3549 - Madrid, Spain

The sender lives in Madrid, but is from Sevilla. The week before she sent this card, she was in Asturias, an autonomous community in northwest Spain. An interesting fact about the area is it has a rich Celtic history. During the Middle Ages, the Asturias today was a part of a larger Kingdom of Asturias. This was founded in 711 by the Visigoth, Pelagius. At the time the Iberian Peninsula was Muslim control. Pelagius defeated the Ummayyad army at the Battle of Covadonga. Many historians considered this battle the beginning of the Reconquista.

The Kingdom of Asturias lasted until 924 when it was incorporated into the Kingdom of León.

As a part of Spain, it became an autonomous community in 1981. This gives Asturias more power over its own healthcare, education, and protection of the environment.

Gijón is the largest city in Asturias with about 270 000 people, with it's second largest city, Oviedo, at 220 000 people as the capital city.

Asturias is one of the best conserved in Spain. The area is full of vegetation and wild spaces. Spain's two most important naturtal parks are found here. However, Gijón was singled out as one of the pollution hotspots in western Europe in 2015. Pollution here is caused by heavy industrial activities. A majority of Asturias lives within 25 km from Gijón so excessive pollution is a concern to citizens here.

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3584 - Blaine, Minnesota, United States of America

The sender was in Las Vegas recently and bought this card from The Mob Museum. The Mob Museum, officially known as the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is located in downtown Las Vegas. It open in 2012. It features artifacts, stories, and the history of organized crime in the United States, but also the actions and initiatives by law enforcement to prevent such crimes. The museum is found at the former Las Vegas Post Office and Courthouse, which was built in 1933. The quote on this card was from John Gotti. John Gotti (1940-2002) was the mafioso and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. After ordering the killing of Gambino boss Paul Catellano in 1985, he took over the family and led what was the United States' most powerful crime syndicate. He was known as The Teflon Don after three high profile trials in the 1980s resulted in acquittals. Later it was revealed that the trials had been tainted by jury tampering, juror misconduct, and...

3564 - Kassel, Hesse, Germany

A wonderful message on this card that translates to to those wh o can wait, everything comes with time.

2346 - Iwate, Iwate, Japan

Keita is a junior high science teacher in Iwate 岩手町. He sent me a photo of the Tokyo Sky Tower during a fireworks display. The Tokyo Sky Tower is a broadcasting and observation tower in Simide, a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis. It became the tallest structure in Japan in 2010. In 2011, when it was completed at a height of 634 meters, it became the tallest tower in the world, and the second tallest structure in the world, after Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE.

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