USA - Barn Owl

Thanks to Amy Genberg for the Barn Owl card.

The card reads; Its heart shaped face and black eyes give the Barn Owl its startling appearance. Widely spread across the Americas, it makes its   in natural tree cavities and old structures.

NEW ZEALAND - Wahine, Aotearoa

Now perceived as a traditional Maori costume, the piupiu, with its colourful bodice and headbands, is crafted in native flax.  Here a wahine, or Maori woman, proudly displays her costume, in the land her people named Aotearoa - the land of the long white cloud - New Zealand.  Thank you Calico.

SLOVENIA - In the sunny side of the Alps

RUSSIA

BULGARIA - Local Specialties

Thanks to Ivka for the Bulgaria local Specialties postcard.

RUSSIA - Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, photo 1895.  The Last Russian empress.

"Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, later Alexandra Feodorovna (6 June 1872 – 17 July 1918), was Empress consort of Russia as the spouse of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of the Russian Empire. Born a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, she was given the name Alexandra Feodorovna upon being received into the Russian Orthodox Church, which canonized her as Saint Alexandra the Passion Bearer in 2000. Alexandra is best remembered as the last Tsaritsa of Russia, as one of the most famous royal carriers of the haemophilia disease, and for her support of autocratic control over the country."

CHINA - Chinese Festival

GERMANY - Bergische Kaffeetafel

GERMANY - Christmas Card

Thanks to Clarinessa for the card.

GERMANY - Freiburg im Breisgau

Freiburg im Breisgau
Historic StraBenbahn Gelenkwagen GT 4 , built in 1959 ( Rastatt ).

Thanks to Yannick.

"Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany with a population of about 230,000. In the south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg."

NETHERLANDS - Birds

Thanks to Marjon for the card.

ROMANIA - Fortified Churches

A group of fortified churches built in the Middle Age.  They are part of the UNESCO World Heritage and can be found in Transylvania (Western Romania). Thank you Vlad.

1.  Biertan 2. Mosna 3. Valea Viilor
4. Bazna 5. Calnic 6. Viscri

TAIWAN - Taiwan's delicious foods

FINLAND - Sunset

"Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe bordered by Sweden to the west, Norway to the north and Russia to the east; Estonia lies to the south across the Gulf of Finland."

CYPRUS - Summer time

"Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus (Greek: Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία; Turkish: Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti), is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Cyprus is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, and a member state of the European Union. It is located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel, north of Egypt and east of Greece."

POLAND - Polish dumplings Russian style

Thanks to Monica for the swap.

FINLAND

TAIWAN - Orchid Island

"Orchid Island is a 45 km² high island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan Island and separated from the Batanes of the Philippines by the Bashi Channel of the Luzon Strait. It is governed as Lanyu Township of Taitung County, Taiwan."

GERMANY - Spreewald

"The Spreewald is situated about 100 km south-east of Berlin. It was designated a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1991. It is known for its traditional irrigation system which consists of more than 200 small canals within the 484-square-kilometre (187 sq mi) area. The landscape was shaped during the ice-age. Alder forests on wetlands and pine forests on sandy dry areas are characteristic for the region. Grasslands and fields can be found as well."

AFGANISTAN - Ariel view of a village in Afganistan's Parwan Province

This card was sent to me by the US Military officer based in Afghanistan, an postcrosser.  He used US stamps for this card with an Army postmarking.

"Parwan (Persian/Pashto: پروان), also spelled Parvān, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 631,600,^[1] which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. The province is divided into ten districts. The town of Charikar serves as the provincial capital.

Located north of Kabul Province and south of Baghlan Province, it was once, the name of an ancient town in the Hindu Kush mountains."

RUSSIA - Cute Dreamer

'Even the most little dreamer has one right for a great dream".  What a beautiful winter card! Thank you so much  June, and she enclosed the last piece of autumn leaf!!

LITHUANIA - Vilnius

"Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 539,939 (806,308 together with Vilnius County) as of 2014. Vilnius is located in the southeast part of Lithuania and is the second biggest city of the Baltic states."