Estação Júlio Prestes, Brazil

An official card from 2013.

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This is the Júlio Prestes Station, a historic railroad station building in São Paulo in Brazil. In addition to commuter rail service, Júlio Prestes Station is also a cultural arts center, with a performance space and administrative offices for state-run arts programs.
The remodeled structure, originally built in 1938, has been on the state register of protected buildings since 8 July 1999.
 The train station is named in honor of the São Paulo governor (1927–1930) and Brazilian president-elect (1930), Júlio Prestes.
(There is also a Brazilian poet with the same name and initially I thought the station was named after him. Obviously I was wrong).

If there is a stamp you quite often see from Brazil, is the trumpet one on the left (along with a few other Brazilian stamps). Issued in 2002 in a set of 5 Instrument stamps.
The other one is from 2012, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Federal University of Paraná

Switzerland

Ok, one more quick post for today, showing an idyllic view of a house somewhere in the countryside of Switzerland.

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The sender of the card says this is a photo he had taken - and I must say, WOW! Really WOW! Not just for the lovely vibrant image, but also the quality of the card...it is all just perfect. He says that this is somewhere near Bern...but where exactly, have no idea....and it doesn't really matter...it is simply a great postcard.

The stamp is from the set of 3 Flora stamps issued in 2012. Yeah, what you can spot are coffee stains. Yeah, my fault....you know I am clumsy....

Well, have a good rest of the weekend! Till next time...

Happy 7th Postcrossing Anniversary To Me!!

Yes, as the title says, this post is here just to mark this, I must say, amazing milestone for me! When I signed up seven years ago, I had absolutely no idea how things would be, what should I expect, what was I going to get, and I certainly didn't take the chance to take a look 7 years ahead in the future and finding myself still here...and still enjoying it....even though not to the extent I'd love to right now, but I know that whenever I'm ready to embrace it again and again, it would always be waiting for me.

Thank you all for all the lovely postcards and surprises you have ever sent me during this amazing 7-year-long journey! It's been so great to have met you all (I still hope the % of you I have met in real life is going to keep increasing :))
Thank you for all the thoughtfulness, kind words, hilarious words, words of compassion when I needed them...and thank you for being my readers here...hope you will still be around in the next 7 years to come and longer :)

Probably PC won't change to "over 7 years" until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but there you can see, the anniversary date is 27th April indeed...gosh, it is scary to think how quickly these seven years have passed!

I stole this cake from PC's tumblr page :)

http://postcrossing.tumblr.com/

Sorry btw, no new update for now...hopefully I will grab the time for it in the next few days...some great cards are waiting =)  in the meantime, enjoy the beautiful spring outside!

Love to all! ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Penglai Fairyland, China

This is an official from China, which travelled to me for exactly 98 days....i think that its sender was rather delighted when i had registered it...at least, i know i would be :)

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This is the  Penglai Fairyland, which is one of the four famous collections of ancient temples in China.
Penglai is one of the three supernatural mountains inhabited by immortals. The other two are Yingzhou and Fangzhang, which were frequently visited for wonder herbs by emperors since Qin and Han dynasties. The famous legend of Eight Immortals crossing the sea finds its origin here. It is said that the eight immortals got drunk at Penglai Pavilion and crossed the sea by different tricks of their own without ships or boats. Their performance hovering over the waves against wind left a popular saying that “like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each one showing his or her special feats; each tries to outwit the other.” 

interesting...I like mythology so it was really nice to get to learn about this...

Siebengebirge, Germany

I post this card in honour of my recent enrollment at a German language course...

