Verzasca River, Switzerland

I keep forgetting that this postcard is from Switzerland.  Without googling any of the place names on the postcard, only a gray square containing a white cross would suggest that it came from Switzerland.  Of course, I didn't notice the Swiss flag in its grayscale mode so I had to google Ticino.

I received this postcard from Andy through the Water RR Group 189.  He says that the Verzasca River is quite "wild" but there are some parts (like the one shown on this postcard) that are calm.  Some people go bathing here in the summer despite the danger.

Italian is the sole language in Ticino, the southernmost canton in Switzerland

The postcard came with this stamp:

The Red Kite is a rare species endemic to the Western Palearctic region in Europe

Chicago River, IL

Again, another postcard I received from my godmother in the States.

On most days, one would see this river to be murky green in color, but once a year, the Chicago River is dyed the perfect shade of Irish green during St. Patrick's Day.  The river dyes the Illinois, which in turn dyes the Mississippi, continuing to the Gulf of Mexico, running upstream across the North Atlantic, and finally the sea of green gets to greet the Irishmen of the Emerald Isle in the Irish Sea.  This has been a tradition since 1962.  You can read more about the history on this website.

The river has played a central role in the history of Chicago 

During the 19th century, the Chicago River was crucial to the city's development as a major center of the lumber and meatpacking industries.  Cool, but of course, the dying the whole river green is cooler.