Kati sends us this lovely card about her family in Ballinasloe; a lovely card with stories that must be shown as well.

It says: "My mom used to pause for ages before crossing beneath the arches to reach her home because, when the wind blew, the arches echoed the sound and it was like a high-pitched wailing. My mom was sure it was the Banshees that her gran was always warning her about.

Pokidi sends us a card from Amsterdam this time, because she wants us to see the fantastic aquatic parade with two beauty queens in a boat that looks like a car - or is it a car that thinks it's a boat? This is such a fantastic idea for dressing up in silly boats and having a festival for four!

Yanna sends this card from Kuressaare, on the island of Saaremaa. The big surprise is that this island also has a crater made by a meteor. The crater is full of water, so the island is a ring of land with water in the middle and water all around. Well, not exactly a ring, because the island is much bigger than the crater. As you can see on the map. But isn't it great?

Pokidi sends us an image of water, trees and sunset from the Netherlands, shown 'just the way a 17th century painter like Ruysdael or Vermeer would have enjoyed!'

This scene is a bit like Brasside Ponds with the broad expanse of water, reeds and trees.

Here's a lovely card from 'funny, smart and i'm deffinitly crazy' Queeeny that isn't about a city, but about going somewhere. She translates it for us:

less hesitance and more risk, more often pause, instead of hurry, live today, instead of postpone, live our dreams, instead of dreaming our lives.

It could be about walking through the trees along the river, taking some time to enjoy what's there, taking some other way into town or back out again.

Traumateddy has a great idea for a comparative postcard. This is a place called the Twelve Apostles, at Port Campbell National Park, Victoria. This scene looks a bit like places along the Durham coast. And look at that cute Wombat on the stamp!

BigPikaChica sends us this cool little postcard of the courthouse and a mural of a cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail. Cows! Texas Longhorn, no doubt. I wonder if there's a mural of cattle anywhere in Durham. Perhaps that's a possible mapping adventure!

mjbcosta says hello from sunny and historic Leiria, Portugal!

Gemielicious went to some trouble to get us this postcard of Lake Havasu City in Arizona, USA. We want to know just what kind of trouble it was! We also think it is quite entertaining to see the London Bridge next to palm trees in the sun! We also think it would be fab if Durham's Belmont Viaduct got a double row of palm trees along it! No speedboats though. :(

Iloinenpiru tells us of her night camping in a snow cave, which sounds like a splendid outdoor adventure!

Xpaula's card shows rural Finland through the seasons, and teaches us the name of each season in Finnish. We can see some familiar flowers and trees, and a lot of sunny skies!

Lucky12324 sends us a lovely and informative card about the 10,000 lakes of Minnesota, which are said to have been made by the hoofprints of Babe the Blue Ox.

From Katherin in Chisinau/Kishinev

from magependragon

Lifrhasil says Heidelberg sometimes has more visitors than residents.

From piperita at Postcrossing. Are there any moose in Durham? What's the biggest animal around? What about the winter: can you tell us a story about the snow?

Gallery Here.

From Nebel at Postcrossing. This is a lovely and historic former cotton mill now used as a library and museum.

Copenhagen, Denmark, has many fine old buildings, so it is like Durham in the respect. The Town Hall is probably not quite so old as Durham's Market Hall, but it has a busy town square at the front, and is one of Copenhagen's busiest places. From ElsePels at Postcrossing.

Postcard Gallery Here.

This is the text side of Little Mouse's handmade postcard. The 'eyeside' is here.

Little Mouse has sent us a handmade postcard with some thoughts about being an eye - or a pair of eyes - and releasing an opportunity for serial puns on similar-sounding (homophonic) words. Aye to that, I say.

Postcard Gallery Here.

Postcard Gallery Here.

 
Have you sent us a postcard? Have you been sent a Necklace Park postcard? Would you like to comment on a card you've seen, or sent? Look here to see the cards we've received, and here for further blogposts on the topic.

The Necklace Park Postcard Project is part of the Twinned Cities strand, where people from other places tell us something about where they live, especially if it has something to do with outdoor activities (fishing! dens! skateboards!), water, bridges, trees, wildlife, livestock (cows! pigeons! critters!), old buildings (churches! ruins!), towns and countryside. That covers just about everywhere, me thinks.

We want your postcards and descriptions of where you live, the kinds of things you enjoy doing outdoors, your favourite building or tree, things you like doing on or in the water, what you do in the countryside or town. We also like fanciful stories, so if you know one about the cow that slept in the church, or the magical talking broccoli that lives under a tree by day and runs a jazz club in the vennels at night, please do tell!

Send us a card, and we'll put it on display. Visitors can leave comments here, so you may find a new postcard pal in addition to having your card seen and appreciated by people in Durham! You can send us a card directly, or via PostCrossing, the world-famous postcard-sharing website.

This tour explores Santiago de Chile and Durham at the same time, and takes in several interesting features of both places. The tour makes nine stops along six connected segments, starting and ending at Plaza de Armas in the city centre. There's a lot of ground to cover, and loads of stuff to stop and enjoy, so the tour could be spread over two or more days.

This post lists each of the stops briefly, and will continue the explorations over the next few days.

What happens if you use the wrong map to find your way around?Where do you live? Would you like to use the wrong map to navigate your town? Would you be able to send us photos of what you found?

Earlier today I was given a secret message.

Twinning is the name for cities that share similarities. They are sometimes called Sister Cities. Durham is twinned with Tübingen (both are medieval university cities, for example).