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I used to study German for a number of years...4 years in high-school, two at university...and never managed to get past the basic stuff of the numbers (which i actually learned when i was 5 or 6 years old) and the basic stuff of "Ich bin Studentin, ich bin xx Jahre alt, ich komme aus Skopje, ich wohne in Skopje.." and stuff like that...my absolut problem with the German were the articles and the cases...I never grasped why and when things go from nominativ to dativ or accusativ...and the respective articles of the nouns, die, der, das...and all those possible and impossible changes when making a sentence...partially its coz i never truly dedicated myself to it and didnt really take it serious...I was convinced thatt since I know English so well, im just gonna catch up with German just like that, without any dedicated work...well, of course, I was sooooo wrong....
In high-school, I have to say, the teacher we had was way to incompetent as well...she was a medical nurse who lived in Germany for I dont know how many years, so she ended up teaching German....we often made jokes on her behalf, coz she was just...well, a good joking material :)  And when it came to tests, in most of the cases this is what happened...we either copied from each other...or..if this other class who had German as well, did the test before us (which happened in most of the cases) and got the results back before we actually did the test ourselves (which as well happened in most of the cases, since we always had German later in the day) so we would have just taken a test with the highest mark, copy it, and then simply copy the answers to our tests, coz the questions were always absolutely the same...and of course, we got high marks, even though we knew nothing in German :)
At University was a different story.....the classes in German were late in the evening, at 7pm, which wouldnt have been such a problem if those days classes didnt start at 7am...so it was aaaalll day spent at uni, and eventually I started skipping classes...that was in the first year...the second year, i was just too lazy in general....for the exam, i copied things from my friend...the teacher was aware of it, but didnt do anything...so i ended up scoring a '9'...having in mind that the '10' is the highest mark at Uni, i was more than satisfied....so thats how my German adventures had passed, and thats why i never managed to actually learn it...
Eventually I wanted to enroll a course, but once I finished uni, another problem occured...I started working immediately, and my working hours had always been in the afternoon till 10pm...and of course, all German courses were in the afternoon as well, so I simply COULDNT fit it in, regardless of how much i wanted it....and finally this year, at the school im currently working at, there is a beginner course in German, and I can fit it into my shcedule, since at least i dont have to go to some place else (coz i wouldnt have the time for it)...so I just have my German class, and immediately i move on with my own classes, in the same classroom :) So from the studnet's chair, i move into the teacher's one...its quite odd...but to be honest, i LOVE it...you have no idea with how much enthusiasm im into all this...and i truly hope this time, im gonna finally move past the basic stuff...so far, im doing ok...hopefully it will keep being ok :)

Ill tell you about it at my next German card :)))

Turkey (03)

An official card from Turkey...my first official from there....and one of the 5 cards i got in return for only one of mine sent...yup, that was an interesting scene to watch of how cards were being sent to Macedonia...after one of mine got registered....

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On the card you can see several of the most famous, and a must-visit places in Turkey.

The largest picture shows Alanya, and the castle of Alanya  (ive already had a post about it, so in case you are interested, you can check it out, just click on Alanya on the label cloud at the left of the page)

the top right picture shows Hagia Sophia Museum and Bosphorus Istanbul.

middle picture shows Pamukkale

bottom right picture shows Bodrum - Mugla

well, that would be all for today...hope you have had a nice weekend, and im wishing you all a nice upcoming week...ill see you around with more new postcards and updates

Pärnu, Estonia

This is an official card I received, from a 10 year old boy....now this is something which i really like, when young children take up hobbies like this and are interested in other things but computer games and TV and such....Ive seen some other really young children around...and i know that if they come from a non-english speaking country, that in general their parents help them with writing the cards and all...but thats totally ok...i like it when parents try to help their children with things like this, coz like that, they encourage them to keep doing what they are doing...

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Pärnu is a city in south-western Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants and large beaches. The Pärnu river flows through the city.
Since 1996 Pärnu has been known as Estonia's Summer Capital.

Now this is interesting...its the second time that I come across a place which is called as the 'summer capital' of a country..first it was the Philippines, with the Baugio City...now this...i wonder how many other countries out there have cities which are called 'summer capitals'....we here, certainly dont :)

Brugge, Belgium (02)

last card for today, an official from Belgium...my ratio so far: 23-28...:P

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This here shows The Rozenhoedkaai (Quai of the Rosary) with the Belfry...reminds me somewhat of Venice, coz of the water around the buildings and people in the boats passing by.
From Rozenhoedkaai an exceptionally beautiful view is seen of the old houses bordering the canal, with the Belfry rising high above the rooftops in the background.
The sender says that the tower in the background is about 800 years old...

Definitely a nice place indeed....

