Budapest, Hungary (16)

I really wanted to go out of the country/town for New Years....call it running away but i just dont like celebrating it here...its more of an annoyance than something pleasurable, and every year its just the same (or worse) and i just dont fit into that vast category of people who just look forward to it, in order to eat, get drunk, eat, get drunk, eat, get drunk...party till early hours and in general, waste a huge some of money on one night only...thats just not my cup of tea...i may be sounding as an old granny, but i really prefer quiet, calmer things..last year i had a "celebration" like that at home and frankly, i felt great about it....we'll see what happens this year

Anyway, my friends' choice eventually fell on Budapest...and even though at first i was really excited to go somewhere, very soon i grew out of it...first, coz it takes a long travel...second, im saving for a new lap-top so blowing money on this aint really in my favour...third, even though Budapest is beautiful, its just cold to go there at this time of the year, and i dont really like to go there and either freeze or stay in the hotel room coz the conditions outside arent that good...so i think that it would have been a mistake if i went...and from all the enthusiasm at the beginning, only two friends are going...so its nothing to feel sorry for

Montenegro

I didnt actually intend to do an update today...apart from the fact i spend way too much time at the pc due to work, i have way too much work to do as well...but I was told that the deadline which was like supposed to be tomorrow, first postponed for Tuesday, and then for Thursday...and i felt some sort of relief, coz im way too much behind with the work, and now Thursday seems somewhat i can manage...though if i keep going with this pace I doubt, esp. since while I have to work on one document, i get others in the meantime as well...plus the lessons i have to prepare for next week and all...and i really have no idea how im gonna manage it all...but at least the pressure i feel had eased a bit...of course, it doesnt mean i can just go and idle now, but at least it doesnt feel so helpless now...and i fell somewhat disappointed with some people and i just need some remedy and clearance of thoughts...and this is my refugee...

Anyway...even though this card is about Montenegro...my post has nothing to do with Montenegro..but more with the dog on the picture...now, i know some of you will know what im gonna rant about...and feel free to skip this longish post...but i just feel inspired and find it appropriate for this card...

So...whats the deal...few days ago, out of nowehere a small puppy appeared in my garden (not one bit as the one on the card, but this is like the only card I have which features a dog :)). Anyway...the puppy was the most adorable fluffy thing i had seen..small and white...well, it was soo dirty and sticky that you couldnt call it white..but it was defintiely way too adorable...i regret not having taking a single picture of it...and it was way too lively coz it wouldnt stop running and jumping and going around...way too playful...and way too hungry coz it ate whatever i had given him...the sweetest thing was when i noticed that it accomodated himself (or herself, i dont know actually...but ill go for himself) in my mum's pot flowers...and was pretending to sleep, but when i would come around, it would raise its head, start waving its tail and jump to me...if it wasnt so dirty, i would have squeezed the hell out of him of hugging...we played with small balls as well, and he would run after them, bring them back to me, or hide them again behind my mum's pot flowers...i really dont know why he so much wanted to be around those pot flowers...some feeling of safety i guess...anyway...eventually i had to leave for work and was wondering if it would be there when i come back...well, it was...in my neighbours garden actually, he found a whole in the fence to be able to move here and there, but when i called him he came to me, again all jumping, yupping, running...waving its tail....a real real sweetheart....a few hours later, he went to sleep and he even found himself a hidden place for it...i really dont know how he managed but he was managing with everything perfectly, even though he was here for the first time...an incredibly incredibly smart puppy!!  Well...the following morning i woke up really early...partially coz i had work to do, partially coz of him...but to me greatest disappointment, he was gone...and hadnt come back until now....if it wasnt for my mum and dad to see him as well, I swear i would have thought it was all a hallucination...I still hope it would come back...and frankly, im gonna do whatever it takes this time not to let him go...i know my cat wont be happy, even though the puppy wanted to play with him and was teasing him and all...but i think that with time, they will settle down together...I just hope it would come back one day soon...he made me fall for him at an instant..and then just left...its really not fair...i wonder if it would have been better if he never showed up in my life at all...I wonder why things or people you care for the most just dont stay....life...

btw, this card was sent to me by my mum and dad back in 2001 from their holiday in Budva...a funny thing my mum had written on the card is: "Today its pouring, but its great for walking". I dont get it...if its pouring, how can it be great for walking?? it not a drizzle or a light rain....its pouring...or as the British would say..its raining cats and dogs....ha...now this is an irony :)

Castlegar, Canada

I got this card from my pen-pal Charity, back in 2001, when she visited Castlegar...

