Germany: Market Church St. Nicolai

Market Church St. Nicolai is located in Hamelin, Germany. It is the second oldest church in Hamelin.

Hamelin is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of about 56,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marktkirche_(Hameln)
Postcrossing Forum - 2018 February 50 RR [cateye]
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Turkey: Karaağaç railway station

Karaağaç railway station or before 1971 Edirne station was the name of the former railway station in Edirne. Currently, it houses Trakya University's Faculty of Fine Arts. Opened in 1998, the Treaty of Lausanne Monument and Museum are located next to the former railway station.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaa%C4%9Fa%C3%A7_railway_station
Postcrossing Forum - 2018 February 50 RR [purusha]
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Hong Kong: Festive Customs [節慶民間習俗] (FDC)

Festive Customs - Official First Day Cover 2018-02-27 [Hongkong Post]

Despite being a fast-paced, modern city that constantly keeps abreast of the times, Hong Kong attaches great importance to its traditional culture and preserves many unique folk customs. The city celebrates an array of colorful traditional festivals, with many festive customs and traditions deeply rooted in the heart of the community. Hongkong Post issues a set of six special stamps on the theme of "Festive Customs" to showcase these customs and traditions with their strong local flavors.

$2  - Putting Up Spring Festival Scrolls 貼揮春
It has been identified as one of the intangible cultural heritages of Hong Kong. It has became a tradition for people to decorate their homes and shops during Chinese New Year with Spring Festival scrolls that are inscribed with auspicious phrases such as "Wishing you safety wherever you go" so as to pray for blessings and fortune in the coming year.

$2.6 - Throwing Wishing Placards 拋寶碟
It is a time-honored custom which is considered to have originated in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po. People write down their name and wishes on wising placards and toss them onto the Lam Tsuen Wishing Trees. It is believed that the higher the wishing placards land on the tree, the greater the chance the wish will come true.

$3.4 - Offering First Incense in Chinese New Year 上頭炷香
It refers to worshippers making their first offerings of joss sticks to the deities immediately upon the arrival of the Lunar New Year.

$3.7 - Spinning Wheels of Fortune 轉風車
It is a popular custom practiced on the third day of the Lunar New Year. This day is known as "chi kou", literally "red mouth", and it is said that arguments are more susceptible to arise on the day. So instead of visiting friends and family, people normally prefer to wish for luck by spinning the wheels of fortune in Che King temples. By tradition, spinning these wheels of fortune will bring good luck in the coming year.

$4.9 - Drawing Chinese Fortune Sticks 求籤
It is a common ritual in local Chinese temples. In performing this ritual, people have to kneel in prater in a designated area of the temple and shake a fortune stick holder until a stick falls out. they can then collect the corresponding oracle in verse from a stall outside the temple or ask the fortune-teller in the temple for an interpretation.

$5 - Unicorn Dance 舞麒麟
It is a form of traditional folk performing art usually practiced during festivals and celebratory occasions. It is listed as part of Hong Kong's intangible cultural heritage. The unicorn dance is performed by two dancers who move the head and body of the unicorn respectively to the rhythm of the music, and is believed to bestow blessings and ward off evil.

FDC of the stamps version is also available:
http://walagemini.blogspot.hk/2018/04/hong-kong-festive-customs.html

Source: Back of FDC
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Germany: Sanssouci

Sanssouci is the summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam. It is little more than a large, single-story villa. Containing just ten principal rooms, it was built on the brow of a terraced hill at the centre of the park. Sanssouci and its extensive gardens became a World Heritage Site in 1990 under the protection of UNESCO. These palaces are now visited by more than two million people a year from all over the world.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanssouci
Postcrossing ID: DE-6997675
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Austria: Belvedere, Vienna

The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Austria. It consists of two Baroque palaces, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district of the city, on the south-eastern edge of its centre.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belvedere,_Vienna
Postcrossing ID: AT-375159
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Hong Kong: Chinese Traditional Temple

"Festive Customs" Special Stamps
Date of Issue: 2018 February 27

$3.4 - Offering First Incense in Chinese New Year
It refers to worshippers making their first offerings to joss sticks to the deities immediately upon the arrival of the Lunar New Year. Worshippers not only regard the offering as an act of piety and sincerity, but also a "good omen" for a promising new year.


Source: https://www.hongkongpoststamps.hk/eng/stamps/latest_stamp_issues/2018/20180227a/introduction.htm
Self Made Maxicard
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United Kingdom: McKee Clock

The McKee Clock is a clock tower in the town of Bangor, Northern Ireland. Situated at the foot of High Street in the marina's sunken gardens in an area known as the "McKee Clock Arena", the clock is named for its benefactor William McKee.

