Galle, Sri Lanka

Well, back to the regular posting and for today I'll start with a great lighthouse from Sri Lanka

The Galle Lighthouse is situated within the fortifications of the Galle Fort.  Founded in the 16th century by the Portuguese, Galle reached the height of its development in the 18th century, before the arrival of the British. It is the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in South and South-East Asia, showing the interaction between European architectural styles and South Asian traditions. And Galle is also a world heritage city, which means this is a new UNESCO added to my collection :D
It is the largest remaining fortress in Asia built by European occupiers

and to make it complete, the card comes with a matching stamp, showing the Galle lighthouse! It was issued on 26.12. 2005 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Asian Tsunami.

Thank you Ravindra for the perfect card and stamp!

Hungary

Yaaay! A train card :))))

these are the Steam Locomotives Nr. 424 283 and Nr. 424 361 of the Hungarian State railway in Bw.Győr in 1979.
I dont exactly know what the locomotive numbers represent...my dad had probably explained this to me...but my mind tends to be forgetful as you know

However, the card is just great and I get more and more thrilled each time I receive a new train/railway related card.
Thanks to Milan for this treat :)

Moriones Festival, Philippines

A fantastic card I received for the Big Slavic RR!

The Moriones refers to the masked and costumed penitnets who take part in the reenactment of the Legend of Longinus, and Passion of the Christ Morions. They roam the street in town from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday scaring the kids or engaging in antics or surprises to draw attention. The festival is characterized by colourful Roman costumes, painted masks and helmets and brightly coloured tunics.

the stamps were issued in 2009 and I really love the one with the postal boy, or more known as Pheepoy, the lovable mascot of the Philippine Postal Corporation. The bird stamp comes from a set of *cough* 40 stamps!

thanks to Jan for choosing this lovely card for me!

North Dakota, USA

My last card for today enriches my US states map collection....however, i am still missing like 20 states....

North Dakota

State Capital: Bismarck
State Bird: Western Meadowlark
State Flower: Prairie Rose
State Tree: American Elm
Admited to the Union 1889

the well known clock stamp, and by now you have become familiar with the Olympic stamp as well....and the one with the flowers was issued this year, representing the Year of the Tiger, or the Lunar Year.

Foxy

I received this card exactly one year ago.....it took me some time later to actually figure out what a portent it was...and this was my first received card with a cat which looked like this...all my other cat-cards were in general cats which looked like Kimi...but anyways, here is how the story goes....

