Herodium, Israel

It is always so cool to receive an official card from someone you already sort of know :) that's the case with this card that arrived from Debora from Israel

IL-17896

This fantastic card shows the Herodium, which is a is truncated cone-shaped hill, located near Jerusalem.
It is said that Herod the Great built a fortress and palace (the Herod's Palace) on the top of Herodium.

According to Josephus, Herodium was built on the spot where Herod won a victory over his Hasmonean and Parthian enemies in 40 BCE. To commemorate the event, the king built the fortress and the palace there, which he named after himself. He also built, in the plain below the hill, an administrative center for the region, which had not been previously settled. He also had a royal tomb built for himself.

A really cool place..im just not sure how accessible it is for tourists...

yay, a train stamp! It shows the Valley Railway and was issued in 2011. As for the other two stamps..they are both definitives..the 40 face value one was issued in 2003...as for the other one, cant tell for sure...it appears several times throughout the years...

Jerusalem, Israel

Weekend! At last!! Though with all things pending it's gonna be a busy busy busy weekend as well (punishment for my procrastination) but at least Ill have the coziness of home..coz with the -15 degrees outside and the icy slippery roads, doesnt really feel pleasant to be outside....and it's been such a hectic week..ahhhh...... i have so many messages to reply too, not being able to do so in this past week or two... i really wish the day lasted for 48 hours sometimes....

But lets get down to cards...thats what you came for here anyway :)
First for today we have Israel...and I really like this card coz it shows something different from the Jerusalem views that are most frequent to be seen around..this one shows the Mount of Olives.
It is is a mountain ridge in east Jerusalem, named for the olive groves that covers its slopes. The Mount of Olives is associated with Jewish and Christian traditions and has been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years and holds approximately 150,000 graves.
The necropolis on the southern ridge, the location of the modern village of Silwan, was the burial place of the city's most important citizens in the period of the Biblical kings.

Ever heard this Jerusalem song by Alphaville? You know, that band singing Big in Japan? :)

A lovely lighthouse stamp that has passed by without  cancellation. It was issued in 2009 in a set of 3, depicting lighthouses in Israel. This one is in Jaffa.

Eilat, Israel

Well, before anything, I would like to wish a very Merry and Joyful Christmas to everyone celebrating it today! I hope you are enjoying your time and that you love the presents you had received! :)
My Christmas is on 7th January, so I wont really post anything Christmassy today...but i guess ill come up with something appropriate for when the time comes :) And thats when YOU can wish me a Merry Christmas as well :P

Ill start with a card from Israel...which in a certain way may seem ironic or absurd, being that first i wish you all a Merry Christmas, knowing who celebrates Christmas today and then posting an Israeli card, having in mind the religion of the majority of Israeli people...but its nothing on purpose to invoke some arguments or to make anyone feel bad in case someone sees it like that...lest not forget...today for me is just an ordinary day as any other, so no mixed feelings regarding the card...im not sure when Hanukkah is celebrated exactly...
Eilat is a popular resort in Israel, at the Red Sea....which apparently turns out to be completely blue...when i was still little though, i DID have this idea that the Red Sea was totally red, and that the Black one was totally black...and the Dead Sea caused infinite confusion...

hmmm, lets not get too much astray...here is something which has been going through my mind, since its Christmas, and I also mentioned Hanukkah....this seems like perfectly appropriate to be posted today....I just wonder what religion Superman is :D :D :D

the stamp is a really great one, issued this year in a set of 3 for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 - showing Gravitational Lensing. And I also love love love the cancellation! One of the nicest neatest i had ever received on a card :)

Thanks a lot to Marina for sending me this one from her stay in Israel!

Jerusalem, Israel

You know how it goes with postcards from some places....first you have none, then you have more than one :D :D :D Isnt that just great??? First i had no cards from Israel, and then in like a week time, i got two! Hehehe...lucky girl :)

I guess that one of the most popular things to put on a postcard when it comes to Israel, is the Citadel and the Old City Wall, which you can see on this card as well....and which belongs to the UNESCO whs ;)
Here is what the sender says:
The Old City is an area within the modern city of Jerusalem. Until the 1860, this area constituted the entire city of Jerusalem. The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall for the Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims.

Well, you know how much i prefer to write information from the back of the card, then google for them...so i love it when people educate me like this :)
I just have to say that the image and the atmosphere around it on the card, reminds me a lot to our Kale Fortress...just dont know why exactly...

And here is a really nice stamp from a set of two, issued in 2008 under the title of: 60 Years of Friendship between Israel and France.
The stamps commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first flight from Israel to France and of the state of Israel's independence. That flight symbolizes the beginning of the ties and cooperation that exist between these two countries in many areas. Above all, it represents the close and friendly relations between the two countries and their people.
I also like the oval shape of the cancellation a lot...