Schwarzwald

Postcard DE-4247507 from Germany shows the Black Forest (Schwarzwald in German) that is a great forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany. Bordering France, it is bounded by the Rhine valley to the west and south. Its highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 meters or 4,898 feet.

It is known for its dense evergreen forests and picturesque villages, which inspired some of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. The cuckoo clock, a pendulum-regulated clock that strikes on the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo's call and has an automaton cuckoo bird moving with each note, was said to be developed and evolved in the region since the 1700s. It’s a destination for hiking and biking at vast nature parks, and skiing in winter.

Terveiset Luostolta

Postcard FI-2007427 brought "Greetings from Luosto" from Finland. Luosto is a mountain in Finnish Lapland with an elevation of 514 meters or 1686 feet. It's part of the Pyhä-Luosto National Park. The area is home to ski centers, and the Finnish Meteorological Institute weather radar.

As Getty Images just opened up embedded photos, my search of "Luosto, Finland" on their web site returned only the following photo. Their embed tool is very simple to use. However, I wish there were an option to allow customized size.

Finnish Winter Activities

Postcard FI-1968291 from Finland shows typical Finnish winter activities. Ice swimming in Finland is a tradition connected to the sauna culture where the activity of swimming occurs during the winter season, either in outdoor open water or unheated pools. Equally entertaining and challenging is Ice fishing where you try to catch fish with lines, hooks or spears through holes on a frozen water body. Skiing is another popular winter sport. However, due to recent warm weather, snows were melted in some parts of Central Finland, which makes skiing impossible.