Vienna, Austria

Seems that winter days are back =/ Not that we had had any actual winter, but after some days of beautiful sunshine and nice temperatures, it is all gray and dark and rainy and cold again...blah :((
So being that I don't have that many obligations today and the weather is kinda begging you to stay indoors (not difficult to convince me at all), here comes another update, and today it is all dedicated to Postcrossing meeting cards :)
I have received a lot of these over the years, I have already posted some before, some are still left to see the light of the blog, but for today I have randomly chosen the following, most of which arrived during last year.

Will open this with one of the many cards I have received from Anita and from the meetings that have been taking place in Austria. And most of the time they have some specially designed cards for the event, like the one you can see here, where the Postcrossing meeting was merged with a book fair in Vienna - now how perfect is that? Books and postcards! And I'm pretty sure there were cakes somewhere in the story as well :)

I have never really asked who is the designer behind these cards, but now that I think about it, it might be Anita itself actually :) And I am really happy that I had the chance to meet her recently during my one day trip to Graz where from what I thought would be a cup of coffee, turned out into a lovely day well-spent! She really made sure we feel welcome and cosy in Graz!

On the back of course you can see the signatures, where I recognize like just half of the usernames. However, I am delighted with the stamp! Falco! Can't believe it it's been 20 years since he had died (speaking of deaths, today I learned that Stalone has moved into a different world as well...actually seems like a lot of famous people have already said goodbye to this world already this year and one that truly saddened me was when I heard last week that Jóhann Jóhannsson died too =/)

The Falco stamp was issued last year, commemorating 60 years since his birth. And besides the great stamp, the cancellation is also very interesting, though I am not exactly sure if it is supposed to represent something special or no - I see the name of Lustenau given, along with its postcode.

Thanks a lot lot to Anita for this one and all the other lovely cards she has surprised my mailbox with.  ❤

Vienna, Austria

It has been a while since I've posted something from my trips here and cards have seemed to pile up, so it is about time to decrease that pile and take a short tour from my last year trips...and a few extra cards :)
Now before I get down to this, in case you sometimes don't get a card from me from my travels, it may be cos of a few reasons:

- time-constraints....sometimes my agenda is so tight, that I just dont have that right time to write some cards =/

- finances...frankly, this may be the most frequent reason...being a freelancer, I travel on the budget most of the time, and sometimes money is unfortunately limited =/

- change of address...some of you people end up moving and I either had no idea about it, or hadn't noted the correct address down and the card doesn't reach you...although I must point out the Norwegian Postal system has done a tremendous job here, delivering a card to someone who didn't live at the address for over a year :)

- and last but not least, the card gets lost....and right now I am so frustrated with the Spanish postal system, cos it has delivered like just half of the cards I've sent from my last trip..HALF! And we are speaking about like more than 40 cards here....HALF delivered...and it's been a month!! It is just outrageous!! It is not just about the money here, but also the thrill, you know...you send surprise cards to people, and then there is no sign of it...disastrous!

well, anyways, lets see what was on the agenda last year...I did this update somewhat chronologically...


First in April, it was Vienna...

Even though I've been to Vienna before, I didn't mind having it on the agenda again cos my previous encounter with this fantastic city was in 2004, so it was about time to refresh those memories...and what can I say, I fell in love with it again...
Went there with my two travelling buddies, Marija and Sašo for the Easter holidays, and it was a cool trip from the very start...we went by bus (yeah, I know I know Vienna is far, but here a lot of trips are organized by bus since it also makes them very affordable)...and for the first time in my life I got to sit right behind the driver...and had this fantastic view in front of me while we were on the road...no other people's heads or seats, just a great view! I was so thrilled, that I barely slept...just didn't want to miss out something...ok, I admit, the driver was this charming man, so I just kinda wanted to chat with him, even though I am quite terrible when chatting to people I don't know and extremely clumsy when it is a person I like in question....but well making a fool of myself isn't something new :)

Then we had to cross the Hungarian border...but the guy from the Travel Agency got a call that there is a huge line of buses waiting at the Horgos-Roszke border that's usually used, so they all decided that we would go to the Kelebija-Tompa one...based on my passport stamp.
Even though we arrived there in the middle of the night, last thing I'd expected was that we would wake up the people working there...they were actually surprised to see us, wondered how on Earth did we know about that border crossing and openly told us NOT to come to their border crossing on our way back....huh?!!
One of the man who was stamping the passports asked our tour-guide to sing something in Macedonian if we wanted to cross the border...huh again??  And it is one of those moments when you don't know if you should burst out laughing or play it cool cos you don't know what consequences it may have...

