Coin and Currency Club – Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan with its Silk Road heritage, wonderful people and spectacular architecture is near the top of my travel bucket list, I am looking forward to teaching Alex about this country. The first recorded settlers in what is now Uzbekistan were Eastern Iranian nomads, known as Scythians, who founded kingdoms in Khwarazm (8th–6th centuries BC), Bactria (8th–6th centuries BC), Sogdia (8th–6th centuries BC), Fergana (3rd century BC – sixth century AD), and Margiana (3rd century BC – sixth century AD).[18] The area was incorporated into the Iranian Achaemenid Empire and, after a period of Macedonian rule, was ruled by the Iranian Parthian Empire and later by the Sasanian Empire, until the Muslim conquest of Persia in the seventh century. All of Central Asia was gradually incorporated into the Russian Empire during the 19th century, with Tashkent becoming the political center of Russian Turkestan. In 1924, national delimitation created the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic as an independent republic within the Soviet Union. Shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it declared independence as the Republic of Uzbekistan on August 31, 1991. Uzbekistan today is a secular state ruled by a presidential constitutional government.

On the back of the 2000 so’m banknote are the ruins the ancient city of Varakhsha in the southwest region of Bukhara

The Ark of Bukhara on the front side of the note

Flag of Uzbekistan

Levada do Moinho – Porto Moniz, Madeira

Levada do Moinho in Porto Moniz, Madeira is one of the many levadas on Madeira island. In Madeira, the levadas originated out of the necessity of bringing large amounts of water from the west and northwest of the island to the drier southeast, which is more conducive to habitation and agriculture, such as sugar cane production. They were used in the past also by women to wash clothes in areas where running water to homes was not available. The idea of this style of water channel was brought to Portugal by the Moors during the time of al-Andalus. Similar examples can still be found in Iberia, such as some Acequias in Spain. In the sixteenth century the Portuguese started building levadas to carry water to the agricultural regions. The most recent were made in the 1940s. Madeira is very mountainous, and building the levadas was often difficult. Many are cut into the sides of mountains, and it was also necessary to dig 16 miles of tunnels on the island. This hiking trail adjacent to the Levada is on the main road to Porto Moniz and is easily assessable. The Levadas of Madeira are on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Science Museum of the University of Coimbra – Coimbra, Portugal

The Science Museum of the University of Coimbra (Museu da Ciência da Universidade de Coimbra) gathers the historical scientific collections of several units of the University of Coimbra, in Coimbra, Portugal. It includes the collection of scientific instruments from the 18th and 19th century of the Physics Museum, the collections of botanics, zoology, anthropology and mineralogy of the Natural History Museum, and the collections of the Astronomical Observatory and the Geophysical Institute of the University of Coimbra.
Formerly there were several museums in the university, including a museum of physics, a museum of zoology, a museum of natural history, and a museum of mineralogy and geology, which were managed by different university departments. They merged in 2006/2007 to form the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra.
Most of these collections date back to the reform of the University promoted by the Marquis of Pombal in 1772, where the teaching of the sciences took major importance, and are lodged in the contemporary buildings of the 18th century. This constitutes the most important science collection in Portugal and one of the most important ones in Europe.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Monserrate Palace – Sintra, Portugal

The Monserrate Palace is a palatial villa located near Sintra, the traditional summer resort of the Portuguese court in the foothills overlooking the Atlantic Ocean north of the capital, Lisbon. The cultural landscape of Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos

Sintra National Palace – Sintra, Portugal

The Palace of Sintra, also called Town Palace, is located in the town of Sintra, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It is a present-day historic house museum. It is the best-preserved medieval royal residence in Portugal, being inhabited more or less continuously from at least the early 15th century to the late 19th century. It is a significant tourist attraction, and is part of the cultural landscape of Sintra, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site.

New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos
New photo by Wanderlust Family Adventure / Google Photos