Vilnius, Lithuania (02)

Well, i just had a class postponed, so i have like an hour free and ive decided to make an update here...well, if i was informed about this earlier, the update would have already been done by now, but oh well..at least i can do it...honestly, if i could, i wouldnt be going to work at all tonight coz its raining cats and dogs outside...i already got soaked twice (last night and this morning) and im definitely gonna get soaked again...umbrellas just dont help sometimes....its impossible for them to protect you against reckless drivers

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This is an official card I got from Lithuania...believe it or not, it took me almost all day until i actually realized it was an official...since i was expecting a swap card from there, i thought it was it...i found it odd there was no name but i thought it got covered under the "Prioritaire" sticker...and by a total accident in the evening (the day i got the card) i noticed an ID....funny thing is, the ratio of my received cards, had already overcome the sent ones, so i wasnt at all even expecting an official, but there you go :)

The card here shows St.Anne's Church, which is a Roman Catholic church in the old town of Vilnius, and hence, it makes it a UNESCO whs. It is situated on the right bank of the Vilnia river and is a prominent example of both Flamboyant Gothic and Brick Gothic styles.

The sender says that he likes to have quite a few beers nearby, in a big park, just that its become forbidden.
This made me laugh, coz in our park here (the biggest one) young people enjoy sitting on the grass and having a drink...and it is a nice feeling to be with some friends, have a chat in the fresh open air, with some music coming from the clubs in the vicinity, and have some wine, or whatever you are drinking....i totally cant stand beer, dont know why...neither any clean alcohol...mixed with juice, yup, tastes good...but pure alochol, a-a...just feels too strong for me, and not at all appealing...

well...the summer's over...so no park-gatherings until next season...the autumn arrived way too quickly, and way too unexpectedly this year....its been raining for days, its cold-freezing (10 degrees) which for September is just insane...here, even in October, the temperatures are around 30 degrees....I dont like the heat, but i dont like this weather right now either...esp. not when i need to go somewhere...if i could stay at home i probably wouldnt have minded too much...

Kangding, China

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDAAAATEEEEE!!!!!

YAAAYYYY!!!!

Hahhaaaa...yeah, im cheering for myself and to myself....i simply CAN'T believe it that ive gone through an entire week without an update....7 days no cards....this is definitely the longest streak ive had without posting anything and to be honest i dont like it....a single bit!
But due to circumstances and all, i had some work overload...well, it wasnt THAT much of an overload as it was annoying and it took me much more time to finish it than initially planned and as well, whenever i thought of making an update, i had this feeling of guilt inside me, telling me that its no time for updates and that i should finish what i need to finish first and then do this...and see where that led me...
I really really truly hope this wont happen again, coz the more i put it behind, the harded it gets to get down to it eventually and i somehow lose track of it....and this is one of the things i simply ENJOY doing and when i dont do it its like im missing something..

well, not that right now i have no tasks to finish...moreover im starting regular classes at work today but i just NEED to make an update...its like a crave coming from the inside...plus i have soooo many cards pending and pending that its a pity to just leave them out like that....
oh...and i have a lot of, LOT OF pending notes and messages i need to send, so if you are reading this and you are expecting something, please, bear it with me! :)

CN-23880

Ok, for starters i have a really really nice official from China...I just love this autumn-scene on it...when i look at it, i just feel the cold air, the smell of autumn, the sound of the wind in the trees, the sound of the leaves under my feet...it just has THE right atmosphere!

It shows a scenery of Kangding, which is a place about 300km from Chengdu (thats where the sender comes from).
Kangding (or Dardo) is the name of a county and a town in the western Sichuan Province.
It is an ethnic Tibetan township located in the historical Tibetan region of Kham.
Kangding is on the Tuo River, a tributary of the Dadu River, 62 miles (100 km) west of Ya'an, and it lies at an elevation of 8,400 feet (2,560 metres) and is situated in a wild mountainous region with a mixed population of Han Chinese and Tibetans.

Atlanta, USA

A really nice night view of Atlanta...

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The back of the card says: As the sun goes down, the lights come on in Georgia.