Anyways, we arrived in Vienna, in beautiful sunshine, and the first day of course was the usual sightseeing...that's when I found this Hundertwasser card, scribbled it on the bus and dropped it in the mailbox...Hunderwasser is like one of my favourite spots in Vienna...it is like the Austrian Gaudi.

We also got to visit the Belvedere...and a bit later I posted it on Facebook...just to realize that my friend from Taiwan, HsuPeng was also there just an hour or so later! I couldnt believe it at the coincidence...I mean what are the chances that you end up at the same spot with a friend from a totally different part of the world?!! Well, we didnt manage to see each other then of course, we both had our own packed agendas, but we caught up a few months later here in Skopje :)

On the second day we weren't really in Vienna (see the next post), and on the third day, we went to the Donaturm first - me hanging there

and then afterwards, most of the people went to Schönbrunn...but being that I've already visited the place, didnt feel like going again...well one of my friends has been there too and our first idea was to go back to Belvedere and see the Klimt exhibition...but I changed my mind and went to Prater instead...I like Klimt, but honestly I'm kinda fed up with museums and cathedrals and all...don't get me wrong about this..I love art and history...but sometimes when my time at a place is so limited (and it always is), I don't feel like spending half or an entire day at a museum...Id rather be doing something else even if that means just chilling out with coffee and observing people or just walking around...anyways, this time Prater won, cos I totally love roller-coasters and there was no way Id choose Klimt over this :)

well, of course, the meeting point later was at Schönbrunn, so since my friend and I arrived there a bit early, we took a walk around the gardens...and of course, took a few pictures :)

and unfortunately, after Schönbrunn, we started our journey back home...so yeah, a really short stay...but a great one...and it wouldnt be me if I didnt get to drink coffee/eat something sweet whenever possible :) Highly recommend the Ice Cream parlour on Schwedenplatz...and the other ones were awesome, but can't possibly recall the names...the one with the Mozart liquer was Castelletto - that was actually more like a restaurant, but with a really cool atmosphere...and I think the one with the cake was somewhere on Stephansplatz...I always kinda mix Schweden and Stephansplatz...

are you still with me??!! Good :)

two stamps on the card...the one on the right was issued in 2003 in a set of two stamps titled "Holidays in Austria" and this one shows Mondsee...the bird stamp is from the two Fauna stamps issued in 2010, with this one showing European Roller.

so, briefly..or maybe not that briefly, that was Vienna :)

Vienna, Austria

A very special card that I received last year from dear Earney, showing the United Nations' Office in Vienna.

The UNOV was established on 1 January 1980 as the third United Nations Headquarters after New York and Geneva (and before Nairobi). It performs representation and liaison functions with permanent missions to the United Nations (Vienna), the host Government and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in Vienna.
The Director-General of UNOV is Mr. Antonio Maria Costa (Italy), who was appointed in May 2002. Mr. Costa also serves as the Executive Director of UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)

and one extremely special mark for this card are the stamps themselves. as you can see, the left one is identical to the postcard and is actually an imprinted one, while the left one is also a special UN stamp, issued in 2008.
Vielen Dank Earney! <3

Vienna, Austria (08)

Can you actually notice the overall condition of this card?
Well, partly, its coz its very old!! Comes from 1968, as the cancellation says...but as well, it was a victim of the famous water accident...yet it is in a good condition...bit bent and with the text being somewhat faded away, but it definitely aint for being thrown away

