Mykonos, Greece

ok, just one more for today...

It took me a while to figure out this was Mykonos on the card...well, I think...based on images comparison and all...and if im right, then this is the part of Mykonos known as the Little Venice, which is one of the most romantic places on the entire island. This neighborhood is replete with elegant and gorgeous old houses that are situated precariously on the edge of the sea. (info from www.greeka.com)
I am not fond of Venice...so I don't know if I'm gonna like this place :)

The card is lovely though...and even though I have hundreds of cards from Greece, actually I don't have so many written and stamped ones. My neighbour often goes there and when he comes back he brings me cards as a thank you for looking after his cat while he is gone...but they are all blank of course...and he is definitely not the type who's gonna bother about stamps and sending and all :)))

I received this one as a RAS from dear Peggy back in 2012.

The stamp is from a set of 6 issued in 2012, under the name Touring Greece.

Huh, this update kinda exhausted me...I blame it on Victoria :)

Enjoy your weekend everyone!!

Helsinki, Finland

a dreamy kind of an image..at least for me...

I received this card back in 2012 from Minna as RAS. This is how the main railway station in Helsinki looks like during the snowy winter days...I don't know if it is always so deserted and empty, but sure feels tranquil and if it wasn't (probably) freezing cold, it would be really nice to sit here for hours and find your peace of mind.....

a very, very cute Christmas stamp issued in 1996 in a set of 3 stamps. Love those auroras!!

Minnesota Wild Rice, USA

ok, one more for today only..

a lovely card sent by Maggie back in 2012....and since that was long ago, Im utterly confused with the words, RAS + swap on the backside, and have no idea in which category it should fit in  *feeling embarrassed* - that's what happens when I take YEARS literally to post some cards...maybe Maggie will remember though and save me :)

the card shows a wild rice field in Minnesota, and as the text on the back says:

The official state grain of Minnesota, Wild Rice, grows naturally in the shallow waters of lakes in the central and northern parts of the state. It is harvested from lakes in the traditional Anishinabe (Native American) way, from canoes.

I absolutely love rice, but I don't think I've ever tried wild rice...now Im curious...

and some summerish stamps :)  two Aloha stamps, with Hawaiian t-shirts, issued in 2012 in a set of 5...and another 2012 stamp from the set of Bonsai Trees, also issued in a set of 5 stamps...this one here shows the Black Pine.

Thanks a bunch Maggie!!

so, that would be all...hope August treated you well and you will leave it with nice memories...and hopefully September will be even better...it's about time to start getting ready for autumn...I just hope we will have an actual autumn, and not the summer-like one...

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

The visit to Salzburg was our stop to the main destination, and that was Munich...and while in Munich, you have to visit the Bavarian castles as well, including the most famous one, and that is Neuschwanstein.

the whole place is really dreamy...and probably has the least kitchy interior of all the three castles we entered (the other two being Herrenchiemsee and Linderhof)
They are just extraordinary with beautiful gardens and surroundings, but I guess Disney had its reason when he picked Neuschwanstein as his inspiration
I won't go into details about the castle, I've already posted about it once...however, the day we visited the castles was one of the most amazing, and most tiring in my life...having driven through the breathtaking nature of Austria (yeah, that's the road we took in order to get from Neuschwanstein to Linderhof) and having seen the castles...and what I couldn't do in Switzeland, I did it here...when you gather the amounts of chocolate and stuff I bought from both Austria and Germany, I went back home with like 5 or so kilos of chocolate...thank God they didn't check my bags at the border...I would have had lot of explaining to do :P

I still don't know why I mailed myself a Neuschwanstain card when I already have a few...but at least this is my first one covered in snow :D

sending the cards was a bit confusing with those German mailboxes, but thank God I nailed it right...the stamp is just a regular flower one, a definitive issued in 2011.

 i received this other Neuschwanstain card from dear Tanja as a RAS, back in 2009...do you see those amazing woods and mountains in the back?!!

