The Evil Eye - Istanbul, Turkey

Many cultures believe that receiving the evil eye will cause misfortune or injury, while others believe it to be a kind of supernatural force that casts or reflects a malevolent gaze back-upon those who wish harm upon others (especially innocents). 

Talismans or amulets created to protect against the evil eye are also frequently called "evil eyes". Older iterations of the symbol were often made by ceramic or clay, however, proceeding the production of glass beads in the Mediterranean in approximately 1500 B.C., evil eye beads popularised with the Phonecians, Greeks, Romans, and Ottomans.

 

Klompen - Leersum, The Netherlands

A klomp is a whole-foot clog from the Netherlands.

The traditional all-wooden Dutch clogs have been officially accredited as safety shoes with the CE mark and can withstand almost any penetration including sharp objects and concentrated acids. 

They are actually safer than steel-capped protective shoes in some circumstances, as the wood cracks rather than dents in extreme accidents, allowing easy removal of the clog and not continued pressure on the toes by the (edge of the) steel nose.

 

Vermouth Martini - Winnipeg, Canada

Vermouth is an aromatized fortified wine, flavored with various botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices) and sometimes colored.

The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid-to-late 18th century in Turin, Italy. While vermouth was traditionally used for medicinal purposes, it was later served an apéritif, with fashionable cafés in Turin serving it to guests around the clock.

 

#42 GF - Godby, Aland Islands

In the Åland Islands, there is a total ban on military maneuvers and a ban on airplanes by military aviation - the area of the Åland Islands is a demilitarized zone.

More than 90% of the inhabitants of the Åland Islands have their mother tongue as Swedish and 5% as Finnish. The government-funded schools are Swedish-speaking.

 

British Airways - Chichester, England

British Airways celebrated its 100 year anniversary in 2019. As one of the world’s most well-known airlines, it has a rich history. August 25th, 2019, in fact, marks an important date in BA’s legacy. 

It was on this day in 1919 Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (AT&T) launched the world’s first daily international scheduled flight between London and Paris.

 

#43 FOTW - Lillesand, Norway

Fredrik Meltzer submitted his proposal just in time to be exhibited in parliament on 4 May 1821. He recommended a tricolour of red, white and blue, "three colours that now denote freedom, such as we have seen in the French flag of freedom, and still see in that of the Dutch and Americans, and the Union of the Englishmen". His eventual choice a few days later of a Nordic cross was based on the tradition established by the other Nordic countries, Denmark and Sweden. This cross represents Christianity. The red and blue colours also explicitly referred to the same two countries, former and present union partners.

 

Greetings from Toledo - Cleveland, Ohio

Nicknames: The Glass City

Mottos: "Laborare est Orare" (To Work is to Pray)

The name comes from the city of Toledo in Spain (the original name was Fort Miami).

Toledo Mud Hens are one of the minor league baseball's oldest teams in continuous operation since 1896.

 

A girl and a snowman - Yoshkar-Ola, Russia

Yoshkar-Ola means red city in Mari and was formerly known as Tsaryovokokshaysk before 1919, as Krasnokokshaysk between 1919 and 1927. It is currently one of the centers of the Finno-Ugric people and the administrative center of the Yoshkar-Ola city district.

Krestovsky Stadium, known as Gazprom Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof stadium with a retractable pitch in the western portion of Krestovsky Island in Saint Petersburg which serves as a home for FC Zenit Saint Petersburg.

 

Large Letter Reprint - Phoenix, Arizona

Nicknames: The Grand Canyon State; The Copper State; The Valentine State

Mottos: Ditat Deus (God enriches)

There are 19 Indian reservations in Arizona inhabited by the Navajo, Apache, Hopi, and Pima tribes.

The meteor crater (Meteor Crater) was formed by the impact of an iron asteroid about 40 meters in diameter, which ejected about 175 million tons of earth and rock into the air, creating a crater a kilometer wide and several hundred meters deep. There is now a museum on the site, where you can e.g. watch the movie Impact.

 

Bouquet of flowers - Wiesbaden, Germany

Wiesbaden - lies on the River Rhine, at the foot of the Taunus Mountains. It is known for its thermal springs. The headquarters of the Bundeskriminalamt and the Federal Statistical Office of Germany are located in the city.

Biebrich Palace is a Baroque residence in the borough of Biebrich in the city of Wiesbaden. Built in 1702 by Prince Georg August Samuel of Nassau-Idstein, it served as the ducal residence for the independent Duchy of Nassau from 1816 until 1866.

 

#41 GF - Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The country has the last jungle in Europe in Perućica. The Perućica forest is not massive but has many trees that are over 300 years old, and in many places, it is inaccessible to humans due to the density of flora and fauna.

The bridge in Mostar is one of the country's most recognizable landmarks. It is a 16th-century Ottoman bridge that stood for 427 years until it was ruined during the war in 1993. The bridge was reconstructed and opened in 2004.

 

Kyoto Shoin 1998 - Osaka, Japan

Temples and pagodas share a panorama with office complexes. Traditional artisan shops and old neighborhoods alternate with modern shopping malls and metro stations.

Among the secular monuments in Kyoto, three that are usually mentioned as the most distinguished are the Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle, and the Imperial Villa Katsura.

 

#42 FOTW - Seoul, South Korea

The national flag of the Republic of Korea, also known as the Taegeukgi, has three parts: a white rectangular background, and a red and blue taegeuk in its center, accompanied by four black trigrams, one in each corner. Flags similar to the current Taegeukgi were used as the national flag of Korea by the Joseon dynasty, the Korean Empire, as well as the Korean government in exile during Japanese rule. South Korea adopted Taegeukgi as its national flag in 1948.

