Made In Canarias Postcrossing Blog

Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea. Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands (population 1,650) are located in the Heligoland Bight (part of the German Bight) in the southeastern corner of the North Sea. They are the only German islands not in the immediate vicinity of the mainland and are approximately three hours' sailing time from Cuxhaven at the mouth of the River Elbe. In addition to German, the local population, who are ethnic Frisians, speak the Heligolandic dialect of the North Frisian language called Halunder . Heligoland was formerly called Heyligeland , or "holy land," possibly due to the island's long association with the god Forseti. ( source ) Thank you Willi!

Momijidani Park is one of the most famous maple leaves valley parks in Japan. The park is located at the foot of Mt. Misen in Hiroshima. There are more than 200 maples. ( source ) Thank you Yoshio!

Sister Mountain Thank you Olga!

Portland is a city located in the Northwestern United States. As of July 2009, it has an estimated population of 582,130, making it the 30th most populous in the United States. Portland is Oregon's most populous city, and the third most populous city in the Pacific Northwest. The City of Portland has been referred to as one of the most environmentally friendly or "green" cities in the world. The city and region are noted for strong land-use planning and investment in light rail, supported by Metro, a distinctive regional government. Portland is known for its large number of microbreweries and micro distilleries, as well as its coffee enthusiasm. It is also the home of the Trail Blazers NBA team. Portland lies in the Marine west coast climate region, marked by warm, dry summers and rainy but temperate winters. This climate is ideal for growing roses, and for more than a century, Portland has been known as "The City of Roses" with many rose gardens—most promi...

Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle. The municipality has an area of 8,017.19 sq km (3,095.45 sq mi) and an approximate population of 60,000. Santa Claus Village is located about 8 km northeast of Rovaniemi. ( source ) Can you believe that this card came from Santa Claus’ Post Office! :) Thank you so much Marjatta!

Thank you Moonlight!

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of 983,482 sq km (379,725 sq mi), it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories. With over 1.6 million people, the state comprises less than 8% of the Australian population and ranks fifth in population among the states and territories. The majority of its people reside in the state capital, Adelaide, with most of the remainder settled in fertile areas along the south-eastern coast and River Murray. The state is known as a state of festivals and of fine wine. The state's economy centres on the agricultural, manufacturing and mining industries and has an increasingly significant finance sector as well. ( source ) Thank you Amie!

Tsar Michael Feodorovich (1596-1645), tsar from February 21, 1613, first Romanov monarch of Russia. Tsarina Eudoxia Lukianovna (1608-1645), tsarina from February 5, 1626. The second wife of tsar Michael Feodorovich , had given birth to 10 children, one of them, Aleksey, later became the tsar. (from the card) Thank you Julia!

Sweden is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. At 450,295 sq km (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden's capital is Stockholm, which is also the largest city in the country. Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy of government and a highly developed economy. It ranks first in the world in The Economist' s Democracy Index and ninth in the United Nations' Human Development Index. Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD. ( source ) Thank you Eda!

Japan (日本国) is an island nation in East Asia. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for 97% of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. A major economic power, Japan has the world's second-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third largest in purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth largest exporter and fifth largest importer. It is a developed country with very high living standards. Japan has the highest life expectancy of any country in the world and the third lowest infant mortality rate. ( source ) Thank you Chiaki!

Thank you Annerie!

The Pennine Way is a National Trail in England. The trail runs 429 km (267 mi) from Edale, in the northern Derbyshire Peak District, north through the Yorkshire Dales and the Northumberland National Park, it ends at Kirk Yetholm, just inside the Scottish border. The path runs along the Pennine hills, sometimes described as the "backbone of England". Although not the United Kingdom's longest trail, it is according to the Ramblers' Association "one of Britain's best known and toughest". ( source )   Thank you Andy!