btw, in case you go here, you will get the most amazing view from Marienbrücke. It is not so far from the castle, maybe just a bit steep and tiring to get there, but trust me, it will be worth every single calorie you spend on your way there!

here we have another flower defintiive, this one issued in 2008. The other stamp is from 2009, showing the Leipzig University.

so that would be all for today...hope to see you soon with another nice and cool update...till then, stay well :)

Ålesund, Norway

well, my last card for today is another one sigh-provoking...ahhh...

this card was for a LOOONG time in my favourites! I mean, how can it not be...just look how magnificent this place is with all these lovely colours and surrounded by water! Plus it is Norwegian :)
the entire city of Ålesund burnt down in 1904 (except for one house in the middle of the city) and it was rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style. It feels like living in some fairy tale!

btw, I just remembered that today on the news I heard today was one year since the bomb attacks in Oslo and the island of Utoeya. Maybe I should have chosen a different card instead of Ålesund but while choosing the cards I honestly had no idea today was the day....plus, well, I dont feel like commemorating such a bad thing right now...however, may the victims rest in peace, and may this never happen again

the stamp is from the set of 6 issued in 2009 representing the Norwegian tourism...this one in particular shows the Stottafjorden in Meloy, Nordland

and a huge thanks for this card go to dear Catherine from Norway, who sent it to me, and my dear Rajko monster, who actually asked Catherine to send it to me as a RAS. Thank you both soooo much!! If it wasnt for you, I would not have had this card in my collection! <3

And ok, I guess it is time to announce the short holiday this blog will take..at least there will be no updates until August 10, though you can always drop by and read some of the previous stuff :)

Enjoy your summer wherever you are or wherever you may go...and keep fingers crossed i manage to find some postcards to send :)))

Hugs to you all!!!!

Predjamski Grad, Slovenia

Leon sent me this card coz he saw it in my favourites...and it is a really really great one!!

Predjamski Grad is a Castle, whose name literally means 'castle in front of a cave'...and indeed, half of this castle is built into the cave!

The castle became known as the seat of Knight Erazem Lueger (or Luegger), owner of the castle in 15th century, and a renowned robber baron. He was the son of the Imperial Governor of Trieste, Nikolaj Lueger. According to legend, Erazem came into conflict with the Habsburg establishment, when he killed the commander of the Imperial army Marshall Pappencheim, who had offended the honour of Erazem's deceased friend, Andrej Baumkircher of Vipava. Fleeing from the revenge of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III, Erazem settled in the family fortress of Predjama. He allied himself with the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, and started to attack Habsburg estates and towns in Carniola, turning into some kind of local Robin Hood.
The Imperial forces sent the Governor of Trieste, Andrej Ravbar, to siege the castle. After a long siege, Erazem was betrayed by one of his men and killed.

A secret natural shaft leads out of the castle, which Erazem ordered to be enlarged, and leads into Postojna Cave. This shaft allowed Erazem to secretly supply the castle with food in the time of the siege; he also used it to continue with his robberies

the stamp on the left has been issued this year, showing the National costume from Prekmurje region...the other two stamps are definitives from a set of 17 stamps issued in 2008

Vegetables in jars

Dear Erin sent me this lovely surprise...one of the lovely Nouvelles Images..this time representing you something so typical for this time of year...some vegetables in a jar!

I say typical, coz people are making their winter supplies right now, something we call туршија.. in English I think the right word would be 'brine'. In many Macedonian homes you can find jars and jars of brine in their basements....so many vegetables at one place..tomatoes, peppers, pickles, carrots....not a vegetable lover, so im not fond of eating it...but looking at it in jars like this, looks so appealing :))))

Speaking of so-called winter food...I dont know if you had tried Ajvar....but if you come to Macedonia, there is NO way you leave without tasting it, and without a jar or two to take back with you home :)
I used to totally dislike this....but got hooked on it some years ago...i wonder how could've i avoided something so delicious for so long!
If you are curious to read what's ajvar, you can read more about it here.

