maps come in all shapes and sizes

 

New Jersey is the fifth smallest state in the US, at 7, 354 sq mi (19,050 km²) but is the 11th most populous with over 9.6 million people.  I think this map is the busiest one I have of any state!

Then there is Utah, with a population of around 3 million, it is the 11th least densely populated state within its 84,899 sq mi (219,887 km²)

If you're feeling peckish, how about Taiwan, which does an excellent job of promoting their foods

Actually, Taiwan may be the one country I have the most maps of, including a few that are shaped

but, I really like this series that I call 'wallpaper maps'

This is my 2,000th published post in this site, and I decided to make the cards larger so you could actually see some of the details - and in the process lost some of the details.  Still learning...

something to smile about

totem poles

 

some indigenous sculptures for Thursday Postcard Hunt

ancient city, ancient gate

Torun is a city on the Vistula River.  It is one of Poland's oldest cities, first settled in the 8th century, and has been a world heritage site since 1997.  According to the sender, it is renowned for its gingerbread which has been made there for over 1,000 years.

The Porta Nigra in Trier, Germany is even older, having been built as a Roman Gate around 170A.D.  No one knows what the Romans called it, but it has been called 'nigra', or 'black', since the middle ages, when the original grey sandstone became darkened.   It is the only one of four city gates remaining and was designated a world heritage site in 1986.

Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites for Thursday Postcard Hunt

bascule

 

Crossing False Creek in Vancouver.  Built around 1905, but demolished in 1921 after years of filling in the shallow creek for the railway.

Another bascule bridge, this one in Kingston, Ontario.  The Lasalle Causeway was demolished in 2024 after being severely damaged during maintenance and rehabilitation work.  It was in operation for more than a century with a temporary modular bridge in its place that opens for marine traffic.

So ends our theme of bridges for September.  For October, there isn't really a monthly theme - I guess it'll be miscellaneous.

royal albert bridge

Joining Plymouth in Devon to Saltash in Cornwall over the Tamar River.  It was opened by Prince Albert in 1859 and would be Isambard Kingdom Brunel's last work as he died 3 months later.

unique and exquisite

Ross Bridge over the Macquarie River in Tasmania 

You can read more about one of the oldest bridges in Australia that was built by convicts here

connecting

From Kuala Lumpur, perhaps the most popular postcard showing a connecting bridge

or, for a bridge that is a fair bit older, how about this one at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin

this pedestrian bridge in Viljandi (Riga) connects the castle ruins to the manor park.  it once crossed a moat, which is now a 15 metre (49') valley

crossing the border

There used to be only two ways to get across the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan

A bridge 

               or a tunnel

for some reason, all the cards of this international border line in the tunnel (and I have several) show buses - or, as this card prefers 'busses'

*there is now a second bridge

regal

 

This would make quite the entrance for the new bride.  I am imagining it is a bit of a journey to the new home (or the wedding place) since the sedan is not being carried by humans.

river cruise

 

Most of the major European River Cruises dock at this Austrian village, although this is one of the regional day trip cruises.  Due to the now low water levels of the Danube, cruises will likely be limited.

fast trains

 

a train belching some steam somewhere in Yorkshire

and another on the other side of the country.

The 'Cornishman' first ran in 1890 travelling from Paddington to Penzance in a little over 8 hours

Another train, travelling much faster and with less belch is the 'Bullet'

north sea

from Germany       some beach shelters

and some more protected shelters in the form of huts and tents in a vintage card from this seaside town in Norfolk

and so ends our July theme of architecture

next month, we will be finding ways of travelling for Thursday Postcard Hunt

beauty

Mayakovskaya Station, built in the Stalinist style in 1938, is considered one of the most beautiful of the Moscow Metro Stations

Novoslobodskaya Station, which like the one above, had Alexey Dushkin as its architect, was opened in 1952.

Although it is a bit disconcerting to see a station devoid of people, it is also a little unnerving to see a massive concourse with only a scattering of people wandering aimlessly as in this view of Chicago's Union Station, built in the 1920s for what would be $1B in today's dollars ($75 million)

chateau

 Fontainebleau

and a long view

Fountainebleau is one of the largest French royal chateaux.  It was a favourite hunting lodge of the kings but was gradually transformed into a genuine palace and became a museum and a Unesco World Heritage Site 

houses

Tchaikovsky Memorial House

Japan

tenement houses

some different styles of houses for Thursday Postcard Hunt

three churches

St James Anglican Church, St John's Evangelical Lutheran, and Trinity United

there are other churches in this small town, but these are the ones that get all the glory - and the photographs!

Over in Romania is this painted church, one of eight that are UNESCO listed

a 1970s view of the Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik

and,  Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin

a new month and a new theme of architecture. first up: churches.  next week: houses

irregular shapes

 

from Germany

and from Norway

lines

 I appreciate the crispness and precision of the lines in the windows above, though they might be too perfect

but then we head outdoors, and I could sit and look at this view for hours and not feel somehow the need to also be perfect in its presence

swans, again

A cygnet from the Abbotsbury Swannery.  This time presented as a postcard, not a stamp

Some royal curves...

We have our own Stratford swans.  Many of these are descendants of of a pair of mute swans gifted by Queen Elizabeth in 1973, but the origins go back to 1918.