this cute bear from this post in my blog.

Rupert the Bear

Rupert Bear is a comic character created by Mary Tourtel and first appearing in the Daily Express newspaper in 1920. He was originally depicted as a brown bear, but the color changed to white soon. To save on printing costs :)

Absolutely cute kitten, rose chafer on dandelion and Winnie-the-Pooh - a card from Japan

CUTE KITTEN

Country: Japan

Place: Takatsuki, Osaka
Received: 14/03/2013

Distance: 8 004 km
Travelled: 20 days

Cute kitten

Takatsuki is located in Osaka and has a population of 353 881 (2010). This city was founded on January 1, 1943 and is a commuter, being 13–15 minutes away from Kyoto and Osaka by train. The symbols of the city are Zelkova serrate tree and Deutzia flower. Takatsuki has sister friendship cities in Japan, Philippines, China, Australia and Tunisia.

Another kitten again :)

Rose chafer on dandelion

"A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream, I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window-pane from the outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer (Cetonia aurata), which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt the urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment. I must admit that nothing like it ever happened to me before or since." [C. G. Jung, "Synchronicity"]

Winnie-the-Pooh

Winnie-the-Pooh was created by A. A. Milne in 1926. Hyphens in this name were added by Disney while adapting the Pooh stories into a series of cartoons.

The name of Winnie-the-Pooh was given by A.A. Milne after a teddy bear of Christopher Robin, his son. Christopher's toys also lent the names other story’s characters (except Rabbit, Owl and Gopher). Original Christopher Robin's toy bear may be found on display at the Main Branch of the New York Public Library.

Montreal vintage photo and the Year of the Snake stamp - a card from Canada

MONTREAL

Country: Canada

Place:  Montreal
Received: 09/03/2013

Distance: 6 712 km
Travelled: 16 days

Montreal - vintage photo

Montreal is located on the Island of Montreal at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. Montreal was founded in 1642 and is now the second-largest city in the country after Toronto. The city is named after Mont Royal, the hill in the heart of Montreal.

The official language of the city is French. According to the survey (2006) French is spoken at home by 56.9% of the population. It's followed by English at 18.6% and 19.8% of other languages.

Montreal also has one of the largest inland ports in the world. It is a trans-shipment point for many goods - grain, sugar, petroleum products, machinery etc. 

The Year of the Snake stamp

The Snake is one of the 12-year cycle of animals to appear in the Chinese zodiac. The same 12 animals are used to symbolize the cycle of hours in the day. Each of animals is associated with a two-hour period. The hour of the snake is 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., when the sun is warm and snakes are out of their holes.