New Zealand

Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

The church of the Good Shepard, built in 1935, glows in the late afternoon sun against the glacial waters of Lake Tekapo. Thank you Lyn! Such an awesome and beautiful scenery of your country,  a perfect place for a church, so peaceful.

Street Views

Beautiful street view from Saint Paul de Vence

Received from Veronique in Lille, France

Distance: 1,749 km

Travel time: 15 days

Saint-Paul or Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. One of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera. Saint-Paul de Vence has long been a haven of the famous. During the 1960s, it was frequented by French actors Yves Montand, Simone Signoret and Lino Ventura, and poet Jacques Prévert. 

Saint-Paul is also well known for the artists who have lived there, such as Jacques Raverat, Gwen Raverat and Marc Chagall and more recently the couple Bernard-Henri Lévy and Arielle Dombasle. Former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman has a home there. American writer James Baldwin died there in 1987. British actor Donald Pleasence died there in 1995.

Another beautiful street view from France.

Received from Gaby & Chris in Alsace

Distance: 1,909 km

Travel time: 19 days

Alsace is the region which borders Switzerland to the south and Germany to the east. Alsace has its own distinct identity, language, cuisine, history and architecture – part French, part German, 100% Alsatian. Here you'll find candy-coloured towns and villages with timbered houses with red geraniums, gently rolling countryside, striped with vines, 

Happy Mother's Day

 

Mother’s Day is a day for many people to show their appreciation towards mothers and mother figures worldwide. It is an annual event but is held at different dates in the calendar, depending on the country.

This holiday was created in U.S. by Anna Jarvis in 1908. Six years later, it became an official U.S. holiday. Today Mother’s Day is celebrated throughout the world, and traditions vary depending on the country. Remarkably, Jarvis criticized later the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar.

This is a post for Beth's  Postcard Friendship Friday.

Hungary, Budapest

  

Fisherman's Bastion

Well-known for the wonderful panoramic views it provides of the city of Budapest, the castle-like Fisherman's Bastion was built in 1905, mainly for decorative purposes.

From kitekaktusz

Distance: 1,748 km

Travel time: 6 days

Parliament Building, built in 1885-1904

The Hungarian Parliament Building  also known as the Parliament of Budapest for being located in that city, is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, one of Europe's oldest legislative buildings, a notable landmark of Hungary and a popular tourist destination of Budapest. It lies in Lajos Kossuth Square, on the bank of the Danube. It is currently the largest building in Hungary and still the highest building in Budapest. Wikipedia

From Dena

Libraries

Library completed in 135 AD.

The library of Celsus is an ancient Roman building in Ephesus, Turkey. It was built in honour of the Roman Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus  by Celsus' son, Gaius Julius Aquila. The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and to serve as a mausoleum for Celsus, who is buried in a crypt beneath the library.

Library completed in 2006.

The National Library of Belarus  is located in a new 72-metre (236 feet) high building in Minsk. The building has 22 floors and can seat about 2,000 readers and features a 500-seat conference hall. Its main architectural component has the shape of a rhombicuboctahedron. The library's new building was designed by architects Mihail Vinogradov and Viktor Kramarenko.

Kangaroos, Megacities and Royals

Eastern grey kangaroos - Macropus giganteus

Photo: C Andrew Henley/Larus

The Eastern grey kangaroo is the second largest and heaviest living marsupial and native land mammal in Australia, the red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) is the largest.

This postcard came from Tom , Perth.

Distance: 13,301 km

Travel time: 12 days

Melbourne city skyline at night from Southbank

Photo:Greg Elms/Lonely Planet

Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia and the capital of the State of Victoria.

This postcard came from Raylene, Geelong.

 Distance: 15,312 km

Travel time: 10 days

The City of Perth built on the banks of The Swan River

Photo: Axel Kayser

Perth  is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. 

This card came from Marlene, Perth.
Distance: 13,343 km
Travel time: 14 days

The 89th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II

From my niece in London

1st of May, Spring and Labor Celebration

 From Katarine, St. Petersburg

From Nikalay, Kronstadt

Spring and Labor Celebration dates its history back to May 1st, 1886, when the workers of Chicago went on strike and demanded that the workday be cut from 15 hours down to 8 hours. In Russia this holiday was celebrated for the first time on May 1st, 1890 as the International Workers' Solidarity Day. In 1997 it received its current name.