The sender asks me to check on "Urban Dingoes" on Instagram. Urban Dingoes is dedicated to people who love to inline skate. 

A nice painting of Gardens by the Bay. This is 105 hectares with three waterfront gardens in Marina Bay: Bay South Garden Bay East Garden Bay Central Garden Bay South Garden is 54 hectares and has the world's largest glass greenhouse, called the Flower Dome.  Bay East Garden is 32 hectares and borders the Marina Reservoir. Bay Central Garden is a link between the other two gardens. It is 15 hectares with a three kilometre waterfront promenade.  The park had 50 million visitors in 2018. In 2024, Trip Advisor ranked in the 8th best attraction in the world and best in Asia.

Wuppertal is home to the oldest electric elevated railway with hanging cars in the world, the Schwebabahn. The elevated tracks and stations were built between 1897 and 1903, with the first track opening in 1901. Today, 25 million passengers use the Schwebabahn. There are 13.3 kilometres of track and they travel at an average speed of 26 km/h, but can travel at 60 km/h. 

Heeten is part of the the municipality of Raalte and has a population of about 3700 people. The sender writes that the Netherland's greatest sports hero, Evert van Benthem, lives in Canada, near Red Deer. Red Deer is in my province and is about a 4.5 hour drive from here. According to Wikipedia, van Benthem moved to Spruce View to run a dairy farm. The farm he owned in Netherlands was located in a natural preservation area and was not allowed to expand. His farm in Spruce View is320 hectares and has 175 dairy cows. It also mentions that he was tired of the attention he received in Netherlands.  van Benthem won the prestigious Elfstedentocht (see 2545), twice (1985 and 1986). The race is almost 200 kilometres long. It took him 6:47 hours to win the race in 1985, and 6:55:17 minutes in 1986. 

The Aviva Stadium was finished in 2010. It is the home of Irish Rugby, the Republic of Ireland National Football Team, Leinster Rugby, and Lansdowne Football Club. It was built at a cost of  € 410 million. The stadium can seat almost 52 000 for rugby, and 65 000 for concerts.  The first football match was Manchester United against a League of Ireland XI side. Manchester won 7-1 with United player Park Ji-Sung scoring the first ever goal in the Aviva. The first international football match was between Ireland and Argentina. Argentina took the game 1-0. 

This is a Postcrossing Meet Up card. It looks like 6-7 people attended.  This is the football pitch at the Chinese University of Petroleum  中国石油大学 (华东)  The sender is a teacher, so I'm not sure if he attended this university, but he did say he played football on this pitch a couple of times.  The university focuses on: Chemical Engineering and Technology Mineral Resources Prospecting and Exploration Oil and Gas Well Engineering Oil and Gas Storage and Transportation Engineering Oil and Gas Field Development Enigineering

I find Postcrossers from China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan love food cards. This card is of various cuisines found in Guanghan.  The sender is attending the Civic Aviation Flight University of China  中国民用航空飞行学院 . It is the national civil flight training university of China. The Civil Aviation Administration of China owns the university, and it is also co-funded by the Sichuan Provincial People's Government.  There are 16 000 students training to become civil aviation pilots and air traffic controllers. There are nine colleges: College of Air Traffic Management College of Flight Technology Aviation Engineering Institute School of Airport Engineering and Transportation Management School of Computer Technology School of Foreign Language Studies School of Cabin Attendants School of Air Security Protection Centre of Aviation English Study

Edogawa is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis. It was first recorded in 721. It has a population of almost 700 000 people. Edogawa also has a high percentage of people with Indian ancestry. As such, there is a thriving Indian restaurant industry in the area. 

 

 

The sender is from Union, which is right across the river from Cincinnati. She says her favourite American football team is the Cincinnati Bengals, with Larry Fitzgerald being her favourite player. She is also a soccer/football fan but doesn't say if the Cincinnati Sting are her favourite Major League Soccer team. Instead she says Graham Zusi is her favourite player. He plays with Sporting Kansas City. As I write this he is currently the longest-tenured player to have played with one club. He's been with Kansas City since 2009 and has played 355 games. He also has 55 caps (and five goals) with the United States Men's Soccer Team.  The card depicts a Kirk Precision from the United Kingdom.

