Lighthouses and London

The letter L has left me spoilt for choice between the seaside and the city centre, lighthouses and London. I couldn't decide between them, so I'm showing both because they provide a nice contrast and hopefully will appeal to differing tastes.

Lighthouses are a very popular collection theme because, I assume, of their striking shape and often in dramatic settings.

The London postcards are ones I've sent to people in the past. I don't collect them myself because it feels like London is just up the road. However, they do make a good theme to collect.

Lighthouses in Brittany

Our Brittany, its lighthouses (Notre Bretagne ses phares) it says on the back of this map postcard.   The individual lighthouses are detailed on the right hand side of the card but it's very hard to make out the detail. It gives the colour, period, height above sea level, distance, of each lighthouse.

I found the text insert very interesting.  It appears to be a Breton poem with a translation in French:

Maps on Monday

Cape Cod for July 4th

I intended this week to be filled with cards from Canada but for Independence Day USA I have had to break the theme.  Well, there remains a link with my holiday in that every other person I met seemed to be going, or intending to go, to Cape Cod for their holidays.  I hope the weather there was an improvement.

To complete the link, this card was waiting for me on my arrival home.  The sender tells me the weather there has been hot and humid so maybe the Canadians enjoyed it.

A lighthouse

A beautiful picture of an unnamed lighthouse.  It came from the Netherlands so I have to assume it's a Dutch lighthouse.

The Light of East Asia

The Eluanbi Lighthouse is on the southernmost point of Taiwan and often known as the Light of East Asia.  It is still functional but also preserved as a historical monument.

It comes from the same range of cards as the Skytower.

Lighthouses of North Carolina

From Cape Hatteras and marked with the stamp from the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the light station itself comes this beautiful postcard showing the "lights of the state of North Carolina reachable by car or ferry".

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in the USA and one of the tallest brick built lighthouses in the world.  It was built in 1870 in place of an earlier one.  Interestingly, in 1999 it had to be moved 2900 feet inland because of coastal erosion.

Thank you so much, Maureen!

Kaliningrad

That's a statue of Peter the Great on the right but the lighthouse and houses of the Fishing Village really don't look much like the Russia of my imagination.  It is though.  This is Kaliningrad.

Kaliningrad is geographically completely separate from Russia, and not just by a little bit - hundreds of miles.  It is separated from Russia by Lithuania and Poland.  It was once called Königsberg and part of Prussia, then Germany.  It was almost destroyed during WWII and occupied by the Red Army.  It was renamed in 1946 after Mikhail Kalinin.

It was once one of the Hanseatic League cities.  The Hanseatic League was set up during the 12th century between merchants from northern Europe, mainly German and Scandinavian.  It became so powerful it lasted for approximately three centuries.  The word "hansa" can still be found today, most notably in Lufthansa, the German airline.

In 1980 a new Hanseatic League was formed, open to all former members, to promote tourism and trade.  Kings Lynn in Norfolk is the only English member.  It was once the third most important port in England.  It still has two warehouses dating from those times.

Caldey? Caldy? Cold Island

I am mystified as to why Caldey Island is spelt Caldy on this card.  I can find no reference to an earlier or alternative spelling.  There is a Caldy in the north west of England, near Liverpool so I'm wondering if the postcard publisher has made a mistake.

The name comes from the Viking name, Keld Eye, meaning cold island.  A little strange that the Vikings would think the place cold, but who knows.

This is another card given to me by John of English Wilderness who posted his own photograph of Caldey Island a few days ago.  He got the spelling right. :)

Kaohsiung Lighthouse

Kaohsiung Lighthouse was located at the peak of Qihou Hill at Kaohsiung Harbor.  In 1883 the square brick lighthouse, installed with grade-6 single-wick postioned reflectors was constructed by the customs.  In 1916 the lighthouse was remodelled by the Japanese.  In 1918 the remodelling was completed and the lighthouse turned to be a white octagonal brick lighthouse.  There was a western office built in front of the lighthouse.  The two buildings are combined as one to form Kaohsiung Lighthouse.

Although the lighthouse is called Kaohsiung Lighthouse on the card, it seems to be known more often as Chihou Lighthouse.  I don't intend to cut it up to make a model, because in that way someone in the future will be able to say, "Isn't it remarkable that it's lasted so long"!

Lighthouse

Unnamed, but sent to me from Sweden. A beautiful summery scene.

Torre de Belem

Posted to me from Póvoa de Santo Adrião near Lisbon on 11 June 2009.
Lisboa
Torre de Belém

The Tower of Belém is a fortification dating from the 16th century when it was a lighthouse guarding the port of Belém.  it, and the Jerónimos Monastery are UNESCO protected sites.  Many famous Portugues explorers set off from Belém, the most famous probably being Vasco de Gama.
Jerónimos Monastery, Lisbon