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quarta-feira, 31 de dezembro de 2014

HUNGARY #6 & #7 Direct Swap






Budapest  is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, and one of the largest cities in the European Union. It is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre, sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with its unification on 17 November 1873 of Buda and Óbuda, on the west bank, with Pest, on the east bank.

Thanks Krisztina!

Sent on: 17/10/2014
Received on: 21/12/2014
Travel time: 75 days

BRAZIL #4 Direct Swap



Ilha do Campeche (Campeche Island) is an island located some 1250 m southeast of the coast of Florianópolis, Brazil. It is located in front of the homonymous beach. It is considered a site of archaeological interest due to paintings found throughout the island.

Thanks Ana!

Sent on: 16/12/2014
Received on: 31/12/2014
Travel time: 15 days

HUNGARY #6 Direct Swap



Szerencs is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary. It lies 35 km (22 mi) away from Miskolc, and 205 km (127 mi) away from Budapest. SZERENCS, with a population of 9,100 inhabitants, grew into a town where the Great Plain and the Zemplén mountains meet. It is the cultural and economic centre of Southern Hegyalja. This small town, with rich historical past, is called the Gate of Hegyalja and due to it was inhabited in ancient times.

Thanks  Zsuzsi!

Sent on: 17/10/2014
Received on: 31/12/2014
Travel time: 75 days

DENMARK #1 Direct Swap



Nyhavn (literally: New Harbour) is a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour front just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants. Serving as a "heritage harbour", the canal has many historical wooden ships. Nyhavn was constructed by King Christian V from 1670 to 1673, dug by Swedish war prisoners from the Dano-Swedish War 1658–1660. It is a gateway from the sea to the old inner city at Kongens Nytorv (King's Square), where ships handled cargo and fishermens' catch. It was notorious for beer, sailors, and prostitution. Danish author Hans Christian Andersen lived at Nyhavn for some 18 years.

Thanks Suzana!

Sent on: 03/12/2014
Received on: 17/12/2014
Travel time: 14 days

HUNGARY #5 Direct Swap



Stephen I, also Saint Stephen (Hungarian: Szent István király; Latin: Sanctus Stephanus; Slovak: Štefan I. or Štefan Veľký; c. 975 – 15 August 1038) was the last Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the first King of Hungary from 1000 or 1001 until his death in 1038. Stephen is a popular saint in Hungary and the neighboring territories. In Hungary, his feast day (celebrated on 20 August) is also a public holiday commemorating the foundation of the state.

Thanks Lilla!

Sent on: 05/12/2014
Received on: 17/12/2014
Travel time: 12 days

terça-feira, 16 de dezembro de 2014

BRAZIL #3 Direct Swap



São Thomé das Letras is a municipality in the south-end of Minas Gerais state in southeastern Brazil, 35 km east of Três Corações city. Its population in 2008 was of 6,880 inhabitants. The name of the town was based in a legend of a black slave that found a statue of Saint Thomas with a letter of perfect writing and superb caligraph (impossible to an illiterate, untrained slave), in a grotto, after fleeing the plantation farm where he was kept captive, belonging to the powerful Baron of Alfenas (a rich landlord).

Thanks Luciano!

Sent on: 04/12/2014
Received on: 15/12/2014
Travel time: 11 days

PHILIPPINES #1



Mount Samat National Shrine or Dambana ng Kagitingan (Shrine of Valour) is a historical shrine located near the summit of Mount Samat in the town of Pilár, Province of Bataan, in the Republic of the Philippines. The memorial shrine complex was built to honor and remember the gallantry of Filipino and American soldiers who fought during World War II. Consisting of a Colonnade and the large Memorial Cross, the park was commissioned in 1966 by then-President Ferdinand Marcos, himself a War Veteran, for the 25th Anniversary of WW2. The white Memorial Cross stands as a remembrance to the soldiers who fought and lost their lives in the Battle of Bataan. The shrine complex also includes a war museum with a wide array of collections from paintings of the Philippine heroes, to armaments used by the Filipino, American and Japanese forces during the battle.