I was getting ready for work, and mail arrived and among it was this card....cute.
I go to work (by bike) and not far from home I hear some meowing which catches my attention in an odd way that it makes me stop, wanting to see what's going on. And i see this woman standing near the bushes, and IN the bushes this small orange kitten, with its hysteric meowing and aggressive hissing. My guess is that it was this woman indeed who had left him there, so that someone can pick him up, but of course, she wouldnt have admit it.
I am a cat and dog lover, but what happened here was something i cant really explain...there was some force which kept dragging me towards this kitten...and then there was this woman which kept telling me to take it....which i couldnt...first of all I was already late for work, so there was no way I take the kitten, go home and go to work..not to mention the bare fact itself for taking another cat home...i didnt want to leave the kitten there but after some reasonable thinking I decided that i just CANT take him....and got back on my bike....and after a few metres, turned my handlebars the other way and came back...for whatever reason it was, i just COULDNT leave the kitten there...I couldnt wait to get back from work in order to take him coz the chances for him to still be there were almost impossible...I had to take him THEN and THERE...I knew it was a crazy decision, but the thought of leaving him there was heart-breaking....and the next I know is this woman picking him up, putting him in a plastic bag, and giving it to me....no turning back...no way to go home, since im LATE for work....so I just head straight to work, with a kitten in a plastic bag, who couldnt stop hissing....i dont think i have seen a more aggressive cat ever....by just pointing a finger towards him, he would immediately attack...it was even scary honestly, but I couldnt just leave him NOW on the street...and I didnt even want to think what would happen with me bringing a kitten like this at work.
Of course, when the children saw him, it was pure joy and all my attempts to have a normal class failed....everyone wanted to see what the kitten was doing (we had to put him in the bin....that was the only place from where he couldnt get out...otherwise, as aggressive as he was, I risked someone from the children getting hurt or scratched all over).
Well, the class eventually came to an end, if you could call that a class...and now it was time to go home and of course face with another problem or risk being kicked out of home along with both cats.
Kimi was FAR from happy when he saw the new buddy, and it took months actually before he gave in eventually.
You can just imagine my parents' reaction...and my excuse was that I just couldnt leave him like that, and that I need to give him something to eat and eventually I will let him go....well giving him to eat was also impossible, coz we just couldnt come near him....so I had to use these thick gloves my mum has and which she uses for gardening....that was like the only thing which could protect us from him...
I dont know if it was because he started feeling safe, and had something to eat...but his aggression lasted for a few hours only...by evening time, he was so timid, I couldnt believe it was the same kitten I found in the morning.
Of course, the issue of letting him go remained, and my dad was the most persistent one about it, and i can freely say he couldnt stand him and had this reprimanding approach all the time, about how it is not fair towards Kimi and blah blah blah...yeah, Kimi is well-known for his anti-social behaviour so I wasnt surprised and I felt bad with the fact that he would go away and wont come home all day long...but on the other hand i REALLY didnt have the heart to have the other one let go...not after how timid and sweet he got...I know that deep inside myself i was convinced he would remain, back in those several days, it was a really troublesome issue..
I kept finding excuses all the time...how I cant leave him in the the middle of the night since he is too little...and I cant leave him during the day since other people will see me and of course, either bring it back to me or turn me in to some  of the Animal-Protection societies...and eventually my excuse was that I cant let him go now that he has been with us for a week or two...and he remained...and i am more than glad and happy he did...I am more than happy and glad that I decided to take him in the first place, that i decided to listen to that inner voice and go against my common sense...
Foxy (my mum gave him the name, since he is orange and crafty like a fox) is one of the most adorable creatures ive seen...and smartest as well. He is the kind of a cat which NEEDS human company, wants to cuddle...he is soo playful...sometimes too much...he always wants to tease the other cats....he knows how to open doors (I dont know how cats figure out the thing about doors)...and one thing I LOVE about Foxy is that when I tell him "sit down" he sits down :))

And Foxy is the exact kind of a cat as the one on the card which arrived that morning before I went to work...when I realized this some days later, i got shivers all-over....even though i refuse sometimes to see things like that, the card wanted to tell me something, to prepare me for something that was about to happen and which would in a way, change my life.

From this point if view, I would have never forgiven myself i I didnt take him with me, on this day, exactly one year ago....boy, time flies so fast :)

Later, I got this card too....since it reminded Ana of Kimi and Foxy together :)

Their relation today is muuuuuuuchh better than it was at the beginning...well Foxy always loved Kimi, but Kimi didnt love Foxy...I still think that Kimi is not so fond of Foxy (well Kimi is not fond of anyone actually), but at least he doesnt run away now, when Foxy comes to him, and cuddles into him, and falls asleep like that...when I see them like that, i just simply melt :)

this is Foxy during his first days with us:

this is him today

oh yeah, I forgot to say....he is ALWAYS hungry :)

sorry for this loooongish cheesy post....but i had to give some significance to this day, coz i absolutely adore my two cats, which are different as day and night :)

Ill be back with the regular postings from tomorrow on.

Maracas Bay, Trinidad and Tobago

Another country gets a 'tick' in the 'received written and stamped' row :))))

And as you already know by the title itself, it is Trinidad and Tobago we are talking about this time! Oh yess!!!
The name stands for the two main islands, one is Trinidad and the other one is Tobago, where, on this card in particular, you can see the Maracas Bay which is situated on the Trinidad island.
This is said to be one of the most popular beaches there, located on the north side of the island, an hour's mountainous drive from the capital city of Port of Spain.

One of the most famous aspects of Maracas Beach are the dozen Bake and Shark huts. Bake and Shark is a Trinidadian native dish that consists of deep-fried shark stuffed in a pocket of deep-fried batter, called "Bake". It's actually kneaded flour usually made for roti that is fried in certain shapes to make the bread.

Does look gorgeous....and i wish i could go...but by the looks of it, this summer the only sort of water i will probably see, is the river nearby where I live and along which i often go cycling....no beaches, no sunbathing, no swimming....*sniff*

And a stamp i absolutely know nothing about....so, help please!

France

A GORGEOUS map card I won in a lottery!

