Maastricht, The Netherlands

And after ticking another country off the list, back to something else now.

I haven't really considered visiting Maastricht.... but after having received this card, my plans kinda changed.
This is one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world (according to Alvin, and im pretty sure he is right).
Built in 1294, the cathedral features large open spaces boasting three-story bookshelves. Being that the church contains 1,200 square meters of shopping space with only 750 square meters of floor space, the architects decided to design vertically. They incorporate the modern scheme of the shop without obstructing the religious motifs or structure of the ancient venue. Within the space, there is also a cafe. As a nod to the bookstore’s past-life, there is a long table shaped like a cross in the eating area, which is conveniently located where the choir formerly situated themselves.

How can you not want to visit this place? So if you end up in Maastricht and wanna do something that is not really touristy, this is a great way to spend your time. If I end up in Maastricht, this would be my first destination, for sure!

Two nice stamps on the card. Christmas one on the left, from the set of 10 Christmas stamps issued last year. The other stamp is from 2018, showing the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision - Beeld en Geluid.

Naarden, The Netherlands

It was thanks to Postcrossing that I learned the term 'star fort' cities, and here comes an example of one, Naarden in the Netherlands.

A star fort is a fortification in a style that evolved during the age of gunpowder when the cannon came to dominate the battlefield. It was first seen in the mid-15th century in Italy.

Seems that there are quite a few all over the world and the real impression you can get only from a bird's point of view.

Naarden is a small town, with around 17000 inhabitants and one of the things that caught my eye regarding it is that it is well known as the city where Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius) was buried; visitors can see his grave in the mausoleum devoted to him.
It probably is no big deal to many, but the name of Komensky has been kinda present most of my life cos of a primary school named after him nearby where I live...and I always found the name kinda cool :)

two stamps on the card - the first one shows Queen Beatrix and it is from a set of two stamps issued in 2013, marking the Succession to the Throne by King Willem-Alexander (he can be seen on the other stamp in the set).
The second stamp here is also from 2013 and is from a set of 12 Dutch Windmills' stamps.

Thanks a lot to Alvin for this magnificent card!

Happy Birthday to Hippy Happy! And some Dutch bicycles....=)

Well, probably my greatest motivation to move my ass and do something productive here was that today is Hippy Happie's first birthday! Exactly one year ago I fell in love at first sight and ride and have spent a lot of fantastic moments hanging around with it...I have to say that it did change my life in a way, though i can't properly explain how...but certainly it deserves a post here to blow that candle, and wish both of us a lot of new great adventures and times spent together! ❤

My precious! (I still need to get him a basket though...)

Well now, this is also like an excuse to bother you with a bunch of bicycle cards....that unintentionally all ended up to be Dutch...so be prepared to be bored...or enjoy yourself...depending on how much of a bike lover you are :)

received in the fast favourites tag....I know that Hippy Happy is already colourful enough...but I've been thinking of decorating it with some Christmas lights actually...at least for the season...and enjoy some night rides :)

From a set of two "Green Initiatives" stamps.

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Beautiful Holland indeed!  Something Macedonia will never be bike-wise...at least not in my lifetime

so cool to have a bike card with a bike stamp! (the lighthouse one is just a bonus!) The bicycle stamp is from a set of 5 Dutch Icons' stamps issued this year, while the lighthouse one I believe is also from 2014...but for some reason I got a bit stuck with the info on it...

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This is the kind of woven basket I'd like to buy or my bike....though if possible in black...to suit it better

a number of nice and colourful stamps! the one on the right is from a set of three Child care stamps issued in 1992. The middle one is from a set of three Child welfare stamps issued in 1987 while the one on the left is also from a set of three Child welfare stamps from 1990. I like it how they are all thematically related...

Peggy was so kind to send me this card after I have had it in my favourites for ages! I just love it! The colours, the scenery...everything! So typically Amsterdamish :)

nice colourful stamps again! the one on the left is from a set of three stamps issued in 1992, simply called Summer stamps. The middle one is also from 1992 issued for the  Expo '92 in Sevilla (comes in a set of two). While the third stamp on the right was issued in 1983 commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the ANWB (or the Dutch touring club if im not mistaken?)

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Love the colour of this bike! One of the many thoughtful official cards when people are so kind and try to find something they know I will like :)

the first two from the left are definitives issued in 2012. The third stamp was issued in 2009 in a set of two stamps simply called Beautiful Netherlands, while the last one is from 2008 from a set of ten mushroom stamps commemorating The 100th Anniversary of the Netherlands' Mycological Society

Surprise card from Alvin showing a scene from the tiny village of Straphorst, where inhabitants like to get stuck on old traditions and religion and where still many people wear traditional costumes in their daily lives.

