Young Reader,

Next is a beautiful official card I received from Finland showing a young girl surrounded by books...a scenario I would love to find myself in, just that I would probably find some more comfortable reading position - hers doesnt feel comfortable at all! And maybe if I was her age, I wouldnt mind it, but nowadays my back would certainly protest!

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Right now Im reading the adventures of Kurt Seyt and Murka, by Nermin Bezmen, which is a sequel of Kurt Seyt and Shura and as the titles suggest, talking about the love dramas of Seyt and these two women. 

Now the first book about Shura was so full of dynamics and unexpected turns of events, even though at times I felt a bit lost in the scenario, plus there was something irritating about the translation.

The book about Murka on the other kind might be ok with the translation, but also the whole story feels more flat and nothing feels exciting about it.. well at least not yet, but I somehow dont believe it will reach the level of the previous book.

it is said to be based on a true story and that these characters and their stories really existed.. but what's really interesting also is to read all these descriptions of places and events taking place during the early 20th century Russia and Turkey... 

I would recommend that you gave it a read, cos this wont be your typical sappy love story kinda book, but something more than that!

a nice winter greetings stamp from 2016. Too bad it wasnt cancelled but hey, still better than a pen scribble!

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.

Lviv, Ukraine

I just realized that for today I've picked another country with political unrests and all...not to mention that story about the Malaysian plane crash in Ukraine not so long ago..but my choices were surely not intentional with the idea to talk about politics and solve disputes and blah blah...you know I hate that...

here I have two cards related to the Railway Station in Lviv...and, hmm, now before I say a few words about the cards and the stamps, I wanted to mention something else which this card reminded me of...and that is somewhat related to Ukraine and Lviv, and in a few sentences, this train station (no, I haven't been there yet :))

Anyways, there is this book I read recently and really loved it, so just wanted to tell you about it...and its plot is set mainly in Lviv, so this post seemed really appropriate to mention the book as well..even though it is still in Macedonian only, hopefully in the near future it will be translated in a few other languages and will be available to the wider audiences...I highly recommend that you read it...cos come on, how many books can you say you have read by a Macedonian author? hm? =)

the book's name in English is "Gargle", as its equivalent Macedonian translation...you find out why..written by the young and aspiring Macedonian author Igor Stanojoski.
For me it was one of the books that kept my attention throughout its entirety, gave me emotional turmoils, and once I finished it I was in the 'what am I supposed to do with myself now' kind of mood..reminded me of Murakami at times...
Feel free to browse through the website dedicated solely to the book..besides in Macedonian, you can read some sections in English, Polish and Russian....hoping that I've intrigued you somewhat by now, just click on the link below ;-)

http://www.gargara.mk/english/index.html


aaaand now down to the postcards

First comes a card from Vita, showing the exterior of the Railway Station in Lviv.
Built in the Art Nouveau style,  its construction had started in 1899 and has been into service since 1904, handling over 1 million passengers per month! Such numbers always bring to mind OUR railway station..I think it would take a number of years to actually handle that many passengers...the commodity and the reliability of the service is a different story...

and how lovely when someone sending me a train/railway card, attaches some matching stamps...and at least Ukraine isn't short of fantastic train stamps! These two are from the 2010 set of 4 locomotives.


The following card - I received it TWICE! Within a month's distance! (back in 2011)
Yeah, receiving your favourite cards works in a funny way sometimes...you just wait for sooo long to receive some, and then eventually at least two or three people send it to you...but I don't mind it, cos it is just soo beautiful...the stamp-image just gives some additional charm to this one.

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One copy arrived from Viktoria as part of  a swap, and another one from Olya as an official....and here you can actually see the interior of the Lviv Railway Station...just so beautiful! And I cant help but wonder where these two trains are going to...

yesss..two train stamps again from the 2010 set...plus one more coming from a set of 8 definitives issued in 2008 - this one is showing a spinning wheel

the other card came with three copies of this definitive, also issued in 2007, showing a kumanet

PS. I still can't possibly pronounce Lviv properly...I just CAN'T!