I love it how colourful it is and it shows the division of France it its departments, while the mice you can see on the sides, are singing traditional children's songs.
Well my knowledge of French is sort of equal to zero, so unfortunately i cant help you with these songs..if it were English Children's songs on the other hand....oh well..then i would have probably been able to sing them for you...I got to learn quite a versatile repertoire of those throughout my years working as an English Teacher.

The stamp is from a set of 8 issued in 2009, representing Tourism.

Bihać, BiH

My next card comes from the not so far-away Bosnia and Herzegovina.

And this is my first card from there which shows the town of Bihać.
On the card you can see the Captain's Tower House, a remnant of the Old Bihać Fortress, today a part of the Una-Sana Canton Museum, while in front of it you can see the church tower, the only thing it remained from it after the WWII.
I havent been here but I remember this place often being mentioned in the history books at school, in the context of Tito and Avnoj and the anti-fascist resistance.
Yeah, it has to be war-related unfortunately =[

the stamp was issued in 2006 in a set of 6 definitives representing vegetables...and this is garlic :)

Washington, USA

My last card for today came as a surprise from Chris

I have to say that I am EXTREMELY happy that thanks to some of you, my train collection keeps growing and growing!
On this one, you can see the Skagit River Railway. The Skagit river itself flows both through British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington in the US, but this scene here is on the US side, between Sedro Woolley and Concrete, Washington. A 48 mile nostalgic scenic trip along the Skagit River.

Aaaand....not so long ago Chris got his postmark permit, so now all postcards I receive by him dont  have that usual USPS cancellation but this special one from Chris, which at least I know will ALWAYS be clear and I wont have to depend on the mercy of the postal clerks if they're gonna give me a nice cancellation or no, or if they will give me one at all :)

Thanks Chris!!!

Nólsoy, Faroe Islands

I received my first Faroe Islands card almost two years ago.
Now I have my second card from there....with the GREATEST difference that this time it is Written and Stamped! :D

On the card you can take a glimpse of Nólsoy, which is an island and village in central Faroe Islands, located to the east of the capital Tórshavn. There is only one settlement on the island: Nólsoy on the north-west coast on Stongin, a peninsula attached to the rest of the island by a metres-wide isthmus.Nólsoy has the world's largest colony of Storm petrels, and is also home to the first known wild population of Common Frogs in the Faroe Islands.
Nólsoy has an annual civic festival called Ovastevna, which is in the beginning of August.
So if you have no plans for that time of the year, I think it would be interesting to pay a visit....as long as the Icelandic volcano doesnt interfere....again :)

The stamp is from a set of 2 stamps issued in 2009 representing Altarpieces.

Thanks the MOST to Gunnva for helping me with this card!

Georgia, USA

A card which came as a surprise from a dear person and which makes a great contribution to my US map-cards collection

The back of the card says:

Georgia is a peachy place to be with not only Southern Hospitality, but International Hospitality.
So in case you didnt know (like me) Georgia's nickname is the Peach State or also the Empire State of the South.
Some native-Georgians you maybe didnt know were Georgians actually: Ray Charles, James Brown, Otis Redding, R.E.M, B 52's, Margaret Mitchell, Alice Walker (Colour Purple is a *must* read...) I also have the movie, but in general i give much more credit to books.
Ok, there are some other famous Georgians among the hip-hop stars, but being it is a kind of music i strictly dislike, i will leave them out here....sorry :)

And here is something much better than hip-hop:

Leersum, The Netherlands

I have a friend in the Netherlands who sometimes pays such surprises to my mailbox that we are both speechless (my mailbox and I)

He twice sent me batches of postcards, all different, representing different parts in the Netherlands. This time I collected the postcards he sent me from Leersum and decided to put them here all together and represent you different parts of the city..in case i had missed a card, will show it to you some other time.
Anyways...the first card shows the Uilentoren, which means "Owl Tower".According to this witty comment, supposedly J.K.Rowling came up with her idea for homing owls right here :D Couldnt help it...that one made me laugh so i had to post it :))

This card shows Buitenplaats which most probably was a summer retreat for the rich big city merchants, built in the days when Netherlands was still a colonial power.
Yup Sietse, you got that one right, *thumbs up*

Here you see the entrance to a 14th century manor called Zuylestein which is unique to the Netherlands and has remained intact in its original Renaissance  style.

This one shows the Saint Michael's Church in Leersum, but unfortunately, thats the only thing i know to share with you, and either way, it is obvious by itself, since it is written on the card.