The flag's field is white, a traditional colour in Korean culture that was common in the daily attire of 19th-century Koreans and still appears in contemporary versions of traditional Korean garments such as the hanbok. The colour represents peace and purity. The circle in the flag's centre symbolizes balance in the world. Derived from the Chinese I Ching and Taiji (philosophy), known in the West as the Yin and Yang, the blue half represents negative energy (Yin), and the red half represents the positive energy (Yang).

 

Boeing 747SP with NASA Space Shuttle - Kokkola, Finland

Boeing 747SP with NASA Space Shuttle at Fairford in Gloucestershire, England (photograph by David Smith).

The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) are two extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters. 

The SCAs were used to ferry Space Shuttles from landing sites back to the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center. The orbiters were placed on top of the SCAs by Mate-Demate Devices, large gantry-like structures that hoisted the orbiters off the ground for post-flight servicing then mated them with the SCAs for ferry flights.

EUROPA stamp 2016 - "Ecology in Europe"

 

Jaro v Rokycanech - Rokycany, Czech Republic

The place was inhabited since the Stone Age. Celtic and early Slavic settlements were discovered.

Rokycany hosts Fluff Fest, a vegan hardcore punk festival that draws several thousand visitors from across Europe every July. t is held at the Rokycany airfield, having moved there in 2006 from its original location in Plzeň. The festival has been described as a yearly "strain" on the town, which is otherwise unaccustomed to large numbers of foreign visitors and extreme music adherents, and brings a business boom especially in sales of vegetarian and vegan food.

 

Lantern Press 46483 - Miami, Florida

Crater Lake National Park is an American national park located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake is the fifth-oldest national park in the United States and the only national park in Oregon.

Crater Lake inspires awe. Native Americans witnessed its formation 7,700 years ago when a violent eruption triggered the collapse of a tall peak. 

Scientists marvel at its purity: fed by rain and snow, it’s the deepest lake in the USA and one of the most pristine on earth. Artists, photographers, and sightseers gaze in wonder at its blue water and stunning setting atop the Cascade Mountain Range.

 

Safeco Field - Seattle, Washington

Safeco Field, Seattle's long-awaited Major League Baseball Stadium, boasts a retractable roof, natural turf, and 47,000 seats. Its full view concourses, family fun areas, and baseball museum make this field a fan-friendly and unique experience.

 

#40 GF - Pampeluna, Spain

The name of the country of Spain is derived from the word Ispania which means Rabbit Land.

The cult lollipops Chupa Chups (the name comes from the Spanish verb chupar, which means to suck) come from Spain. They have been in existence for over 56 years.

 

Lebensfreude by Julia Laatsch - Veenendaal, The Netehrlands

"radość życia" PL

"joie de vivre" FR

"lebensfreude" DE

"love of life" GB

EUROPA stamp 2009 - "Astronomy"

 

#41 FOTW - Funchal, Madeira

The regulations and clarification of the dimensions, colours and symbolism of the flag of the Autonomous Region were approved by decree of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira on July 28, 1978.

The blue represents the environment that characterizes insularity and represents nobility, beauty and serenity. The gold mirrors the mildness of the archipelago's climate and symbolizes wealth, strength, faith, purity and constancy.

The Cross of the Order of Christ alludes to the following historical fact: the archipelago was discovered by two knights of the Household Henry the Navigator, who was Grand Master of the Military Order of Christ: João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira; becoming therefore a symbol of connection with Portugal.

 

Gudetama - Hong Kong

Gudetama is a cartoon character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio.

The name Gudetama is formed from two parts: the first is the ideophone “gudegude” which is used to evoke the impression of something lazy and lacking energy. 

The second part is from the Japanese word “tamago” which means egg.

Therefore, Gudetama can be translated into English as "lazy egg". Gudetama's personality and appearance match its name, as it is a depressed egg.

 

Ladya - Samara, Russia

The stele "Ladya"  is a monumental sculptural composition, one of the sights of Samara. It is a massive concrete structure of twenty meters in height. It was erected in 1986 by the project of the Samara architects Anatoly Yankin and Igor Galakhov.

The monument stylized depicts an ancient sailing boat floating on the waves, personifying the history of the region when ships of Russian merchants and knights passed by the banks of the Volga. 

 

Marktplatz mit Hotel Kaiserworth - Goslar, Germany

The history of Goslar is closely related to the mining of metal ores in the current district of Rammelsberg. Founded in 922, the city became the seat of the emperors of the Salic dynasty, who built an imperial palas here (German: Kaiserpfalz) to better control silver production.

In 1992, the medieval old town of Goslar with the mine in Rammelsberg was entered on the UNESCO cultural heritage list.

 

The flag of Utah - Salt Lake City, Utah

The flag of the State of Utah was adopted in February 2011 and consists of the seal of Utah encircled in a golden circle on a background of dark navy blue.

A bald eagle, the national bird of the United States, symbolizes protection in peace and war. The sego lily, the state flower of Utah, represents peace. The state motto "Industry" and the beehive represent progress and hard work. The U.S. flags show Utah's support and commitment to the United States. 

 

#39 GF - Santiago, Chile

The clearest sky in the world - Vicuna area is famous for the cleanest skies in the southern hemisphere. No wonder then that it is teeming with astronomical observatories.

It is estimated that currently the country is inhabited by about 3,000,000 Poles. These are mainly people who came to Chile before the Second World War and their descendants.