Thanks Hanna!

PH-72399

POLAND #4, #5, #6, #7 & #8 Direct Swap








I was immensely happy when I received this gift from my friend Magdalena, she sent me postcards from Wadovice, and its most famous son, Pope John Paul II. I loved the surprise.

St. John Paul II blesses us!

Thanks Magdalena!

Sent on: 18/11/2014
Received on: 05/12/2014
Travel time: 17 days

CHINA #1 Direct Swap




Shenzhen (Chinese: 深圳) is a major city in the south of Southern China’s Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The area became China’s first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones (SEZs). It currently also holds sub-provincial administrative status, with powers slightly less than a province

Thanks Abby!

Sent on: 28/10/2014
Received on: 05/12/2014
Travel time: 38 days


GUATEMALA #1 Direct Swap




Esquipulas, officially Municipality of Esquipulas, whose original name was Yzquipulas- is a municipality located in the department of Chiquimula, in eastern Guatemala, the largest city and capital of the municipality is the city of Esquipulas. There is a strong interest of the international community and religious colonial places like the Basilica of Esquipulas was built in 1740 it was given by Monsignor Pedro Pardo de Figueroa (first Metropolitan Archbishop since 1744) in order to meet the increasingly fastest growing dedicated pilgrimages to the Black Christ of Esquipulas, commissioned the construction of a temple to Philip José de Porres, the son of Diego de Porres and grandson of Joseph de Porres, Antiguan renowned architects where you will find the cotton field where they came from the funds to pay for the sculpture.

Thanks Ricardo!

Sent on: 25/10/2014
Received on: 05/12/2014
Travel time: 41 days


BRAZIL #2 Direct Swap




Jurerê is a beach-side neighbourhood on the northern shore of the island of Florianópolis in Santa Catarina, Brazil. The resort Jurerê Internacional is located in Jurerê

Thanks Ana!

Sent on: 20/11/2014
Received on: 05/12/2014
Travel time: 15 days

INDIA #1 & #2 Direct Swap






The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. Built between 1879 and 1881, the railway is about 78 kilometres (48 mi) long. Its elevation level varies from about 100 metres (328 ft) at New Jalpaiguri to about 2,200 metres (7,218 ft) at Darjeeling. The railway, along with the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka-Shimla Railway, is listed as the Mountain Railways of India World Heritage Site.

The Chapel of Our Lady of the Mount is situated on top of the hill behind the St. Cajetan Church. The chapel was build in 1510 by Alfonso de Albuquerque after his victory over the Goan Muslim ruler Yusuf Shah and was renovated in 2001. The Chapel is brightly white washed and is bypassed by many tourists. The structure faces west which provides beautiful views from Divar and Chorao islands, the Mandovi River and the surrounding forested hills, especially during sunset. It also offers the overview of Old Goa where in 1510 Sultan Adil Shah's placed his artillery to defend the city from the Portuguese assault.

Thanks Sooraj!

Sent on: 07/11/2014
Received on: 29/11/2014
Travel time: 22 days


domingo, 30 de novembro de 2014

CANADA #3 Direct Swap



Thunderbird Park is a park in Victoria, British Columbia next to the Royal British Columbia Museum. The park is home to many totem poles (mostly Gitxsan, Haida, and Kwakwaka'wakw) and other First Nation monuments. The park takes its name from the mythological Thunderbird of Indigenous North American cultures which is depicted on many totem poles. The park is part of the Royal BC Museum Cultural Precinct, an area around the museum that contains a number of historical sites and monuments.


Thanks Raul!

