Santurtzi is a city of 46 000 people located near the mouth of the  Nervión River, on the Bilbao Abra Bay, in northern Spain. Legend has it the current church of St. George was originally founded as a monastery by English monks fleeing from religious persecution. Santurtzi is derived from the Latin Sant Georgi . 

The sender comes from  Kurtuvėnai, a small town of 256 people. The card is a aeriel photo of  Tytuvėnų vienuolynas ( T ytuvėnai Monastery).  Tytuvėnai Monastery was established in 1614 and dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. It was de-established (secularized) in 1832 by tsarist authorities as the friars were accused of anti Russian activities. It did reopen a few decades later, but was closed again during Soviet occupation. It was used as a warehouse in 1969 causing much of the interior art to deteriorate.  There are architectural elements of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles. Inside there are ornate altars and sculptural details. It has been on Lithuania's UNESCO Tentative List since 2006.  Today the monastery serves both as a museum and a pilgrimage site, notably as a component of the Pope John Paul II Pilgrim's Way. A drop of John Paul II's blood is preserved within the complex. 

This photograph was taken by Alejandro Merizalde. The building is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim is an art museum and hosts a permanent collection of impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art. The museum itself was design by Frank Lloyd Wright and took 15 years to design and build. It was completed at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City in 1959. Adult admission is USD$30, while seniors and students can get in for USD$19, and United States military personal are charged USD$25.  On Monday and Saturday between 1600 and 1730, you can pay what you wish for admission. 

A beautiful evening shot of what I am assuming is the Baltic Sea. The sender says she holidays there. She is from Erlenbach bei Marktheidenfeld, which has a population of about 2400 people.  Wine seems to be a be economic reason the town exists. The coat of arms prominently displays wine grapes. There is also a Weinwandertag, or Wine Hiking Day, in May; annual wine festivals in June; and Erlenbach Fire Brigade's Strong Beer Festival. 

A very cool card from the Open Flair Festival in Eschwege. It is an annual event of German and international bands playing over five days on eight stages. Up to 25 000 people attend each year. Eschwege's population is almost 19 000 people!

An unusual name, 's-Hertogenbosch is a contraction of the Dutch des Hertogen bosch (the forest of the duke). The duke was Henry I (1165-1235), Duke of Brabant. 's-Hertogenbosch was given city rights when Henry was 26. Today, 's-Hertogenbosch's people use Den Bosch when talking about their city.  's-Hertogenbosch is the capital city of North Brabant and is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands by population - 161 000.  In 1984, artist and sculptor Dries Kreijkamp built the Bolwoningen in the Maaspoort neighbourhood of 's-Hertogenbosch. They are 50 spherical houses grouped together near a canal. The grant was given to build experimental housing. The houses were prefabricated and could be set up in one day. They were also designed to have low energy consumption and east to maintain.  The houses had three levels - level one is the bedroom, level two is the bathroom, and the third level is the living space. Round windows on level three offered panoramic views of...

A lovely late evening photo of Salem Harbor. Salem, of course, is famous for the Salem Witch Trials between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 200 people were accused of being witches or warlocks, 30 were found guilty, and 19 (14 women and 5 men) were executed by hanging. One man died under torture for refusing to enter a plea, while five others died of disease in the jails before trial.  About a decade later, many of the accusers of people being witches admitted they had fabricated their charges. Many of the accusers were teenage girls. The General Court of Massachusetts declared the trial unlawful in 1702, and in 1711 the Massachusetts legislature annulled the convictions. The annulment included naming the 22 who had died.  Today Salem is located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. It is mostly a residential and tourist area. Almost 45 000 people live there. The Salem Witch Trials heavily influence the city's culture. The Salem police cars adorn a witch logo. One of the elem...

Great meetup card. The front of the card translates to  Vineta on Lake Stormthal. Vineta is the name of a legendary city at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. Vinetans, in stories, are always portrayed as having an excessive, voluptuous , or blasphemous way of life. Vineta was then flooded and sent the city to the bottom of the sea. Some parts of the myth suggest that parts of Vineta reappear on certain days, or can be seen from a boat. 

Syracuse is a fast growing city located about 50 km north of Salt Lake City. Today it has a population of 32 000 people. The area was settled by settlers in 1878, and was incorporated 1935, and became a city in 1950. 

A birthday postcard from Emma. She lives in Buzançais, located in central France. There are about 4500 people here. Buzançais is near the  parc naturel régional de la Brenne (regional nature park of Brenne). It is  1672 km 2  and was created in 1982. 

The sender in a Chinese national, but is a PhD student in Freising. There are two universities in this city of 50 000 that she could be attending - the Technical University of Munich or Freising-Weihenstephan.  Since it's been a year since I registered this card, I notice she is now living in Planegg, 13 km west of Munich. I hope the sender is now a PhD and is working in her field! She does write that she took the photo on the card.

