Kiruna, Sweden

Next we will pay a short visit to the northernmost town in Sweden and that is Kiruna.

I guess that due to the lack of snow, the picture here was taken sometime during the summer period.
Due to its position north of the Arctic Circle the city experiences both midnight sun and polar night throughout the year as well as a very cold climate by Scandinavian standards.

I wish there was something by Scandinavian standards regarding OUR weather right now...

two nice stamps - the long one on the right was issued in 2010 - it comes fro a set of 5 stamps representing Swedish castles and if my shortsightedness hasn't deceived me, then here you can see the Vadstena castle. The windmill stamp was issued in 2011, representing renewable energy.

Thanks a bunch to my Sissel fairy for this one :)

Silvermine, Sweden

I card I received from a swap with Jan...one of the very few swaps I did this year..I actually think I could count them on my both hands =/

The card shows the Silvermine in Sala, Sweden (or the Sala Silvergruva) - it is mainly known for its high silver content though the ore also contained economic amounts of lead and zinc. The mine was in continuous production from the 15th century until 1908, while nowadays it serves as a tourist attraction with guided tours and also as a place for entertainment since concerts are being organized in the big empty rooms. You can actually even stay overnight here, at 155 m. underground :D

(image taken from http://www.yies.com/10-amazing-european-hotels-you-definitely-should-visit/)

stamps....rather old ones....the one on the left was issued in 2003, commemorating the 750th Anniversary of the Birth of St Bridget, while the other one dates back from 1999, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the European Council.

So, ready for a night out 155 meters underground, away from your mobile phones? =)

Lappstaden, Sweden

A beautiful Swedish card...I love those colours! I would love a sweater like that too!

and this lady and two children come from Lappstaden, which is the largest preserved Sámi church town in Sweden.
Although you probably won’t meet any Sámi here, you will at least be able to see how they used to live in traditional huts, or kåtor. About eighty of these huts in the eighteenth-century Sámi church town have survived, and are clumped unceremoniously next to a yellow, modern apartment building. The design of these square wooden buildings supporting a pyramid-shaped roof is typical of the Forest Sámi who lived in the surrounding forests, constructing their homes of indigenous timber.

seriously, Id love a sweater like this! It is just so much....ME!

well, a special part of this card is its back..because the stamps are all over it!! Katja has really put her efforts on it!
The three flower stamps are actually Christmas stamps (boy, I dread its coming!) issued in 1990, and these are part of a set of six stamps.
The blue stamp (at the very right) was issued in 1979 as a part of three stamps featuring Nobel Prize winners. This one here shows Johannes Stark who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1919, for his "discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields".
The remaining two stamps were also issued in 1979 (im truly amazed at the fact that such oldies still can be purchased and used), and are a part of a set of 5 stamps about Fishing Development. Not quite sure what that one is all about though...

Stockholm, Sweden

a great train card coming from Stockholm!

here you can see the old and the new type of trains used in the commuter rail system in Stockholm...you can take a guess which is the new and which is the old one :)
The new one is also called the X60 commuter train, while the name of the other one is X1.
Despite all my train travels, I still need to take a ride on such as X60, or a high-speed train...if we dont' count the subway trains here..

the stamp was issued in 2011 in a set of 6 self-adhesive stamps dedicated to textile..the stamp itself has some interesting engraved lines (the black ones you can actually see...)

thanks a lot to Katja for such a great card!

Mariefred, Sweden

ok, one more train card for today...sorry :)

this one came as a surprise by dear Susan who visited Sweden this summer.

The card shows the train station in Marifred, and the focus here is the Lessebo, a Mallet locally built in 1891 following the design of the original Mallets built by Decauville for the Great Exhibition in Paris in 1889, whose system had a major influence on the development of Sweden’s 600mm gauge railways. Engines of this design were used around the Eiffel Tower during the Paris exhibition of 1889. By the early years of the twentieth century the shortcomings of the design had become apparent and most of them were replaced by more modern machines built in the country. “Lessebo” led a charmed life, continuing to serve the Kosta Lessebo Järnväg (on the card), its original railway, until the line closed in 1948

the stamp is from a self-adhesive booklet of 5 stamps issued this year, representing Industrial Environments.

thank you sooo much Susi for the lovely card and for thinking of me in the first place!

until next time, and more great cards :)

Sweden

Well, this great Swedish map card is great for what I wanted to bother you with now..and if you decide you want to skip this post, i would understand, but I really have to share something, Sweden-related.

