Official - Glenfinnan Viaduct

The Glenfinnan Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the West Highland Line in Glenfinnan, Inverness-shire, Scotland. Located at the top of Loch Shiel in the West Highlands of Scotland, it overlooks the Glenfinnan Monument and the surrounding waters. 

The West Highland Line connects Fort William and Mallaig, and was a crucial artery for the local fishing industry and the highlands economy in general, which suffered enormously after the Highland Clearances in the 1800s.

The viaduct may seem familiar to you as it has been used as a location in several films and television series, most notably in four of the Harry Potter movies :)

Thank you Alan!

The summer season is in full swing, which means work overload for me...not that I don't have free time, but when I do, I feel tired for lack of sleep and high temperatures. Energy zero...no, minus twenty. I even haven't sent any postcards in this time; more tragically, I failed to report those that have arrived through swaps...A month to go and hopefully the overall air will change..!

Shamanka Rock On Olkhon Island, Baikal, Russia

If I was given a choice to choose just one trip for the rest of my days, that would def be the continuous rail route from Europe to SE Asia, and with new routes being open or in planning, a return-trip could be quite epic! There is of course the classic Trans-Mongolian Route, which stops at many places in the Russian Federation incl. the WHS Lake Baikal. 

The lake's largest island ( and the world's  fourth-largest lake-bound island ) is the Olkhon, and one of its most prominent spots is pictured here - the Shamanka, or Shaman's Rock. The indigenous Buryats, adherents of shamanism, believe the island to be a spiritual place; they believe that Burkhan, a modern religious cult figure of the Altai peoples, lives in the cave in this rock, one of nine most sacred places in Asia.

I was quite...no, VERY surprised that I haven't posted anything about Baikal yet..! I am sure I have more postcards to show, I must have been waiting for all of them to be in one place. But these views are so calming and reminiscent of 'real winter', I just had to pop them in here. Thank you Angela :)

 

UNESCO - Jasper National Park, Canadian Rockies

I really REALLY feel like escaping to the mountains to reconnect with nature! Its been too long. This view fascinates me, its absolutely stunning don't you think? As this WHS site comprises 7 national/provincial parks, I will post one at the time, in hope I will indeed collect all seven of them. Thanks so much for this one Katie - and she lives a short drive away from some of these parks, uhh ohh..!

Jasper National Park is the largest national park in the Canadian Rockies, spanning 10,878 square km. It is located in the province of Alberta, north of Banff National Park and west of Edmonton. The park includes the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield, hot springs, lakes, waterfalls and mountains. Its most prominent peak is Mount Edith Cavell, named in 1916 after an English nurse executed by the Germans during World War I for having helped Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium to the Netherlands.

UNESCO - Pirin National Park, Bulgaria

The World Heritage property covers an area of around 40,000 ha in the Pirin Mountains, southwest Bulgaria, and overlaps with the undeveloped areas of Pirin National Park. The diverse limestone mountain landscapes of the property include over 70 glacial lakes and a range of glacial landforms, with many waterfalls, rocky screes and caves. Forests are dominated by conifers, and the higher areas harbour alpine meadows below the summits. The property includes a range of endemic and relict species that are representative of the Balkan Pleistocene flora.

There is no signature on the card so I don't know who to thank for this fantastic panoramic card - but whoever and wherever you are, I am grateful to you  :)

Dal Lake, Kashmir, India

Over 15km around, Dal Lake is Srinagar's jewel, a vast, mirror-flat sheet of water reflecting the carved wooden balconies of the houseboats and the misty peaks of the Pir Panjal mountains. Flotillas of gaily painted shikaras (gondola-like taxi boats) skiff around the lake, transporting goods to market, children to school and travellers from houseboat to shore.

Picturesque indeed, thank you Swati :)

 

Blue Pond, Japan

The Blue Pond, or Aoiike (青い池) is a small, artificial pond located outside the hot spring town, Shirogane Onsen in Biei, Hokkaido.  The pond’s name comes from the deep blue colour caused by the interplay of sunlight and natural minerals dissolved in the water. 

Thanks to Mika, and offers tag :)

Namtso Lake, China

Another stunning view from China - Namtso or Lake Nam is a mountain lake in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, approximately 112 kilometres NNW of Lhasa. It  lies at an elevation of 4,718 m and has a surface area of 1,920 square km (but is still far from being the highest lake).

There are five uninhabited islands of reasonable size - they have been used for spiritual retreat by pilgrims who walk over the lake's frozen surface at the end of winter, carrying their food with them. They spend the summer there, unable to return to shore again until the water freezes the following winter. This practice is no longer permitted by Chinese authorities.

Many thanks to Shu, I got this via a tag on the forum, and now i'm thinking its been ages since i participated in tags...well 'ages' can be a relative term; for someone sending postcards every week, months is a long time..!

UNESCO - Western Caucasus, Russia

The Western Caucasus  is one of the few large mountain areas of Europe that has not experienced significant human impact.Its habitats are exceptionally varied for such a small area, ranging from lowlands to glaciers. The site is situated 50 km to the north from the Russian resort of Sochi.

This particular view can be seen in the Nature Reserve, and the stamps are matching - great card to receive via a tag, thank you Lidiya!

UNESCO - Xinjiang Tianshan, China

Tian Shan is  a large system of mountain ranges located in Central Asia; in China being in the northwesternmost autonomous region Xinjiang.  Xinjiang Tianshan presents unique physical geographic features and scenically beautiful areas including spectacular snow and snowy mountains glacier-capped peaks, undisturbed forests and meadows, clear rivers and lakes and red bed canyons.