This is a self made card of Taiwanese street food, braised noodles (lu mian). The sender says it is cooked in cornstarch in a heavy broth, with fragments of wood ear, egg whites, and pork. 

 

 

This is a beautiful postcard. The sender says the inscription is an ancient Chinese poem about love. She has only sent/received 10 postcards and hasn't been seen in four months. She is a student so maybe she is too busy with her studies.  Jiangmen 江门 is a city of almost 5 000 000 people.  It is the second busiest river port in Guangdong Province. 

The sender says, "since you do not care about the card, you are getting pants :)" And the pants are obviously of an artist!

Another lawn bowls card! Love it. Just like in the previous post, the sender hasn't been on Postcrossing for a year. She got up to the 70s for sent/received cards. 

Sicklerville was founded by John Sickler in 1851. It's a city of 45 000 people located in southern New Jersey.  The sender's Postcrossing bio mentioned that she and her husband were planning on sailing the world in their sailboat. She only sent and received 6 cards and hasn't been seen in 11 months on Postcrossing. I hope they are happily sailing the world!

Kampen is an old city found on the banks of the IJssel river. The name was first mentioned in documents in 1277, but there were already buidlings on the site. It grew quickly from a small town to a bustling trading town. In fact it became one of the most powerful and leading cities in northwestern Europe due to its location on the busy trade toute between Zuiderzee and the Rhine.  Today the remains of the old city wall still exist. The Bovenkerk, or Upper Church, also still exists. As with many of the large European cathedrals, the Bovenkerk took a few centuries to be completed. It started in the 12 century, and finished off in the second half of the 15th century.  There are many famous Dutch people buried under the church, including Hendrick Avercamp, who was one of the first landscape painters of the 17th century Dutch school. He specialized in Dutch landscapes in the winter. 

This is a great Annie Leibovitz card of Magic Johnson, 1989. A note on the back says that proceeds from the sale of this card will be donated to AIDS organizations.  Earvin "Magic" Johnson is considered one of the greatest basketball players to every play the game. He was a career Los Angeles Laker, winning five National Basketball Association (NBA) Championships in that time. He played from 1979-1991; 1996; and 1999-2000. He retired the first time when he disclosed that he had contracted HIV. He returned in 1996, but retired again after 32 games.  Along with five NBA Championships, he was the NBA Finals MVP three times, the NBA's Most Valuable Player three times, a 12 time NBA all-star, just to name a few.  In 905 NBA games he amassed 17 707 points, 6559 rebounds, and 10 141 assists. His number 32 was retired by the Lakers. 

 

The writer is a retired woman and she takes care of "a little old man of 83 who has no family and is slowly losing his mind" One of the activities he likes to do is visit the Technology Museum (Technik Museen) in Sinsheim.  The Technik Museum is home to one of Air France's retired Concordes (F-BCFB). It also houses a Tupolev Tu-144 making it the only place where both supersonic passenger jets are shown. The museum also houses the largest permanent Formula One collection in Europe. There are Ferraris, motorcycles, land speed record holders, and classic cars, as well as military tanks, aircraft, and other miscellaneous equipment. 

 

San Estaban de Gormaz is a small community of about 3000 people. The sender says there aren't any postcards to buy in her area so when she is travelling she buys as many as she can. This one is from  Almuñécar, a comminty on the south coast of Spain.  The photo in the middle bottom of the card is of the Castillo de San Miguel (Castle of San Miguel). It sits on a small hill, which is difficult to access. The original fortifications date back to the first century BCE. When the Moors occupied the area, the castle was enlarged to include 40 towers and three gates. There is a wide moat and drawbridge.  It was declared a   Bien de Interés Cultural  monument in 1993 (important national cultural monument). 