Part from a beautiful sheet of the Beautiful Netherlands theme, issued in 2013

One more strike from Peggy with a lovely Amsterdamish card! She says that most bicycle cards of Amsterdam show bikes neatly lined up but this is a more accurate picture and that every bridge and every railing has at least one bike attached to it upside down, most of the time missing at least one part. She says that  you should consider yourself lucky if you find your bike at all as 50000 to 80000 bikes are stolen in Amsterdam only, every year.
Hmm, ok, now im having some second thoughts about wanting to live in Amsterdam...

Beautiful stamps again. I already mentioned the one on the very right that is a part of the 1990 Child Welfare stamps. The middle one is from a set of three Summer stamps issued in 1983 representing the Zoo, while the stamp on the left is also from 1983 from the EUROPA issue on Communications.

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another bike with a lovely colour! and the atmosphere is relaxing indeed...it would be great if I had the chance to ride mine near a lake or a sea or something on a lovely spring day.

God help me on this one! Either Im repeatedly blind or this one doesn't exist in the stamp catalogs online?!!

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Probably the most typical scene in a Dutch countryside ...Drente is shown on this postcard in particular...at the bottom right picture you can see those two guys in a partially lying position on their bicycles...ive seen those here as well...but for some reason I think that riding on such a bike aint as comfy as riding a normal one...mainly cos you have to keep your head straight all the time...there is no such thing as a cushion or something to lean back on....so ill still stick to the regular type...until I maybe try this one for real and happen to like it :)

From a set of two personal stamps titled Europe and the World, issued in 2012

The last Dutch card is not just about bicycles but also about another Dutch icon, and that is Anne Frank...I think the combination of the wall and the bikes is just great and really fitting...love it!!

that butterfly stamp is one of the first Dutch stamps Ive known since I often used to see it on the letters my penfriends used to send me..issued in 1993 in a set of three stamps. the other one is another oldie, dating back to 1986, issued in a set of four charity stamps.

well, I think I may have exhausted all my Dutch bike cards..and I believe you won't want to see another bike card for a while now :)

The Netherlands

probably many of you are already familiar with this card...and I had seen it around on many many occasions and heard 'complaints' from people how they receive it again and again...but for some reason it was just recently that I received my copy of this omnipresent tulip/waffles card from the Netherlands..it is a really nice card though, I mean you have bikes on it too :)

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The reason I picked this card for this update is coz today, 25 March is the International Waffle Day, and this is probably the only waffle card I have for the moment...have to check a bit more thoroughly, but still, I doubt the outcome would be any different.

So go give this tasty waffles the attention they deserve, here we have a blog post about this big day. Funny, though, this International day has originated in Sweden, and it is the country where it is mostly celebrated, and much less elsewhere...but for the love of God, i have not seen a Swedish waffle card so far! So I just had to jump in with what I had in hand. 

But did you know that actually the origin of the waffles dates back to the 1300s in Greece when the Greeks cooked flat cakes between two metal pans. At the time, they topped it with cheeses and herbs. They had many inventions but somehow they had missed on the pancake syrup :)

I cant say I have eaten too many waffles in my life...they serve them in some of the coffee shops around here, but I usually go for something else on the menu...I dont know if i had mentioned before that my first encounter with the waffles was rather disappointing...I expected them to be this crunchy kind of pastry with some caramel taste...but they turned out to be this cotton-soft kind of thing...and when you top it with some cream, the waffle gets even softer and sinewy...and that's just NOT it! At least not MY idea of how a waffle should taste and feel when you take a bite. 

glad to know im not the only one using Christmas stamps a few months after Christmas :) these two come from a set of 10 issued last year...and the lady, well, you know her..

So Happy Waffles Day and go grab a waffle! Or whatever else sweet and tasty you may have around :)

Delft, The Netherlands

this is an official card i received back in 2010

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The card gives us a view of the city of Delft, which I must say looks like a very cosy, tipically Dutch place :)

Aunt wiki says that Delft is primarily known for its typically Dutch town centre (with canals); also for the painter Vermeer, Delft Blue pottery (Delftware), the Delft University of Technology, and its association with the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau

uhmm, except that I had somewhere, sometime heard about the University, I dont think I could relate Delft to any of the other things....shame shame on me.....

well...you know it...