Merci beaucoup Erin! Ill keep a jar of ajvar for you! :)

Glacier Express, Switzerland

Well, after some whining, here comes my ultimately favourite kind of cards....and this time we will 'meet' the Glacier Express...which is called "The train to fall in love with"...hmmm, obviously, every train has something to fall in love with it....they are just so charming :P

The one on the card has an 'en route' from Zermatt to St. Moritz (the alternative is to Davos)...covering 290km...over 291 bridges and through 91 tunnels! Wow...tunnels...i love tunnels...a fascination ive been having since very very little...esp. those long long ones...coz once you enter them, it feels like you enter some other, mysterious world, veiled in the unknown...
Hey, have you heard the latest news?? that finally the longest tunnel in the world has been drilled through? Yup! After 14 years, the 57 kilometers have finally been completed...though the tunnel is not likely to open until 2017....
It goes under the Swiss Alps....and many geologists have claimed that it would be impossible to bore a tunnel through here, saying the rock was too unpredictable and warning of dangers to anyone working underground...but today they have been proven wrong!

The maximum capacity of the tunnel is 300 trains per day (?!) going 250km an hour.
With this tunnel it is expected that the journey between Zurich and Milan will be cut down by an hour and a half...

Really cool...and can you imagine...almost 60 km of going through a tunnel?? Boy, if i was a child, that would have been one of the greatest and most exciting experiences in my life...

the stamp is from a set of two Fauna stamps issued in 2009....this one shows a Rock Partridge...

Luxembourg

A lovely Luxembourg map card I received as a surprise from Tina!!

Looking at the card, I actually get an idea of how big Luxembourg is..well, I just always have this idea that Luxembourg equals to places like Monaco or San Marino, but it is indeed much much bigger..2,586 km2 to be more precise.
And here you have a nice division of the Luxembourg cantons, 12 in total, and these cantons are further divided into 116 communes..btw, above the cantons are the 3 districts...well, thats a whole lot of divisions for a small country like this...

and here comes the stamp, which shows that this card was mailed from Luxembourg directly :)
It was issued in 2009, representing Classical Architecture.

Hvala ti TIna!!!

Aurora Borealis, Finland

A card I got as a surprise from dear Micaela....and which obviously had a nice trip to Macedonia.

I dont really mind it much it got into this condition...still its in one piece still, and its nice to feel a card has really travelled....I WOULD prefer though if postal workers were a bit more careful when handling mail and cards which are out of the regular postcard range.

Here you can actually see a collection of a number of different postcards related to the Northern Lights, and I do own half of them I think :)

here is something to enjoy....you can turn on the speakers as well....the music is nice and interesting

a self-adhesive stamp from a set of 3 issued in 2009, depicting Northern Lights of course. Just makes me wonder, is Finland completely turning towards self-adhesive stamps? What about people who collect used stamps, you cant take these off from an envelope, unless you just want to keep the piece of paper along with the stamp as well, which personally i dont like much....

Schuchye Lake, Kazakhstan

Jo sent me this card as a surprise just before she left Kazakhstan......and thanks to her, i have all my 3 Kazakhstan cards in the collection

Im still surprised to see how beautiful the Kazakh cards are. This one shows the Schuchye Lake (im still not sure if i had spelled that correctly), situated in the Northern part of the country.
The funny/odd thing is that if you go to google maps for example, it doesnt return any search results about it...on google either...it keeps giving me reference for some Kurgan region in Russia, or about some chemical weapons destruction plant. ...I wonder if there might be some mix up (Kazakhstan borders Russia after all), or from the starters im searching for the wrong thing.
Either way, the card is still a beautiful one, and of course, any clearing up about the above issue is more than welcome

the Golden eagle stamp was issued in 2008 in a set of 4 definitives under the subject of Fauna, while the other one is from a set of 8 definitives showing Astana, which is the capital and second largest city in Kazakhstan

Kizhy, Russia

This great card was sent to me by my dear Anasty as a RAS!