I think this is an ad card for a textiles show. The back of the card has date and times - looks like 6-12 June or July, from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Maybe a trade show? The writer thanks Canada for inventing hockey and wants me to know that there is a player on the Vancouver Canucks - my favourite team - who is from Latvia:  Teodors Bļugers (anglicized as Teddy Blueger.  Teddy Blueger is from Latvia and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2012. After playing for the Penguins minor league affiliate for four years, he went on the play five for the Penguins before he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2023 trade deadline. The Knights won the Stanley Cup that year. He only played in six games fore the Knights in the playoffs, recording a goal and an assist.  He signed with the Vancouver Canucks as a free agent in the summer of 2023 - one-year at US$1.9 million. He recorded 6 goals and 22 assists in 68 games his first year. The Canucks then re-signed Blueger for t...

Bad Sulzuflen is a city of over 50 000 people. It is known for being a thermal spa resort. There are nine geothermal heat sources that range from 9 meters to 534 meters deep. They range in temperature from 11.7 degrees Celsius to 38 degrees Celsius. They are used for inhalation, drinking cure, bathing, and gradation bathing. 

A sumo wrestling  相撲  card! I love it. Sumo, of course, is a traditional form of wrestling that dates back over 2000 years. It is steeped in tradition and ritual. Life as a wrestler is highly regimented, with rules regulated by the Japan Sumo Association. Wrestlers live in communal sumo training stables, known in Japanese as heya, were all aspects of their daily lives - from meals to their manner of dress - are dictated by strict kyara tradition. The lifestyle has a negative effect on their health, with sumo wrestlers having a much lower life expectancy that the average Japanese man. 

This is a great reproduction of a vintage Hallowe'en card. The writer says she "think you celebrate Halloween in Canada." We sure do and it is one of my favourite holidays.  Cassopolis is a village of 1712 named after Senator Lewis Cass, who served prior to the American Civil War.  Cassopolis is also where cat litter inventor, Ed Lowe, grew up! Lowe's company was worth US$500 million when he passed. 

A beautiful card of Cologne, with the Cologne Cathedral ( Kölner Dom). It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a World Heritage Site and is German's most visited landmark. It was started in 1248, but work halted in 1560. They tried to finish it in 1814, but wasn't properly funded until the 1840s. The edifice was completed to its original medieval plan, in 1880. Restoration of the church also began in the 1950s and continues to this day.  It is the tallest twined spired church in the world at 157 meters; the second tallest church in Europe; and the third tallest church of any kind in the world. The telecommunications tower, pictured on the card, is the only thing taller than the cathedral in Cologne.  As of 2024, the Archibishop of Cologne is Rainer Woelki. 

The sender sent me this hand-painted card. She is a teacher in Ohio.  Columbus is the capital and largest city in Ohio. Since I'm a hockey fan, let's talk about the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The Columbus Blue Jackets are the only professional sports team (from the four major North American leagues) in Columbus. They play in the National Hockey League and joined in 2000. Their name is inspired by Ohio's American Civil War history. They haven't been particularily successfull in their almost 25 year history in the National Hockey League. In fact, they are one of only two teams that have not been to a conference final in their history. The other team is the three year old Seattle Kraken.  Ohio does have history in the National Hockey League. For two years, the Cleveland Barons, formerly the California Golden Seals, moved to Ohio. For the 1978-79 season, Cleveland merged with the Minnesota North Stars, now Dallas Stars. 

Hamelin is the famous town famous for the Pied Piper of Hamelin and the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. It was first started as a monestery around 851, with a surrounding village that slowly became a town by the 12th century. The incident with the Pied Piper is said to have taken place in 1284 and may be based on a true event, but somewhat different from the traditional tale. In the summer, the tale is performed by actors in the town centre every Sunday.  Today, Hamelin is a city of 58 000 people. 