The card shows the Hugh Keenleyside Dam, which as Charity says, is used for storing water only, and that its not a power generator dam...well..maybe things have changed in the meantime, i dont know..

from the back of the card:

B.C. hydro completed this storage dam in 1968, which is situated at Castlegar's northern boundary on the Lower Arrow Lakes. A powerhouse is planned that will produce approximately 210 megawatts. Boat locks enable pleasure boaters to cruise Columbia river from Washington State to as far north as Revelstoke, B.C.

you all know im not a stamp collector, but i find some interesting or cool, so i think its nice to post them as well....this is one of them...it represents the year of the snake (according to the Chinese horoscope)...Im born in the year of the monkey, so it would be cool to have that :) Actually, i think it would be cool to have all of them (in case there is a whole series of these stamps with all the animals at the Chinise horoscope)

Budapest, Hungary (14)

One of my numerous Budapest cards bought in 2001 when i went there....

So its not a newly received card, but an older one...as i said a few days ago, ill try and include an older card in each day i post, so apart from it contributing to the variety, i will also be able to make a balance between the old and new cards, and as well, manage to show those older cards as well instead leave them until there are no new cards at all (which is highly unlikely to happen...sometimes there may be less, sometimes more, but there will always be some new cards...i hope)

One thing that inevitably comes to my mind when thinking of Budapest is the following video...sorry, but i cant help it :)

Ostrog, Montenegro

Well, not a newly received card actually....not that im out of cards...i have like over 20 pending....but i got this insane idea that i need to mingle my older ones as well...i mean, i barely manage to keep up with the newly received ones, so i dont know how i will with these ones added on top of that...but i was thinking...and the moment i started uploading my newly received cards, i had like hundreds of the previous ones which i had put on stand by...and at this rate, turns out ill never upload them...or i will in some distant future....so i decided to do it now, and mingle them with the new cards.....another reason for this is that i like having a variety here...and by that, i mean, cards from different countries....if you have noticed, i barely post 2 cards of the same country on a same day even if i have like 5 to post from that particular country....and by including these old cards, ill increase the variety, since most of those are from places ill most probably wont get a card now (both officials and swaps), so it really will bring some difference here....plus youll get to see more different stuff.....well, i personally like the idea...i hope you as well....and if we get realistic...the chances i get an official card from Montenegro are scarce....the chances for me to ask for a swap are even lesser, mainly coz i have too many cards from there.....so...there we go.....:))))

This card here was sent to me by my mum and dad in 2001 during their stay there......with a simple and concise message on the back: "Something very beautiful".

Well, it surely is, no?
The Monastery of Ostrog is of the Serb Orthodox Church placed against an almost vertical background, high up in the large rock of Ostroška Greda, in Montenegro, dedicated to Sveti Vasilije Ostroški (Saint Basil of Ostrog).

It is the most popular pilgrimage place in Montenegro, visited by believers from all parts of the world, representing the meeting place of all religions: Orthodox, Catholics, Muslims. According to the stories of pilgrims, by praying by his body, many have been cured and helped in lessening the difficulties in their lives.

(Maybe I should give it a try....)

Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic

Sveti Stefan, Montenegro

Lake Balaton, Hungary

Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid, Macedonia

Montenegro

Sunny Beach, Bulgaria

Ohrid, Macedonia

Pula, Croatia

Nessebar, Bulgaria

My friend Kate sent this to me when she went on a holiday here

Kate is a friend from high-school with whom i stayed friends when we continued at university as well...eventually she moved to Italy and got married there....and we were still in touch....until like two years ago, when we ceased contact....and i still think it was my turn to write to her...but you know how it goes...once it gets lingered too much, eventually it gets harder and harder to make yourself sit down and write something until one day you realize two years had passed...which is too much...and what im gonna say? Im sorry, but i was lazy/forgetful/not in the mood? Though honestly, i avoid writing to people when my mood is at some low level....but still its stupid as an excuse...

i just wonder one thing about this card...is this the part of Nessebar which is inscribed as a UNESCO or am i wrong?