POLAND - Owl

Thanks Jimina for the card.

AUSTRALIA Maxicard. Rising Sun Badge 1954-69

Rising Sun Badge 1954-69 (fifth design)

BELARUS Maxicard - Duck

Thanks to Nastassia for the duck maxicard!

Nicholas II, The Last Russian Emperor

Portrait of Nicholas II, The Last Russian Emperor
Stepan Alexandrovsky (Russian, 1842 - 1906)

Beautiful stamps!

CHINA - Beijing Duck

CHINA - Alley

WASHINGTON, DC - The National Building Museum

The National Building Museum's historic home is based on an impressive Italian Renaissance design.  The Great Hall features eight colossal Corinthian columns -- among the tallest interior columns in the world.   The Museum offers exhibition and programs related to America's achievements in the built environment. 

Thanks to Sylvia for the card.

CHINA - Longxi Conference

GERMANY - Karlsruhe Palace

 Thanks to Sandra for the card.

"Karlsruhe Palace was erected in 1715 by Margrave Charles III William of Baden-Durlach, after a dispute with the citizens of his previous capital, Durlach. The city of Karlsruhe has since grown around it. It is now home to the main museum of the Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe."

ITALY - Sanctuary of Pietralba

Sanctuary of Pietralba.  The church and the convent.  Thanks to Rebecca for the card.

The history of this pilgrimage site begins in 1533 with the discovery by farmer Leonhard Weißensteiner of an alabaster pietà. The construction of the pilgrimage church started in 1638. The church was consecrated in 1673, the monastery was built in 1722. The place, which originally was a place for Confession and only infrequently visited by priests, was taken over by the Servites in Innsbruck in 1718.

In 1787 the pilgrimage site was dissolved by Emperor Joseph II. The pietà was moved to Laives, the Servites were removed, and all property and treasures sold. The church was deconsecrated and served as a barn and storage room for wood and other items. In 1836 the pilgrimage site was purchased back by the Servite Order in Innsbruck, partly on request by the many pilgrims, and the place became a pilgrimage site once more, a place of prayer and an oasis of silence. 

In the time of fascism the German monks were replaced by Italian ones and the pilgrimage site was given to the Servite Order in Vicenza, which still looks after it now. High points of the story of this South Tyrolean pilgrimage site were the elevation of the place of pilgrimage to a basilica minor in 1985 and the visit by Pope John Paul II on 17 July 1988. Today Pietralba is still a popular destination for pilgrims walking the pilgrimage routes from Aldino, Monte San Pietro, Nova Ponente or Laives.

Source

ARKANSAS - The Oil Mill, North Little Rock

Southern Places. The Oil Mill, North Little Rock.
Thanks to Lindsay for the card.

"Contrary to what the name may suggest, the Old Mill in T.R. Pugh Memorial Park is not that old, and was never actually a mill. Yet the misnomer is far from the most deceptive thing about this strange place.

The creator of these concrete objects was Dionicio Rodriguez, a Mexican-born sculptor who learned the craft of “Faux Bois” (Fake Wood) or “El Trabajo Rústico” (the Rustic Work) as a teenager in Mexico. In 1932 he was commissioned by developer Justin Matthews to help create this tourist attraction for a new suburban subdivision just outside Little Rock." Source

NETHERLANDS - H.M. Queen Beatrix

 Thanks to Marina for the maxicard.

Marilyn Monroe

Thanks to Viktoriya for the card.

POLAND Meet-up Card

Thanks to dear Agnes for the card.

Lady Diana Spencer

Thanks to Irina for the card.

POLAND - Wroclaw

Wroclaw circa. 1900.  Thanks to Agnie for the card.

TAIWAN - Taiwan's Food

Thanks to Ellen for the card.

NEW MEXICO - El Santuario de Chimayo

 Chimayo, New Mexico.  El Santuario de Chimayo is a Roman Catholic church located in Shimayo, New Mexico.  Thanks to Megan for the card.

"El Santuario de Chimayó is a Roman Catholic church in Chimayó, New Mexico, United States. (Santuario is Spanish for "sanctuary".) This shrine, a National Historic Landmark, is famous for the story of its founding and as a contemporary pilgrimage site. It receives almost 300,000 visitors per year and has been called "no doubt the most important Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States."

BRAZIL - Sao Paulo

Thanks to Talquinia for the card.

SWEDEN - Jonkoping

 Thanks so much to Pernilla for the used stamps and beautiful cover.

"Jönköping  is a city in southern Sweden with 93,797 inhabitants (2015). Jönköping is situated at the southern end of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland."