town squares

This Estonian Town Hall Square has been a marketplace since the middle ages.  It looks like it might just be setting up, or closing down, in this image.  The building on the far left is the town hall and on top of the spire is a weather vane that has been there since 1530.

Below is another town square, this time in Lithuania.  Kaunas is the second largest city in that country and was a temporary capital during the interwar period.  The building in the centre is the town hall. The rivers are the Nemunis and Neris.

and, to round out the Baltic states,  Riga. With another public square in the middle left.  The buildings of the Town Hall Square were all rebuilt as everything was destroyed during WWII.

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia with northern European cities for Thursday Postcard Hunt

queen's park

Here is a bird's eye view of Queen's Park with the Ontario Legislative Assembly building, which is always known also as Queen's Park (as is the government)

The statue is of Sir John A MacDonald, Canada's first Prime Minister.  It has only recently been free of the hoarding that covered it in 2020 after it was vandalized in the wave of protests over the residential schools history.

You will have noticed that all of my parliament building postcards are vintage, some more so than others.  These next two are more recent.  It is not the most popular Toronto landmark to feature on a postcard, which is a shame.

I find it a beautiful old building (and the one I am most familiar with) and the asymmetry is pleasing to my eye. It is a Richardsonian Romanesque style (my favourite) built between 1886 and 1909.

What you can't tell from these, is that there are hundreds of gargoyles and grotesques and other faces (some, even, of the stonemasons who carved them!)

And so ends this tour of the parliament buildings since I don't have any from the three territories, and seem to be missing two provinces: Nova Scotia and Alberta. 

Tomorrow, I'll show what is the most popular building on a Toronto postcard.

water

Sometimes it is enough just to get a bird's eye view of the water

other times, you want to be right in it

or maybe you'd like to live surrounded by water

rays of sunshine

Musik - und Bergstadt Sonderhausen 

In the centre is the castle where the Musik school can be found

received from a music teacher in Germany

triomphe

 L'arc de triomphe de l'Étoile

although this vintage card obviously doesn't show it, the symbol for the Paralympics is displayed on the monument.  For the first time, the host city didn't wait until the Olympics were over to install the Agitos.

prettiest town

 

An Aerial view of GODERICH, Ontario.  "The Prettiest Town in Canada" located on the shores of beautiful Lake Huron. The uniquely designed "Shoppers Square" is an octagon, with the County Administration building and Park situated in the centre.  There are over 100 stores and services situated on "Shoppers Square" and the eight radiating streets.

canals

 

The Canal Ring of Amsterdam - Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht

mosque-cathedral

 

The Grand Mosque was built in 784 by the Emir of Cordoba, Abd al-Rahman I. In 1236 it became a Roman Catholic church

up into the hills

 

Valparaiso

9 pointed star

 Palmanova

It took around 200 years to build this Renaissance fortress town. It was built in geometric harmony, but in the end no one wanted to live in such an obsessively ordered town.

on the lake

I can see my house from here
Things look a little different since this 1980s era view!

Sofia

at the foot of the majestic Mt Vitosha

rambles

featuring the tree lined Las Ramblas
and Christopher Columbus on a very tall 40m column

eiffel

Crowds on the way to the Eiffel Tower. Limited visits to the top have been available since July 15. Or you could schedule a visit to climb the stairs to the second floor (freeing up the lift for those with mobility issues). You will climb up one staircase and down the other. Masks must be worn. Has anyone been to the top?

cape and table

Such a beautiful view of an impossibly natural beauty. And a city.

perce

a nice view of the rock, from the northwest,

but not one where you can see the 'pierce'.

for that view you must travel the peninsula counter clockwise and arrive from southwest

orchard

The Orchard Road district — one of Asia's most popular shopping areas.

It is a 2.2 km long full of high end retail, upmarket restaurants, hotels, with the president's residence at the eastern end and the Botanic Gardens on the western edge.

The name comes from the nutmeg and pepper plantations that the road once led towards.

table bay

an aerial view of Cape Town featuring Table Mountain in the background and the 2010 FIFA Stadium in the foreground

parliament

An aerial view of the Parliament Buildings with the library (the conical looking building) in the rear facing the river

Banff

Village of Banff and Cascade Mt., Banff National Park
Showing Banff Ave over the Bow River