You may not recognise at first (well I didn't, but maybe its not a norm!) but this is a view of a lake - Tianchi or Heaven Lake of Tian Shan which lies on the north side of the Bogda Shan range of the Tianshan Mountains, about 45 kilometres east of Ürümqi.

Love it love it love it, thank you Jarod Xia! :)

Bled Castle, Slovenia

I visited the Bled Lake early this month but didn't send any postcards...as I have quite a few in my collection already, also this one is the shape of a postal stamp which I've posted the 1st time around, in 2007. As it happens we accidentaly witnessed a wedding, and I can totally understand that someone would choose such a picturesque place for such an occasion :)

This time we've tried the traditional slovenian cream cake, really delicious!! There was a cheesecake too ;)

Sirmione, Italy

My niece sent me a surprise card from a trip to Italy's largest lake Lago di Garda - a little town Sirmione boasts a 13th century castle with a rare example of medieval port fortification. I hope this is just one of many trips she'll take in the future xD

Queensland Lake District, New Zealand

A fantastic photography from New Zealand's South Island sent by Heather - and your choice of different stamps for each card you send has been discussed and hailed lol thanks!

UNESCO - Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape, Austria

 

The very name of this site suggests its complexity - a small town of Hallstatt is situated in Upper Austria, in the Salzkammergut region; it gives name to the Hallstatt Culture which encompasses Celtic, Proto-Celtic and Pre-Illyrian people from the 8th-4th centuries BC, and is known for its production of salt (Hals being Salt in Greek). The town was rebuilt in late Baroque style after a devastating fire in 1750.

It took me about a second to fall in love with this view. Soon after receiving this postcard I've discovered there are day-trips to Austrian Lakes, including Hallstaetter See, from Zagreb. Would be nice to live in the capital for a while! Many thanks to Sarah, also for the great stamp :))

Lago De Atitlan, Guatemala

This beautiful view is of Guatemala's Lake Atitlan and the San Pedro Volcano which rises to a hight of 3020 meters. Not sure about the little town/village but according to the map this must have been taken from Panajachel, a tourist hub situated on the northeast shore of the lake.

A lovely surprise last winter from Pat, thanks a million xD

England’s Lake District

 

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England - a popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or fells), but also for its associations with the early nineteenth-century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the other Lake Poets.

1st is a vintage postcard, then comes a painting of a little town Keswick situated just north of Derwent Water; Grasmere is a wonderful little place at the heart of the district; and sunset upon Windermere, the largest natural lake in England. I will remember my visit to these places for two things - my first time pitching a tent on my own :) Iand leaving my camera with all the beautiful photos in the public toilet :( Third thing would be - it was too short!

England’s Lake District in on Unesco's tentative list.

La Brea Pitch Lake, Trinidad And Tobago

 

The Pitch Lake is found in southwest Trinidad in the village of La Brea. The lake measures approximately one hundred acres and is estimated to be 76 metres deep in the centre. It holds about ten million tons of pitch - its the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world.

La Brea pitch lake is one of the three tentative Unesco sites of Trinidad and Tobago, I am really thankful to Nalini for sending it :))

UNESCO - Prehistoric Pile Dwellings Around The Alps, Germany

 

Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps is an Unesco site present in six European countries with a connection to the Alps - Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland. So far I have managed to obtain one of the sites, these wonderful images from an open air museum in Unteruhldingen on the German side of Lake Constance/Bodensee. These are reconstructions of Neolithic and Bronze Age pile dwellings but I think they are still counted as 'the real thing' ;) (considering their age and fragility i should think there are no originals to be seen anyway..?!)

My thanks goes to Gabi, and to Sara and an impressive number of postcrossers who met in Bielefeld in 2011 - vielen Dank!

UNESCO - Natural And Cultural Heritage Of The Ohrid Region, Macedonia

Situated on the shores of Lake Ohrid, the town of Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in Europe. Built mainly between the 7th and 19th centuries, it has the oldest Slav monastery (St Pantelejmon) and more than 800 Byzantine-style icons dating from the 11th to the end of the 14th century. Ohrid is one of only 28 sites that are part of UNESCO's World Heritage that are both Cultural and Natural sites.

The first two postcards show the picturesque Monastery of Saint Naum, an Eastern Orthodox monastery from the 10th century. It is situated along Lake Ohrid, 29 kilometres (18 mi) south of the city of Ohrid. My bad luck was that the local Tourist Information Centre gave me a wrong timetable for the buses so I missed my bus by 5 minutes :( and there were too few and far between...Nevermind, I plan to go back one day, as Ohrid is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen <3>The local PO had a great selection of stamps, yay! Not to forget, many thanks to dear Ana for great company! xx

UNESCO - Durmitor National Park, Montenegro

Durmitor National Park was formed by glaciers and is traversed by rivers and underground streams. Along the Tara river canyon, which has the deepest gorges in Europe, the dense pine forests are interspersed with clear lakes and harbour a wide range of endemic flora.

The first postcard is huuuge, one of the many gorgeous montenegran views printed by Studio Strugar - it shows Crno Lake at 1416 m altitude. The second is a self-made card I got from Saki Hostel in Budva. I have only seen so little of Montenegro but I surely want to go back and do some hiking!