 

The sender says she bought this card in an antique shop. There was some handwriting on it already, she says, but it was too light to read. The card is an aerial view of Wildcat Mountain Sanatorium, in Fort Smith, Arkansas.  Burke was founded in 1881, but originally named Rhodes, after W. R. Rhodes, the general store owner, and H. R. Rhodes, the postmaster. In 1885 it was renamed Burke, after Edmund L. Burke, a railroad surveyor.  Today it has a population of almost 700 people. 

Mount Vernon is a part of Lot 62 on Prince Edward Island. Lot 62 was awarded to Richard Spry in the 1767 land lottery. Thomas Dougles, the 5th Earl of Selkirk, brought settlers to it in 1803. Mount Vernon was originally called Rona. Canada Post renamed Rona to Mount Vernon in 1918, but the change was officially adopted until 1946. The area is known for its wild low-bush blueberries, which are exported off the island. I remember going to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. My wife and children are curling fans so we saw two curling matches - a women's and a men's event. We also attended two medal ceremonies at BC Place Stadium. The first night saw Barenaked Ladies performing after the medal ceremonies. The second night was a country music act (I can't remember who), but the best part about that night was a gold medal presentation to a Canadian! The crowd all sung O Canada at the top of their lungs! Such a great time!

A beautiful card of Lalu Island on Sun Moon Lake  日月潭. Sun Moon Lake is the largest body of fresh water in Taiwan. The area around the lake in inhabitated by one of Taiwan's indigenous groups, the Thao  邵.   The Thao number around 800 people these days. Though they have been assimilated into the largest Taiwanese culture, they have still retained their customs, beliefs, and traditional culture and language. Most members of the Thao work in the tourist industry around Sun Moon Lake. 

I think I 've only every received 3 lawn bowls cards so I was totally surprised when I received this homemade card from Macon!

 

I think about a quarter of the cards I get from Taiwan have a photo of Taipei 101 building on it. On the back, though, it give information about Taipei Municipal Datong High School  臺北市立大同高级中學 . Datong has its own Wikipedia page. There are about 2500 students that attend.  It was established in 1935. Over the years it has been a junior/senior high, just a junior high, and back to just a high school.  The page notes there are two notable alumni: Lee Teng-hui, president of Taiwan from 1988-2000, and Henry Lee, a forensic scientist and Chief Emeritus for Scientific Services for the State of Connecticut, in the United States.  The sender of this card only had four cards registered, while he didn't receive any. He hasn't been seen on Postcrossing for a year. 

A wonderful reproduction of a vintage carnival poster from 1931 - Finale Ligure. The sender is a teacher of Italian and Latin in Genoa. Genoe, or Genova (Italian), or  Zêna (Ligurian), is the capital city of the region of Liguria. About 560 000 people called Genoa their home. It has historically been an important port on the Mediterranean. For about seven centuries (11 century to 1797) Genoa was its own republic - one of the famous Italian city-states. Because of the importance of the port, it became one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Genoa was the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, Guglielmo Embriaco, Andrea Doria,   Niccolò Paganini ,  Giuseppe Mazzini ,  Renzo Piano  and  Grimaldo Canella . Today many of Italy's major companies are based in Genoa including,    Fincantieri ,  Leonardo ,   Ansaldo Energia ,   Ansaldo STS ,  Erg ,  Piaggio Aerospace ,  Mediterranean Shipping Company  and  Costa Crui...

This is an ad card for Niconico Swimwear. The senders says he and his classmates had a meeting at the Textile Museum. The Textile Museum features a collection of textiles from the various islands of Indonesia. It was established in 1976 and found in Palmerah, West Jakarta. 

This card had a customs declaration sticker on the front and I can't peel it off. The card has a drawing of a Xoloscuintle, which is a breed of hairless dog in Mexico. The sender says this dog is a common pet and a soul guide for the Aztec. The card also highlights 2 Noviembre die de los Muertos, which translates to November 2: the Day of the Dead.  The Day of the Dead is a multi-day holiday, usually celebrated on November 1-2, but sometimes on October 31 or November 6. Friends and family gather to pay respects to family and friends who have died. Celebrations are usually fun, humourus, and colourful, as funny stories and anecdotes are told about the deceased. Part of the celebration is to have a meal at the person's grave.  In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. 