Few days ago, I had the chance to attend the concert of this Swedish band called "Jeniferever". Coming from Uppsala,  formed in 1996 (when they were still kids) but I guess more seriously involved in music since 2001. Not a world-wide-known band, and definitely barely known in Macedonia, coz to whomever I said where I was going had no idea who they were or I even got asked 'who is she?'...I guess the 'Jeni' part causes confusion :)
Anyways, I accidentally found out about them some months ago (coz im always searching for some new music to refresh my playlists), and I really liked theirs, so when I read they were coming I knew I had to go, though I had some doubts I must admit coz the same evening there was another event I wanted to attend...but Jeniferever prevailed, knowing that this is a rare chance and that I dont know when or if I will have another opportunity in the future. And....I didnt regret it...not at once!!! Jeniferever simply left me speechless that evening with their indescribable energy on stage!! (and the stage was too small, yet they managed perfectly well). I simply fell in love that evening...I think that was one of the most fantastic things that have happened to me in a long long while...and from being a band I like, they went way up high on my list...After the concert they were all even so kind that they all signed the booklet of my CD! They are such nice and so down-to-earth guys, so completely involved and dedicated in what they are doing...I really wish they weren't so underrated or that at least more people would get to know about them. Now I never pressurize anyone over tastes, and this post doesnt carry that intention either...but im still so much under impressions that I just had to share it with you and who knows, maybe someone will like their music...even if it is one person, ill be really happy :)
Why I like their music?? Ahh...thats hard to explain, but probably coz it can move me emotionally...their songs tend to be dark and melancholic...but there is this thing in them, that can make you cry and smile at the same time, and their music just brings this feeling of nostalgia....but a nostalgia I cant explain...I dont know what does it refer to, but the feeling of longing for something in the past exists...yeah, im not easy to figure out sometimes :)

And I have to say that Im really happy with their choice of songs for the concert...they only missed two of my very favourites, but im extra satisfied with what they had to offer. Being that they played at a small nightclub, there were no really boundaries between the band and the audience (except for some audio equipment on the floor) so I think that also contributed a lot to the flow of the fantastic energy Jeniferever have on stage.

Well, here is what Jeniferever is all about:

- "Sparrow Hills" - the first song I heard from them and to which I was hooked immediately...and which eventually opened to door to the Jeniferever world (and the one which unfortunately was left out from the concert, with the excuse that they havent played it for a long time)

Jeniferever - Sparrow Hills | okno.mk  (sorry but YouTube doesnt provide a decent link for this one)

- "Silesia" - the opening song of the concert, the opening song of their last album (called "Silesia" as well) and my ABSOLUTE favourite thereof!





- "From Across the Sea" (or maybe more known as 'dear Emily')...an extra sad song





- "The Hourglass" - another one of my favourites and one that they played at the concert!





- "Opposites Attract" - the second one out of the two they didnt play and which i so much wanted to





- "Ox-Eye" - the song with which they closed the gig...one of the most contagious and catchy Jeniferever songs....and my jaw dropped when I heard how this song sounded live....I really really dont know if Ive ever been so positively shocked by a band before..




What hooks me so much and makes their music grow to my heart is how the songs develop towards the end...the guitar riffs they end up using and as it has already been defined, an orchestral-like climax.

I really really hope I will have a chance in the future to see them again...thanks so much to them for bringing a new dimension to the music im listening to!

well, being a postcard blog and being I dont often get cards from Sweden, I should still in the end show the stamps...the right one was issued in 2009 in a set of 6 spices stamps..this one portraying the beloved garlic, esp if you are about to go on a date after having consumed some :) the other stamp was issued in 2010 in a set of 6 stamps showing Delicious Swedish Delicacies 

Stockholm, Sweden

A very nice card coming from Stockholm.

