Well, i coudlnt take it anymore and had to cool myself somehow and had to post this snowy snowy card....its just getting too hot here, and im getting frustrated with it...i just cant and dont function in such heat...i idle and do nothing smart all day long...there are so many things i need to do, but for some reason im getting apathetic again, and just dont feel like doing anything...i often think that i really need to move out from here...i dont know where, no one guarantees that its gonna be different and ill feel much better, but on the other hand, i feel like i need that change in my life...and that i need to be away from a certain number of things and people that surround me here...boy, this sounded so xenophobic! But well, dont worry...it most probably doesnt refer to you, since that number of people doesnt really read this...at least i think so :)
This is Kemi...a small city in Finland, located in Lapland. One of the things this small town is famous for, is that it actually claims to be the home of world's largest snow castle (reconstructed every year with a different architecture). You can see it on the bottom left picture.
I love those snow/ice sculptures people make...sand as well, but i think that ice and snow are much more delicate since they have the ability to melt...so to be able to make an object of snow or ice, which wont change its shape, is really fascinating to me, and due to the characteristics of the ice, they always just look magnificent...
In the Kemi castle you also have a restaurant, a hotel and a chapel....im pretty sure that its a feeling one of a kind to be the guest of such a hotel and to eat in that restaurant...something which i would love love love to visit one day! I dont really know how all that snow endures the lights and how they have the heating issue solved....but you know, i think im gonna tell you all about it one day, from the face of the place :)
and here is my favourite Kimi stamp....this is funny though, a Kemi card with a Kimi stamp...Kemi - Kimi, Kimi - Kemi......hehehehehehehehheee!!!
ok, im off to another attempt to clean my room....lets see how far i get this time...
The last card to be featured today comes from the city of Yogyakarta in Indonesia.
It is renowned as a center of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows.Yogyakarta was also the Indonesian capital during the National Revolution from 1945 - 1949.
On the card you can see the Tugu monument, which is a famous landmark that is located right at the center of Yogyakarta.
The monument has a sphere as the top spire and this represents the universe. Previously that is during the colonial era there was a golden cylinder in the place of the spire. In the Indonesian language the word "tugu" means column.
The Tugu Monument that is there at the north of the Keraton at the interjection of the Jl. Sudirman and the Jl. Mangkubumi is not the one that was originally built. The first monument was built in 1755 to commemorate the setting up of the Ngayogyakarta Sultanate. The structure was built in direct alignment with the Mount Merapi and the Keraton. Thus it formed an axis that is said to have special power.
Btw....i got this card along with many others in an envelope...and since i hadnt featured the stamps with the previous cards, here they are now. Ill skip the comments....since i simply couldnt open the English version of the Indonesian Post Office site, so that i could read what information does it include in the Philately section and if it could be any helpful. So in case you know something more about the stamps or you can give me a good link about Indonesian stamps, you are always welcome to do so.
Im becoming more and more convinced that Lithuania is a place more than worth visiting. It seems to have such beautiful places about which i know just a little.
If there is something i MUST see if i ever go to Lithuania, apart from Vilnius of course, is the Trakai island. There is a really nice postcard ive seen around, showing an aerial view of it, and its something id really love to have in my collection (and probably then rant more about the place and all...). And definitely the Кuršiu Nerija National Park....if you recall my post about the Curonian Spit, then i should tell you that Кuršiu Nerija is a National Park in order to protect the unique ecosystem of the Curonian spit and the Curonian Lagoon.
the stamp is from a set of two, issued in 2008 to commemorate the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing, where this stamp here portrays "Yachting. “Laser Radial” class"
One reason why i really love this card is the illumination against the bricks of the bridge and the building on the hill...along with the dark blue sky, the combination of colours is just lovely.
Puente de Segovia (or the Bridge of Segovia) is the oldest bridge in Madrid.Its nine ancient arches spread across the Manzanares river in a symbolic act of union of the city's past and present. It was commissioned in 1582 by Felipe II. The king selected the architect Juan of Herrera to complete the task.Made of granite, it's very solid and durable. During the Spanish Civil War it was of crucial importance to the two struggling sides, as it's one of the main entrances to the city. In an attempt to prevent the nationalists from taking over the capital, the republicans blew up a part of it.
this card came along with some others in an envelope, so here is the stamp. Its from a 2008 issue dedicated to the Flora and Fauna, called Dahlia and European Bee-eater.
This is the stamp showing the Dahlia which is considered to be the Mexican national flower. The stamp is self-adhesive.
Here comes a card from Slovakia...i think its been a while since i had posted one...