And since three of these cards contained different stamps, I am of course, putting them all.
The first two come from a set of 6 stamps issued in 2009 representing Senior People.

The famous priority Eurocent Nederland stamp, issued in a set of 2 in 2009 (im quite happy with these sorts of stamps when i can distinguish in which year they were issued since they come out every year and can be rather confusing.

And the last two stamps...the one on the left is a Christmas stamp issued in 2009 in a set of 10, while the other one is from 2008 from a set of 10, under the title Think Green Act Green, of course, representing the protection of the environment.

Thanks Sietse for all the great cards....and sorry that this time it is *me* who is very late in sending something she had promised...but I do hope to get back on track soon...hopefully during next week

Tripoli, Libya

A depressing rainy day, when you are fed up with it all, calls for nothing else, but posting some postcards...esp. since one of them adds a new item in my received countries list :))))))))))))
Libya!!!!!!!!!!!

And I actually didnt receive just one, but 6 cards from Libya, written and stamped! So it was extremely hard to pick just one, but I guess starting from the capital seemed like the most *reasonable* choice to start exploring this country.
Coz in fact, this country is on the list of countries of which i know very little or nothing about....and my very first knowledge about Tripoli itself comes from when I was little....not because I knew where Tripoli was (it sounded more like the name of a river or a desert, esp. since the context made me believe so)
But anyways, the reason I knew about Tripoli was because my dad had this song on an ENDLESS REPEAT...he even had a tape done for him where on both sides there was nothing else but this song repetitively...so that he can listen to it continuously, without having to push the REW button....was wondering if i should organize a contest and leave you to guess which song im talking about...i could give you hints, but i really dont know how successful it will be, since the fact i have this word from this song stuck in my mind, doesnt mean it should occur to everybody else....the song is well-known, very popular somewhere in the early 90's i think, the singer is well-known as well....and the title of the song has nothing to do with Tripoli itself but with actually another geographical place on Earth which is not even in Africa...and the lyrics of the song itself contain a bunch of other places on Earth, but for some reason it was Tripoli who caught my attention.
Ok ok, Ill tell you....here it is....and Tripoli is right there, mentioned somewhere at 0:25 :)

The two stamps on this card come from a set of 16 issued in 1996, representing Maghreb Handicrafts

thanks a lot to Omran for this treat!

Tirol, Austria

A card which came as a surprise from Goran....who due to that probably, also didnt say a word he was going to Austria :)

And here are some fantastic snowy views...and when you look at them, you just immediately forget what a nuisance and hassle the snow can be, but you just wish it snowed right there, at an instant....well, instead of snow, i got LOADS of rain, which TOTALLY disrupted my plans for today....but it is not as if it is the first time happening either way.....
Tirol (or Tyrol, whichever you prefer) is a federal state of Austria and located in the Western part of the country between Italy and the Southern part of Germany. Its scenery is strongly influenced by Alpine mountains. The highest moutains of Tirol are the Ortler (3905 m), Königspitze (king's top) in Southern Tirol, the Grossglockner (3798 m) in Eastern Tirol and the Wildspitze (wild top) in den Ötztaler Alps in Northern Tirol.
Which of those are exactly shown on the card, I honestly have no idea

The stamp is from a set of 3, issued in 2007 and it shows a Christmas Rose.

Hvala ti Gorane još jednom :)

Novi Sad, Serbia

A very nice card that comes from Judit.

It shows the Manual Forgotten Arts Museum in Novi Sad, which is an amazing collection of antiquated arts. The museum consists of two parts; a workshop for manufacturing products made from leather, using the traditional methods, and the New Musueum. The items collected here date from the times between the two world wars. There are more than 20 topics you can encounter here, and they will keep being complemented as long as the museum itself exists. Some of the topics include: packaging (tin boxes, wooden boxes, cardboard boxes ...), restaurants (wooden crates, glass packaging, beer taproom ...), Office (Desk, chairs, working lamps, office accessories), promotional material (posters, tin sheets, enamelled panels, ashtrays, Stender ...), film (film projectors, posters, movies ...), art (paintings, sculpture ...), trades (carpenters, barbers, tailors), travel (suitcases, bags, postcards, posters ...), instruments and electrical equipment (measuring instruments, scales, radios ...), medicine (dentist, doctor, a gynecologist ...)

