From Ourense to the World: Postcrossing at Padre Feijoo-Zorelle

05/05/2016

Exploring Places LV: Heinola, Finland

A card from Heinola has just arrived!

Aerial view of Heinola. Heinola.fi

WHERE IS HEINOLA?

Heinola is a Finnish town and a municipality of 19,633 inhabitants located in the region of Päijänne Tavastia

Location of Finland within Europe. Wikimedia Commons

Location of Heinola within Finland. Wikimedia Commons

HEINOLA IS FAMOUS FOR...

...the Sauna-sitting World Championships from 1999 to 2010.

Heinola Sauna Championshops

PLACES TO VISIT

Heinola Harjupaviljonki

Hariupaviljonki. Heinola Resort.com

Built in 1900, Harju pavilion is an eastern-influenced Art Nouveau building of cultural and historical value, and an absolute must for visitors to Heinola. Harju pavilion is located near the centre of the town.

Heinola Bird Sanctuary

Peacock at the Heinola Bird Sanctuary. Heinola.fi

The bird sanctuary is Heinola's most popular visitor attraction. 8 birdhouses and the Harjulampi pond combine to form the best bird paradise in Finland.

Heinola City Museum

Heinola Museum. Heinola.fi

Heinola City Museum provides guests with the history of the place from the late 1700s to the 1930s, bourgeois interiors of the 1800s, medals and cash collections, Anja Juurikkala Arabia-designed objects, old Finnish glass, the museum's collections of silver, as well as various themed exhibitions.

Heinola City Museum has become known as the great different stylistic periods presented in this exhibition.

Lääninkivalteri Aschan house

Lääninkivalteri Aschan House. Heinola.fi

With the Gustavian furniture, wallpaper and use of objects, doors and windows, visitors are taken to a unique atmosphere. The house represents the rococo and kustavilaisuutta styles and was completed in the 1780s.

LIFESTYLE

Heinola region offers a lot to see, do and experience. Wide-ranging activities, living market squares, museums, exhibitions and events, coffee shops and restaurants. There are also plenty of services offered aiming to physical and spiritual welfare.

Sources:

Wikipedia

Heinola Lonely Planet

Heinola Trip Advisor

03/05/2016

Stop 33: New Taipei City, Taiwan

Postcard 33 is travelling to New Taipei City, Taiwan, 10,901 km away!

Miguel Quiroga has written a colourful postcard featuring the "Cigarróns", the best-known figure in Verín's Entroido!

Miguel has done some research on New Taipei City and has shared his findings in EXPLORING PLACES. He has also found interesting information about the "Cigarróns" and the town of Verín. You can read his text in DISCOVER OURENSE.

Thanks, Miguel!

Discover Ourense XXX: Verín and the "cigarróns"

Postcard 33 features "Cigarróns", Verín's best known Carnival figures.

"Cigarróns" wear trousers with pompoms, white tights, a jacket, a tie, agirdle and a thick belt with hanging bells. The mask is made of wood and pictures of animals are hand-painted in the front. At the back there is a piece of leather. The whole costume weighs 25 kilos approximately, so you have to be very fit to wear it!

Cigarróns. Panoramio

Cigarrones. Wikipedia

Wearing this costume is very special and the feelings of wearing it can be seen in the awesome and moving video below by photographer Borys Martínez:

Verín is a small city in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain located in the southeast of the province of Ourense. The population of the concello (municipality) is about 14,433. It is located 70 kilometers east of the provincial capital of Ourense and 15 kilometers north of the Portuguese city of Chaves.

Ubicación de Verín. Wikipedia

The Tâmega River flows through the town. In the Middle Ages it was known as Santa María de Verín.

Verín. Josealimia.com

Verín has one major tourist sight, which is Monterrei Castle, a huge complex looming over the rather non-descript urban area. There is a parador next to the castle.

Castelo de Monterrei. Galiciaunica.es

Monterrei Castle played an important role throughout the Portuguese-Spanish wars, having been strategically built on the frontier for the purpose. It was more than a castle since included within the perimeter were a monastery, a hospital and a small town which was abandoned in the 19th century. The castle itself is more impressive from afar than at closer look, but the view from the heights is worth the drive up. At night it is lit up and you can see it for miles on clear nights, even from the hills of Chaves in neighboring Portugal.

Castelo de Monterrei. Wikimedia Commons

Verín and the region of Monterrei are famous for the wine and known as the land of water. There used to be quite a few thermal springs with mineral-medicinal waters. Unfortunately, nowadays, there is only bottled water taken from three springs: Cabreiroá, Sousas and Fontenova.

Manantial Cabreiroá. Postal antigua. Todocolección

In 2007, Verín and a neighbouring Portuguese town, Chaves, came together to form the Eurocity Chaves-Verín, with the river Tamega functioning as a natural corridor to join the 2 towns. It was a great initiative to bring together municipalities that, despite belonging to different states, share many cultural traditions.

Eurocity Chaves Verín

Sources:

Wikipedia

Concello de Verín

Turismo Galicia- Verín

Exploring Places LIV: New Taipei City, Taiwan

Postcard 33 has been sent to New Taipei City!

New Taipei City Center. Flikie.com

WHERE IS NEW TAIPEI CITY?

Location of Taiwan. Wikipedia

Location of Taipei within Taiwan. Wikipedia

New Taipei City is a special municipality and the most populous city in Taiwan. Located in northern Taiwan, the city includes a substantial stretch of the island's northern coastline and surrounds the Taipei Basin, making it the second largest special municipality by area, behind Kaohsiung.