Trenčin is a city in Western Slovakia, near the border with the Czech Republic. The site of Trenčín has been inhabited since time immemorial. Trenčín Castle, a typical medieval fortified castle is situated high on a rock above the city. Trenčín is best known for a Roman inscription on the rock below the Trenčin castle, dating from 179 AD, the era of the Macromannic Wars. The castle is the third-largest castle in Slovakia. And you can actually see the castle on the card. From what i could comprehend from the back of the card, on the bottom line, the two small pictures in the middle show, the Hotel Tatra (the left picture) and a Synagogue(the picture on the right).
this is one of the cards i received time ago with many others in an envelope, so now i can actually show you the stamps that are on the envelope.
The stamp in the middle is from 2008, from a series called "Personalities", showing Eugen Suchon.who was a Slovak composer, pedagogue and theorist,one of the most notable members of the founding generation of the Slovak ‘modernist’ movement in music.
The stamp on the left is from 2007, called, Museum's Treasury - The Gospel Book of Nitra.
As for the two small stamps on the left....they are definitives from 1993, called Dubnica nad Vahom.
Well, i think its been a long time since i had shared with you a Macedonian card....so while anticipating for the summer holidays and beaches and water to swim in, here is something to have a look at...
Struga is a town situated at the Ohrid Lake, and is in fact, some 20km away from Ohrid, but Ohrid is the one who dominates in popularity and so. The last time i went to Struga was actually the year when i finished primary school, so do the math...15 years....
I think that Struga is much calmer than the busy crowded and MUCH MORE expensive Ohrid. But the problem with Struga that many people have is the fact that many Albanians live there, and there is this eternal tussle going on regarding that issue, so many people just avoid Struga coz of that...unfortunately, throughout the year, there have been incidents between the Macedonians and Albanians living there, to the extent that the pupils protested and didnt go to school...since there were fights among them and they just demanded different schedules as they wouldnt have a chance to be at school in the same shift.
I know people who have apartments/houses there and who spend their entire summer in Struga, and they have no problems with anything, but i guess that the majority of people has developed some sort of antagonism to this...
One of the reasons why I respect Struga, is that its the host of the Struga Poetry Evenings, and is considered to be the world's largest poetry gathering. Each year, they award the Golden Wreath to one of the poets, and so far, people like Pablo Neruda, Allen Ginsberg, Miroslav Krleža, Artur Lundkvist, Desanka Maksimović, Seamus Heany etc etc etc, have been awarded this wreath.
They are usually held in summer, in late August, so if you happen to be in Macedonia, this event is highly recommended for attendance....it is also supported by UNESCO.
A beautiful Alberta sunset covers fields of barley with an orange glow....
Really nice view...and whenever i look at this field, i get a feeling that the barley actually feels like cashmere, and when you bring it close to your face, you just rub it and it feels sooo tender and smooth...just like some clothes you had washed and you had used some beautifully scented fabric softener...i love using those when i wash my clothes...afterwards they smell fantastic and feel so soft....I used to use one chocolate scented softener and boy, i had an itch to literally eat my clothes...it was amazingly good!! Unfortunately, i havent been able to find it in the shops afterwards....apart from one flower-scented, i also have a Vanilla fabric softener in the bathroom...but i think that the chocolate one is irreplaceable....unless i come across a coconut scented one...then i might change my opinion :)
No stamp on this card...i guess Canada has a lack of stamps as well sometimes....or just has some lazy postal clerks....
I know that according to the rules, all international mail here HAS to have stamps on it...and that its the postal-workers' duty to do that if i lets say hand them out my mail with no stamps...but i know its a way too risky thing to do, so i always try to get my stamps ahead, and sometimes i need to visit a bunch of post-offices before i actually find ones....but so far i think i actually havent failed in it...and i hope i wont in the future as well
Thanks for reading...and wish me all the good luck in the world in your thoughts...im gonna need it....
Hello people! Sorry for not posting anything in these last few days...even though it was a weekend and i had spare time..well, thats what it may seem, but i actually didnt...and you surely are not interested to hear the details...i know :)
I sometimes wonder how many different views can you get from Hong Kong...sometimes when i look at my Hong Kong postcards, i feel as if im seeing the same buildings, but from a different angle, and with different colours, in daylight, at night, with fireworks....but i do love them all, esp. since all HK postcards are huge...
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong.
When i take a look at the sentence above, it feels as an equation, that you need to divide to the smallest elements, or vice versa...you need to gather all the elements in order to reach a whole number of a fraction...in this case, Hong Kong being the 'whole' element, while all the rest being the constitute elements, where Wan Chai is the smallest one...am i making sense? I know im not...
