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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3566 - Bakhmach, Chernihiv, Ukraine

Bakhmach is locarted in northern Ukraine. I'm taking this next paragraph straight out of Wikipedia: During the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 26, 2022, at least 65 units of Russian military equipment moved through Bakhmach, with about a hundred more on the outskirts. Local residents tried to stop the convoy on their own by blocking tank tracks with makeshift objects and convincing Russian soldiers not to move towards Kyiv . One man attempted to climb onto a tank and block the road with his body (he was not hurt). However, the military equipment continued to move, and Russian forces fired several shots into the air. Слава Україні!

3564 - Kassel, Hesse, Germany

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

2352 - Cologne (Köln), North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Cologne is home to the twelve Romanesque churches. All are Catholic churches and all are found in Altstadt (old town). All were severely damaged during the 262 Allied air raids on Cologne. All twelves have been restored. St. Andreas was consecrated in 974. The crypt of the church as a sarcophagus that dates back to the third century and it holds the remains of St. Albertus Magnus, who died in 1280. St. Apostein was consecrated in the 800s. St. Cecilia was built in the 800s and it the current home of the Schnutgen Museum for Medieval Art. It still holds Catholic Mass on rare occasions. St. Georg's was built near the end of 1000s. It was extensively restored after the Second World War. St. Gerion's was established in 612. St. Kunibert was consecrated in 1247. Cunibert, the 9th Bishop of Cologne, is buried here. St. Maria im Kapital was built between 1040-1065. It was also heavily damaged during the war and restoration was finally completed in 1984. St. Maria Lyskirchem is the ...

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