This is the Intercession Cathedral in Kizhy, and is also a UNESCO whs.
An architectural ensemble of timber churches gracefully crowned by an array of cupolas, adorned with aspen shingles. For centuries, if not millennia, the small, outstretched Kizhi Island in Lake Onega has attracted attention. Located in the now Republic of Karelia in the Russian north, this once pagan ritual playground today houses a state-run museum of the region's monumental timber architecture. This includes a group of wooden churches built here in the eighteenth century and a later bell tower, as well as Orthodox-sanctified structures of crossroads and chapels that were relocated here. Together with impressively ornamented peasant houses from the nineteenth century (also relocated), the Kizhi outdoor museum allows visitors to experience the ancient cultures and crafts of the Russian north; externally expressed in wood, internally, in elaborate woven and embroidered textiles.
The carved crown of the Intercession Church hovers in the air beside its taller neighbour, creating harmony between the two with its single-storey, multi-cupola form. It was built 50 years later, in 1764, and is a 'warm' temple, recently opened again for religious services. Built as an elongated rectangle with a central axis, it differs from the Church of Transfiguration, which is also located in Kizhy.
Just a great place, so much worth visiting!

большо́е спаси́бо Настја!!!!

the stamps arent anything less amazing, and as i have probably said before, Russian stamps are among my favourites...esp. since there are always a few...thats coz as Anasty told me ones, they dont issue stamps with the value enough for a postcard, so they have to use more...which can be annoying sometimes when you have to make all those (im)possible combinations, but i dont mind getting such cards...they just look lovely :)The small stamp on the left belongs to the set of 11 stamps from the third issue  of standard postage stamps of the Russian Federation, with this one depicting Oil Industry (sea drilling platforms and drilling vessel).
The one in the middle is from this year's EUROPA issue with its Astronomy theme. The stamp represents the Terskolsk observatory of the Institute of astronomy of Russian academy of science and an armillary sphere against the background with Big Dipper constellation.
The third stamp is from a set of 4 issued in 2006, under the name of The World Nature Heritage in Russia, West Caucasus.

Moscow, Russia

A lovely card...thanks to dear Anasty!

This Moscow view is just stunning and more than beautiful..and yeah, the colours DO have something to do with it indeed.
This is The Cathedral of Christ the Redemeer...hmm, i would have used Saviour instead, coz i think thats more appropriate and common for the word 'Спасителя'....but if thats what i WOULD say, doesnt mean im right, right? If you check the net, you would get 'Redemeer' for the ones in Brazil, while for the one in Moscow 'Saviour' is used....ok, why am i complicating this in the first place? Its still the same cathedral afterall...but what can i do...language...syntax...grammar....morphology...my professional damages..

The enormous gleaming golden dome and gigantic structure of the newly built Cathedral of Christ the Savior is visible from all over central Moscow and is the largest church in Russia. The original Cathedral was built by the architect Konstantin Ton between 1839 and 1881 to commemorate Russia's victory over the French in the Napoleonic Wars. The church was later demolished in 1933 on Stalin's orders, but was built anew in the 1990s.
Clad in marble and granite, with huge bronze doors covered in relief depictions of the saints, the cathedral is an awesome statement of the re-found power and prestige of the Orthodox Church and one of Moscow's most impressive ecclesiastical buildings.

and here are the stamps from the card...something you dont often see from me....though this may change...but ill get down to it...