As the sender says, the card shows a Swedish ship named Götheborg. This is a sailing replica of the Swedish East Indiaman from 18th Century. The original had sunk around 200 years ago.

A 2010 stamp from a set of two showing Queen Silvia (the other stamp in the set of course, shows King Carl XVI Gustaf)

Tylö, Sweden

A great card from Sweden I received in the Scandinavian tag.

The card says to show ski tracks in Tylö.....which I found confusing since I dont really see the possibility for someone to ski at THIS particular piece of land...but then maybe this is just a part of some big skiing track that's behind the camera actually.
However, not a word about the lighthouse, and I couldnt find anything related to it (or i might have been doing wrong searches)....but it still makes a great card and a wonderful addition to my lighthouse collection, thanks to Merja.

I dont get Swedish cards often so i dont get the chance to often see Swedish stamps...and the ones here are really nice.
The stamp on the left, above the priority sticker, is a part of 4 stamps issued this year representing Swedish food. The stamp next to it is a World Heritage one from 2005, showing the Skogskrykogarden Cemetery, while the stamp below it is from 2008, from a set of 4 stamps representing Swedish trees, with this one showing a Juniper.

Stockholm, Sweden

My last card for today is a very nice panoramic one of Stockholm...I tried to put this at a bigger size so you can actually get an idea of the size of the card...plus it gives a nicer overall view of it...

the back of the card gives just one sentence...High above the Old Town and the Royal Palace...
And speaking of Royal Palace, one of the latest newsworthy events was the marriage of the Swedish Princess Victoria....who chose an ordinary guy to be the man by her side for the rest of her life...no prince, no duke, no king...but just an ordinary guy who was her fitness trainer..by many supported, by many condemned...her dad was surely not the happiest with the choice...understandable...but the wedding goes with all the Royal ceremonies...huge amounts of money spent...and of course, whether seen or not, all that is paid by the ordinary people....
As for the princess's choice...if it is really love we are talking about, then I admire this...but the big problem with the people who are rich and famous is that you can never know why people really love you or why they really want to be your friends if you are filthy rich...and we are living in a world of such hypocrisy...as for me, im not even close to being rich..so I guess I have nothing to worry about....or maybe I do?

thanks for following...hopefully i wont take again this long until the next posting, when there arent really some particular reasons for it....enjoy your rest of the weekend...there is a day off in Wimbledon...i can finally get my nerves back together :)

Sweden

Amazing and unique map card...though im still trying to figure out the real meaning behind the scenes

Does Sweden have some aspirations towards the US? Want to conquer it? Or is it just because many people from Sweden had emigrated to the US back in 1800's and the early 1900's....the promised land...either way, i love the card, and im not really familiar with the US-Sweden current affairs, so  i cant get some other idea what this card could represent...and you know what they say....Silence is Golden...so sometimes its better not to speak, then just to speak in order to say something...:)

and as you can see, this card first paid a visit to Indonesia, and then came to me...and i still dont know whats the relation between Macedonia and Indonesia, since this is the 2nd time that a card is missent to Indonesia...
There are two nice stamps on the card...actually, as with the Swedish cards, the Swedish stamps are a real rarity in my collection....the one on the left is from 2008, coming from a set of two, commemorating one of the greatest Swedish figures, Ingmar Bergman. On the other stamp you can see the Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, issued in 2005.

Sweden

Ive been getting some really nice official cards lately and this one aint an exception...a map card! Coming from Sweden! Jack Pot!

