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| Vecrīga (Old Rīga) |
A postcard of the Old Town Hall Square of Riga,
UNESCO World Heritage Site along with all the buildings preserved in the
Historic Centre of Rīga (
Vecrīga) from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. On the right side, there is the
Blackheads House, a medieval building for the
Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried German merchants, that was destroyed during WWII and recently restored. On the backround,
St. Peter's Church. Built in Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque style, the church was also burned down during the war and restored between in the 60's-90's. It has seven rooster figures (one of them can be seen at the top of the steeple).
Out of sight there will be the
Town Hall, whose shadow can be seen on the picture.
Needless to say, the kind of card that makes my day!
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| Coat of arms of Saulkrasti |
A simple and small stamp with the coat of arms of
Saulkrasti, a small coastal town.
Postcard from: Rīga, Latvia.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one 45c stamp with the COA of Saulkrasti issued in 2008.
Thank you very much, Raimonda!
{LV-67856}
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| Złota Polska Jesień |
There is no need for words. Simply GORGEOUS! ♥
Postcard from: Bytom, Silesia, Poland.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one 3 ZL
Dwor w Janowcu k.Pulaw.
Thank you very much, Zuzanna!
{PL-421699}
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| Почта России |
A card with a postbox from the Republic of Bashkortostan came to my own postbox. It is an old Russian box and the photo was taken by Denis Demkov. If you are interested in it, it is sold online at
PostcardID.ru. The back side of the card is printed too: it has a coloured politic world map. Spain is cream coloured and Russia peach. Matvei is a 5 years old boy who sent this card with the help of his mom, but he didn't forget to sign the card! So sweet.
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| Moscow Kremlin (left) and Children's books (right) |
Two lovely stamps and a peek on the world map. On the left, the
Moscow Kremlin,
UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most famous of Russian Kremlins. On the right, the 2010 stamp for Europa series themed
Children's books. Very happy to get both of them!
Postcard from: Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one 10 R from Kremlin series (Moscow's) and one 10.50 R Europa from 2010,
Children's books.
Thank you, Matvei & Mom!
{RU-916766}
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| Pearl Harbor |
I am not a patriotic fan and moreover, as a pacifist, I am not a military fan. But then, there is a time for everything and I understand the need and reason for making a memorial of such a dreadful place -- same goes for opening Auschwitz concentration camp to visitors. For me, this postcard is only another touristic spot, probably one that I wouldn't plan to visit if I had other places to go as a national park or a museum. To the sender, it means a lot. As a military person who had experienced September 11th, she can perfectly imagine how people felt in 1941. I love that she sent something so meaningful for her, even if for me it is just a piece of a foreign country's history (Spain was neutral during WWI and WWII and we don't even have a memorial day).
This is what you can read on the back of the card:
The
Memorial straddles the sunken hull of the battleship USS
Arizona and commemorates the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Memorial was dedicated in 1962, and became a National Park Service area in 1980. The USS
Arizona is the final resting place for many of the ship's 1,177 crewmen who lost their lives on December 7, 1941. The 184-foot-long Memorial structure spanning the mid-portion of the sunken battleship consists of trhee main sections: the entry and assembly rooms, a entral area designed for ceremonies and general observation, and the shrine room, where the names of those killed on the
Arizona are engraved on the marble wall.
A few days after I received this, I watched
From Here to Eternity on TV. Wasn't that a funny coincidence?
It came with the standard stamp for international shipping, the
Amish carriage one. For once I wasn't so pleased to see it (but only a little, I really love it). Wouldn't a flag stamp had been a perfect match for this card?
Postcard from: Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English (obvious).
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one $1.05 Lancaster county with Amish carriage.
Thanks, Debbie!
{US-1618806}
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| Mănăstire Pologravi |
The
Polovragi Monastery is located in the Gorj county in Romania. Founded before 1505 as stated in some inscriptions, nowadays it shelters an outstanding museum collection of
icons and books of national patrimony. It is also home for a community of orthodox nuns.
