Pin-up girl by Elvgren Gil - Rosto-on-Don, Russia

Gillette Alexander Elvgren (1914-1980) was an American painter of pin-up models, advertising and illustration. Best known for his pin-up paintings for Brown & Bigelow, Elvgren studied at the American Academy of Art. He was strongly influenced by the early "pretty girl" illustrators, such as Charles Dana Gibson, Andrew Loomis, and Howard Chandler Christy.

 

Struve Geodetic Arc - Kuopio, Finland

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulation measurements stretching from the Arctic Sea to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. 

This helped establish the exact size and shape of our planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed Unesco World Heritage site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in a rock, iron cross, cairns, or built obelisks.

 

Simon Kenton Shrine - Washington, Kentucky

Located in one of the oldest historic villages in Kentucky, the Simon Kenton Shrine is an authentic log cabin built in the 1790s. Named to honour Simon Kenton, who once owned a store in Washington, the place houses farm implements, tools, household goods, and other items available at a frontier store.

 

The Monument to the Sunken Ships - Sevastopol, Russia

The Monument to the Sunken Ships is the symbol of the city of Sevastopol, on the disputed Crimean peninsula. Located in Sevastopol Bay, it was designed by Amandus Adamson and built by Valentin Feldmann in 1905.

 

Mojito - Hong Kong

Mojito is a traditional Cuban highball. The cocktail often consists of five ingredients: white rum, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime juice, soda water, and mint. Its combination of sweetness, citrus, and herbaceous mint flavors is intended to complement the rum and has made the mojito a popular summer drink.

 

The Museum of Shipbuilding and Fleet - Donetsk, Ukraine

The only museum of Shipbuilding in Ukraine is situated in Mykolaiv. The museum exhibition is located in twelve rooms and numbers nearly 3,000 exhibits. Ancient House, where the museum is situated, is a monument of the history and architecture of the late 18th – early 19th century. Built in the style of the ancient Russian classicism, it served as chancery and premises of the main commanders of the Black Sea Fleet during 1794–1900.

 

Champagne pops - Mikkeli, Finland

"SAUTE-BOUCHON" - at the beginning of its history, champagne was called the devil's wine or the devil's drink. 

Carbon dioxide is formed in champagne as a result of the natural aging process in the bottles. New wine is poured into the bottles and then stored slightly tilted towards the cork at a temperature of 3-5 ° C. The aging bottles exploded and the corks popped out under the influence of high pressure, which gave winemakers a lot of trouble.

 

View of Jakarta by night - Bandung, Indonesia

Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia.

Nicknames: Kota Kembang (City of Flowers), Parijs van Java (Dutch) (Paris of Java)

Mottos: Clean, Prosperous, Devout, Friendly   

Most people in the surrounding province of West Java are ethnically Sundanese, with Sundanese often spoken as a first language, as well as the common and informal language for communication in streets, school, work, and markets.

#29 FOTW - Pori, Finland

In 2010, Finland established a National Failure Day to learn from mistakes and not repeat them.

The first inhabitants of Finland were the Sami people who were there when the first Finns immigrated in the first millennium BC. The Sami moved north to what is known today as Lapland.  

Rumcajs - Chlumčany, Czech Republic

Rumcajs came from Jičín and was a shoemaker by profession, he became a robber out of necessity.

He had a wife, Hanka (in the Czech original, Manka), and a son, Cypisk; it did not part with its characteristic pistol.  

All three lived in a cave in Rzaholecki Las. Rumcajs's enemies were Prince Pan and Princess Lady; the plot of a fairy tale unfolded around this conflict.

Niagara Falls - Niagara Falls, Canada

The Canadian side of the waterfall is much more attractive to tourists, as it overlooks the falling water of the American cascade and a good view of the Canadian cascade, although this one is usually partially obscured by clouds of droplets, constantly formed by falling water masses.   

Boeing MD-90 - Mulhouse, France

McDonnell Douglas MD-90 was firmly launched on November 14, 1989. MD-90 production at Long Beach, California ended in 2000 with the last airplane being delivered to Saudi Arabian Airlines, and MD-90T production at Shanghai ended in 2000.   

1979 EUROPA CEPT Aviation Internal Postal

#11 FOTW - Bydgoszcz, Poland

1. Poland is the largest amber exporter in the world - it is estimated that the share of Polish products on the world market can reach up to 70%.

2. The Błędowska Desert is the only natural desert in Europe.

3. The oldest restaurant in Europe, Piwnica Świdnicka, was founded in 1275 and is located in Wrocław. 

4. Max Factor was founded by Maksymilian Faktorowicz.

5. The narrowest house in the world is only 4 meters wide - it is located between two buildings in Warsaw.

6. Drinking beer with juice and in the form of mulled wine is a Polish idea, rarely found in other parts of the world.

#1 WOW - Taipei, Taiwan

Taipei city was founded in 1708 by immigrants from the south-eastern Chinese provinces.

The city is the place of organization of world IT fairs.  

Tourist attractions include Taipei 101 skyscraper - one of the tallest buildings in the world (over 500 m high); Chiang Kai-shek National Memorial Hall, and more.