Anyway....Wan Chai is one of the busiest commercial areas in Hong Kong with many small and medium-sized companies. Wan Chai North features office towers, parks, hotels and an international conference and exhibition centre. As one of the first areas developed in Hong Kong, the locale is densely populated yet with noticeable residential zones facing urban decay. There are many unique buildings and skyscrapers, most notably the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Central Plaza and Hopewell Centre.
I thought that Hopewell Centre had to do something with charity or some of those sacred places which give you hope....i guess i take things for granted more than needed sometimes...
Did you go somewhere for the holidays? I mean, here, many people took off somewhere, since it was 1st May on Friday, and then there was the weekend, and this town was empty...I dont know about you, but personally i dont like such kind of holidays...mainly coz they make me feel lonely in some sense...
I really like this card, not only coz it shows a map, but also, Santiago de Compostela is actually a UNESCO whs! So, this is what you can call, i killed two flies in one shot ;) And I actually found it a bit confusing, since the majority of the map belongs to France, but Santiago is actually in Spain...so hence i put both countries...and yeah, ill admit, until I actually googled, only France was in the label...
Here is what the back of the card says:
Its about the difficult ways which crosses France, for a very ancient pilgrimage going to Spain, to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The ways and their monuments belong to the UNESCO whs list.
Which reminds me, i should update my UNESCO whs list....sometime soon...
Last week was scarce on mail...very scarce....hopefully this one will be better...and maybe my so 'famous' new country will arrive as well...though for some reason i have a feeling that if it doesnt arrive this week, several new countries will arrive next week....well, the more the merrier...btw, to whomever i owe a mail or a message or anything...you know me...im always behind with that...sometimes i think that if i had to write you a real letter, it would have reached you sooner, than me writing you an email...yeah, im THAT lousy and e-mail unfriendly :)
Well, i think that at the mention of "Bali" you are more used to seeing those exotic beaches or lovely turqoise water...well, for a change, something cultural as well :)
This is the Taman Ayum Temple in Mengwai, West Bali.
The Taman Ayum Temple is a Royal Temple of Mengwi Empire and it is located in Mengwi Village and it had been newly sanctified in the year 1634. The temple served as the family temple of the Mengwi dynasty, whose kingdom survived until the late 1800s. The temple was built by I Gusti Agung Anom, a founder of the Mengwi kingdom in 1934, and were skilfully and renovated in later years, giving its present appearance which tourists find so attractive and interesting. The temple is famous for its exquisite wooden merus, or pagoda-like shrines. The name itself means beautiful garden. It is built on a high tableland which is surrounded by ponds.
A really nice card, showing the Přemysl Otakar II Square....i love the blueish tone of it!
České Budějovice has long been well known for the beer brewed there since the 13th century. For a time the town was the royal brewery for the Holy Roman Emperor and Budweiser Bier , became along with Pilsener one of the best-known lagers. Brewing remains a major industry.
If there is a drink i totally cant stand, then thats beer....but for some reason, i found it interesting and fun to share this information with you...instead those historic facts and figures...
well, i hope you liked the cards today...i hope you are having a nice Saturday...and dont forget to take part in the contest!
Ive posted once a Yellowstone card, but shown from a totally different aspect......this one seems just like a melted candy....
Midway Geyser Basin is seen here from the air. Grand Prismatic Spring, in the center, has the distinction of being the earliest described Yellowstone thermal feature. It is the largest hot spring in the park with a diameter of 370 feet.
And oh yeah, it is a UNESCO whs :)
Well, this post was intended to sound waaaaay too much different....with a different tone...and composed in a different way...but as usual, its better when a man doesnt plan anything coz his plans never really turn out as he wanted them to...neither did mine...
The new F1 season had started and i was ready to make a nice, elaborate, full of facts post today...but something went wron on the way...even though i dont have a postcard from the Albert Park in Melbourne, where the race was held today, i really wanted to commemorate it and include some symbolic contribution from my side. But i guess that will have to wait for some better times...
I sensed it all at the qualifications, that the Ferrari's are struggling (the McLaren;s were even worse) and from the final outcome of the situation, i felt it was gonna be a weird race. I didnt really have a great desire to get up early and watch it, since i already went to sleep late, and Raikkonen was starting 7th...and my eyes were literary closing...and i admit i slept thru the majority of the race...i noticed several crashes, a Safety Car and the next thing i remember, Button is celebrating...Raikkonen is not even on the list...Why? the guy had crashed into a wall! Geez! Why did i at all get up at 7:30 am?!!
