fresh water island

 

snake island

 

There are only around 400 inhabitants on this island, down from around 3,000 before 1945.

edit:  I have now learned this is only one of 2,000 islands in Estonia!

treasure hunt

 

You can't actually dig for the buried treasure (that may or may not actually exist), but you can visit the island and take a tour.  Or you could watch the long running (13th! season has just started) Curse of Oak Island on the History Channel.  Or, you can read all about it here

 

we're up to day 24 of NaBloPoMo 

finger lakes

The Finger Lakes were carved out by glacier.  They flow north, eventually reaching into Lake Ontario

Seneca Lake, the gem of the Finger Lakes, is known as the lake that never freezes.  It is the deepest of the eleven lakes (600') and the longest (35 mi)

Day 17 of NaBloPoMo

seaway

Construction began on the St Lawrence Seaway in 1954 and was completed in 1959.  

A series of locks, of which the St Lambert in Montreal is the first, allow for ships to travel between the Atlantic and the Great Lakes

Day 10 of NaBloPoMo

gaspé

This map is pre 1990s - the province abbreviation changed from P.Q (Province de Quebec) to  the 2 letter Qc in 1991.

nature park

 

The Palatinate Forest is one of the largest contiguous forest areas in Germany.  It is a low mountain region in the southwest with it's highest elevation at 672.6 m

shape of the land

these animals fit nicely into the compact island of Taiwan,  

but, it is a special joy to receive a shaped map card

although, Bulgaria has many sticky out bits, but this card arrived in fine form

arctic

 

The Arctic islands are an archipelago of over 36,000 islands.  I will admit, I had no idea there were so many!  Only 11 are inhabited.

summer

 

I think I recognize the names of 7 cities from various Postcrossers and my previous knowledge of Helsinki as the capital.

far away lands

I fell in love with Norway while watching the 1994 Olympics 

I'm pretty sure I could miss out on this experience at Preiskestolen.  I would be happy to be on a boat cruising Lysefjord and looking UP at the 604 metre cliff.

However, I would not want to miss out seeing a Stave.  How would a 900 year old wood church smell, I wonder? 

I don't know what triggered my fascination with Japan, but it would be my top dream destination if I could choose anywhere in the world.  I would prefer to be with someone who was Japanese and could translate and explain...

It helps that I love the food - sushi, sashimi, ramen... not to mention  over 300 flavours of Kit Kat!

I wish I had a more modern card of this exclusive and expensive shopping street. Not sure I could afford much anyway, which would make me less interested. 

  I would maybe last an afternoon before wanting to escape.  I would be much more interested in the train journeys and the shrines and temples.

The Kumano Nachi Shrine and a waterfall! (Nachi-no-Otaki, the tallest in Japan)

Izumo Taisha Shrine

Hong Kong was never really on my radar as a place I'd want to visit, it was just a place I'd heard of.  Then, with all the attention during the time of the handover, it became more interesting.

 the stunning vistas from the harbour and the mountains.  The city is densely packed with people and skyscrapers, but also with parks and gardens (over 1,600 covering more than 40% of the land area!)

'the second coolest street in the world'

This is more interesting shopping

the states of austria

seas and gulfs

the Mediterranean Sea

the Tasman Sea

the Gulf of St Lawrence

the Gulf of Mexico

a sad anniversay

 

islands

 

Isles of the British Isles

lines of a city

 

 and because this isn't all about subways

topography

I like the 'quilted' look of this map of Germany and the fact that there is no other English.  It's always interesting to see how other countries are spelled in different languages.

Another topographic map, this one showing the directions the landscape takes (makes me think of seeing the bent trees from the prevailing winds) following the Mid-Atlantic Ridge which divides the county into the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate

nature

 

belgium

 architecture

beaches

there are so many beaches, you would be spoilt for choice

the western side of the island is known to have the best beaches