3140 FRANCE (Saint Barthélemy) - St Barths Bucket Regatta

3140 The yacht Parsifal III during St Barths Bucket Regatta 

Gustavia, the main town and capital of the island of Saint Barthélemy, is known as a haven for yachting, with many events being held there each year. One of the most important is St Barths Bucket Regatta, which is taking place every year over three days, usually in the month of March. It is open to cruising yachts whose length is 30.5m (100ft) or greater. The first regatta in St Barths itself was held in 1995 with four yachts; ten years later, 26 boats competed in the race, and in 2017 no less then 38.

3139 GREECE (Crete) - Cretan Traditional Costumes

Located in the southern part of the Aegean Sea, separating the Aegean from the Libyan Sea, Crete has a fascinating culture and it's people can boast an amazingly varied heritage of influence from miscellaneous cultures and civilisations. Crete itself is renowned for being the home of one of the earliest, if not the earliest, civilisations of the world, the Minoan civilisation. There followed the Dorians, the Egyptians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Venetians, and the Otomans.

3138 ROMANIA (Prahova) - Poiana Izvoarelor Chalet

3138 Poiana Izvoarelor Chalet in 1980's

Located in the Bucegi Mountains, on the southeastern slope of the Diham Mountains, in the glade of the same name (Poiana Izvoarelor means Springs' Glade), at the edge of a beautiful fir forest, Poiana Izvoarelor Chalet (rom) (1455m) is the main starting point for many excursions to the northeast's steep of the Bucegi Mountains and to the peaks and forests of Diham. The scenery offered is worth the effort to get there. All around, the Baiu Mountains, Colţii Morarului (Miller's Fangs), and Caraiman Peak can be admired in a complete silence.

3137 ITALY - The map and the flag of the country

Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino and Vatican City (the last two are enclaves within Italy). Due to its shape, it is often referred as lo Stivale (the Boot). With 61 million inhabitants it is the fourth most populous EU member state. Its capital city is Rome, one of the birthplaces of Western civilisation and the first ever metropolis. Without The Eternal City, the world wouldn't have been the same.

3136 POLAND (Pomerania) - Ustka Lighthouse

Ustka Lighthouse is located in the town with the same name (formerly Postomino), on the Polish coast of the Baltic Sea. The lighthouse stands at the base of the eastern breakwater of Ustka's harbour - protecting the port's entrance way. Ustka was a very important coastal town for the nearby Słupsk - for transportation of goods and Baltic travel. In 1871 a mast was constructed nearby the harbour's admiralty station; powered by an oil lamp on the mast. It shone with a red light and was visible at a distance of 6 nautical miles.

3135 UKRAINE (Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast) - Church of Saint Elijah in Yaremche

Yaremche (Yaremcha until 2006) is a mountain resort, the most famous tourist center of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, located at the altitude of 550-585 m above sea level, on picturesque valley of the Prut River. It was first mentioned in 1787, but the villages of Dora and Yamna, which not long ago entered the city boundaries, have somewhat earlier history (14-15th centuries). Passing through the village of Dora, can be seen two delicate wooden sacred buildings: the Church of the Holy Prophet Elias and a belfry nearby, built in 1937.

3134 SWITZERLAND (Ticino) - The Monte Brè funicular and Lake Lugano

Lake Lugano, named after the city of Lugano, is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. Well-known mountains and tourist destinations on the shores of the lake are Monte Brè to the east, Monte San Salvatore west of Lugano, and Monte Generoso on the south-east shore. The lake is 48.7km² in size, 63% of which is in Switzerland and 37% in Italy, has an average width of roughly 1km, a maximum depth of 288m  found in the northern basin.

3133 VIETNAM (Red River Delta) - Long Biên Bridge in Hanoi

Originally called Paul Doumer Bridge, Long Biên Bridge is a historic cantilever bridge across the Red River that connects two districts, Hoan Kiem and Long Bien of the city of Hanoi. It was built in 1899-1902 by the architects Daydé & Pillé of Paris, and opened in 1903. At 1.68 kilometres in length, it was, at that time, one of the longest bridges in Asia. For the French colonial government, the construction was of strategic importance in securing control of northern Vietnam.