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| Startflower (left) & peach blossom (right) |
Thanks to a Romanian friend, I already have a few of these and I must say I love the Romanian series of flowers and animals
Flora of Romania. On the left, there is the startflower stamp, whose scientific name is
borago officinalis (hence its other English name, borage) which in Romanian is called
limba mielului. We call this edible plant
borraja in Spanish. This flower comes with a little lamb, I guess she likes eating it. ♪
Edited: In Germany, it is called Boretsch. Thank you Leonie!
On the right, a beautiful watercolour of the peach (prunus persica) blossom. So delicate!
Postcard from: Bucharest, Romania.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one 1.60 L borage & lamb stamp and one 50 bani peach blossom stamp.
Multumesc, Dorin!
{RO-41769}
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| Easter |
My second Easter postcard came from The Netherlands and it is a lovely illustration by
Silke Leffler. I liked it very, very much!
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| Postcrossing |
And the stamp that made it possible I received this beautiful postcard is a Postcrossing stamp! ♥ My first one! I was so happy. I feel now a more official member of the Postcrossing project. ♪
Postcard from: Bergen op Zoom, North Brabant, The Netherlands.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one Postcrossing stamp.
Thank you very much, Mirjam!
{NL-1126121}
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| Palace square & Alexander column |
I am making a good collection of cards from St-Petersburg, both from official and private swaps. Suddenly it seems I have been there, as every view makes me feel at home. This time, I got to travel to the Palace Square and see the impressive Column of Alexander in front of the -not less impressive-
Hermitage or Winter Palace. Not only I do like the building itself but thinking of how many pieces of art are inside makes my head go dizzy! Stendhal syndrome from a postcard, could that happen?
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| Russian fauna (left) & painting by Z. Serebriakova |
On the back of the card, a handful stamps representing Russian animals that I have received before: the fox (0.50), the bear (10 R) and the lynx (2.00) -- the lynx is a new addition I love because the
Iberian lynx is an endangered species in Spain, and featuring them in stamps is a way as good as any to raise awareness. And they are cute wild cats.
The right stamp, however, depicts a painting of
Zinaida Serebriakova, a Russian artist from the early 20th century, called
The Shoots of Autumn Crops (1908). It belongs to a series issued to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the birth of the painter.
Another
themed postcard! Russian art. ♪
Postcard from: St-Petersburg, Russia.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: five! One 0.50 fox, two 2.00 lynx, one 10 R bear and one 9.00 painting by Z. Serebriakova.
Thank you, Olga!
{RU-847580}
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| Canis Lupus |
The European Wolf from the Belarussian series of Fauna of Belarus (I love it!).
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| Lepus Europaeus (left) and Martes martes (right) |
Two stamps from the Wild Life series issued in 2008: the hare and the marten. Great drawings!
This postcard's theme: Fauna of Belarus.
Postcard from: Zhodzhina, Minsk region, Belarus.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one 300 ruble (hare) and one 1000 ruble (marten).
Thank you, Mary!
{BY-411811}
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| Room 081 |
A mysterious free postcard came unsigned from Taiwan. As I don't understand Chinese characters, the pre-printed text doesn't make sense to me. A pity, because this seems an art project made of postcards from all over the world. What a nice card to send from the
Postcrossing project, don't you think?
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| Tabebuia Chrysantha |
This beautiful flower comes from the araguaney tree and its name, Tabebuia Chrysantha, means "golden flower". It is the national tree of Venezuela. I wonder whether there are araguaneys in Taiwan too.
Postcard from: Changhua City, Taiwan.
Received: April 2012.
Language: Chinese.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one NT$12 stamp of the araguaney flower.
Xiè xiè, Liu Ruowei!
{TW-509953}
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| Cherry Blossom Viewing (detail) |
This is a detail from a Japanese six-panel screen from the Edo period, circa 1700-1800, called
Cherry Blossom Viewing. Ink, colours and gold on paper. The original piece is exhibited at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum / Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture, in California (USA).
Danielle was kind enough to send me this postcard at the beginning of the spring. She bought this one so it would match the stamps!