To make matters worse, after that i slept until 3pm! Awful! Disastrous! And just today we had had to have a time change and go ahead one hour! And on top of that, i nstead of having a lazy Sunday (coz i just didnt feel capable for anything) turns out i have work to do, which im not supposed to do it in the first place, but when you have to deal with dishonest and complicated people, thats what you end up with...of course i barely did anything and i can freely proclaim this day as one of the days when i had felt i had totally wasted it! From start till end!
Thank godness Nadal won hos match several hours before that....i couldnt have coped with two losses :)
And thank god the upcoming race is at 11am....even if a disaster happens, at least i will not regret waking up early for nothing...
And all I wanted was to just say that I want to see many many races where Raikkonen would be cheering as on this card! I guess i will have to wait for that a bit...
And last, but not least, i would like to thank Raquel for sending me my first ever Kimi Raikkonen postcard. It's self-printed, but its of an absolutely great quality! And the card is just great and im more than happy to own it!
And just one thing...if you happen to have postcards from the F1 circuits, please contact me...thank you in advance :)
Ok, lets get down to some work....
oh, just one more thing...i want to say that im glad that actually Button won, and Barichello took the second place...im especially glad for Rubens...that man had been struggling sooooo much in the past few years due to having an uncompetitive car...he really really deserved to be on the podium today. Same goes for Button. He hadnt scored so many points in two years as he scored today!
When i went to the post office yesterday, the man at the desk looked at me, and said 'Hi, long time no see!'...having in mind that i really hadnt been to THAT post office for months, i was more than surprised to see that he remembers me...obviously i have left an impression with the pile of mail i send, and obviously im the only one who does that, so im the talk of the town, or in this case, the post offices :)
Well, i can just add another post office, to the list of ones where im a familiar face :)
I really like this card! Such nice sand formations!
The Curonian Spit is a 98 km long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea.
According to Baltic mythology the Curonian Spit was formed by a strong girl, Neringa, who was playing on the seahore. This child also appears in other myths (in some of which she is shown as a young strong woman, similar to a female version of the Greek Heracles).
Right now, the Curonian Spit is home to the highest moving (drifting) sand dunes in Europe. Their average height is 35 m, but some attain the height of 60 m.
And it has been added on the UNESCO whs list as well, so another UNESCO card in my collection! Yippie!
I wonder exactly how many places in the world have the statue of Jesus Christ....I know that everyone has the right to have their own, but you know, when there is something original, and then its replicas start appearing, it feels as if there is no originality anymore and authencity is lost....
this statue here comes from Vargem Grande do Sul, in Brazil. which from what i could understand, is a municipality of Sao Paulo...but dont take me for granted, since as usual, all sites about Brazil are in Portuguese and thats not my strong side.
So, any additional info about this one...is MORE than appreciated :)
Obrigado!
Hello all! You are just in time for another update and for another nice Postcard Friendship Friday hosted over at Marie's Blog...dont forget to have a stop by there :)
Im somewhat managing to have a grasp on how to do my posts when Friday comes...i just need to organize my cards/themes better...its nothing spectacular, in case you expect it to be so...but i just want to arrange it somehow regarding friends and friendship and stuff...i think i especially got inspired today after on a day of SNOW STORM..yeah, you read it right...we are having lots and lots of snow falling here, which is ridiculous....during the week it was nice and warm and sunny and today, one day before we need to walk into the sprin season, we are having lots of snow! But what i wanted to say, that even though the day has been awful when it comes to weather conditions, my mailbox had an extra treat, after a long while...lots of great mail, from so many dear people out there...and that just brightened me up, despite i felt so dreary on the inside....im really really thankful to them all...they all know who they are, and i dedicate this PPF to them :)
The card itself is called "A Warm G'Day" - From the Land Down Under, by Bruce, Sheila and the Endangered Species Gang.
You know, sometimes, i really think that true friends are a species in extinction....but my dear pals from all over the globe just prove me wrong! I wish my pals from where i live, proved me wrong as well somtimes....
This card is from another dear lady called Ksenia, who i wholeheartedly think deserves to have a space dedicated on PFF. She travels rather often, and she always remembers to surprise my mailbox from the places she goes to...and im extremely thankful coz of that!
This card shows Chervonohord, which is a small town in the Ternopil region in Ukraine.
