ROMANIA / Dragomirna Monastery

CANADA / Canmore, Alberta

Canadian Rockies

JAPAN / Nagasaki

Jya-odori, the dragon dance

THAILAND / Akha Hilltribe Village

CARD FROM LIETUVA / Tiger

UNITED KINGDOM / England, Hertfordshire

Litle old market. Corn Exchange, Hitchin.

Corn Exchange is the the most striking building on the Market Place. This Italianate building was completed in 1853 (for a price of 2000 pounds), shortly after the construction of the railway. With the arrival of the Great Northern Railway Hitchin became an important centre for grain trading. Bowmans - one of the country's largest remaining independent millers still have a large site at the charming nearby village of Ickleford to the North. This historic settlement is well known as it is bisected by the Roman trade route The Icknield Way and possesses a fine Norman church. Ickleford is one of several villages on the outskirts of Hitchin well worth a visit.
The origins of the grain trade go back a long way. In the sixteenth century, the town was said to be second to none for its grain market (especially wheat). Queen Elizabeth I is said to have replied to a Spanish nobleman, boasting of the vineyards of his country, that "My Hitchin grapes" (meaning malt) "surpass them, or those of any other country."

USA / Polar bear

Hiroshi Sugimoto Japanese-born American Photographer, born in 1948  

Polar bear 1976. Gelatin silver print.

Collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

JAPAN / Nagasaki

Nagasaki: Oranda-zaka, Dutch slope

Oranda-zaka ("Dutch slope") refers to the steep streets of a pleasant hillside residential area of Nagasaki. Western merchants, most notably from the Netherlands, settled in the area in the second half of the 19th century. The former residences of several Western merchants are exhibited in the nearby Glover Garden open air museum.

ISRAEL / Jerusalem

BELGIUM / Hello Kitty

CROATIA / Airview

BELGIUM / Leuven

1.Grote Universiteits Bibliotheek 2.De Kotmadam 3.Stadhuis

4.St. Pieterskerk  5.Fochplein  6.Grote Markt

CANADA / Niagara Falls

Aerial view at dusk of the spectacular Horseshoe & American Falls.

JAPAN / Famous train station in Kyushu

BRAZIL / Bahia

Praia do Forte, Bahia, one of Brazil's most attractive beaches

Some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Salvador on Bahia's Miracle Coast is the resort town/fishing village of Praia do Forte.  Praia do Forte Resort Brazil's first Eco-Resort is located on the east coast of the state of Bahia in 155,000 square miles of pure tropical nature in harmony with the customs of an old charming fishermen's village.