This card is coming from Wisconsin Dells, about 70 km north west of Madison, the state capital. It is a popular Midwestern tourist destination as it is home to several water parks and tourist attractions. Wisconsin Dells has about 3000 people. The self proclaimed "Waterpark Capital of the World" is home to several waterparks, boat tours, zip-lining, golf, mini-golf, go-kart, water sports, horeseback riding, water skiing, museums, amusement parks, and a casino.  Noah's Ark Waterpark opened on Lake Delton in 1979. It is the largest and eighth most visited waterpark in he United States. The Big 5 Dells resorts have large indoor waterparks - Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park, Wilderness Territory, Kalahari Resot, Chula Vista Resort, and Great Wolf Lodge. 

The sender is from Kamloops and sent a card from Pompeii, Italy. She doesn't mention if she visited the site or not. The photo is, of course, the outline of one of the victims of the volcanic eruption in 79. I was just listening to a podcast about the Roman Empire and in it they said ho much they have learned about the Roman Empire based on Pompeii. The fact Pompeii was frozen in time and preserved so much of the structures, artwork, etc. In fact, they found obscene graffiti drawn on walls, evidence of 'fast food' kiosks, and information about their toilet habits. 

Another great 'vintage' travel/parks card from Delaware. The sender lives and goes to school in Washington City and says he and his family spend summers at Rehoboth Beach. Rehoboth Beach is a small village of about 1100 people located on the coast of Delaware. Many affluent people from Washington and Philadelphia have summer homes in the area, including President Joe Biden. The population of the village expands to almost 25 000 in the summer months. 

A nice card with many cool stamps on the back. The card says Ohanami: Cherry Blosson Viewing Party.  Ohanami just means "flower viewing" in Japanese. It is the art  of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers. 

Moonstone is a small community deep in the heart of cottage country in Ontario. The photo on the card is of Inglis Falls on the Sydenham River near Owen Sound. Inglis Falls is the largest, most impressive, and the most popular of three waterfalls that surround Owen Sound. It is located in Inglis Falls Conservation Area. There are hiking trails, 20 species of ferns, a variety of birds, and geological potholes. The falls are named after Peter Inglis, who built a four story grist mill at the top of the falls in 1862. 

A great national parks card from Tacoma. This one is of Hurricane Ridge, which is located in Olympic National Park. Hurricane Ridge is a mountainous area in the park. It is almost 1600 meters above sea level at its highest point. It is named for the intense gales and winds it receives. The area averages about 100 meters of snow each year. 

A World Postcard Day card from Jakarta. The sender writes a quote by Caroline Rose Kraft: With a little paper, ink, and some help from the postal service, friendships can span many years and many miles.

Vancouver is on the Washington side of the Columbia River. The sender lives in Vancouver, but is originally from Ukraine. The postcard is entitled Hiking in the Columbia Gorge  and is in the style of travel posters from the first half of the 20th century. The sender says "It almost feels illegal to not be outdoorsy in the Pacific North West." The Columbia Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River, It gets as deep at 1200 meters and stretches over 130 kilometers. The gorge has federal protected status as the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and is under the control of the Columbia River Gorge Commission and the United States Forest Service. 

Welcome to Bratislava, the capital and largest city of Slovakia. The population is estimated at 600 000 people.  The main site on the card is of Bratislava Castle ( Bratislavský hrad ). It was built in the 9th century, and then destroyed in 1809 by Napoleon's soldiers. It was the site of ruins for a couple of centuries. It was then rebuilt starting in 1956. Today it acts as a museum, but has also hosted many important government functions, including the new constitution of an independent Slovakia was signed here on 3 September 1992, which dissolved Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia; and George W Bush and Vladimir Putin met here during the Bratislava Summit between the United States and Russia.