Algarve, Portugal

I got this one back in the year 2000 from my penpal Leen Frenssen....just now this reminded me of a Pulp song, called Disco 2000....it goes something like this...

I said let's all meet up in the year 2000 Won't it be strange when we're all fully grown.....

again, a line which in some sense deals with the inevitable passing of life and how things just change all along the way...and there is nothing you can do about it, nothing can freeze us in time and have the moments last forever and ever... 

 

Algarve is a place in the south of Portugal and Marta says it doesnt attract her that much but that there are beautiful beaches there...what you can see on the card is Alvor.
Alvor is an ancient port and fishing village on the mouth of the River Alvor in the western Algarve. In the village we can visit the remains of a 13th century castle, a 16th century church and an attractive jumble of narrow cobbled lanes with the original low traditional fisherman’s cottages.

"The Alvor Beach has the particularity of marking the division between the Ocean and the Alvor River. Therefore, besides the very extensive sandy area, one can also find an interior lagoon with channels of calm waters. The huge sandy barrier as far as the eye can reach, allows the visitor to choose the place that better suits his interests. In this beach there is also a great fauna and flora diversity. The Alvor Beach is one of the most famous and looked for Beaches in the Algarve".

well, since Marta has the exactly same card  I copied this whole post from her blog....plus she is Portuguese...is there a better source to get information for a Portuguese card?   I just hope Marta wont mind :)  Marta ?!

Melbourne, Australia

This is from my friend Biljana, from her trip to Australia in 2000....she has relatives both there and in Canada, and of course brought me cards...

The back of the card just says "Twilight over Melbourne"...no description of what those buldings actually are.

btw, yesterday she said that she is due to be very soon, that is next week....yup yup yup...she is going to have a baby girl....hahhahaa, i got so excited to know that she is finally counting the last days....I still havent gotten anything for the baby, and I had this idea of getting her some nice winter clothes and accessories...i just need to find some spare time and have a look at whats around stores...and find something which is actually appropriate for a new-born....hope i wont make some clumsy mistake :D

Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid, Macedonia

Montenegro

Sushice, Czech Republic

Ohrid, Macedonia

Zlatibor, Serbia

Gazaintep, Turkey

From Leyla Gzyasar, another dear friend of mine (with whom of course, im not in touch with anymore, you probably learned this so far). She often went to Turkey, coz she is originally from there, but she lived in Belgium

The first thing that comes to my mind when i take a look at this card is heat!
All this sand and orange/brown colour, makes me think that it must be very hot there (well, its Turkey, it shouldnt be surprising at all).
I have never visited Turkey, not even for a holiday and probably my two reasons are: its too hot there in summer, and it takes 24 hours to get there by bus, which is somewhat unimaginable in that heat. But i would like to visit it one day. In the meantime, ill enjoy it through the postcards ;-)

Alanya, Turkey

A card sent to my by one of my former pen-friends, Helle Pedersen from Denmark, from her summer holiday in 2000, when she went to Turkey.
Apart from being a really close friend to me, she was also a huge fan of New Kids On the Block.....hey, i was still 13/14 back then :))
Though, i must say, i still remember by heart many of the NKOTB's songs :)

Alanya is a seaside resort city and district of Antalya province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey.
The city has changed hands many times over the centuries, and its name has reflected this. Alanya was first known in Latin as Coracesium or in Greek as Korakesion, meaning "point/protruding city".
Under the Byzantine Empire it become known as Kalonoros or Kalon Oros, meaning "beautiful" or "fine mountain" in Greek.

The Seljuks renamed the city Alaiye, a derivative of the Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I's name.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Italian traders called the city Candelore or Cardelloro.
In his 1935 visit, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk finalized the name in the new alphabet as Alanya, changing the 'i' and 'e' in Alaiye, reportedly because of a misspelled telegram in 1933.



The card shows the Alanya Castle. It is a medieval castle and most of it was built in the 13th century, under the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, following the city's conquest in 1220 by Alaeddin Keykubad I, as part of a building campaign that included the Kizil Kule.
This castle was built on the remnants of earlier Byzantine Era and Roman Era fortifications. The castle is located 250 meters high on a rocky peninsula into the Mediterranean Sea which protects it from three sides. After the area was pacified under the Ottoman Empire the castle ceased to be purely defensive, and numerous villas were built inside the walls during the 19th century.
Today the building is an open air museum. Access to the seaward castle is ticketed, but much of the area inside the wall, including the landward castle is open to the general public.