Card #28, In the Spooky Spirit of Halloween...

This fascinating adcard comes from Nokia, Finland, sent by user Riki. Nokia does, in fact, lend its name to the famous telecommunications company, which was founded in Nokia, Finland. But I don't want to talk about Nokia, I'd prefer to discuss Riki's insights about the celebration of Halloween in Finland. She describes Halloween as less of a holiday, more as a "red-letter day," as she describes it. Children have costume parties at school, and there are sometimes costume parties in bars for adults. There is no custom of trick-or-treating, but there are horror movies shown on TV. Riki says that the following day, All Saints' Day, is a much more important holiday, during which people take candles to the graves of their relatives, and the "graveyard looks beautiful with thousands of little lights." Thanks Riki.

Card #27, Helsinki Cathedral

This card comes from user _Buba_. The lower image shows the Helsinki Cathedral, which she cites as one of her favorite places in the city. Originally built for Czar Nicholas I and called St. Nicholas' Church, it was changed to Helsinki Cathedral after Finnish independence in 1917. Construction of the church lasted from 1830 to 1852 and is considered neoclassical style. The cathedral is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Helsinki, bringing over 350,000 visitors every year. Another church once stood in this spot, the Church of Ulrika Eleonora, a former queen of Sweden.

Card #26, Please Don't Eat Me

I would love to go to the Toronto Zoo. According to Wikipedia, the zoo is the third largest in the world and home to 491 distinct species of animals, totaling 16,000 creatures altogether. The zoo opened in 1974, and since its inception has been an exciting place for zoology. In the past decade, there have been polar bears, tigers, zebras, orangutans, gorillas, snow leopards, cheetahs, sloths, kangaroos, giraffes, and more born at the zoo. This card comes from user beaningpole, who had just gotten home from the zoo before sending me this card. She originally comes from the Philippines.

Card #25, Lappeenranta

This card arrives from Lappeenranta, Finland from user piperita. The city has a population of 59,000 and lies about 20 miles from the border of Russia.

Card #24, Birthday Cake Church

I encourage you to click on the picture to the left to get a larger view of this incredibly ornate church, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Saint Petersburg, Russia. What a very interesting structure this is! Construction occurred from the years 1883-1907, ordered by Czar Alexander III as a memorial to his father, Alexander II, who was mortally wounded on the site of the church. Although most of the architecture in Saint Petersburg is of the Baroque and Neoclassical styles, this church reflects medieval Russian architecture, or romantic nationalism, in the style of the famous St. Basil's in Moscow. The interior of the church has 7500 square meters of mosaic artwork. During the Russian Revolution, the church was looted and badly damaged. It was closed by the Soviets in the 1930s, and then used a storehouse for food during WWII. Finally, in 1970, restoration of the church began and lasted for 27 years! It is open today as a mosaic museum, but has not been reconsecrated as a church, and therefore does not perform worship services. Thanks to user ata1976, who patiently waited 33 days for this card to arrive!

Card #23, Sami and Reindeer

This is a really cool card featuring the traditional garb of the Sami people of northern Scandinavia. This is my first card from Norway, coming from the #1 Postcrossing user of all time, Britt. The Sami people are considered to be among the first groups to inhabit Europe, and it remains one of the largest indigenous groups in Europe, with a population of about 100,000. The Sami traditionally earned a livelihood from fishing, trapping animals for fur, and most famously, herding reindeer. Only 10% of remaining Sami people are involved in this profession, but in the countries where the Sami still live (mostly Norway, but also Sweden, Finland, and Russia), the profession is reserved solely for the Sami by law. Any person who had a great-grandparent who spoke Sami at home can be considered part of that ethnic group. Cool card!

Card #22, Vriendelyke groet!

This card hails from Koog aan de Zaan, Netherlands. This is a small town of 12,000 that was incorporated into the municipality of Zaanstaad in 1974. This is the first homemade card I received; it came from user flyers on October 17 after 3 days in the mail.