Driebergen-Rijsenburg, The Netherlands

Well, next post might come out confusing coz of the amount of cards and stamps, but showing different parts of the same city, I really think it is most logical to sublime them all into one post...
All these cards come from Sietse...which reminds me that I havent sent him anything in a long long while...shame shame on me =/

The cards show the city of Driebergen-Rijsenburg, in the province of Utrecht, and the first card shows a monastery or a convent called St. Xaverius...but honestly that's my interpretation of the card, so I might be wrong as well...

since each card came written and stamp, all the stamps should be shown too, and the first card bears the 95 eurocent Nederland.

The second card shows the St. Petrus' Banden church, which is very close to the geographical centre of the Nederlands.  

Another eurocent nederland stamp....this time the 77 one :)


Well, here we come to the third card, showing a former summer retreat from bigwigs from the city, but I dont know what it is used for now. Houses like this one are common in Driebergen and one is used as a second-hand bookstore, others are restaurants and some are still occupied by residents.

77c nederland strikes again :)


the fourth card of this post shows the Temple House in a park in Driebergen, but neither Sietse nor I can tell you what it is used for

....and 77 eurocent nederland once more :)


the last card of the Driebergen series shows the  Dr. Schaepman monument. Schaepman was the first Catholic priest in the Dutch House of Commons in the times when the country was very hostile to the Roman Catholicism...

well, if you thought it was going to be 77 eurocent nederland again, you got fooled...this time we have two stamps from a set of 6 issued in 2009, representing senior people.

thank you again dear Sietse and sorry for having neglected your mailbox :( 

Texel, The Netherlands

Well, another lighthouse for today and this is actually one of the few cards I received this year...the postman hasnt really liked me so far...didnt bring me much the past 3 days...and now again i have two days to wait until Saturday when I hope he will bring me something more.

This lighthouse is situated on the Texel island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark.
Texel forms the largest natural barrier between the North Sea and the Wadden Sea.

And some Dutch Christmassy stamps...the total set of 2010 consists of 10 Christmas stamps. The other one is a definitive from 2002.

And before I close this, just wanna wish a Merry Christmas to all the people celebrating today (me including). Hope you have a nice Christmas Eve and a nice Christmas Day as well with great food and people you love and feel close to! Hugs to all!!!

Urk, The Netherlands

This lovely card came from Peggy for the anniversary 100 group in the Turkish RR.

Urk Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Urk at the eastern banks of the IJsselmeer. From 1617 a coal fire was used for the local fishermen as well as for the ships sailing from Amsterdam to the North Sea. The current lighthouse station was established in 1837. The tower was built in 1845 as a round brick tower attached to a keeper's house. A Fresnel lens is still in use. The lighthouse was restored in 1972 and declared a national monument of the Netherlands in 1982. The tower can be visited during guided tours.

There are three nice and rather different stamps from the ones im used to seeing from the Netherlands. The one in the middle is from a set of four stamps issued back in 1984, representing Joost Swarte comics. The one on the left is also from 1984, issued under the subject of Export and Trade, and it represents small businesses. And the last one, phew, comes from a set of 3 Traffic stamps issued in 1980.
The lack of issuing dates on the stamps has made searching a real hell...but I finally managed :P

Amerongen, The Netherlands

A few Dutch cards sent by Sietse, this time, showing some bits and pieces of Amerongen, which is a village in the central Netherlands on the border of the Utrecht Hill Ridge.

The first card shows the Little Houses on the Hugtje, where presumably, 'hugtje' stands for 'the elevated terrain they are built on'...but not 100% sure, so if anyone can confirm or deny, the right answer is more than welcome.

Here is the Amerongen Castle which was first established in 1286. Several times it was attacked, destroyed and rebuilt. In 1672 it was attacked by the French army and burned down. Shortly afterwards the castle was rebuilt in the classicist form it has hold until now.

The third card shows the Efratha church, about which I know nothing.

And this last card shows the Historical Museom of Amerongen. A very cute appearance from the outside... And from what I found, this museum gives the history of tobacco growing in the southeast Utrecht from 1640 to 1965, with drying shed, tools and carpenter's workshop. In summer, there is a demonstration in the tobacco field.

And a bunch of stamps, since each card was sent written and stamped....and they are ALL different :)
First we have a Christmas stamp (on the right) from a set of 10 issued in 2009, while the left stamp was issued in 2008 in a sheet of both 5 and 10 stamps under the title "Think Green".

Again, the same combination..one Christmas and one Think Green stamp.

Christmas + Think Green....

aaand, again, Christmas + Think Green combination from the same issues....and I just love it that they are all different and add to my stamps' collection!

Thank you Sietse :)