Weil der Stadt is found about 30 km from Stuttgart, in the valley of the   River Würm, and it called the "Gate to the Black Forest" (sound ominous). It was first mentioned in 1075 as the property of the abbey of Hirsau.  Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), famous astronomer, was born here. Kepler, of course, is best known for his Laws of Planetary Motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonice Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae . He is considered one of the fathers of modern astronomy, the scientific method, natural sciene, and modern science. He has also been described as the "father of science fiction" for his novel Somnium.  In Somnium , an Icelandic boy and his witch mother learn of an island named Levania (the Moon). The novel details an imaginative description of how the Earth might look when viewe d from the Moon.  Because of Kepler, Weil der Stadt escaped destruction in World War II. A French military barrage was called off in honour of it being Kepler...

Ifs is a small town/commune in Normandy, France, near the city of Caen. There are about 12 000 people there.  The card is a scene from The Last Spells by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris - "High in the hill-woods, huge surf breaks far from any ocean."

The sender is a Dutch national living in  Grosshöchstetten. She sends a vintage photograph/card of  Grosshöchstetten (judging by the car) the 1920s.  Grosshöchstetten was first mentioned in 1146. Currently it has a population of about 4200 people. 

Since I am a year behind on this blog, the sender of this card has moved from a "small town outside of Austin, Texas" to  Cañon City in Colorado in that year.  Cañon City is a town of just over 17 000 and is the principle city in the Micropolitan Statistical Area (that's a new one - micropolitan). The Arkansas River flows along the town. Because of this, the town is a popular tourist destination for sightseeing, whitewater rafting, and rock climbing.  Cañon City also is one of the very few towns in the United States to have a tilde in their name (the accent over the n). It was officially changed in 1994 by the United States Board of Geographic Names. The others are:   La Cañada Flintridge, California ;  Española, New Mexico ;  Peñasco, New Mexico ; and  Peñitas, Texas . Cañon City also owns the Royal Gorge Bridge. From 1929 to 2001, it held the record as the world's highest bridge. It spans 384 metres over the Arkansas River at a height of 291 metres. ...

Lelystad is a very new city, founded in 1967, and built on reclaimed land. It was named after Cornelis Lely, who engineered the Afsluitdijk (dam and causeway) that made the reclamation of the land possible. Lelystad three metres below sea level. 

There are many places in Europe called Baden so this Baden is sometimes refered to as Baden bei  Zürich (Baden near  Zürich) , or Baden im Aargau (Baden in the Aargau). There are 19 000 people living here and the town is known for its mineral hot springs, which have been used since the Roman Empire. It is located in northern Switzerland so German is the main language, however the German is a local dialect called Alemannic Swiss-German.  FC Baden is the local football team and they play in the 1.Liga Classic, the fourth tier of the Swiss football system. They played in the Promotion League the previous year but finished second last and were regulated. The club, formally known as Fussballclub Baden, was established in 1897. They play at Esp Stadium which can hold 7000 spectators (only 1000 seated).  For women's professional sports, Baden Basket 54 plays in the SB League Women, the highest tier of women's basketball in Switzerland. 

 

 

Ibaraki  茨木市  is a suburban city of Osaka and a part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area. It has a population of 285 000. It is mainly a commuter town, by is also a regional commercial centre and distribution hub for northern Osaka.  The card shows the Gokuraku Bridge and the Castle Tower at Osaka Castle  大坂城 . The castle is considered one of Japan's most famous landmarks. It was built in 1583 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Gokuraku Bridge is one of two places to cross the inner moat.  The castle is open to the public. It is a popular spot during festival seasons. 

One of the state information cards from San Bernardino, California, but the state featured is Pennsylvania. It also has a photo of the Liberty Bell.  The Liberty Bell is found outside of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It was commissioned in 1752 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from the London-based firm Lester and Pack. It was cast with the words Proclaim Liberty Throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants Thereof.  It cracked when rung upon its arrival in Philadelphia. Local workman John Pass and John Stow recast it twice.  Be bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens to public meetings and proclamations. The "new" crack formed after almost a century of use. The National Park Service took custody of the bell following World War II. It was moved to Independence National Historical Park in 1976, and then to the Liberty Bell Center in 2003. 

 

I am a year behind, and about 250 cards in arrears.  I am having trouble pinpointing where the person who sent this card lives. In her bio and on the card she says she "is from a little village in Calenberger Land, between Hildesliem and Hannover."  The card is from Maschsee, Hannover. Maschsee is an artificial lake south of the city centre of Hanover. It covers 78 hectares and is a very popular recreation area and venue for various water sports. It was built during the Great Depression as a job creation project. The Nazi Party, when they came to power in January 1933, viewed the project as favourable as it would help reduce unemployment levels, which was central to their propaganda. The project began in March 1934 and the official opening took place in May 1936. The Nazis opened the grand opening with a march, followed by 6000 sporting people taking place in a rally.  During World War II, the lake was covered with canvasses and fake landscapes on floating islands to try ...