Acoma Pueblo - New Mexico

The Acoma Pueblo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. It  was built upon a sandstone mesa back in the 12th century, which proved to be effective for the defense of the pueblo. Unfortunately, it was not as effective in keeping out the Spanish conquistadors in 1598. There were nearly 2,000 inhabitants before the arrival of the Spaniards, but only about 250 survived the attacks. Miraculously, the pueblo traditions have survived and are still practiced by today's pueblo inhabitants.

Berlin, Germany - Railway Station

Often the area surrounding the railway station in any given city is gritty and unpleasant. However, in this view it looks like the ideal spot, clean, with plants on the balconies, and surrounded by thriving businesses and busy streets.

The railway station is, of course, the domed building on the left, which was constructed in the late 1870s. The building and underground tracks were expanded to accommodate S-Bahn and U-Bahn in later years.

At the beginning of the Cold War, this station was the hole in the Iron Curtain that allowed people from the east to escape to the west, at least until the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. At that time, the East German government also stopped the long-distance train connections. I arrived into this station from the west in 1980, and the surroundings were dismal.  In fact, most of East Berlin was fairly grim at that time. The stores, if they had anything, would have a lot of one or two things and nothing else. Many items in limited supply, such as toilet seats, could only be bought with western currency.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the west and east stations were connected again, and traffic resumed, however there had been very little maintenance on the east side. Between 1991 and 1999, the station was completely overhauled, at a cost of many millions of Deutsch Marks. In 2008, a memorial to the 10,000 Jewish children who were saved by the Refugee Children Movement and left through this station, was unveiled.

Here's the back of the postcard.

A Sightseeing Giveaway

I'm giving away ten iPhone apps for self-guided walking tours of cities such as London, Paris, Rome, Florence, San Francisco, Chicago, Berlin, Barcelona, Prague, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam. These tours come with photos, a map with highlighted tour route that pinpoints your location, and narration for various attractions. The apps work on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

There are few things I find worth promoting, but I am a big advocate of walking.  It's not just invigorating exercise, it's also the only way to really explore the nooks and crannies of great cities. I have bought walking tour books for various cities in the past, but it seems awkward to carry a book around, so I usually tried to memorize as much as possible and leave the book in the hotel room. Then, there's always the tour bus option.

I was approached recently by GPSmycity.com to mention their iPhone city tour apps on this blog in exchange for ten free walking tours for my readers. Initially I made some sort of derisive snorting sounds, because I don't promote products on this blog, but I was curious enough to take a look. (Click here for the demo.) I have to admit, I think they're pretty wonderful. I also want to point out that I get nothing from this other than the giveaways for you. No payment and no free apps for me.

So, if you are interested in one of these apps, leave a comment on this post, describing which city you would want to visit and why.  You can choose one of the cities listed above, or go to their site and pick one of the other ones they have (there are lots!) I will do a blind drawing from the responses received to pick ten winners, and announce them on Monday, January 24 31, 2011.

Oh, and here's the back of the card.