Districts in New Taipei. Wikipedia

New Taipei City was originally a county known as Taipei County before 2010, which surrounds Taipei. After the county's population overtook that of Taipei, it was decided that the county should be upgraded to city status.

NEW TAIPEI CITY IS FAMOUS FOR...

...being a major city of business industries

Banquiao District Skyine. Wikimedia Commons

...having Taiwan's second-busiest seaport

New Taipei City port. Files.ctctcdn.com

PLACES TO VISIT

Longshan Temple and surrounding markets

Longshan Temple. Traveltaipei.com

This is one of the oldest temples in Taipei City, it was built in 1738 by the first Chinese settlers, who came from Fujian. The temple is open to Buddhism, Taoism and traditional Taiwanese beliefs. This is also the center of Taipei’s oldest district Wanhua, which is famous for some of the biggest and most traditional markets in the city. The nearby Huaxi Street Night Market is famous for its snake alley, the Guangzhou Street Night Market is the biggest night market, full of traditional “xiao chi” or “little eats”, popular street food enjoyed by young and old.

Dadaocheng, Dalongdong

Datong Temple. Travel Taipei

These are two historic neighbourhoods within the old Datong district. Together with Wanhua district it forms the so called Old Taipei, the part of the city, that was inhabited by Fujianese settlers in the early 18th century. Dadaocheng is famous for old temples and the very long Dihua Street, one of Taipei’s oldest streets, which is famous for its colonial Japanese architecture as well as a plenty of traditional shops. The street is especially lively during the annual Spring Festival, the so called Lunar New Year.

The Memorial Halls

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Wikipedia

Taipei City is the political center of Taiwan (officially Republic of China), bearing a great significance locally, as well as regionally. Two historic figures, that have not only greatly impacted the modern history of Taiwan, but also history of China, are honored with two iconic memorial halls. The first is the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, dedicated to Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China in 1911 in Nanjing. The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is dedicated to one of his successors, generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, who continued the Republic of China on Taiwan in 1949 and ruled as president until his death in 1974.

Statue of Chiang Kai-Shek. Wikipedia

His majestic 76m tall memorial hall is located in Taipei’s biggest square named Liberty Square. The neo-classical Chinese architecture is dominating the area together with the National Theatre as well as the National Concert Hall, who are also found here.

Thermal Valley

Thermal Valley. Travel Taipei

Located beside Beitou Hot Spring Park, Thermal Valley is one of the sources supplying the area’s hot springs. The sulfuric steam that blankets the valley year-round gives the valley a frightening quality, giving rise to nicknames like “Ghost Lake.”

"Ghost Lake" Thermal Valley Taipei. Guide to Taipei

The springs here have the highest temperatures of any in the Datunshan volcano group. With its surreal sulfuric atmosphere, it’s no wonder Thermal Valley was considered one of the “12 great sights of Taiwan” during the Period of Japanese Occupation.

LIFESTYLE

Although Taipei is somewhat like a large Western city with its go-go attitude, it's very different in other ways.

Watch the video below to find out all the opportunities New Taipei City has to offer!

Sources:

Wikipedia

Travel Taipei

Guide to Taipei

02/05/2016

We hope our friend from Kirchhain, Germany, will like this postcard of Jane Austen’s Emma!

Postcard 32 has been sent to Kirchhain, a town very near the heart of Germany, more than 1,500 km away!

Hope our friend Solveig will like these illustrations representing some scenes of our favourite comedy of manners in English: Jane Austen’s Emma (1815)

If you haven’t read it, let us tell you that Emma is a very entertaining and wonderfully written novel about matchmaking and misconstrued romance. Its protagonist Emma Woodhouse is “handsome, clever, and rich” but also a bit spoiled and, above all, not very skilled in matchmaking, which will lead to unexpected tragicomic situations!

Anabella, Luis and Silvia have explained to Solveig why they have chosen this postcard; you can find the reason here.

Thank you, guys!

If you want to read about Kirchhain, Solveig’s hometown, visit our section EXPLORING PLACES!

Exploring Places LIII: Kirchhain, Germany

Postcard 32 has been sent to Kirchhain, Solveig’s hometown.

Night view of Kirchhain Markt. Wikimedia Commons

WHERE IS KIRCHHAIN?

Location of Germany. Wikipedia

Location of Kirchhain within Germany. Wikipedia

Kirchhain is a town with a population of over 16,000 located in the heart of the state of Hesse in Marburg-Biedenkopf district, in west central Germany. Geographically, it is surrounded by the Amöneburg Basin on the southeast edge of the Burgwald (a low mountain range) about 15 km east of Marburg on the rivers Ohm and Wohra.

KIRCHHAIN IS FAMOUS FOR…

…being the gateway to “Gateway to the Burgwald,” a low mountain range, which is home to of its 12 municipalities or districts. Prehistoric trails in the area show a continuous settlement from at least the New Stone Age. In the Middle Ages, Kirchhain was an important stop on the old trade route from Cologne to Leipzig.

Burwald Trail. Alamy Stock Photo

… being the birthplace of Leo Strauss (1899-1973), a German Jewish émigré to the United States who specialized in political philosophy and excelled in his attempt to apply the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle to contemporary political theory.

Leo Strauss. Wikipedia

PLACES TO VISIT

Rathaus

Kirchhain Town Hall. Wikipedia

The Rathaus (Town Hall) is the town's landmark, built in 1450 with timber framing.

The Haus "Zum blauen Löwen"

Happel Haus. My Heimat.de

Built in 1612, this landmark was the birth house of the author Eberhard Werner Happel, who wrote teatrises on natural science as well as fiction works in which he included many aspects of contemporary knowledge in encyclopaedic form and dealt with historical and current political themes, compilations of anecdotes about famous people.