I have noticed many users from Postcrossing don't like free or ad cards. Perhaps because they are free and they feel cheated. But I don't mind because many of them are little pieces of art or design. I had this one among my favourites and Betty was so kind to send me one! She is a Dane living in Italy and sent me this Spanish card written in English. That made this swap a very international one. She is currently in the top 5 on most sent from Italy.

Afinet (Ágora de Filatelia en Internet) is a Spanish philately association. They released this postcard for their 5th anniversary. In the old days, postmen used to wish their customers a Merry Christmas with cards similar to this one. I am glad Afinet people recovered this tradition with this endearing postcard.

Who hasn't heard of San Francisco's cable cars? Who hasn't seen these steep hills on TV and films? Now I have a little piece of them of my own. No need to get dizzy taking one of these cars, I can just enjoy the card. What a fantastic view of the Bay from the top of the hill!

My second card from the US also means second stamp. Three little stamps this time instead of one, including St. Valentine's stamp from this year series (yay!). A "Forever" stamp too. These plus the Lancaster county one makes my eyes bright of joy.

~ Mailart from Germany ~

~ Bebenhausen Monastery, Tübingen (Baden-Würtemberg) ~

I love German stamp series of flowers. I wish Spanish post service released some nice stamps for a change! And this handmade envelope is absolutely gorgeus. I can assure you it's perfectly cut and made. Leonie is really talented with hand making stuff. Thanks~!

Although I am allergic to flowers, I love them. As I cannot get very close to them if I don't want to start sneezing like mad receiving flowers in postcards and stamps is the best way to enjoy them. Especially when they are species we don't have in the Mediterranean climate. I have never seen this Orchid Primrose in our gardens before. Beautiful!

Because it was sent with an economy class stamp, this postcard took longer than usual to arrive. But having such a cute stamp, who cares about shipping time?  Päivi Unenge designed this year's Finnish stamp collection for St. Valentine's day. I love it because, once again, the whole card is one-themed -- this time about flora. Let's water our plants with love so they can grow healthy. ♪

Do you like fish? I usually don't. But I am addicted to dried and salt fish. They don't taste as fish at all in my opinion and their flavour is very strong. One of the most common salt fishes in Spain is cod. And being Portugal our sibling country it couldn't be anything but their most common too. This card shows a groceries stand in the market in Lisbon, called manteigaria in Portuguese. This is one of my favourite postcards. It is just mouth-watering!

Sucevița Monastery

Again travelling to Romania but this time with a postcard. One of the famous monasteries of Moldavia: the Sucevița Monastery (Suceava, Romania). It was built in 1585 by Movilă brothers in Gothic style with all its walls covered by fresco paintings inspired by Byzantine art. It was declared UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. Still in use, the Orthodox nuns have a pleasant life of work and prayer there.

Recently Fabienne showed us her collection of churches of Moldavia. Now I know I have 7 missing postcards to complete my own collection.

Fortified church of Biertan

The stamp also shows another UNESCO WHS! This is the fortified church of Biertan (Transylvania, Romania), UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.

I love how the whole postcard is WHS and church themed. ♥ The sender is the 2nd on most postcards sent range of her country so I guess she knows well how this postcrossing swap works. ♪

Not long ago Anna from Ania meets the world held a little post-loving contest and I was the lucky winner. The prize? This awesome round-shaped card depicting an example of Polish folk art papercut. It is a joy to receive such bright colours in my letterbox. As a former art student I am truly delighted with it. ♥

On the back, these stamps carried by a cute happy butterfly-postie made possible this card to arrive in here. Church and Cathedral from Sieradz and Gniezno respectively. Two churches, one cathedral. Both with green roof. Joy!

Stawnica is a village near Złotów (Poland). This art card shows a chapel in this town. I love the autumnal colours of the whole picture and the little details.  The sender's handwriting is gorgeous. She wrote her favourite quote: "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite" (William Blake).

The stamp is a very beautiful architecture themed one from 2001. It depicts a late Baroque wooden mansion in Janowiec near Pulawy rebuilt in the early twentieth century after a design by architect Kazimierz Skórewicz (1920-1928).

The historic mainstreet of (North) America: Route 66. Who hasn't heard of it? First postcard from the USA. Typical, I cannot deny it. Different. It surprised me a lot. Although the Route 66 was removed from the Highways sytem in 1985 it remains as an historic route through several states. The sender lives in the Route's birthplace in Missouri and I guess she knows it well.

Love, love, love this stamp! ♥ See that cute carriage on the road? The postmark hides it a little but it is still visible. My first USA stamp, by the way. My American friend always sends her parcels via registered mail and they have that sticker with the weight and the money paid. Did I say I love this stamp?

Switzerland. A spring postcard showing the town of Thun, the lake and the castle. What a beautiful sturdy castle from the Middle Ages they have! Nowadays, the castle is a history museum where you can see medieval weaponry and armours. Yum! In my hometown we have a castle from the 12th century too and I must say there is no doubt about which one is the coolest one.

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.

I never thought I would have a royal as a guest in my house but yesterday H. M. Queen Elizabeth II came to my letterbox and of course I couldn't ask her please to go. On the contrary, she graciously accepted my invite and we had tea in my room. Now she hangs on my cork board above my computer so we can share niceties while I am typing. She is my first Royal postcard. Congratulations on your 60th anniversary, Your Majesty!

These are the Jesuite College and St. Barbara Church in Kutná Hora, a small town in Central Bohemia (Czech Republic) whose centre become an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 for its gothic buildings.

And this is the stamp that made the postcard travel to my letterbox. I am speechless! The famous poster of Alfons Mucha for Victorien Sardou's Gismonda starring Sarah Bernhardt at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris (1894). Just love it. ♥