It was given to me by my mum's friend...well...there arent really other sources for such old cards...I just think that this card looks more than decent for being printed back then...
You know, im rather lazy today...actually, i have tonz of work ahead of me...and at least tomorrow is a non-working day, so i can get down to the work more seriously, and definitely manage another update (unfortunately the postman wont be visiting me tomorrow, and he ignored me today as well) but hopefully on Friday he will lighten up my mailbox :)

Vienna, Austria (07)

Finally, here I AM!
I have absolutely NO idea where did my weekend go...stuck in work AND deadlines, that i had absolutely no time for this or anything for myself....not to mention that i didnt feel ok as well...really, i dont have the feeling that its Monday today...its more as if its the middle of the week...
I apologise to whom ever i owe an email or any kind of message/notification...one will be on your way as soon as possible...I just hope i wont miss someone in this pile of messages i need to send out :)
Heh, right now im having a break, though it wont surprise me that ill get a call by the end of the day, telling me i need to finish this or that...
And right now its raining as well...the weather had got sooo damn cold here during the weekend....believe it or not, just a few days ago it was 38 degrees, right now its 15!! These weather changes have made my brain just sooo blurry during the weekend, at times i needed to work the most...its a rapid rapid change, but thats how the weather is here...i wonder, how is the postman managing on his bike through this kind of rainy weather...and i do hope he'll bring some mail for me today, and that it wont get soaked
I dont mind the rain...really, if i have to choose between that terrible heat, and the rain, id go for the rain...i simply DONT function at a hot weather...rapid changes DO make me go down, but once it stabilizes, the rainy weather itself makes me feel ok....well, now if i need to go somewhere and do stuff, then no, i dont like the rain, but if im able to stay at home, then the rain just feels soo good...lifts me up...i know this is contrary to how most people feel towards the rain coz it tends to feel depressing, but to me in most cases, it feels good...of course, i have my bad days as well, and sometimes, i have found the rainy weather of why i dont feel ok, or why am i staying in bed all day...but everyone has those days, no?

ok....enough chit-chat...lets get down to why im actually here in the first place...im not supposed to be ranting :)

And, for starters, a card from my very favourite Vienna...I bought this one when i went there....
It shows the Schonebrunn Castle, which is probably one of the places in Vienna that left the greatest impression on me...the thing with Vienna is that when we went there, we had some issues with the agency who took us there, so in Vienna they left us on our own more or less....so we organized ourselves the way we wanted to, and frankly, thats why we got to see the face of Vienna we wouldnt have seen if we went through the city by the tour-bus....and one of the places we went to was Schonebrunn.....WOW...I so much loved it!!!
When you go there, with the ticket you get a pair of headphones and a tape, so as you walk through the castle it tells you exactly what you are seeing, how you should move and all....I simply enjoyed it!! No tour-guides, who just run forward and dont care one bit if you had actually heard what they had said or no...no crowd of nosiy students..it was me and 5 other friends....i think this was the first time that I ABSOLUTELY enjoyed a visit to some historical place....unfortunately we couldnt see the entire castle, due to the lack of time, and i really feel sorry for it, but of what i saw, i enjoyed every single moment of it.....

Oh, God...I so much miss Vienna!! :((((((

here is the song which to a great extent captures the emotions of feeling nostalgic about Vienna...I so much love this song...I loved it even before I ever went to Vienna, but afterwards, it just got a whole new meaning...

"Vienna" - Ultravox

Vienna, Austria

Ehhhhh....Vienna.....one of my favourite places on Earth, EVER!!


Apart from the numerous cards i bought myself when i went there, i also have this one sent to me by a friend who went there. From the postmark, it seems as if it says it was sent in 2003 but i cant tell for sure.
This is one of the unlucky cards which suffered in my water accident...that whitish part under the name of Staatsoper (State Opera), is actually a result of the accident, not some cloud passing by...yeah, i actually must admit, the water got very creative when ruining my cards and decided to at least make some interesting and sensible marks....though if you hold the card in your hand it would be more than obvious to you that something has happened to it...its somewhat bent and feels quite rough at some spots....really pity, coz the card itself is magnificent.

Being a part of the Historic Centre of Vienna, this building is as well a UNESCO whs.

Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria