China

That card is very misterious. I recieved it for Bridges RR group and all what a sender wrote was the information that  the bridge is located on the 2nd the largest river in China- which is called Yellow River as far as I remember. I have no idea what is that city, which part of the country and what's the name of the bridge... Card has quite a long description on the back but unfortunately chinese is not my language...

Gateway Arch

Postcard from Kristi 

The purpose of building the Gateway Arch were numerous. First, it was built with a vision of being an avant-garde construction, that would symbolize architectural expression of simplicity and modernity. Second, in 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National Historic Site, to memorialize the role of Thomas Jefferson and others responsible for the America's territorial expansion to the west. Third, was the decision related to building it in St.Louis. It was done to acknowledge the importance of St. Louis's citizens in the settling of the west, and finally, to revitalize the deteriorating riverfront. All these reasons contributed to the Gateway Arch construction.

The Gateway Arch is a perfect blend of beauty and modern architectural styling. Millions of tourists visit it annually, not only to view this marvel, but take its tram ride, that is of only a four minutes way up to the top. 
On the postcard we can see the panorama of St. Luis and Gateway Arch dominating the view.

Saint Petersburg

Today the first of many postcards from wonderful city of Saint Petersburg, thanks to Ludmila!

Beautiful postcard from Ludmila

'The most abstract and intentional city in the world' as Dostoyevsky reffered, St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia with the population of over 4 800 000 citizens. Locals calls the city just 'Peter'

The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. It used to be capital of Russia in years 1713-1728 and 1732-1918. The city is located along the shores of Neva Bay and islands of the river delta.The baroccan and neo-classical buildings of the city center are well preserved. Historic City Center is listed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO

The reason why I like the city and I'd love to see it are all the refferences of the city in literature. I'm a book freak and I find russian literature the most interesting. The best book ever written is undoubtly "Master and Margarita" (of course it's my personal opinion). Another really amazing books are "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky and "Anna Karenina" by Tolsoy. 

St. Petersburg was usually claimed to be artificial, messed up, mechanical... The symbol of disorder and the city where status is the most important thing. It's hard for me to understand looking at the beautiful sights from there. Anyway since I've read "Crime and Punishment" I'm dreaming about Saint Petersburg and I hope one day in the future I'll visit it!

Tharr will be more ;)

Golden Gate

I love direct swaps! That way I can recieve postcards that I really want. This time I only said I'd like the Golden Gate postcard as it's the most recognizable bridge in the world. I didn't expect much- this is the first direct swap I've recieved. I got really beautiful postcard and I just love it!

Scan of the postcard is not amazing. It is printed on a satin-like paper and it's really beautiful. The only thing that I don't like are those bleached stains... But I like to believe that it gives the postcard character ;)


Golden Gate Bridge is a sunspention bridge connecting San Francisco to Marin Country in California, the USA. It's located on Golden Gate-the opening of San Francisco Bay into the Pacific. It was being built from 1933 to 1937. A lot of experts claimed that there are no technical possibilities of building it across over 2000m. Joseph Strauss was an engeenier responsible for the project but very important influence on the construction and design had also Irving Morrow, Leon Moissieff (constructor of the Manhattan Bridge in NY) and Charles Ellis.


Each of the lines used has a diameter of almost 1 meter and can handle 95 tons. Total lenght is 2,788m and it's 27 m wide. Total weight of Bridge, anchorages, and approaches: 887,000 tons. The towers are 227 high.

The characteristical orange colour (international orange) was orginally the colour of the sealant.The Us Navy wanted to paint the bridge with black and yellow stripes! It was an ensurrance of visibility for passing ships. Can you imagine it like that? It would be a crime! Choosing orange was definietly better idea-The Golden Gate Bridge was ranked 5th on the List of America's Favourite Architecture.


The Bridge was closed only 3 times since it was opened due to strong winds and it survived many strong earthquakes. The dark side of the bridge is the number of suicides commited there which is the hightes number among all of the bridges. There are many methods used to defcrease that number such as hotlines, staff patrols, closing the bridge at night and special barriers.

On the 27th of May Golden Gate Bridge will have 74th anniversary of creation!