On the base of the clock, a black granite slab is engraved with the inscription "8 July 1915". This stone records the appreciation of the Bangor Urban District Council for the generous gift of this clock to his native town by James McKee.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKee_Clock
Postcrossing Forum - 2018 February 50 RR [whiskersonkittens]
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Brazil: Latin America Memorial

The Latin America Memorial is a political and leisure complex, inaugurated in 1989, in São Paulo, Brazil. The cultural project was developed by Brazilian anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro. It is a public foundation, financially and administratively autonomous, maintained by the state government.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America_Memorial
Postcrossing Forum - 2018 January 50 RR [Xiru]
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Germany: Schöner Brunnen

Schöner Brunnen is a 14th-century fountain located on Nuremberg's main market next to the town hall and is considered one of the main attractions of the city's Historical Mile. The fountain is approximately 19 meters high and has the shape of a Gothic spire.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%B6ner_Brunnen
Postcrossing Forum - 2018 January 50 RR [Tetsuko]
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Germany: Rothenburg Town Hall

The Town Hall with its splendid renaissance facade dominates the Market Square. This was the site of a double-fronted Gothic building dating from 1250, which can still be seen on one of the panels by the painter Friedrich Herlin on the main altar of the Church of St. Jacob.

Source: https://tourismus.rothenburg.de/index.php?id=608
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Poland: Royal Castle, Warsaw

The Royal Castle in Warsaw is castle residency that formerly served throughout the centuries as the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town.

Together with the Old Town, the Royal Castle was registered as a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of Warsaw's most recognizable landmarks due to its iconic appearance and history.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Castle,_Warsaw
Postcrossing Forum - 2018 January RR [CurtisinWarsaw]
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Czech Republic: Litomyšl

Postcrossing Forum - Hong Kong meets the world tag [rada-s]
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Belarus: Mir Caslte

The Mir Castle Complex is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Belarus.

When German forces invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, they occupied the castle and converted it to a ghetto for the local Jewish population, prior to their liquidation.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir_Castle_Complex
Postcrossing ID: BY-2224057
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Germany: Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Fussen in Bavaria, Germany.

The castle was intended as a home for the king, until he died in 1886. It was open to the public shortly after his death.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle
Postcrossing ID: DE-6751730
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USA: Colorado State Capitol

The Colorado State Capitol Building, located in Denver, Colorado, is the home of the Colorado General Assembly and the offices of the Governor of Colorado. The building is intentionally reminiscent of the United States Capitol.

The building is part of Denver's Civic Center area. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Civic Center Historic District in 1974, and became part of the Denver Civic Center National Historic Landmark District in 2012.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_State_Capitol
Postcrossing Forum - 2017 December 50 RR [k2whitehouse]
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Japan: Kaminarion Gate

The Kaminarimon (雷門 "Thunder Gate") is the outer of two large entrance gates the ultimately leads to the Senso-ji in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. The gate, with its lantern and statues, is popular with tourists.

Painted on the back of the later is the gate's official name, Furaijinmon (風雷神門).

The characters 金龍山 (Kinryu-zan) on the tablet above the lantern reads from right to left and reference the Senso-ji.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaminarimon
Walagemini trip to Tokyo in November, 2017
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South Korea: Gwanghwamun

Gwanghwamun is the main and largest gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, in Seoul, South Korea. As a landmark and symbol of Seoul's long history as the capital city during the Joseon Dynasty, the gate has gone through multiple periods of destruction and disrepair.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwanghwamun
Postcrossing Forum - 2017 November 50 RR [simplydeep]
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United Kingdom: Carrickfergus Castle

The majestic twelfth century fortress, first built in 1178, dominates the beautiful landscape around the historic town of Carrickfergus.

Source: Back of Postcard
Postcrossing Forum - 2017 November 50 RR [whiskersonkittens]
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China: Shanghai Museum

The Shanghai Museum is a museum of ancient Chinese art, situated on the People's Square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai, China. Rebuilt at its current location in 1996, it is considered on of China's first world-class modern museum.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Museum
Postcrossing Forum - 2017 November 50 RR [96hsu]
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USA: Antietam National Battlefield, MD

Surrounded by autumn splendor, the Maryland Monument stands as the only monument at Antietam dedicated to the valor of men on both blue and gray. Among those attending the May 30, 1900 dedication were several notable survivors of the Battle of Antietam, including former Confederates James Longstreet and Kenry Kyd Douglas and President William McKinley, a Union corporal at the time of the battle.

Source: Back of Postcard
Postcrossing Forum - 2017 November 50 RR [k2whitehouse]
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