World on my postcards

 Slovenia is the only country in Europe that combines the Alps, the Mediterranean, the Pannonian Plain and the Karst. The changing landscape is constantly surprising, time and again. You can have one eye on the sea, then look in the other direction and be surrounded by high mountains. Heading up into the forests, you can see the green plains below you. From upland meadows your view stretches into river gorges. This proximity of opposites and contrasts is a hallmark of the country.

 Casa Milà, popularly known as ‘La Pedrera’ , an ironic allusion to the resemblance of its façade to an open quarry, was constructed between 1906 and 1912 by Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926). For its uniqueness, artistic and heritage value have received major recognition and in 1984 was inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List, for its exceptional universal value.

 The Chocó, or Embera, people live in small villages of 5 to 20 houses along the banks of the rivers throughout the Chucunaque/Tuira/Balsas River watersheds in the Darien Province of Panama. There are generally three villages on each tributary that branches off from the main river system. Each village is about a half day's walk apart. The villages are built on a small rise, set approximately 100 feet in from the river. The houses of the village are set about 20–50 feet apart atop the rise on posts, with no walls, but tall thatched roofs. Around each village, the jungle is partly cleared and replaced by banana and plantain plantations, a commercial crop for the Embera, who sell them to get cash for their outboard motors, mosquito nets, and the like. The hills leading down to the river from the villages are usually hard packed reddish clay. There are sometimes large boulders being played on by naked children. Dugout canoes are usually seen pulled up on the riverbanks....

 Innsbruck’s Old Town is a small area of sturdy medieval houses, many attractively painted in pastel colors and supported by sloping earthquake buttresses.  The Golden Roof was built by Archduke Friedrich IV in the early 15th century as the residence of the Tirolean sovereigns. The Golden Roof actually is the three-story balcony on the central plaza at the heart of the Old Town. The late Gothic oriels are capped with 2,657 gold-plated copper tiles. It was constructed for Emperor Maximilian I to serve as a royal box where he could sit in luxury and enjoy tournaments in the square below.

 Bergen has given a warm welcome to its visitors for more than 900 years. Bryggen has become a symbol of our cultural heritage and has gained a place on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The old Hanseatic wharf is architecturally unique and is perhaps one of the most familiar image in all of Norway.

Here are some more interesting facts about the fantastic San Francisco: The Chinese fortune cookie was invented by a Japanese resident of San Francisco.  And Irish coffee? It was perfected and popularized in the City by the Bay.  San Francisco was part of Mexico until the Mexican-American War in 1848.  During the Depression, not a single San Francisco-based bank failed.  Business was so good, the city constructed the Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge during the Depression.  The Liberty Bell once vacationed in San Francisco! When San Francisco hosted the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915, America’s most famous bell made a national train tour to be part of the fun. After the exposition ended, it returned to Philadelphia, where it’s stayed ever since.

 The Ennedi plateau or the Ennedi desert as it is sometimes called is located in the north-eastern area of Chad in one of the most inaccessible region in the middle of the Sahara.  The region is full of interesting sandstone formations - graceful fingers of rock and many hundreds of natural arches, including the great Aloba arch, which has a height of nearly 120 meters and is one of the most spectacular arches in the world. Apart from the geological attractions, examples of petroglyphs or rock paintings are abundant in the area. Many of the rock art represent all kinds of animals that the first inhabitants of the desert had.

  Did you know that the last witches to be hanged in Britain were three women from Bideford in Devon? They were tried and executed as late as 1682, the case against them including such incontestable evidence as a tabby cat taken to be the devil entering a shop owned by a witness; and a magpie alighting at the window of one of the accused. Bang to rights then. They were tried on August 19 1682, and hanged outside Exeter six days later.

 The  Bridge of Americas,  or  Puente de las Américas   in Spanish, was built in 1962 along the Pan-American Highway as a more efficient way for vehicle traffic to travel between land masses on the North and South of the Panama Canal. At first it was called the  Thatcher Ferry Bridge  in honor of the original ferry that helped vehicles cross the Panama Canal. Just a decade after the bridge was officially commissioned, it was unofficially renamed as the Bridge of Americas, much preferred by the Panamanian government. Only in 1979 was the “Bridge of Americas” name officially recognized.

 Estonia is small, but it isn’t the smallest country in Europe. It’s big ger than Slovenia, Holland, Denmark, and Switzerland. It’s about the same size as New Hampshire and Massachusetts  Despite its small size, it feels big because only 1.3 million folks live here. It makes Estonia one of the least dense countries in Europe, with just 32 Estonians per square kilometer.  Out of the nearly 200 countries in the world, Estonia ranks number two in adult literacy with its rate of 99.8 percent.  Estonia is the most libertarian country in the world, according to The State of the World Liberty Project. In 1990, there were 22,304 babies born; today it’s almost half that amount. With the death rate increasing slightly, you can understand why the Estonian population is declining.

 About 300 years ago, "Molly" was a common nickname for women called "Mary". Over the years there were probably many Molly Malones, but one fishmonger from Dublin was to make the name known throughout the world because of her sad fate.   If Molly Malone truly existed as an historical person, is still being disputed by experts. She supposedly lived in 17th century Dublin and is said to have been  a real beauty. Because of the immense poverty of those days the young woman was forced to sell her beauty to strangers in order to survive.Fate came up with yet another stroke: One of her clients infected Molly Malone with cholera. In 1699, still of young age, she died in a Dublin street. Although Irish stories like the one about Molly Malone – usually end sadly, the Irish aren't known for being wistful people. Nevertheless they chose Molly Malone to be one of the symbols for their capital Dublin.    The Irish traditional song "Cockles and Mussels...

Macedonia is the only country that got independence from Yugoslavia without shedding a single drop of blood. It remained entirely at peace at the heat of Yugoslav wars in early 1990s and got independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.  Another interesting feature about this country is that it has more number of mountains and mountain peaks than any other country in the world. The country has as many as 34 mountain peaks, each with a height of more than 2,000 meters above the sea-level; with Mount Golem Karb being the highest at 2,753 meters above sea-level. Most peaks in Macedonia have never been visited by people.

 Albania is a country in south-eastern Europe.The capital of Albania is Tirana which is also the largest city.  Tiranë was founded in the early 17th cent. by the Turkish general Sulayman Pasha, who is buried there. It was originally named Tehran, for a Turkish victory in Persia. The larger part of Tiranë was built after 1920, when it was selected as the capital of Albania.