3132 POLAND (West Pomerania) - Jarosławiec Lighthouse

Located on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in the village with the same name, between the Darłowo and the lighthouse in Ustka, Jarosławiec Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse in Poland. Its construction began in 1835 however the lighthouse was not successful due to a number of physical factors. The lighthouse was built about 400m from the coast - this proved to be too low to be effective for navigation. Its light wasn't very visible because it was obscured by trees and it was soon decided to build a new tower closer to the beach.

1994, 1995 FRANCE (Saint Martin) - Pinel Island

1995 Pinel Island (1)

Posted on 28.10.2015, 21.08.2017
Pinel Island is located near the northeastern coast of Saint Martin, in Orient Bay, and, although it is subject to Atlantic Ocean waves on its Eastern side, the Western side is unusually protected where it faces the shallow bay. It is often called Saint Martin's best kept secret and has always been popular with locals. There are beautiful sandy beaches on the island and it is also worth to take some hiking shoes and hike to the two deserted beaches on the opposite side. The main beach is not clothes optional.

1995 Pinel Island (2)

1995-1

1995-2

The island is also considered one of the best snorkeling locations in Saint Martin and a paradise for kayakers and Standup Paddle board lovers. The entire area is part of the Marine Reserve. There are three restaurants on the island, the Le Karabuni, specialised in lobster, the Yellow Beach restaurant, who have a BBQ, and Up on the Key.

1907, 2887, 3131 THAILAND (Bangkok) - Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram in Bangkok

 1907 Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram in Bangkok (1)

Posted on 19.09.2015, 29.11.2016, 21.08.2017
Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram, also known as the marble temple, is a Buddhist temple (wat) in the Dusit district of Bangkok. Construction of the temple began in 1899 at the request of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) after building his palace nearby. Actually, the temple's name literally means the Temple of the fifth King located nearby Dusit Palace. It was designed by Prince Naris, a half-brother of the king, and has display of carrarra marble pillars, a marble courtyard and two large singhas (lions) guarding the entrance to the ubosot (ordination hall).

 2887 Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram in Bangkok (2)

Inside the hall is a Sukhothai-style Buddha statue named Phra Buddhajinaraja, cast in 1920 after the original located in Wat Mahathat in Phitsanulok. The ashes of King Chulalongkorn are buried beneath the statue. In the gallery surrounding the ordination hall are 53 buddha statues (33 originals and 20 copies) representing every mudra (gesture) and style from Thai history. The structure is a unique example of modern Thai temple architecture, as is the interior design, which melds Thai features with European influences.

3131 Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram in Bangkok (3)

 

Merit makers come to the monks of the temple for getting alms every morning. Between 6-7:30 in the morning, the monks line up on Nakhon Pathom with their bowls to receive donations of curry, rice, lotus buds, incense,toiletries and other essentials. The evening candlelight procession around the bot during the Buddhist festivals of Magha Puja (in February) and Visakha Puja (in May) are common for this temple.

3130 ROMANIA (Timiş) - Fabric Synagogue in Timişoara

The Fabric New Synagogue in Timişoara is a Neologue synagogue inaugurated in 1899, when Timişoara (Temesvar) was a part of Transylvania and integrated in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The building was designed in Neo-Moorish style by the well-known Hungarian architect Lipot Baumhorn (or Leopold Baumhorn), based in Budapest, and the construction itself was under the direction of local contractor Josef Kremmer. Its construction was made possible by the contributions of donors.

3129 INDONESIA (Java) - Sangiran Early Man Site (UNESCO WHS)

Sangiran is an archaeological excavation site in Java in Indonesia, located about 15 kilometers north of Surakarta in the Solo River valley. According to a UNESCO report (1995) "Sangiran is recognized by scientists to be one of the most important sites in the world for studying fossil man, ranking alongside Zhoukoudian (China), Willandra Lakes (Australia), Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania), and Sterkfontein (South Africa), and more fruitful in finds than any of these." The area comprises about 56 km² (7 km x 8 km).