I have received several Russian cards with several various stamps on them....and i really like them.
Now....I know i never post stamps...ok, almost never...but there has been an itch inside me to actually change that...I do feel that they add a lot to the card...of course, if i get several cards in an envelope, i wont post the same stamps of the envelope on each card, or if they show another country...but for the majority of cards it would be nice to add the stamps as well me thinks...I think ill post a poll about it and see what YOU think, and please, be honest about it...after all, apart from doing this for my own satisfaction (this whole blog), I also love doing it for you out there, so YOUR opinion is more than valuable to me, and any sort of feedback as well...good comments, bad comments...whatever...either way, that old pool is acting crazy, coz votes keep appearing and disappearing...and i think that its been there long enough and i know your opinion and cards WITH text win big time (yay, thanks for that)...so...ill see how it developes, and probably will start slowly putting stamps as well...if your votes go to that option mostly, then ill continue with it...

Japan

In general, im not very fond of posctards with people (why, kill me if i actually know) but i DO like it when they are portraying something significant about the country, like in this case.

the back of the cards says: Maiko-Feminine charms of traditional Japan are still preserved by these Kimono-clad maiko in Kyoto.
I had no idea what Maiko actually is..but here is what friendly google says: Maiko is a Japanese word for "dancing girl" and is an apprentice of Gesiha.
And it also can be a female given name....whose meaning can be different regarding the Kanji used...hmm, and thats when i got lost and stopped googling...if you expected me to actually analyze each Kanji and what each name means, then sorry, but you've overestimated me!
I once started learning Japanese...I knew how to write my name, and some very simple words (which nowadays im teaching my 4 year old students) like apple, tree, sun...that Japanese learning is a real story, but i wont go into details...the thing is, today, i know NO Japanese at all...whatever i had learned, just disappeared...puff...like that...
I was analyzing this Maiko girl...how on earth can she walk on those platforms! I mean, i know it would be easier to walk on those then on high-heels of the same size since these are flat and its easier to hold balance and all(btw, im a walking-fiasco when it comes to high-heels of any size) but still...when you dont really have a close connection with the surface you are walking on, it gets difficult...even on platforms...i have a pair of lovely white sandals, which are like 20cm high...and i always feel as if my leg is gonna twist and im gonna break an ankle...with these ones as well...i mean, just look at them...all it takes is to lean a bit forward...and puff...again!

Saint - Michel Mount, France

I got this card as a RAS sent from a lady in France but on the behalf of someone else...i was really happy and totally surprised to find it in my mailbox....its really thoughtful....and even though i got it time ago, the thoughtfulness somehow manages to soothe me on such a hectic day...and ive also started receiving my first christmas cards from some very dear people, but you wont get to see them until after New Year actually...sorry :)

This very beautiful image comes from The Saint-Michel Mount....at nightfall.
It is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. This year it celebrated its 1300th birthday!

Rising from a hazy expanse of sand and waves, Mont Saint-Michel appears like Man’s defiance of the elements and of time. A rock lost in a landscape smoothed by the wind.

The long history of Mont Saint-Michel is thought to date back to 708, when Aubert, Bishop of Avranches had a sanctuary built on Mont-Tombe in honour of the Archangel. Through the centuries, Mont Saint-Michel has accumulated a long heritage, and is listed by UNESCO as World Natural and Cultural Site since 1979.

For its 13th centenary, conferences, concerts and exhibitions are organized, and a major photo exibit was displayed both inside and outside the abbey church from the 2nd of June to the 11th of November. Many conferences were organized on the question of the future of Mont Saint-Michel, which is part of the biggest renovation project ever undertaken in order to restore its maritime character ( Mont-Saint-Michel is surrounded by a magnificent bay, which is the theatre of the greatest tidal ranges in Europe, a grandiose spectacle. )

Chatham Lighthouse, USA

this card comes as a RAS from the Evans Family who had actually seen this one in my wish list album, and found it for me....thank you soooooooo much!!! For everything!!!!!!

here is what's on the back of the card

Cape Cod

Massachusetts

The Chatham Lighhouse was originally built in 1808. It was one of a pair of identical lighhouses, the other one having been moved and is now the Nauset Beach Light. The beam from the lighhouse can be seen 28 miles at sea. The U.S. Coast Guard maintains an active search and sea rescue station at the light.

lovely...i love this gloomy foggy tone...gives a true feeling of seeing the lighthouse in action!