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the state of Georgia and the core city of the ninth most populous metropolitan area in the United States.
The sender of the card says that there is always something going on in Atlanta at any time of day and night, and that she still hasnt managed to do it all.
There are many things why Atlanta is famous for, and one of them is Coca Cola, since its headquarters are situated there.
Well, I dont know about you, but personally im not a fan of Coke or any similar beverages...I used to drink a lot of Sprite...but eventually stopped...first of all it aint healthy, it has a huge amount of calories and it just makes me feel as if i had a bunch of stones in my stomach.
I may only drink that if im extremely thirsty and if there is nothing else available to quench my thirst.

Thailand

My first official card from Thailand



It shows a Floating Market....this is the first time ive actually heard of an existence of something as a Floating Market. Looks as something interesting, though i wonder what happens when there is a lot of traffic and the boats get stuck....there are no signs, no traffic lights....can get quite hectic.

As i have read, these floating markets are a feature of the Thai Culture and the rural life and most of them are concentrated in Bangkok....im just not sure where this Floating Market is...the sender says its about 190km or 1.30 hour drive....but doesnt say where from.....she surely didnt want to say that the market itself is 190km long!! Or she did?

Somerville, USA

An official US card...

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This is considered to be one of the most interesting buildings in Somerville, Massachussets.
It is called Enoch Robinson Round House.
Enoch Robinson, an eccentric door knob manufacturer, built his Round House in 1856 in the Spring Hill section of Somerville. Architectural historians have studied the house for its complex design, bowed windows, maritime ornamention and French inspired interior decoration. The shape of the building has been traced to the Desert de Retz in Chambourcy, France.

Vilnius, Lithuania

Not so long ago i had a card from Minsk, and told you that I love the name Minsk but that there is also another town from the former USSR whose name is one of my very favorites....and i as well said that getting a card from there its not within sight...until the other day, totally unexpectedly, i found an official card in my mailbox!!!! With its name written on the front of the card!! I still cant believe it!!!!

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And there it is....it is Vilnius I was talking about, but didnt want to reveal the name until i get the actual card.
There is something in the combination of consonants and vowels why the name of this city sounds soooooooo incredibly appealing to me! I absolutely love it! In some sense reminds me of Linus from Snoopy and Charlie Brown. That name is also my favourite from that cartoon.

The card itself is asolutely beautiful as well...and on top of that, i have a new country added to my collection...yup, this is my very first card from Lithuania :)

Hooooorraaaayyy!!!

Finland

An official card from Finland...which i dont know what does it actually represent

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is it a mouse? a dog? a wolf? a cat?

i leave it up to your imagination...of if anyone knows for sure, please, enlighten me!

Gelsenkirchen, Germany

An official from Germany....again

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The town is called Gelsenkirchen, and as far as a know, 'kirchen' meant something like 'churches'....but i couldnt come across any info about its etymology having to do something with 'churches'....the sender says that it is the home of the Footbal team Schlake 04.....hm, well....im totally a non-football person, so this Schlake 04 is something i hear for the first time....but im learning :)

St. Martin, Germany

An official from Germany (again :-) Well, i dont mind it at all as long as its from a place I dont have a card yet...I think ill more quickly manage to get a card from each German town than the Macedonian ones...true...

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The town of St. Martin is surrounded by vineyards in the heart of the Central wine route.
The sender says that Weinstraße is a famous region in Germany and that there they have the typical half-timbered houses.

There is an interesting legend related to the name of St. Martin

St. Martin was a knight in Roman times who charitably cut his cloak into two with his sword and shared it with a beggar who was about to freeze to death. This memorable event is celebrated to this day in November, mainly in Southern and Western Germany. St. Martinstag is the 11th of November. The celebrations involve little kids walking around town at dusk on November 10th, carrying home-made lanterns. The lanterns used to be made from hollowed out beets with a face carved in, similar to what Americans do to pumpkins around Halloween. The kids parade through town singing traditional songs, sometimes accompanied by a St. Martin on a horse. In some regions the kids also go gripschen (grabbing) by singing songs in front of houses, and being rewarded with candies, apples and nuts.