Two defensive towers rise in the picturesque place in the tract of Chervone. There used to be a small town in the early Middle Ages. From the 14th century it became the princes Korijatowiczes' residence. In 1448 the town was given Magdeburg right. In 1672 it was ruined by thetroops of Sultan Mahomet IV. In 1820 Karol Ponicski built a palace (designed by Makiowski, the architect) from which just towers have left. (from the back of the card)
Thank you Ksenia for this card, and for every other single card you have enriched my collection with.
Happy PFF day to all of you...and dont forget to appreciate those small things your friends do for you...they can make you happy at an instant!
Till the next update...and till the next PFF...take care!
Ive been feeling rather inspirationless these past two days...yet i feel 'obliged' to post something in here...i also have a bunch of things to do for work plus get some mail done and i feel as if its catching up with me and i cant meet the deadlines...plus i have had this awfully awful headache...and to be honest, i really have no idea why am i telling you all that...
I think ive never beeb to Šibenik, though at this point in life i cant exactly recall things which have happened over 20 years ago...ive been to a number of places in Croatia and Montenegro, and sometimes i just cant make a difference...should i be scared with how my memory works or is that pretty normal? I could use some nice 500GB HD for my brain if possible...its a pity to lose some memories...
I like the architecture shown on this card (it has some Dalmatian character). And you can also see the cathedral of St. James...its at the very front of the card, so you cant miss it...
There are a number of famous people coming from Šibenik, but did you know that, that Goran Višnjić guy is also from here? That guy from ER...or that guy from Madonna's video, The Power of Goodbye?
Well...im not some TV addict, so i cant really give you many details, but knowing how much ER has been popular around the globe, im sure that at least half of you coming here, do know who i am talking about :)
Well, by just throwing a glimpse at this card, i can feel your teeth cringing...oh no, not another Route 66 card...not Depeche Mode again =|
I dont know whether i would have ever developed such an interest in Route 66 cards if it wasnt for Depeche Mode actually...
You want to hear the new chapter of my going-to-the-DM-concert-story?!
Well, my cousin mailed me, telling me that the tickets had arrived! She even took a picture of them, so that i can see them and that my heart can be still and that i can sleep peacfully at night (yeah, she actually used those words :))
But you know...the paranoid me..until i get the tickets in my hands...no no..until i actually get inside the venue and the concert starts and i AM present..i will have bits and pieces of paranoia...thats just me...i cant help it...and its not that far away anymore...two months...time flies so fast...its scary..
Well...DM released a new single from their upcoming album..and its freaking GREAT...believe it or not, i had over 100 plays in a row on my playlist...in total, i have 350 something plays...i think its the song i had had most on repeat...its just catchy and addictive and the lyrics are, oh so Martin Gore...and oh so real...and i just love that disharmonious psychodelic sound....really emphasizes the 'wrong-ness'...
DM performing at the Berlin Echo Awards in February, when this song was actually introduced for the first time..a great powerful DM performance...
the lyrics in between:
Wrong x 4
I was born with the wrong sign in the wrong house
with the wrong ascendancy
I took the wrong road that led to
the wrong tendencies
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time
For the wrong reason and the wrong rhyme
On the wrong day of the wrong week
Used the wrong method with the wrong technique
Wrong x 2
There’s something wrong with me Chemically
Something wrong with me Inherently
The wrong mix in the wrong genes
I reached the wrong ends by the wrong means
It was the wrong plan in the wrong hands
The wrong theory for the wrong man
The wrong lies, on the wrong prize
The wrong questions with the wrong replies
Wrong x2
I was marching to the wrong drum with the wrong scum
pissing out the wrong energy
Using all the wrong lines and the wrong signs
with the wrong intensity
I was on the wrong page of the wrong book
With the wrong rendition of the wrong hook
Made the wrong move, every wrong night
With the wrong tune played till it sounded right yeah
Wrong x2
Too long ... Wrong x2
Too Long
I was born with the wrong sign
In the wrong house
With the wrong ascendancy
I took the wrong road
That led to the wrong tendencies
I was in the wrong place at the wrong time
For the wrong reason and the wrong rhyme
On the wrong day of the wrong week
Used the wrong method with the wrong technique
Wrong
and the official video....hopefully the youtube guys will have some mercy and wont remove these....at least for a while :)
i love the Hong Kong postcards coz of their size..they are all big and over-sized and just look great!
And I love this night view of Central and Kowloon from the Peak.
Do you know that Hong Kong itself has 3 times more population than my own country??
i cant imagine something so densely populated...so many people, on such a small territory...well, i can even more hardly imagine Mexico City with its 20 or 30 million people...huh...
As for Kowloon....it is an urban area in Hong Kong made up of Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon....its name came from the nine dragons epresented by eight peaks and a Chinese emperor.