SE-11277

And its such a lovely map...just my kind, colourful and picturesque! And this one is also happy...just look at that smiling sun :D
Uhmm, well...Sweden is a bit more 'up' not lying down at such an angle, but i think that this is like seeing Sweden from a different angle perspective so thats why it seems like this.
The subtitle "Midnattssolens Rike" means "The Land/Country of the Midnight Sun"
I still wonder why such a lack of Swedish postcards in my collection...or now that ive mentioned it, Danish as well. As for Norwegian...well, i must say that ive been lucky lately about it...just in the past few days i received TWO Norwegian cards...both very lovely...and i know some others are on my way too...so im wohoo happy!
Speaking of it...today my mum told me how she has this colleague whose daughter was on post-grad studies in Norway, and how its the country which pays an entire scholarship for it...and then comes one of the things i hate to hear "Why cant YOU do something about it and go?" ...well, coz i just CANT...if it was that simple i would have been a Norwegian or Mexican citizen time ago...but im stiiiiil stuck here...

and two lovely stamps...where the right one is Pipi Longstockings!! And i Love Pipi! It was issued in 2007 at a set of 4 stamps, with the primary theme called Mankind (Children), and here you can see Pipi baking :)
The stamp on the left is from a set of 4 stamps, issued in 2004, under the subject of Regional Houses, where this one is depicting a Scanian Farm House.

Stockholm, Sweden

I LOVE this card coz its simply HUGE and has such a great view over Stockholm! And frankly, i actually dont have many Swedish cards, so its a great part of my collection...I actually wonder why there arent so many Swedish or Norwegian or Icelandic participants on the forum....

I really love these islands in the middle of the centre of the town...ok, maybe its not the centre, but i like it how it looks...islands, connections, water, in just one city...fun :)
Ill write something from whats on the back of the card....
The island on the left is called Kastellholmen and the castle there dates back in 1667..the island below this one is called Skeppsholmen, and this one used to be a location of several military buildings, while nowadays, several museums are located there, like the Museum of Modern Art and the East Asian Museum, and also the Stockholm Jazz Festival Events is located here.
Then, along the water, on the left side, you have the National Musuem, Stockholm's best Hotel (Strand Hotel - 1874), and the Drama Theatre.
The big park in the middle is called the King's Garden (1430).  The big square building on right is the Royal Palace and beside it is the Old City (13th century).

I hope you got the main idea :)

As for the stamps, from what i could find, they belong to a series of stamps called "Together" issued in 2009, regarding the St. Valentines...their primary theme is Holy Days and Celebrations (Personal Greetings)....
What i like about them is that they are self-adhesive ...

Dalarna, Sweden

This card dates back from 1994 and is from a very dear girl of mine with whom i lost touch long time ago, Christina Dulley from Sweden...ive tried to find her, but unfortunately, no luck...i think that, all those last name changes when ladies get married, arent in my favour...

The card in particular shows one of the  Swedish counties, Dalarna. Ever since i received this card back then, i found it strange that houses are so far away from one other..i mean, in general, im used to places where people live near each other, that if i want to visit my neighbours, it wont take me more then a minute to get to them...on the card, it feels as if it takes rather long to visit a friend or a relative who actually lives near...i dont know...im just not used to seeing houses in an ihnabitted area, scattered around like that...though on the other hand its good, since you have some greater privacy, instead neighbours who dont know to mind their own business (i have nice neighbours though...i cant complain...but im sure they have noticed that i check my mailbox every 10 minutes, so i dont know what they think of that :))

ahhh Christina, where art thou?! :-(

Sweden

A flag!!!! A lovely Swedish flag card!!!

The Swedish flag is blue with a yellow Scandinavian Cross that extends to the edges of the flag. The design and colours of the Swedish flag are believed to have been inspired by the present Coat of Arms of Sweden of 1442.

According to the mythology, the Swedish 12th century king Eric the Holy, saw a yellow cross in the sky as he landed in Finland during the first Swedish Crusade in 1157. Seeing this as a sign from God he adopted the yellow cross against a blue background as his banner.
It has also been suggested that the Swedish flag might have been a resistance flag against the Danish flag which is red with a white cross, and which has been known since 1219.

im so happy that my flag collection is growing...maybe slowly, but its growing! :)

