It is been awfully uncomfortable lately due to the high temperatures (39.8ºC) and humidity (50~80%). However, it won't rain -- I don't expect it to do so until late September. And summer has just started...  Tanja sent me this card a month ago and back then I didn't think I was going to look at it in such a sad mood as I do now. I wish I could spend my summer there!

A beautiful stamp from a beautiful country: first class postage Northern lights as seen in 67º 45' 44" N 23º 36' 43" E, sightly above the Artic Circle in 2009, near the Swedish border.

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

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.

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.

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.

This week's theme is food and drink.

Left: Queen Elizabeth II in Coronation Robes © V&A Images / Right: © Getty Images

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II is a multinational celebration throughout 2012 marking the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the thrones of seven countries upon the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. She is today queen regnant of 16 sovereign states, 12 of which were British colonies or Dominions at the start of her reign.

Garter Ceremony 1997

Every June, a procession and service take place at Windsor Castle for the Order of the Garter. Founded by Edward III in 1348, the Order is the senior, and the oldest, British Order of Chivalry. In the service The Queen formally invests new Companions of the Order of the Garter in the Throne Room of Windsor Castle.

***

Featuring images taken from Britain’s stamps, banknotes and coins, the Miniature Sheet takes us from Dorothy Wilding’s lovely 1952 portrait, to a special Diamond Jubilee Machin printed with iridescent ink. All six stamps have been issued at First Class inland letter rate.

Her Majesty's Definitive stamps

Queen Victoria is the only other monarch in the histories of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a few other Commonwealth realms to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee, which she did in in 1897.

I have only been once to Navarre -- a mountainous region in the North of Spain -- and forgot to buy some postcards for my collection. Thankfully, there is people willing to send me some cards who help me correct my past oversight.

The Way of St. James is a pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, in Northwestern Spain. Pilgrims on the Way of St. James walk for weeks or months and they follow many routes (any path to Santiago is a pilgrim's path). However, we Spaniards consider the Pyrenees our starting point. Although there are more roads crossing the French border, the two most important starting points are Roncesvalles (French Way) or Jaca (Aragonese Way), which are joined into one path in Puente la Reina.

On the flip side of the card you can see the route in Spanish territory with the most remarkable towns. The small village where I spent those holidays, Sansol, isn't on the map. It has a population of only 100!☺

The Route of Santiago de Compostela was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.

Postcard from: Pamplona, Navarre, Spain.

Received: June 2012.

Language: Spanish.

Envelope: yes.

Stamps: one 0.36€ from the Todos con Lorca series, Palacio de Guevara (Guevara's Palace).

This fabulous flower shaped card came from a small town in the Andalusian mountain range. Thanks to its four petals divided by half, it contains the eight provinces of the region. On them, you can see their most notable features. From top, clock-wise:

♪ Córdoba: Cathedral and former Great Mosque, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

♪ Granada: Court of the Lions in the Alhambra, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

♪ Cádiz: beach.

♪ Jaén: Cathedral, UNESCO World Heritage Site aspirant.

♪ Huelva: Castle of Cortegana, National Monument.

♪ Sevilla: Cathedral & Giralda, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

♪ Málaga: aerial view of the city.

♪ Almería: beach.

On the centre, a scene of bullfighting and the name of the region. Many topics related to Spain (like flamenco & bullfighting) are actually from Andalusian origin and not common in other areas of the country.

Isn't it simply gorgeous?! ♥

The Church of Saints Simon & Helen in Minsk, also known as the "Red Church" (Чырвоны касцёл) for its red bricks, was designed in neo-Gothic style by polish architects Tomasz Pajzderski and Władysław Marconi, and built during 1905-1910 as a result of a petition of the Catholic community from Minsk. Rebuilt into a cinema during the Soviet years, it was returned to the Catholic Church in 1990.

The stamps are part of the 14th definitive issue "Architectural Monuments" in 2012:

♪ Left: Church of Epiphany (Bogoyavlensky) in Polatsk, 1761-1777. 500 BYR.

♪ Right: Kosava Palace, 19th century. Class A stamp.

Stamps: one 500 BYR Church of Epiphany in Polatsk and two Kosava Palace stamps from 2012 "Architectural Monuments".

First card from Canada! Yay! Now the USA and Mexico are no longer alone in the tab. ♪

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were held in Munich, (then) West Germany, from August 26 to September 5 in 1972. Sadly these games were largely overshadowed by what later has been called the Munich massacre: eleven Israeli athletes and coaches, a West German police officer and five terrorists were killed. This is the official poster for the event and was designed by Otl Aicher as long other sports posters and pictograms. Such a nice and cool work of graphic design! He used a technique called "posterization", separating the tonal qualities from the images and using the official munich colours for these games. This had to be produced manually as photoshop did not exist at that time!

This is another travelling card: originally from Germany but sent from Canada. The sender is currently the 1st on most postcards sent from Canada on Postcrossing. He likes watching the Olympic games as I do although he missed this one because he was a little child at that time -- I wasn't even born!

The stamp, unlike last time, has a Canada theme too: one of the baby wildlife series stamp from 2012 where a couple of moose affectionately nuzzle each other. Lovely. Needless to say, we don't have moose in Spain. I like getting this kind of pictures of flora & fauna from all over the world.

Being a woman who loves to read I wonder why this is the only reading woman card I have. Probably because I have never seen any before meeting Danielle.  All the postcards I knew were the childish birthday ones (which I dislike), the Christmas ones (which I have stopped receiving because nobody sends old fashioned postcards anymore) and the touristic ones (which I love to buy when I am visiting any place). Luckily for me, she was willing to share one from her collection and recently I got a neat scan of the card to share. Some scratches from its trip across the ocean can be seen but doesn't it make it more lovable? If only I could spend my days calmly reading by the window!

Leisure

William Worcester Churchill, 1910.

Oil on canvas, 75.9 x 63.8 cm.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

She never disappoints me with her choice of stamps. Lucky girl! Along with my beloved coffeepot from America Toleware and banjo clock from American Clock series, two forever stamps: Cars from 2011 series of Disney-Pixar characters and Lunar New Year of the Dragon from 2012. Love them all! ♥

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! ♥

Impressed? Ha! Then look at the stamp on the flip side. An amazing illustration by Marina Richterová of an expressively conducting Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an original copy of the Don Giovanni score and the Prague's Estates Theatre in the background. It is 5.5 x 3.5 cm.

♪ England + Austria + Czech Republic ♪

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!

There is no need for words. Simply GORGEOUS! ♥

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 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:

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?

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.

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!