Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers, about 480 kilometers (300 mi) south-southeast of Moscow. It has a population of 280,161.
...being a large industrial center and the location of theTambov air base of the Russian Air Force. Tambov was the birthplace of Sergei Rachmaninoff (,1873-1943) one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music.
Watch the video below to listen to an extract of one of Rachmaninoff's wonderful Romances:
Having become a modern center of the region, Tambov has retained its special view combining new and traditional things. Present day Tambov means lively streets and quarters all in green, high new buildings and cozy old houses, old-fashioned small streets and alleys decorated with fountains.
This postcard features one of the most famous
sculptures in Xinzo de Limia, the Monument to the Pantalla. Xinzo de Limia is a
village 40 kilometres from Ourense and famous for its Carnival (Entroido),
which is celebrated in February. Carnival festivities include masked balls,
parades, music performances, flour fights and markets with typically Galician
products.
The
"pantalla" is Xinzo's traditional disguise, a fancy dress composed of
a mask with horns, white clothes with a red cape and cowbells around the waist.
Postcard 14 has been sent to Tambov, Russia, 3794 kilometres away!
This time, it was a group of Sixth form students that were in charge of writing the postcard. They are the members of the Proxecto Ciencia Activa, a project coordinated by Biology teacher, Beatriz Temes, to make science more fun and engaging. For such a purpose they run a blog, a podcast channel and an online TV channel, and they also organise a yearly Science Week. They have been awarded the Peonza de Bronce- Espiral Edublogs for Best Students’ Blog in Spain.
The postcard they've written features the monument to the pantalla, one of the emblems of Xinzo de Limia, a town 40 kilometres from Ourense.
If you want to learn more about
Tambov, listen to this podcast recorded by Ciencia Activa students. You can find more information about Tambov
in EXPLORING PLACES.Thank you, guys!
A postcard from Goa, in southern India, has just arrived! Yippee!!
Thank you, Kbdessai, for this amazing postcard featuring the Ganges or Ganga, the great river in the plains of the northern Indian subcontinent. For centuries it has been the holy river of Hinduism.
If you want to know more about this fascinating country, visit our section EXPLORING PLACES.
Goa is a state located in the western region of India. India is a large country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people.
The postcard received features the River Ganges or Ganga, the trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The 2525 km river risesin the Western Himalayas and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North Indiainto Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal.
Vanarasi is a holy city located on the banks of Ganga. There are nearly 100 bathing ghats(flight of steps) on Ganga at Varanasi. Varanasi is at its brilliant best by the ghats, the long stretch of steps leading down to the water on the western bank of the Ganges. Most are used for bathing but there are also several ‘burning ghats’ where bodies are cremated in public. The main one is Manikarnika where you’ll often see funeral processions threading their way through the backstreets to this ghat.
India is famous for being one of the most ancient civilization centers of the world, for its many gods and their rich history and influence on life, even in modern times.
In addition to the many temples, gods and scenic landscapes, India is famous for its spices, the Kashmir region, grand weddings, festivals, dances, Indian cuisine and Bollywood.
The Taj was built by Shah Jahan as a memorial for his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631. The death of Mumtaz left the emperor so heartbroken that his hair is said to have turned grey virtually overnight. Construction of the Taj began the following year and, although the main building is thought to have been built in eight years, the whole complex was not completed until 1653.
With the Taj Mahal overshadowing it, one can easily forget that Agra has one of the finest Mughal forts in India. Construction of the massive red-sandstone fort, on the bank of the Yamuna River, was begun by Emperor Akbar in 1565.
There are temples at almost every turn in Varanasi, but this is the most famous of the lot. It is dedicated to Vishveswara – Shiva as lord of the universe. The current temple was built in 1776 by Ahalya Bai of Indore; the 800kg of gold plating on the tower and dome was supplied by Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore 50 years later.
LIFESTYLE
India offers astounding variety in virtually every aspect of social life. Diversities of ethnic, linguistic, regional, economic, religious, class, and caste groups crosscut Indian society, which is also permeated with immense urban-rural differences and gender distinctions. Differences between north India and south India are particularly significant, especially in systems of kinship and marriage.
If you want to discover more about this multicultural country, watch the video below.
Silvia Iglesias, a 2nd grade student, has written a postcard that shows one of the best-known dishes in Galicia, "pulpo á feira". Would you like to know how to prepare it?
1) Soften the
octopus. There are two ways to this: you can either beat it with a wooden
rolling pin until its texture softens or freeze it for two days and defrost it
the day before cooking it in the fridge.
2) Peel and cut
the onion into small pieces and add it to a pan with water. When it begins to
boil is time to add the octopus.
3) Grab the
octopus’s head and dip it in the pan three times. After the third time you put
it in and take it out add to the pan permanently. Cook for 50 minutes.
4) Once cooked
remove the pan from the fire and let it cool for 15 minutes.
5) Using the same
water in which the octopus was cooked, cook the potatoes (previously peeled and
diced). While they boil cut the octopus in medium sized slices.
6) When the
potatoes are cooked remove from water and add to a platter. We add the octopus
slices on top.
7) The final touch
is adding the olive oil parrika and salt.
Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of
China and it’s located in the northeast of the country on a plain. Rivers Yongding, Chaobai, Juma and
Wenyu flow through the municipality. It has humid continental climate
characterised by hot, humid summers and cold, windy, dry winters. Its air
quality is often poor.
Beijing is
the third biggest city in the World with more than 20 million inhabitants,
living in 14 urban and suburban districs and two rural counties.
BEIJING IS FAMOUS FOR…
..being China's
political, cultural, and educational center. It is home to the headquarters of
most of China's largest state-owned companies, and is a major hub for the
national highway, expressway, railway, and high-speed rail networks. The
Beijing Capital International Airport is the second busiest in the world by
passenger traffic.
The city's history
dates back three millennia. As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of
China, Beijing has been the political center of the country for much of the
past eight centuries. The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples,
parks and gardens, tombs, walls and gates, and its art treasures and
universities have made it a center of culture and art in China.
The Forbidden City
was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing
dynasty—the years 1420 to 1912. It is located in the centre of Beijing, China,
and now houses the Palace Museum.
The Temple of Heaven is a medieval complex of religious buildings which
was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual
ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good Harvest.
Summer Palace
The Summer Palace is a recreational park with lakes, gardens and
palaces. Its origins date back to the Jin dinasty in 1153.
The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone,
brick, earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west
line across the historical northern borders of China to protect the Chinese
states and empires against the raids and invasions of the various nomadic
groups of the Eurasian Steppe. Several walls were being built as early as the
7th century BC but the majority of the existing wall is from the Ming Dynasty.
The Grand Canal is
the longest canal or artificial river in the World. Starting at Beijing, it
passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and
Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou, linking the Yellow River and Yangtze River.
The oldest parts of the canal date back to the 5th century BC, although the
various sections were finally combined during the Sui dynasty (581–618 AD)
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