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| Cherry Blossom Centennial (top), American Toleware (bottom left) & Clock (right) |
About the Cherry Blossom Centennial stamps:
In 1912 Japan gave 3,000 cherry trees to the United States, which were planted round the Tidal Basin in the nation’s capital. In artist Paul Rogers’s design for the se-tenent stamps, blossoming trees arch over a family on a stroll with two girls dressed in bright kimonos, the Washington Monument in the background. In the stamp on the right, the Jefferson Memorial is the backdrop for sightseers under a canopy of pink blooms.
I am glad she didn't have to split the stamps up! They look very beautiful together. Where I live we have almond trees. They blossom early, usually around February, and the sight of them is just breath-taking. Those ornamental cherry trees blooming and reflecting on the water must be just an amazing view!
This postcard's theme: Japanese cherry blossoms.
Postcard from: Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one Cherry Blossom Centennial 'Forever' stamps (both sides), one American Toleware 5c and one American clock 10c.
These are some stamps I have received from Mexico. As
I stated before, they come from a Danish penpal who lives in Greenland and was vacationing in Mexico. Furthermore, when this postcard came to Europe, was re-stamped again in the UK. That makes it my most international card to the date!
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| Mexican stamps (top) & Her Majesty (bottom) |
They are part of the
Creación Popular (Popular Creation) series and were issued in 2011. The original pieces, examples of traditional folk handcrafting in Mexico, can be found at the
Museum of Popular Art. From left to right:
♪
Cesto corita seri (basket) from Punta Chueca (Sonora)
♪
Peine de cuerno (comb made of horn) from San Antonio la Isla (Estado de México)
♪
Tinaja de barro canelo (earthenware jar) from Tonalá (Jalisco)
Today's theme is Cinco de Mayo & Mexico
My first postcard from Lithuania! This is the standard Lithuanian postbox. I like them to be yellow, as our
Spanish pillar boxes. Very post-like. And another post horn to add to my collection! (
1) (
2)
* Edited: if you are interested, this card is available online at
favoritepostcard.com.
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| Battle of Zalgiris |
This stamp is commemorative of the 600th anniversary of the
Battle of Zalgiris, considered to be one of the most important historical events of Lithuania and one of the largest battles which took place in the Medieval Europe. In Poland they know it as Battle of Grunwald and other countries name it Battle of Tannenberg.
Postcard from: Vilnius, Lithuania.
Received: april 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one 2.45 Lt 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald.
Thank you, Jurga!
{LT-198882}
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| Kara Dag |
A beautiful spring view of the Kara Dag Mountain, part of the
Kara Dag Nature Reserve, dropping to the Black Sea in Crimea (Ukraine). Although it is called mountain, Kara Dag is actually an extint volcano that emerged during Jurassic times. "Kara Dag" means "black mountain" in the Crimean Tatar language.
The native flowers in the foreground remind me strongly of our Mediterranean coast. Somehow the light and the feeling is the same, although the climate must be very different.
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| Left: Happy New Year! & right: Askania Nova |
Two beautiful stamps this time. On the left side, the New Year stamp (З Новим роком!) and on the right, the
Askania Nova nature reserve (
Асканія-Нова) stamp from the Seven Nature Wonders of Ukraine series.
Postcard from: Kiev, Ukraine.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one 1.80 hrívnia New Year stamp and one 2.20 hrívnia Askania Nova stamp, both from 2011.
Thank you, Mierna!
{UA-246608}
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| 水房清流 |
This is a traditional ink painting on paper by Chinese artist Chen Youhua, called "Water Garden and Clear Stream" (although 房 means house, so it would be "Water House"?). It was exhibited at the
Shangai Art Fair in 2011. The ink technique is amazingly detailed. The kind of add card that I love to receive!
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| 澳门运动场 |
On the back of the postcard, two stamps of 1998 series of architecture:
Estádio Campo Desportivo, also known as Macao Stadium.
Postcard from: Shenyang, China.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: two 150 fēn (分) of the Macao Stadium, issued in 1998.
Xiè xiè, Wang!
{CN-558664}