Bookstore

next comes one of my all time favourite cards...Ive had it in my favourites for quite long...and I just couldnt believe it one day that someone tagged me for it! I was just super-duper excited!

why I so much love it? ahh, I dont know....I mean, you have a bookstore that looks sooo nice and cosy..you know, not the modern kind of bookstore, but those old ones, with a wooden door, a bell sound when someone enters...the smell of old books inside....such a nice warm atmosphere, while outside it is raining...and the cherry on top is the bike...it just makes this card so perfect, and so much ME..yeah, this card is screaming ANA ANA ANA all over the place! I just love love love it!
Speaking of books, currently Im reading "A Heart So White" by Javier Marías. Im at page 64 so I still cant give some conclusion whether the book is good or bad...but there is some interesting development of events.
Speaking of bicycles...the front tyre on mine literally exploded today while I was going back home...just now when the weather got so nice and the rainy gloomy days should be behind us, my bike betrayed me...I really need to have my tires replaces as soon as possible...coz i just have this itch to be in the sunshine on my bike!

the credits for the photo go to: http://morbcn.com/ where you can see a lot more awesome photos!

Books

Well, maybe you know I love to read...and hence, I love book cards...and they seem to be lovely nevertheless!

I wish I had a big room with many many shelves so that I could arrange all my books as I please...and so that I could buy many more books too...at this point I simply have no proper place to keep, so I often refrain from buying some....even though my heart aches to spend money on them....
I love the postcard above coz of all the different colours the book' pages have...these books seem to be older ones but that doesnt make them any less appealing...on the whole contrary....I LOVE the scent of old books! These here seem to be German books....but im not sure if I can decipher them correctly, so Ill leave that up to the readers.

the other card shows some newer books (n.b: when I speak of older or newer books, I refer to the print, not the time when the book was written/published).
This card comes from the Penguin Poetry Series...and here you can see some poetry collections by Blake, Frost, Pushkin, Goethe, Hardy...different types of verses etc. I LOVE the covers on these ones....so nice and colourful!

Currently Im reading "Excavation" by James Rollins...the book is interesting, but the Macedonian translation is simply killing me...but having no original copy and still wanting to know what this book is all about, I decided to proceed...otherwise, with such books I give up after a few pages.
Unfortunately, I dont have much time to read...and often dont have the concentration for it...so lately I mainly read on the bus on my way to work and back home (and that is, if I go by bus in the first place...when the weather is nice I prefer my bike). But otherwise, I rarely have the time to relax and read...and it is quite bothering me...
Im also one of those people who simply love real books and cant read the ones in electronic form...staring at the screen is simply tiring me..and doesnt at all have the charm which flipping through the pages of a real book has...I honestly really dont get it how people can read e-books...Im already spending way too much at the computer..I really cant nor want to read books in that manner...esp. since when I read a book I actually want to relax...and lie down in my bed...and use a nice bookmark...and e-books and e-readers, simply cant offer that, regardless how nice they have been designed to attract people.

And recently I came across this video...which reminded me of all the young people nowadays which consider reading a waste of time and who'd rather watch the movie, which would give them the story in two hours, instead bother to read 400 pages...out of my experience, movies based on books are not even close to what the book is all about...so for this reason ive stopped watching them and stick to the books only...anyways, the video I wanted to show you may seem silly in a way, but who knows, maybe it will motivate and encourage someone to start reading books and discover their magic....the video is titled 'The girl who hated books"

The Little Prince

Here comes a very special card to me, that i received as an official just last week...speaking of mail, i have received NOTHING this week, and Wednesday has ended...

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I think that as a character, the Little Prince has won the hearts of many, mine included. My first encounter with him was back in 4th grade primary school when we had to read the book....and while reading it, i was having all question and exclamation marks banging over my head, wondering, what the hell this crap is...if you had read the book, you will know why it seemed like crap for a 10 year old....i still dont know why they had put it on the list of books to be read at 4th grade....its not a book for 10 year olds, even though its main character is a child himself...you cant really figure out the core of the book if you are 10 years old, unless you are some prodigy child who has figured out the philosophy of life....
Anyways, years later i watched the movie, and by the recommendation of a friend, read the book again....i was honestly skeptical, due to my first experience with it...but this friend was my bf back then actually, so you know, i *had to* read it in order to have the basis of a *smart talk* afterwards and impress him...thats a foolish women's thinking and approach to stuff when men come in question....well, i dont know if any smart talk developed, but i know that i fell in love with the book and the Little Prince and was just genuinely touched in general. The book just had all those life-stuff in some simplified way explained, and yet, you could just identify yourself with it....it was shocking in a way to realize what a great book i almost had missed due to my first bad experience with it (so yeah, you should learn from your experiences, but that doesnt mean you should ban things/people from your life just coz the *first time* encounter was a disaster...)
so ever since, the Little Prince became one of my most admired characters and eventually, an item on my postcard wish list....and im more than proud to say that so far i own two Little Prince postcards...hopefully ill show the other one sometime soon....in case you hadnt read the Little Prince, i strongly recommend you do so....in general, im not a fan of books/music/movies that everyone is in love with, but this is one of those times when an exception is made...totally justified...

