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| Stari Most |
Mostar was named after the bridge keepers (
mostari) who in the medieval times guarded the
Stari Most (Old Bridge) over Neretva river. The
Old Bridge, built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. It was destroyed during the Bosnian War in 1993 and rebuilt in 2004. The reconstructed Old Bridge and Old City of Mostar,
UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a symbol of reconciliation, international co-operation and of the coexistence of diverse cultural, ethnic and religious communities.
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| Vijećnica |
The
Vijećnica is the largest and most representative building of the Austro-Hungarian period in Sarajevo, and was purpose-built as the city hall. It was handed over to the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1949. During the
Siege of Sarajevo in 1992, the building was hit by heavy artillery and incendiary bombs, burned out and largely destroyed, causing incalculable damage to the physical structure of the building and to the library holdings. It is currenty being repaired.
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| Mrkva |
My friend Toni went to Bosnia and Herzegovina for a photography course during a week in the summer of 2009 and as usual, he only told me about this trip afterwards by postcard. These two amazing views of pre-war Bosnia came to my letterbox as a very pleasant surprise. On both cards, this pretty stamp from the 2006 series
"Vegetables": 1.00 convertible mark featuring a watercolour of carrots.
Postcards from: Mostar, Herzegovina-Neretva canton, and Sarajevo, Sarajevo canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Received: August 2009.
Language: Spanish.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one 1.00 convertible mark Carrots for each card.
This week's theme is
food and drink.
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| London Tower Bridge |
I received another travelling card. Lately it seems my cards like to take a good tour around Europe before arriving in Spain. Jiri bought this one when he was living in London and, reading that I like nightviews, kindly sent it to me from his home in the Czech Republic. It was his last English card and he tells me he bought it because he never had the chance to see the bridge up like this. Isn't it a great view of the London Tower Bridge? I love it! ♥
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| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
♪ England + Austria + Czech Republic ♪
Postcard from: Mutěnice, South Moravia (
Jihomoravský kraj) Czech Republic.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one FABULOUS stamp of W.A. Mozart for European postage.
Thank you very much, Jiri!
{CZ-182199}
This weeks's theme is anything you wish
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| Violet & green Northern lights |
I don't think I can have enough of
these! This is the first time I see these colours in the northern lights -- it was also a first for the sender, who had taken this photo herself and got it printed at a print company. The card came with a little scratch on the bottom right corner, which bothered me a little because the image is breathtaking.
How wonderful must it be to live in the Norwegian countryside?
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| post horn (left) & art by Irma Salo Jaeger (right) |
Another post horn! ♥ This one from Norway with green colours reminds me very badly of the label of a beer company. I wonder who got inspired by whom?
On the right side, an art stamp. The stampmotive is a section of
Lyset ved pinsetider, 162 x 200cm.
Commemorative Issue Norwegian art II issued in 2009. This is the info I found about the artist:
Irma Salo Jæger (b. 1928 in Finland) has been a major figure in Norwegian art since the 1960s. She studied art in Munich, Oslo and Florence after taking a degree in art history in Helsinki. She is regarded as one of the greatest exponents of abstract painting in Norway, and her debut coincided with the breakthrough of this form of expression around 1960. Her paintings are characterised by clearly demarcated areas of intense, bright colour, often blues, reds and oranges. Irma Salo Jaeger held a professorship at Statens Kunstakademi in Oslo from 1986 until 1992. Her work is presented in a book by art historian Erik Daehlin, which was published in 2002.
Postcard from: Rendalen, Østerdalen, Norway.
Received: April 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: a 1 KR of a post horn and a 12 KR of Irma Salo Jæger's work.
Thank you very much, Linn! ♥
{NO-60573}
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| Aurora Borealis |
An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere. They illuminate the northern horizon as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, as if the sun were rising from an unusual direction. Discrete aurorae often display magnetic field lines or curtain-like structures, and can change within seconds or glow unchanging for hours, most often in fluorescent green.
* source Wikipedia; I am not clever enough to write this.
I asked my
penpal if the northern lights can be seen from his home in Nuuk and he sent me this as an answer. I cannot say anything else about this card but that I love it. The image says everything itself. Isn't our world wonderful enough to give us such amazing phenomena?
Postcard from: Nuuk, Greenland.
Received: November 2011.
Language: Latin. ♥
Envelope: no.
Stamps: one 9kr. Martin A. Henson stamp like the one on my blog banner.
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| Haydarpaşa Train Station |
I have never been to Turkey but probably when I go (if even) I will visit this building in first place. Why? Well, it's a major Train Station of Istanbul and I only take trains to travel long distances. I love the way it looks at night with all those lights. It was built in 1872.
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| Heart shaped stamps |
And I don't think I need to write anything about these stamps. Just gorgeous! ♥
Postcard from: Ankara, Turkey.
Received: February 2012.
Language: English.
Envelope: no.
Stamps: two gorgeous heart-shaped 1 TRY stamps depicting lilies.
{TR-86462}
