Go ATOM Trefl Sopot!

ATOM Trefl Sopot is a professional volleyball team from Poland that won double-champion. The team is currently playing in Confédération Européenne de Volleyball (CEV) European Champions League in 2014 for the third consecutive time.

Postcard US-2615864 sent via TouchNote to Poland shows billboards featuring the team in New York City, a composite image made by PhotoFunia with team photos from their Facebook page. Good luck ATOM Trefl Sopot! Maybe we will see you on billboards in New York City for real in the future.

2014 Winter Olympics Starts at Sochi

Postcard RU-2282790 from Russia shows the 2014 Winter Olympics that starts today at Sochi, Russia with opening rounds in Figure Skating (Team – Men Short), Freestyle Skiing (Ladies' Moguls – Qualification), and Snowboard (Men's Slopestyle – Qualification). The Opening Ceremony will be held at 8 pm local time (8 am PST or 11 am EST) tomorrow on February 7. There are 98 events to compete in 15 winter sports through February 23, 2014.

The Pirin Mountains

On postcard BG-30315 from Bulgaria is the Pirin Mountains in southwestern Bulgaria, with Vihren as the highest peak shown in the background. Most of the mountain range is within the Pirin National Park. The mountain is named after Perun, the highest god of the Slavic pantheon and the Thunder and Lightning God.

Prince Edward Island

Postcard CA-406670 from Canada shows Prince Edward Island, one of the three Maritime provinces in Canada. It is also the smallest province in Canada in terms of both land area and population. The island has a nick name of "Garden of the Gulf" referring to the pastoral scenery and lush agricultural lands throughout the province. It is hard to imagine that it produces 25% of Canada's potatoes.

Coca-Cola Airs "America the Beautiful" Commercial at Super Bowl

From MSNBC: "Coca-Cola celebrated diversity in America Sunday night with a powerful commercial that featured a variety of faces young and old, of every skin color, with roots all over the world, and -- for the first time in Super Bowl ad history -- a family with gay parents."

Postcard US-2303290 to Italy shows the Coca-Cola bottle evolution in its 120-year time span, as part of the popular American culture. From the early non-distinctive glass bottles, to the famous contour shaped bottles, to the green PlantBottle recyclable bottles, it captures the journey of a society with increased creativeness, environmental consciousness, and recognition of diversity. See more of the Coca-Cola History at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta and in Las Vegas.

Free Super Bowl Postcards

From NJ.COM: The remnants of a free Super Bowl postcard left outside MetLife Stadium. By Ed Beeson 

Understandably, almost all things related to the 48th Super Bowl between at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey are either expansive (i.e. tickets, parking permits, or stadium foods) or time consuming (i.e. train rides home after the game). However, according to Ed Beeson/The Star-Ledger, fans to the Super Bowl XLVIII did receive picture postcards with commemorative stamp, courtesy of the NFL, as one of the few freebies.

So far, all the postcards featured on my blog are the ones I sent or received or possessed. I am breaking the tradition today by putting this postcard to my wish list. If you have an extra copy, blank or mailed, would you please send it to me? Contact me for postal address.

BeaverTail PricklyPear

Postcard US-2070982 was sent to the Netherlands on February 2, 2013 and had since expired. It is about to fall off the PostCrossing Universe as it is approaching its life span of 365-day travel time. The postcards shows the Beavertail PricklyPear (opuntia basilaris), a cactus species mostly found in the Mojave Desert, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Colorado Deserts and Colorado Plateau, and northwest Mexico. A single plant can grow up to 60 cm tall and may consist of hundreds of fleshy, flattened pads that are measured up to 14 cm long, 10 cm wide 1.5 cm thick. Their flowers are mostly pink to rose in color, but also rarely white or even yellow,  blooming from spring to early summer.

The postcard was purchased at the gift shop of the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, which again offers free admission to the Bank of America or Merrill Lynch debit/credit card holders through the Museums on US program on February 1 and February 2, 2014.