Kipa, Finland

I really really love this map card....at first you'll think it shows a map of Finland, which in a way it does...but the actual thing this card is about is to advertise the bookstore chain "Kipa"..

All the cities on the map have/had Kipa bookstores. Thats why so many 'random' small cities are marked, while bigger ones, such as Turku for example, are missing. Kipa is a small booksore and fits better in smaller cities than bigger ones.
Well, maybe its a small bookstore, but it certainly is spreaded well all over Finland.
And i have to say that this advertisement would DEFINITELY make me wanna go to the bookstore...by just looking at the card, i think of a nice cosy room, with an armchair, and a fireplace, with me reading, while drinking a nice cup of hot chocolate, while outside is cold, but inside feels just so perfect....and you get carried away with your book, that you dont even keep track of time...as if time is a non-existent category there....yup, thats how this card makes me feel ;-))))
Personally, im actually too picky when it comes to advertisements, and many times, i dont even want to buy a product, just coz it has a silly/stupid/boring/annoying/senseless ad....and for what its worth, Macedonian commercials/advertisements are like that in general....disappointing!!

Switzerland

This came as a private swap with Daniela. For the trade she offered to send me either something from Switzerland or Liechtenstein, and since my collection of cards of Liechtenstein is equal to zero, i immediately jumped for that, until i actually took a look at her cards for trade....and my eyes remained glued on this....so i just said, hell with Liechtenstein, i LOVE this card!!! In general i dont go for animated cards or such....but this is one of those exceptions...when i fall for something at first glance, means that, that something is something I REALLY like and want to have it....same was with this card and Daniela was kind to reserve a copy for me...thank you :)


And why i love this card? I dont know if you had read the book about "Heidi" by Johanna Spiri (1827 - 1901)?!
Well, that was one of my favourite books when i was little and very sad indeed. So when i saw this card, on one hand it brought childhood memories and livened up the child in me...second, i like it coz its somewhat unique...it doesnt portray a city/country view or so, yet it is very related to the country where it comes from, in this case Switzerland.

Heidi is by far the most popular work of Swiss literature and has been translated from German into 50 languages, been filmed more than a dozen times, and more than 50 million copies of Heidi books have been sold world-wide.
It is about an orphan girl from the Alps, who first lives with her aunt Dete, but Dete would like to concentrate on her career. So she brings Heidi to her grandfather, a queer old man living in an alpine cottage far from the next village (he is therefore called Alm-Uncle. Alm-Uncle is good-hearted but mistrusts anybody and wants to keep the child from all evils of the world. So he refuses to send Heidi to school; instead she goes to the pastures, together with Peter, a shepherd boy looking after the goats (Geissenpeter = goat-Peter in German). This (all too harmonious) alpine idyll finds a sudden end when aunt Dete comes in again and brings Heidi to Frankfurt (Germany) where she shall stay with Clara, the paralyzed daughter of a rich family, and learn something.

Thanks to the grandmother of Clara, Heidi learns to read but she can't get acquainted to the strict discipline in a bourgeois upper class house (personified by governess Fraulein Rottenmeier). She is very lonesome and gets depressed by the gray anonymous city. Heidi becomes ill of homesickness, she starts to walk in her sleep. Miss Rottenmeier is alarmed, not because of the fate of the poor child, but rather because she thinks that there are ghosts in the old house. Finally Clara's father Herr Stresemann and the sympathetic doctor of the family decide to stay up till midnight and find out about the ghosts. When the doctor sees Heidi walking around in her sleep, he finds the right diagnosis and sends her back to the alps.

Next summer, Clara visits Heidi there. They go to the pastures and Heidi shows Clara all the beauty of her world. Peter gets terribly jealous, and in a moment when he feels unobserved, he pushes the empty wheelchair down to the valley so it gets smashed. Clara wants to see the flowers and is forced to walk - and her desire is strong enough that she overcomes her handicap. Clara's Grandmother and Father are amazed and overcome with joy to see Clara walking. Clara's wealthy family promises to provide for Heidi, in case her grandfather will no longer be able to do so.

Even though its a children's book, i think ill read it again these days, right after i finish what Im currently reading (Juda's Tree)