Sent on: 04/11/2014
Received on: 24/11/2014
Travel time: 20 days

UKRAINE #1



The Potocki Palace in Lviv  was built in the 1880s as an urban seat of Alfred Józef Potocki, Minister-President of Austria. No cost was spared to make it the grandest nobleman's residence in the city. The French architect Louis Dauvergne elaborated all of Beaux-Arts stylisic devices to produce a hypertrophied imitation of a French hôtel particulier. An open, parklike setting was scored to give the mansion a sense of depth.

Thanks Natalie!

UA-1182606

INDONESIA #1 & #2 Direct Swap






Balinese dances are a very ancient dance tradition that is a part of the religious and artistic expression among the Balinese people, native to Bali island, Indonesia. Balinese dance is dynamic, angular and intensely expressive.The Balinese dancers express the story of dance-drama through the whole bodily gestures; fingers, hands and body gestures to head and eyes movements.

Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is located in East Java, Indonesia, to the east of Malang and to the southeast of Surabaya, the capital of East Java. It is the only conservation area in Indonesia that has a sand sea, the Tengger Sand Sea (Indonesian: Laut Pasir Tengger), across which is the caldera of an ancient volcano (Tengger) from which four new volcanic cones have emerged. This unique feature covers a total area of 5,250 hectares at an altitude of about 2,100 m. The massif also contains the highest mountain in Java, Mount Semeru (3,676 m), four lakes and 50 rivers.


Thanks Brenda!

Sent on: 18/10/2014
Received on: 19/11/2014
Travel time: 32 days

TURKEY #2 Direct Swap



Safranbolu is a town and district of Karabük Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Ankara and about a 100 km south of the Black Sea coast, or more precisely about 9 km north of the city of Karabük. The name of the town derives from 'saffron' and the Greek word 'polis' (city), since Safranbolu was a trading place and a center for growing saffron. Today saffron is still grown at the village of Davutobası which is 22 km east of Safranbolu and probably one of the best quality saffrons in the world.

Safranbolu was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1994 due to its well-preserved Ottoman era houses and architecture.

Thanks Azat!

Sent on: 09/10/2014
Received on: 19/11/2014
Travel time: 41 days

KAZAKHSTAN #1 Direct Swap



Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a contiguous transcontinental country in Central Asia, with its smaller part west of the Ural River in Europe. Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country by land area and the ninth largest country in the world; its territory of 2,727,300 square kilometres (1,053,000 sq mi) is larger than Western Europe. The terrain of Kazakhstan includes flatlands, steppe, taiga, rock canyons, hills, deltas, snow-capped mountains, and deserts. With an estimated 17 million people as of 2013.

Thanks Yelena!

Sent on: 14/10/2014
Received on: 18/11/2014
Travel time: 35 days

NEW ZEALAND #1 & #2 Direct Swap




Wellington is the capital city and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 393,600 residents. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. It is the major population centre of the southern North Island, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region, which also includes the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa. Wellington is the world's southernmost capital city of a sovereign state.

Mount Ruapehu, or just Ruapehu, is an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand. It is 23 kilometres northeast of Ohakune and 40 kilometres southwest of the southern shore of Lake Taupo, within Tongariro National Park. The North Island's major skifields and only glaciers are on its slopes. Ruapehu is one of the world's most active volcanoes and the largest active volcano in New Zealand. 

Thanks Kelly!

Sent on: 02/10/2014
Received on: 18/11/2014
Travel time: 47 days

sexta-feira, 28 de novembro de 2014

GERMANY #8



Cham is the capital of the district of Cham in the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria in Germany. Cham lies within the Cham-Further lowland, which is bordered on the south by the Bavarian Forest and on the north by the Oberpfälzer Wald. The city lies on the Regen River, which joins the Danube at Regensburg.

Thanks Sven!

Sent on: 05/11/2014
Received on: 18/11/2014
Travel time: 13 days.

GERMANY #7



The Pope's body was moved from the Vatican grottoes to the chapel of Saint Sebastian after his beatification on 1 May 2011. The inscription "Beatvs" was changed in April 2014 to "Sanctvs" for his canonization.

Thanks Melanie!

DE-3646952