Definitely seems like an interesting place, which i MUST visit on my next trip to NS...whenever that will be...

and a LOVELY stamp with a TRAIN!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, a locomotive actually, but its theme is Trains & Railways :)
It was issued in 2009 in a set of two stamps, regarding the 125th Anniversary of the Railroad in Serbia.

Hvala ti Judit!

Lido di Jesolo, Italy

And the closure for today is with this fantastic lighthouse card which came as a surprise from Rajko....

Hmm, ok...I didnt actually plan it on purpose to make this update *dedicated* to some of my friends from the ex-yu forum....i noticed it after i had chosen the cards...but I do think things happen for a reason :)
Recently Rajko went on a graduation trip to Italy/Spain/France and of course enjoyed himself more than ever before....and also it reminded me of the times when I went on that tour...if I could, I would immediately pack my bags and get lost again on such a trip....regardless how tiring it was, I enjoyed every millisecond of it.
Here you can see the lighthouse in Lido di Jesolo...or Jesolo Lido...as it sounds more common to you.
Im just not quite sure what the exact  name of this lighthouse is, but it certainly is LOVELY!

The stamp was issued in 2008, representing Italian Sport, dedicated to the Italian Rowing Federation (1888-2008).

Hvala ti Rajko, once again :)

And im off to get ready for the Nadal-Almagro match.....

Moorea, French Polynesia

19 days with no posts...could be a record (if we exclude times when i was actually OUT of town and i couldnt post)...so here im counting the days when i was actually at home, and still post-less....ill spare you the excuses...they are already very well heard :)
And here comes something very extra! :)
A card from French Polynesia...and WHAT a card!

This map is just sooooo lovely and colourful....coincides with the theme I guess, presenting holidays, joy, fun, long endless nights, cocktails on the beach, tropical fruits.....I know for sure that *I* would totally enjoy that :)

The map shows Moorea, which is like a sister island to Tahiti, since they are very close to one another (about 20 min. by boat). And due to its stunning scenery and white sandy beaches, it is of course, extremely popular among tourists, and can often be seen as a honeymoon destination advertised in magazines. Doesnt take long to guess why.....

And whats most special about this card is that it is written and stamped from FP direct!!! Oh Joy! :D
the stamp here was issued in 2009 in a set of 3 stamps, called "Hevia in the Old Days"

Minsk, Belarus

A very nice official card showing a cemetery in Minsk

BY-47641

Well, problem is im not 100% sure, but the English transcription to this should be something like Kalvariskya..or Kalvaryja as i have found it on google....but i cant guarantee we are talking about the same cemetery here...and google cant brag to be full on information on this one, or it might be me who is overlooking things.
The entire back of the card has a text in Belorussian regarding this cemetery...which i could have understood it...well if someone is willing to translate it for me, id be glad to scan the back of the card...even though some bits of the text are covered by stamps....the majority is still readable

both stamps are from 2008....the flower one is from a set of 8 stamps called Garden Flowers, this one showing a Tulip....while the other one is a Christmas stamp

Michigan, USA

A fantastic lighthouse from dear Katie!

The scenery is just amazing!
This is the Point Betsie lighthouse in Michigan, which is one of the state's most picturesque lighthouses. Located just north of Frankfort, here it is pictured with the snow and ice of winter.
And I think that it is the snow and ice which give such a special touch to this picture!And i feel so honoured that Katie chose this one for me :)
Thank you a million dear! <3

there are three stamps on the card, from which one is rather new to me....the one with the flowers...it is The Year of the Tiger stamp, issued this year....the clock one is well known, and i think that just recently i also posted this sports' stamp, representing the Vancouver Olympic Games.

What Nerves?

Really, WHAT nerves????

A very self-explanatory card....and soooo self-depicting at the moment....remember my attempt to give up on coffee???? Well, it has so much gone to hell that i nowadays drink coffee like crazy in order to get through all these crazy deadlines im running after....and my nerves....nerves? what nerves??

Anne Taintor cards just perfectly match my sense of humour....no wonder i so much love them :)


Wooohoooo! Cant believe it that i actually MANAGED to make an update! And it feels soooooo good and so refreshing and I just feel soooo bad for not being able to do it more often lately....im honestly starving to post a bunch of great cards here.....but I guess it will go rather slow this time....and when will our next meeting be.....arghh, i really dont know....but i do hope it wont take another 3 weeks till then :)