2579, 3128 THAILAND (Prachuap Khiri Khan) - Hua Hin Railway Station

2579 Hua Hin Railway Station (1)

Posted on 28.05.2016, 18.08.2017
Hua Hin Railway Station is one of the most important stations on the Southern Line, the longest railway line in Thailand. The Southern Line third phase between Cha-am Station to Hua Hin was opened in November 1911, and the line continued to Wang Phong Station in January 1914. The original station building was built in 1910, and rebuilt in 1926, by Prince Purachatra Jayakara (former commander of the Royal State Railways of Siam) to the current Victorian building today.

3128 Hua Hin Railway Station (2)

Hua Hin's popularity began to increase in the 1920's, when King Rama VI built Klai Kang Won Palace as a summer retreat. Hua Hin station is one of the most beautiful and one of the oldest in Thailand. The design was taken from the planned Siam Rat Museum Expo, intended to be built in 1925 at Lumphini Park, but was never built due to the death of King Vajiravudh and the cancellation of the expo by King Prajadhipok.

3127 SPAIN (Balearic Islands) - The map of Mallorca

Mallorca it is not only the largest island in the Balearic Islands archipelago, but also the largest island of Spain (about 3,640 km²) and second most populated (almost 860,000 inhabitants). It has two mountainous regions, the Serra de Tramuntana and Serres de Llevant, the highest peak being Puig Major (1,445 m). The northern coast is rugged and has many cliffs. The central zone, extending from Palma, the capital city, is a generally flat, fertile plain known as Es Pla. The main language spoken on the island is Catalan.

3125, 3126 MOLDOVA - The First Moldova-Romania Postcrossing Meetup, Chişinău, 29 July 2017

3125

Right in the day in which Moldova celebrated the Constitution Day (adopted on 29 July 1994), a group of enthusiastic postcrossers from Moldova and Romania met for the first time in the flesh (online they have known each other for long time and have swaped, of course, many postcards). The meetup was held in Central Post Office of Moldova in Chişinău, where was also organized a collaborative exhibition of postcards from around the world.

3126

"Being from neighbouring countries with many traditions and a language in common (not to mention a hobby!), it just made sense for them to cross the border and meet… and also to try to make Postcrossing more popular in Moldova", somebody wrote on Postcrossing Blog. On this occasion was edited four special postcards.

3124 THAILAND - Traditional Thai puppets

The Thai puppetry dates back at least 300 years, the earliest recorded account of it being in 1685. Shows were often performed for the monarchy and were extremely popular during King Taksin's reign in the late 1700s. Around 1895 was first mentioned a new form of puppetry, Hun Krabok (hun means puppet, while krabok describes a type of wood which is hollow, such as the bamboo), which became shortly a popular forms of entertainmen.

3123 POLAND (Pomerania) - Gdansk New Port Lighthouse

Built in 1894, and operated continuously for more than 100 years, Lighthouse in Gdansk New Port is one of the most beautiful lighthouses on the Baltic Sea. It made history when, on 1st September 1939; shots fired from its windows were a signal for the battleship Schleswig-Holstein to commence the bombardment of the Polish Westerplatte, which signalled the start of World War II.

3122 INDONESIA (Sumatra) - Bull race in Padang

The bull racing festival (Pacu Jawi in the local language, which means "push-ahead bull") was created more than 400 years ago as a way to celebrate the end of rice harvesting season by the Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, more exactly in Padang. While the race has become part of Indonesian culture, its main purpose is for sellers to exhibit the strength of their bulls to potential buyers. A good race performance can lead to generating a higher price for those farmers that plan to sell breeding stock.

3121 ROMANIA (Prahova / Braşov / Dâmboviţa) - Bucegi Mountains

3121 Panoramic view of Bucegi Mountains
in the village of Poiana Mărului, Braşov County

The Bucegi Mountains are located at the eastern extremity of the Southern Carpathians, extending between the Prahova Valley to the east and the Rucăr-Bran Corridor and the Ialomiţa Valley to the west, and are delimited to the North by the Bârsa Depression and to the South by the Sub Carpathians of Curvature. Being of a great structural and morphological complexity, the massif appears as a natural fortress, with an enclosure suspended from 1600-2500 m, supported by strong abrupts. The highest point of the massif is the Omu Peak (2514m).