GuhL !!! :))))))

What, the country name surprised you? sounds weird? doesnt ring a bell where on planet Earth it is actually? Yeah well, to me either, so you are not alone :-)))))

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I had to go with this one first for today...this is an official one from Germany, disguised in an AD-CARD!!! Yup, an ad-card!! :)

Im not sure if i had ever stated my feelings towards ad-cards, so ill do it now...NO ad cards for me, please! Thank You!

Now, whats the deal with ad-cards.....I dont hate them....in fact im aware that some of my favourite ones im looking for are probably ad-cards....but i dont like getting them unless i choose them myself. Simple as that!

Here was also that question of 'to register or not to register'....but i did....to be honest, this card is actually VERY decent and its not just a plain magazine paper, glued to some sheet and made as a card...this is probably the most cardboard and firm card i had ever received, so I definitely give credit for that....its not just some 'unnecessary piece of paper lying around' so lets send it and get rid of it (as ive seen some cases)....plus i like the ad....though at first i thought it was for a perfume or a deodorant....the flowers over the woman's head made me think so...then for a while i thought it was a shampoo...coz her hair looks very neat and lovely...until eventually, with my poor German, i read "Von Natur aus Stark"....and figured out its a hair-spray....yay, a point for me! :) Plus, i know you cant see it here, unless you maybe shake the screen and something happens....but this is one of the cards that when you move them, the image changes! (thats why it was impossible for the scanner to capture the 'flower-umbrella' above her head or to make a better scan)

So, all in all, despite the fact i have made a statement of 'no ad-cards' please....i definitely give credit to the girl who sent this....(well she told me herself, "you have to like it" :P)
So i didnt really have much choice left :-))))

Holland

A very disputable card, which right now makes me think of how I trapped myself and now i have to send a card to the Netherlands, written in Dutch! This wouldnt have been such a problem if i knew how to utter at least ONE single word in Dutch....so this is gonna be real fun! I can ask someone who speaks the language for help, but honestly, there is no challenge in there and i really want to manage it on my own....so i think im left upon some of those online-translators and compose something....and having in mind how those translators work, im 100% positive something ridiculous would come out and I wont even know its ridiculous....well, the worst thing that can happen is that i die laughing :))) Heh, i really like the challenge, plus i may learn some words in Dutch as well so it can be useful......and its fun :)

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Now back to the card and the thing which makes my brain cells work harder....

The card comes from The Netherlands, but on it, it says Holland, so thats why i labeled it as Holland...it would be quite odd to name it as Netherlands, when pretty clear the card tells you it comes from Holland, im not gonna argue with it :)

Now....time ago, I finally made the distinction between Holland and the Netherlands....so Netherlands is the whole country, while Holland refers to a region in the western part of the Netherlands.....now, my confusion here is, does the card represent only that western region or the entire country? Or they had put Holland just to confuse the already way too confused foreigners :)
There is no particular information on the card, so I cant figure it out.

Thing is, for years, I had refered to the country as Holland, for a simple reason, and that is, here in Macedonia, we call the country Холандија (Holandija) which makes the perfect analogy to Holland, not the Netherlands...so I guess we have it all wrong....plus, another thing is, for years, when ive been sending letters to my pen-friends there, I always wrote "Holland" and the letters always arrived....and this wouldnt have been so odd if on the return address they also wrote "Holland"....so, I dont know..its pretty confusing all this....though for years now ive been refering to the country as The Netherlands....which is fair and square.....to call you by your name

I just still need a clarification of the card above....if its Holland, or the Netherlands on the pictures...

Finland

Believe it or not this is my FIRST official from Finland...I wonder why they have been avoiding me till now :)

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As it is said on the front of the card, it shows the four seasons in Finland. Though, i think im envious of the Finnish summer coz its not even close to the summer we have here, and I think its more like our early spring...which is my favourite time of the year.

I just love the nature and the scenery on this card.....I guess I havent been "lucky" enough yet to get Finnish cards....this reminded me of all those complaints about receiving cards from Finland and a message i read once which said "and please, pretty please, NO MORE snowy Finnish cards :)"

I really wonder that, besides luck, what else does it take to receive an official from, lets say, Mauritius, Isle of Man, Jersey, Cayman Islands, Barbados, Uruguay, Cape Verde etc etc etc.....just wishing!!