George Washington's Surveying Office

Outgoing postcard US-3373216 to Taiwan shows a vintage card of George Washington's Surveying Office on the Washington Farm, located along the northern bank of the Rappahannock River, across from the city of Fredericksburg, in Stafford County, Virginia.

Also known as the Ferry Farm, it is the George Washington Boyhood Home Site where George Washington spent much of his childhood with the Cherry Tree Myth, and where his father Augustine Washington died on April 12, 1743 at age 49 when George Washington was 11 years old. Augustine had left behind a small set of surveying instruments after he died. The illustration shows the only building remaining which is said to have been used by George Washington as a workshop while acquiring practice surveying.

However, archaeologists later found the building dated to the late 1800s, post Civil War. So it could not have been used by young George as a workshop. "The Surveyor Shed" was a subject of money making schemes by James Beverly Colbert and George Allen England who promoted the non-important structure as a genuine relic, in an attempt to profit from the land's associations with Washington in the 1920s.

Vintage Cardinal Song Bird Illustration

Postcard US-2995481 to Poland shows a vintage cardinal song bird illustration from the 1800s. Known as the redbird or common cardinal, the northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is in the genus Cardinalis and can be found in woodlands, gardens, shrublands, and swamps from southern Canada, the eastern United States from Maine to Texas, to Mexico. The bird has a distinctive crest on the head, and a black mask on the face for the male and a gray mask for the female. According to Wikepedia, "the male is a vibrant red, while the female is a dull red-brown shade. The northern cardinal is mainly granivorous, but also feeds on insects and fruit. The male behaves territorially, marking out his territory with song. During courtship, the male feeds seed to the female beak-to-beak. A clutch of three to four eggs is laid, and two to four clutches are produced each year. It was once prized as a pet, but its sale as a cage bird is now banned in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918."

The card was purchased from Zazzle.

The Bridge of Sighs

Postcard US-3064047 to India shows the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri in Italian) in Venice, northern Italy. Designed by Antonio Contino and built of white limestone in 1600, it is an enclosed bridge with windows that have stone bars. Over the Rio di Palazzo, it connects the New Prison (Prigioni Nuove) to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace.

Legend says that the bridge's name was given by Lord Byron in the 1800s because the view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicted criminals saw before their long imprisonment. However, in reality, when the bridge was built, only small-time criminals were imprisoned in the cells under the palace roof. Also, there wasn't much to see from inside the bridge as those stone bars covered the windows.

According to Wikipedia, another legend says that lovers will be granted eternal love and bliss if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the bridge while the bells of St Mark's Campanile ring. The 1979 movie A Little Romance, featuring Laurence Olivier and Diane Lane, adopted this legend as its plot line.

I bought this vintage card at a stamp show.

Kõpu Lighthouse, Estonia

Postcard EE-185518 from Estonia shows the Kõpu Lighthouse on the island of Hiiumaa in Estonia. One of the best known landmarks in the country, it is one of the oldest lighthouses in the world and has been in continuous use since 1531.

The 36-meter or 118-foot tall lighthouse, built on top of the highest hillock Tower Hill, marks the Hiiu sandbank. At the altitude of 102 meters or 337 feet above the sea level, its light can be seen from as far as 26 nautical miles, or 48 kilometers or 30 miles away. It is the highest coastal light on the Baltic Sea.

What special about this lighthouse was its solid base when originally built. Keepers had to use external wooden stairs to reach the top of the lighthouse. A staircase was embedded into the tower during reconstruction in the 1800s.

The postcard has a 2014 the Year of the Horse stamp issued by Estonia Post.