Sweden

Yesterday, while my mum was cleaning some closets, she came across some boxes which contained stuff that belonged to my late grandmother....books, pictures, booklets, prospects, posters...and POSTCARDS!!. I already have a number of postcards that belonged to my grandmother...i dont know where this box came out from, but im certainly more than glad it did, coz there were like more or less 100 postcards!! So even though they are all rather old, having in mind my grandmother passed away in 1979, so they all date before then...still, having added them in my collection makes me more than happy!! They are mainly cards from France (my grandmother was a French teacher), Russia, Greece, Ukraine (I think Ksenia would kill for these ;-))...and a few from some other places, like the one i chose to show today...i think when this is the card that got me exicted the most...a map card, which dates back from 1967!!! I just cant believe it that even back than they had these lovely colourful maps!!

If i didnt see it said "Stockholm" at the bottom of the map, i dont know if i would have figured out where this card came from, coz there is absolutely nothing that could indicate to it....i suppose it shows a part of Sweden...as Wikipedia says, Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm.
The name literally means up land, a name which is commonly encountered in especially older English literature. Its Latinised form, which is occasionally used, is Uplandia.

I was thinking something, and probably i would need your opinion if you are reading this...I have a number of such older cards, which are given to me, ansd so far i had never labeled the year when they were written...since it somewhat seemed ridiciulous to do it coz the cards dated from even before i was born....but right now i think i maybe should do it...i really dont know....

Stockholm, Sweden

The last card for today...well, you've probably seen it already, it was among those older cards...but since i had had no update from Sweden for a while, and I have no Swedish cards in stock right now...I pulled forward this one..so i cant somewhat decrease the cards waiting on hold there...sometimes i think ill never manage to update them all...I just hope one day I wont get fed up and just delete all the not-updated cards :)

This card was sent to me by my former pen-friend Chrisitna Dulley from Sweden...she sent me this card during a weekend she had spent there...
Im not sure what exactly these card shows...there is no description on the back, so you can just make wild guesses in case you are familiar with Stockholm....

oh, btw...I got a new keyboard yesterday...the keys still feel weird under my fingers, but i guess it takes time...yesterday was one chaotic day...all rushed...all in running...thank God tomorrow is a day off...and Friday as well....I should just have German, but the teacher is absent this week....i even rushed to get to class yesterday, just to find out she couldnt come...so I just wasted an hour and a half in nothing, when i could have stayed at home and do some useful work...but well...at this point i feel much more relaxed...hope ill manage all things on time, so i can feel more relaxed next week, instead of having to do all at the last minute...keep your fingers crossed!

Scania, Sweden

I know this will sound very cheesy but the greatest reason why i love this card, is coz of how the views are heart-shaped....more because it makes the card unusual...not coz i am a person who falls for images of hearts and couples and romance etc etc....coz i actually dont...
One thing i dont get it is WHY my scanner NEVER scans the 'waves' on the bottom of the cards...sometimes i manage to grasp them if i move the card a bit upwards, though not always....funny thing, if i dont place the card against the scanner line, but in an empty space indeed...i absolutely always end up placing it irregularly, so the card either tends to the left or right...im really clumsy about these things....

Scania is the southernmost of the traditional provinces in Sweden.
Before 1658 it was a province in the Kingdom of Denmark.
Its historical connection to Denmark, the vast fertile plains, the deciduous forests and the relatively mild climate make the province culturally and physically distinct from the emblematic Swedish cultural landscape of forests and small hamlets.

The names Scania and Scandinavia are considered to have the same etimology. he name is possibly derived from the Germanic root *Skaðin-awjo, which appears in Old Norse as Skáney. According to some scholars, the Germanic stem can be reconstructed as *Skaðan- meaning "danger" or "damage.

Goethenburg, Sweden

My first Swedish card in years!! Or more particularly since the late '90s.

The card shows Goethenburg, or particularly, a view of the Göta Canal, the channel around which the city is buily. It ends in the sea, which you can see in the background off the card.
The canal itself is 190km long, has 58 locks and can accommodate vessels up to 32m. long, 7m. wide and 2.8m. in draft.
Goethenburg is the second biggest city in Sweden.

Mora, Sweden

Malme, Sweden