This was Kaiserstrasse, or Imperial Street, in old Königsberg, East Prussia (nowadays Kaliningrad, Russia).

Igor is 12 years old and has joined Postcrossing because he would like to send postcards around the world. I suppose he is learning English through this project with the help of his parents and teachers. Well done!

On the flip side, more stamps from the Kremlin series issued in 2009: one 4 R (Nizhny Novgorod) top left, one 1 R (Astrakhan) bottom left and two 10 R (Moscow) on the right.

Stamps: one 4 R (Nizhny Novgorod kremlin), one 1 R (Astrakhan kremlin) and two 10 R (Moscow kremlin).

The adult male Mandarin duck is a striking and unmistakable bird. It has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The adult female, on the background, is similar to female Wood duck.

In traditional Chinese culture, Mandarin Ducks represent a life-time couple and are regarded as a symbol of conjugal affection and fidelity. The species was once widespread in eastern Asia, but nowadays the population has reduced in Eastern Russia and in China to below 1,000 pairs in each country.

Military stamps commemorating the 65th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, " Victory weapon" (Оружие победы): the BT-7M tank (left) issued in 2010 and the GAZ-67B 4x4 (right) from 2012.

The Hare stamp from Russian Fairy Tales series on the far right.

Three bullfinches in a bird shelter in the cold, cold Siberian winter. I usually show my postcards from Russia to my Russian classmate and she offers her help to identify locations or stamps, or sometimes a quick translation. She told me this is called the winter Russian bird, which appears in the cold season when other species migrate. Of course, it is my first time hearing from it. Another beautiful trip to the even more beautiful Mother Russia. ♪

On the back side, nine stamps cover half of the card! From left to right:

♪ Novgorod Kremlin from the Sixth Definitives series - RussianKremlins issue, 2009

♪ The Hare

♪ The Fox (six of them)

♪ Pyotr A. Stolypin 150th birth anniversary

This is a commemorative stamp for the 150th birth anniversary of the Prime Minister and agrarian reformer Pyotr Stolypin (1862-1911), later assasinated in the opera. On the background, the Russian flag and the Palace Square in St-Petersburg. For only one year, this stamp could have been also commemorative of his 100th death anniversary.

Postcard from: Tomsk, Siberian region, Russia.

Received: May 2012.

Language: English.

Envelope: no.

Stamps: nine!

Thank you very much, Andrey!

{RU-944045}

This week's theme is anything you wish

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.

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!

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?

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.

Not longer before this beauty came to my letter-box, the sender contacted me very worried because she had sent this postcard to me and I hadn't received yet. I had to explain to her that Spain-Russia post takes longer than expected. A few days after I had assure the lady her postcard will arrive in here, I had it in my box. Oh how beautiful! ♥

That would be just one of my love-hate stories with postcards and Russia... I don't know why does it happen. I suppose it's a language issue, Latin and Cyrillic alphabets and so. It happens with China too. (Funny enough, no problem till today with Greece or Japan). 

I was amazed at this building and its colours. In Spain, we have the colours of nature surrounding us all year around so our buildings are plain stone, sober or intrincate, but bare. On the contrary, Northern countries have to mitigate many months of snow and cold with warm and richly coloured architecture.

Built between 1883 and 1907, it never served as a place of worship. It was closed by the Soviet government in 1930 (after it had been badly damaged and looted during the Revolution) and reopened in August 1997, after 27 years of restoration. Nowadays it is a Museum of Mosaics.

On the flip side, there was this 30 R stamp from 2011 commemorating Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. My first Olympics related stamp! According to the stamps sheet, 

Volkonskiy Dolmen is a unique megalithic landmark located in Lazarevskoye forestry of the Sochi National Park. It is the only surviving monolithic dolmen in the Caucasus and it is protected by the state.

The Church of Ressurrection, built in 1651, is a superb example of the typical 17th century Russian art. Although it is not an UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kostromá is part of the Golden Ring and worth sightseeing.

They cannot be seen in this snowy winter picture but the five onion-like domes are green. I haven't never seen snow so I love these white snow sceneries. Plus I love old buildings and art. Plus I love green colour. ♪ They were -22ºC the day this postcard was sent! I cannot imagine that.