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a Church in Moscow, Russia, on the bank of the Moskva River, a few blocks west of the Kremlin. With an overall height of 103 m (338 ft), it is the tallest Orthodox church in the world. The Cathedral took many years to build and did not emerge from its scaffolding until 1860. Some of the best Russian painters continued to embellish the interior for another twenty years. The Cathedral was consecrated on the very day Alexander III was crowned, 26 May 1883. A year earlier, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture debuted there. ( source ) The Monument to Alexander II is a memorial of Emperor Alexander II of Russia, situated in the immediate surroundings of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. Completed in 2005 and partly inspired by a destroyed imperial monument from 1898, the statue itself was paid for by private donations, with the rest of the monument mainly financed by public funding. The site for the new monument was chosen in part becaus...

Pope Benedict XVI ( Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger 16.04.1927) is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the head of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of the Vatican City State. He was elected on 19 April 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on 24 April 2005, and took possession of his cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran, on 7 May 2005. A native of Bavaria, Pope Benedict XVI has both German and Vatican citizenship. He succeeded John Paul II. ( source ) Thank you Roland!

The founding of Spanish Missions in California furnished an epic in history. These historical monuments are reminders of the great Franciscan adventure. Years of patient labor, decades of heroic sacrifice by Fray Serra and his Franciscan brothers (i.e. behind the era of the founding of 21 Missions and their branches, the ruins of which still stand in wonder and beauty, at various points along 600 miles of California’s glorious coastal region. (from the card) Thank you Lagina!

Thank you Joya!

Rozhdestvenskaya (Nativity) Churh and St. Aleksandr Nevsky Cathedral The Theotokos Nativity Church in the Russian baroque style is a masterpiece of the regional and Russian architecture. It was built in the early 17th century, funds given by the famous Stroganov, who owned salt mines. The church is beautifully decorated with an ornate golden carved iconostasis. The New Fair or Alexander Nevsky Cathedral looks very monumental and reminds of a medieval castle, it was built in the late 19th century funds given by local merchants. ( source )   Thank you Xenia!

Oirschot is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is situated 12 km from the city of Eindhoven and 20 km from the city of Tilburg in the province Noord-Brabant (North-Brabant). The municipality has 17,841 inhabitants (1 January 2007). ( source ) Thank you Carolien25!

Thank you Whitney!

The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories. The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces are jurisdictions that receive their power and authority directly from the Constitution Act, 1867, whereas territories derive their mandates and powers from the federal government. The ten provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan, while the three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon. ( source ) Thank you Rose!

Wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and Daniel Westling. The wedding took place on 19 June 2010. More than 1200 guests including royalty and statesmen from various countries were invited to the wedding ceremony which took place at Stockholm Cathedral. After the wedding the newlyweds were driven through Stockholm in a coach and then rowed in the antique royal barge Vasaorden to the royal castle where the wedding banquet was held. On the evening before the wedding, there was a gala concert dedicated to the couple in the Stockholm Concert Hall. More than half a million Swedes waved with Swedish flags and cheered the couple from in their cortege, from the church to the castle. The popularity of the monarchy exploded after the wedding, and a SIFO showed that more than 70% of the Swedes supported the monarchy and only 16% wanted to abandon it. Following their wedding the Duchess and Duke of Västergötland moved to Haga Palace. ( source ) Aitäh Tiina!

The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship is a province in north-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Olsztyn. The voivodeship has an area of 24,192 km 2 (9,341 sq mi) and a population of 1,427,091 (as of 2006). The region closely corresponds to the southern part of the former East Prussia (part of Germany), which was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union in 1945. The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship has the largest number of ethnic Ukrainians living in Poland due to forced relocations (such as Operation Vistula) carried out by the Soviet and Polish Communist authorities. ( source ) Thank you Sylwia!

Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg ) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal and is Franconia's largest city. It is located about 170 km north of Munich. The population (as of January 2006) is 500,132. The urban area of Nuremberg has 1.2 million inhabitants. ( source ) Thank you Jsmene!

German windmill “Anna” in Nübbel near the Danish border. Thank you Nicole!