Županja, Croatia

A RAS card i received from Goran in Croatia...

Županja is a city in eastern Slavonia, in Croatia, located 254 km east of Zagreb and it lies on the Sava river, opposite Bosnia and Herzegovina.

You know, i hate it when little information (well, relevant and interesting information) is provided about some places....or am i too lazy too google for more again?

Goran says that the sky over there isnt as blue as on the postcard, and that its been raining every single day....well, i can totally relate to that, coz the weather has been awful here as well...extremely cold for this time of yer (at the time of writing this its just 8 degrees, and its still SEPTEMBER!) and even during the days i need to wear warm clothes (sweaters and jackets) which as far as i can recall, hasnt happened, coz ive been wearing camisoles in October...so this is really insane!

Gorane, hvala ti puno na iznenadzenju! Stvarno si me prijatno iznenadio i obradovao! ;-)

Danshuei, Taiwan

My last card for today comes from Andrea in Taiwan, who saw this one in my wish list and wanted to surprise me, and send it to me....and I was more than pleasantly surprised indeed...esp. since I really really love this card! Thank you Andrea, a lot lot lot lot lot!!! :)

The card shows Danshuei, which is a city along the Danshuei River and a popular place to go to at the weekends, to eat, shop and enjoy the scenery.
Well, if the scenery is INDEED as the one on the card, then there is no doubt its enjoyable...ive found some other pictures of Danshuei river and they all actually have this tone of mixed blue and purple...probably thats why i loved this card in the first place...coz of the tones of the colours....they are just sooo sooo beautiful.

Well, i tried to provide this post with some more info on Danshuei, but im either too lazy too google more, or i just really cant come up with some more info...well, at least, enjoy the scenery!

Ill see you tomorrow...thats for sure :))
Wanna know why? You'll have to drop by :)))))   (that rhyme was totally spontaneous :))

Massachusetts, USA

I received this one as a total surprise....it was one of my cards in my wish list...and since there are some really kind people out there, who check that album, and saw this card, and sent it to me....a huge Thank You to the Evans Family, for thinking of me and for actually sending me this and making me smile...which is what a RAS is supposed to do :)

Hmmm, no traditional info on the back of the card as it was the case with the other US maps, but here we have something else, so of course, ill go with it.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Nickname: Bay State, Capital: Boston

From the quiet Berkshire Hills, through bustling Boston, to the sands of Cape Cod, Massachusetts is a vacationers' paradise. The state has interesting historic sites, well kept woodland parks and ocean beaches, superb museums, fine hospitals and universities, excellent restaurants and always more to see and do than almost anyplace else.

Prague, Czech Republic (03).

I dont have a tendency to include more than one card per post, but since i received these from the same person and they show the same bridges, thats why i decided to include them into one...



these cards are sent from Lucie from the Czech Republic...the card above was requested for a swap, but the one below is sent as a RAS coz she had seen it in my wish list and she thought i may need some cheering up coz of what i had written under the 'mood section'...thank you Lucie...it DID indeed cheer me up a lot...I LOVE this card...the colours make it just sooooo magnificent!!



Prague is famous for many things and one of them are the numerous bridges....the ones on the card show the bridges over the river Vltava, and the most famous one is Charles' Bridge (the second one from the front)

The Charles' Bridge (Karlov Most) construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of 15th century. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava (Moldau), the Charles Bridge used to be the most important connection between the Old Town, Prague Castle, and adjacent areas until 1841. Also this 'solid-land' connection made Prague important as a trade route between east and west Europe. The bridge was originally called the Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or the Prague Bridge (Pražský most) but has been the "Charles Bridge" since 1870.