Did you know there was an Armenian mafia? Since the 1990s, the Armenian mafia is one of several mafia groups who have gained a foothold in Erfurt. Armenian mafia are ethnic Armenians involved in criminal gangs. Much of the financial backing of these groups comes from other criminal gangs from the former Soviet Union. They are involved in drug trafficking, counterfeiting, gambling, and illegal migration. 

Shelton is a city on the Puget Sound of 10 300 people. It was named after David Shelton, a delagate to the territorial legislature. Shelton also had a fleet of steamboats that was a part of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet, a multitude of private companies offer ferry and shipping services. 

Pictured is Trakai Island Castle, located on a island on Lake Galvė. The construction of the stone castle began in the 14th century by Duke of Trakai,  Kęstutis. His son, Vytautas the Great completed a major part of the castle around 1409. The castle went into disrepair in the 17th century. A major reconstruction began in 1946 and was finished in 1961. It is a major tourist attraction. 

This is a wonderful card from Sunset Beach. She asks if I like Edgar Allan Poe (yes), and apologizes for their 'president.' The quote on the front is from Poe's most famous poem, The Raven.  He wrote it in 1845 and is a narrative poem. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a visit by a mysterious raven that repeatedly speaks a single word - nevermore. It was first printed in the New York Evening Mirror on 29 January 1845. Here is the poem: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—     While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—             Only this and nothing more.”     Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost...