CLEVELAND

Cleveland, located in the State of Ohio within Cuyahoga County, is on the southern shore of Lake Erie, part of the Great Lakes Region. It is the 18th largest metro area and 15th largest consumer market in the United States with nearly 3 million residents in Greater Cleveland metro and nearly 400,000 in the City of Cleveland. LifeSavers candy, the modern golf ball and the electric streetlight are all Cleveland firsts invented right here in Cleveland. Cleveland is the home of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman. Oscar winners Paul Newman and Halle Berry hail from the region.

The "Best Location in the Nation" is the claim of this world port located on Lake Erie. The 52-story Terminal Tower (center) is a Cleveland landmark. Lakefront Stadium (left) is home of Cleveland's Indians baseball and Browns fooball. Over 2 million people live in metropolitan Cleveland.

 

The 52-story Terminal Tower splits the Cleveland skyline like a towering cloud buster. It’s rightfully a city symbol. At the tower’s base is the renovated Regional Transit Authority’s light rail system. Inside is the ornate Tower City Center, home to a retail mall, food court, cinema, and a rich selection of hotels and restaurants.

BELFAST

Belfast is the capital city of the North of Ireland and is situated at the head of Belfast Lough. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, the second largest city on the island of Ireland and the 15th largest city in the United Kingdom. The name Belfast also originates from the Gaelic Beal Feirste, which means mouth of the river.

Some of the many attractions in the historic city of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Top row: Queen's University, the Crown Bar and City Hall.
Middle row: Belfast Castle, the Titanic Centre and the Botanic Gardens.
Bottom row: Stormont, the Big Fish and Harland & Wolfe Titanic Mural.

Belfast is a product of the Victorian industrial age. Shipbuilding, engineering, linen and rope-making flourished here. The city's most enduring peaceful symbols are the two great yellow Harland and Wolff dockyard, nicknamed Samson and Goliath, while numerous haughty Victorian buildings fill the city center. City Hall is the most impressive structure, topped by handsome copper domes, with elaborate stucco and a staircase of three types of Italian marble inside.

Only in Belfast can you trace the Titanic story to its source, discover the passion and pride of those who designed and built her and relive the excitement of the Titanic era when the city was at the height of its powers.

To find out more about Belfast: Belfast City Hall

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NEW BRUNSWICK

New Brunswick is the largest of Canada’s three Maritime provinces. It is located under Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula and beside the State of Maine. New Brunswick was one of the first provinces, along with Ontario, Québec and Nova Scotia, to join together to form the Dominion of Canada in 1867.  New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province with approximately 35 per cent of the population French-speaking.

Lupins and boathouse
 

New Brunswick has spectacular autumn foliage, wildflowers in the spring and pure, white snow in the winter. In this small province by Canada's eastern seas you'll find wide silver rivers where bright salmon leap, canoes gliding on soft emerald streams, rearing sentinel headlands standing firm against Atlantic tides, and silken sand beaches where water runs shallow and warm. The province is marked by its rolling hills and spectacular valleys, as well as its historic and modern architecture located in many of its cities, towns and villages. 

King's Landing Village Mill

Dropped like an emerald beside the sapphire blue of the St. John River, is Kings Landing. Its bustling country lanes lead you into the homes and lives of early New Brunswick settlers. Every corner of Kings Landing is active, from the kitchen fires to the blacksmith's forge. You can see the largest water-wheel driven sawmill in Canada.

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CHRISTCHURCH

Christchurch is New Zealand's second-largest city and the gateway to the South Island. Bordered by hills and the Pacific Ocean, it is situated on the edge of the Canterbury Plains that stretch to the Southern Alps. Located on the east coast of the South Island, Christchurch is a city of contrasts.It is a place where its residents continue to enjoy a healthy, active lifestyle amidst a natural environment world-renowned for its beauty. A growing cosmopolitan ambience also adds a touch of excitement without overt flashiness.

The 'Sign of the Takahe' - Christchurch New Zealand

This unique Gothic style building was conceived by Mr. H. G. Ell in 1918 as a roadhouse for the refreshment of travellers along the scenic Port Hills. I was constructed with primitive tools by relief workers during the 1932 depression and commands a panoramic view of the city, the Plains and the Southern Alps. The roadhouse is open daily for inspection and refreshments.

NELSPRUIT

Nelspruit lies in the fertile valley of the Crocodile River about 330 kilometres east of Johannesburg. Known as the capital of the great outdoors. The town was essentially created on 28 August 1884, when the Republican Volksraad approved plans to build a railway from the newly discovered Lowveld goldfields to Johannesburg. Kruger National Park is only 50 kms from this adventurer's paradise. Colourful commercial core of the lowveld. The area is noted for fruit production (citrus, mango, banana, avocado, macadamia and pecan nuts), wayside stalls and curio shops. With its sub-tropical climate, abundant sunshine and lush covered hills and valleys. The lowveld botanical gardens just outside of the town boasts a rare collection of plant species and the first man-made rain forests. Today the city's economy benefits from its proximity to Mozambique and Swaziland.

Postcrossing Postcard ZA-31777

BOSTON

The town was named Boston (Native Americans had called it Shawmut)after the town of the same name in England, which had been named after St. Botolph, the patron saint of fishing. Boston, first incorporated as a town in 1630, and as a city in 1822, is one of America's oldest cities, with a rich economic and social history. What began as a homesteading community eventually evolved into a center for social and political change. Boston has since become the economic and cultural hub of New England.
Boston is home to the nation's first public park (The Boston Commons 1640), the first public library (1653) and the first subway (1897).

Custom House Clock Tower
Boston, Massachusetts

The Custom House Tower is a 29-story skyscraper that is a masterful blending of two very discrete styles. The original building was built in 1847 in the Greek Revival style in a crucifix shape that featured 36 Doric granite columns (only 1/2 of which actually supported the structure) and which weighed some 42 tons each. Each of these columns was carved from a single piece of granite. Atop this original structure was also a magnificent dome reminiscent of the Pantheon.

Postcrossing Postcard US-959207

ROTHIEMURCHUS

Hidden in the forest of Rothiemurchus, this beautiful place is one of the most loved in the UK.  Rothiemurchus is a special place at the heart of the Cairngorms National Park, near Aviemore, in the Scottish Highlands.
The Cairngorms is the collective name for the high plateau to the south of Aviemore and which have four of the five highest mountains in Scotland.

ROTHIEMURCHUS, CAIRNGORM MOUNTAINS, HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND
Loch an Eilein Castle: www.rothiemurchus.net

The Rothiemurchus Estate includes Loch an Eilein Castle, an exceptionally lovely loch, surrounded by pines below a mountain backdrop and with an island castle, started in the 15C by Lachlan of Mackintosh but later enlarged and passing, as part of the estate, to the Gordons and then the Grants. Until the loch was dammed during the 18C  the castle could be reached by causeway.

Received from Hazel

OTTAWA

Ottawa is Canada's capital city. Perched on the border between Ontario and Quebec, it combines the best of both cultures - with a few others thrown in for good measure. Ottawa charms you with its natural beauty, graceful architecture, fine museums and simple pleasures. It blends urban sophistication, natural beauty and joie de vivre. Year round, it's a destination like no other.

The gothic Parliament Buildings, set on a bluff high above the Ottawa River, dominate the skyline. Three Gothic stone buildings roofed with green copper form Canada's seat of government. The centre block is crowned by the 92 m Peace tower with a carillon of 53 bells. A white light burns on top of the tower when Parliament is in session, and an eternal flame burns in front of the buildings as a symbol of Canada's 100 years of nationhood. For one thing, it's the highest point for miles and the view from behind Parliament House is excellent.

 

 

Ottawa Tourism

 

BRISBANE

Brisbane is Australia's third largest city, with 1.2 million residents living beside the Brisbane River as it flows into Moreton Bay. It is a busy and optimistic place. It is hard to believe that it was once regarded as little more than a dull, provincial backwater. The city's quintessential architecture, designed for the heat of the tropics, sees many of the houses elevated on stilts to take advantage of cooling breezes. Brisbane is Queensland's cosmopolitan capital, sparkling in sunshine by day and with myriad lights reflecting on the river by night.

 

Brisbane, capital of Queensland. Left to right: The beach at inner city South Bank Parklands; the city on the Town Reach of the Brisbane River; Brisbane City Hall.

 

Completed in 1930, the Neo-Classical City Hall is home to Brisbane City Council, the largest council in Australia, and the Museum of Brisbane. City Hall’s 92-m Italian Renaissance-style tower gives a panoramic view of the city from a platform at its top.

Visit Brisbane

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MADISON

 The Borough of Madison is located in southeast Morris County, New Jersey, about 22 miles due west of New York City’s Times Square. Sometimes called “The Rose City” and “Bottle Hill”. It is a beautiful community overflowing with colonial and Victorian architecture. Madison, named after President James Madison, was nicknamed the Rose City because of a 19th-century rose-growing industry started by wealthy residents drawn to Madison by its location on the Morris & Essex train line. Today, Madison consists of an area of 4.2 square miles, has a population of approximately 16,000 and remains a diverse community. Drew University, which lies on a 186-acre deciduous forest in the community, truly encompasses the heritage of the town and is a reflection of it’s 147-year existence. Main Street, or Route 124, is the borough’s distinct artery for shopping and dining. 

An aerial of this Morris town shows the many fine shops located on Main Street (RT. 24) and the train station nearby. Home to Drew University