Old Man of the Mountain, NH

Molly sent me this card on July 14, 2011, Postcrossing's 6th birthday.  

Old Man of the Mountain is located in Franconia Notch, New Hampshire.  The postcard reads: 

One of the world's most famous natural profiles.  It is also called the Great Stone Face.  It was immortalized in a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne and has appeared on a US postage stamp.  The face measures 48 feet from chin to forehead.

Photo by Bob Grant

 It came with these stamps:

American Clock together with 2 Forever stamps of the Statue of Liberty and American flag 

Mariinsky Palace, Ukraine

Eugene sent me this postcard of the Mariinsky Palace in Kiev, Ukraine.  There's also another palace with the same name located in St. Petersburg, Russia, but it was built a century after the one in Kiev.

The Mariinsky Palace was built it 1752 by the request of Empress Elizabeth.  To this day, this baroquesque 2-storey building serves its festive and ceremonial functions for official presidential matters.

I've encountered a decade-old Ukrainian Weekly newspaper online and read that on March 21, 1999, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ukraine's then-President, Leonid Kuchma, signed a memorandum of mutual understanding to strengthen the ties between the two countries at the Mariinsky Palace.

Welcome to 1 of the many official cribs of the Ukrainian President

 It came with this stamp:

Wheat ears stamp issued in 2004

The Main Market Square in Kraków

 So I realized I haven't really been posting for a while now.  Happy New Year! I should update more.  I have about 50 more cards waiting to be posted here.  Should do this to help me prepare for the Foreign Service Exam this February.

Anyway, I received this card from Karol last June 2011.

The Main Square (or Rynek Glowny in the vernacular) has been at the heart of Krakow since the 13th century.  Over the years, the Rynek's function evolved from the economic to the social center of Krakow.  Once a gathering place for merchants all over Europe to sell and trade their goods, the Rynek now gathers tourists from around the world.  It's the perfect place to start seeing the famous landmarks in the city.

The Main Square and St. Mary's Basilica

It came with these stamps:

The Dwór w Łopusznej (manor house in Łopuszna) and 1 of the 6 Koty (cats) stamps designed  by Andrzej Gosik

Karol even added that he was getting married in 6 weeks.  Congrats on your marriage with the love of your life, Dorothy! :)