Indiana, USA

well, to my total dismay, some days ago I realized that my blog is actually missing cards from a few US states..yup, that's right! I dont know how I had managed that, but well, I have...just totally neglecting not one, not two, but 5 of them!! Can you believe it!! So once realized, I dug up into my collections, desperate to find something from these 5 US states forgotten by me....and the first one to cross of that list is Indiana...

well, corn seems to be one of the popular crops in Indiana, so this card does feel representative....I just wonder if it is GMO or non-GMO corn...really, you can never be sure nowadays, and corn and soybeans are on the top of the GMO list...either way, it does look nice on the card

btw, Bryon nicely told me on this card that I have no Indiana card on my blog, but I just didnt listen....just didnt listen...not surprised by myself must admit :)

if corn is of no interest to you, maybe stamps are :)
here you have a nice selection of older and newer ones...the orange eagle one did give me some trouble...and it should be a definitive issued in 1978, showing the bald eagle on an orange background, used as A postage. The stamp next to it is from a set of 4 Wildlife Conservation stamps issued in 1972. This stamps shows the cardinal, which is also Indiana's state bird.
The other two stamps show cars...the top right one comes from a set of 5 Automobiles' stamps issued in 2008, with this one showing a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk, while the one below it is the Indianapolis stamp issued in 2011 (and btw, Indianapolis is also in Indiana....so nice matching in general :)))

thanks so much again Bryon!!

Turnersee, Austria

Dear Earney often sends me nice surprises when she travels around and this time was no exception :)

the card shows a lovely view of the Turner Lake under the Alps.
Originally the lake was called Sablatnigsee, but in the 20th century, after the Austrian “Turnerbund” had erected their youth camps near the lake, it was named Turnersee. It is the vestige of a large, after Ice Age lake that besides the Turnersee also included the Sablatnig Meadows.

such a lovely peaceful place..Im sure id enjoy a holiday here

the stamp was issued this year, under the name "Bavarian-Upper Austrian Provincial Exhibition".

thank you Earney!!!

Castle Hill, New Zealand

one more card for today, coming from the far away New Zealand

the card shows the Castle Hill, which is a location and a high country station in New Zealand's South Island.
The hill was so named because of the imposing array of limestone boulders in the area reminiscent of an old, run-down stone castle and in 2002 it was named a "Spiritual Center of the Universe" by the Dalai Lama. Hmmm...
The back of the card says: "Looking across the plains of Castle Hill Station in the Canterbury high country. The hills and mountains rise steeply above the farmland. The outcrops of rock shapes are a famous feature of this area. So, many people stop here, for a quick photo or a walk in the hills. It is on the way between Christchurch and Arthur's Pass.

well, does look like an enchanting place!

I wonder if this is how post offices save on their air-mail labels, by splitting them into two :D
As for the stamp, it is from a set of 5 Native Trees' stamps issued this year, with this one showing the Kowhai...which I have no idea what it is, so Ill have to look it up once I finish this last post :)

thanks for reading and see you soon :)

Georgetown, Guyana

Hello guys and gals!! Someone has finally decided to write down a few words here! Yup, as most of you know, Im back from my holidays *sniff* =/. It's been like 10 days already...and I had prepared the cards last week..but I just couldnt get down to posting...I dont know why..something always came up...or i just felt tired in general...or i was dealing with the latest touchnote addiction...khm khm khm...a rather cool thing I must admit...gives you endless opportunities...though on the long run, i wont really like it...but for the time being, it's been fun...give it a try if you want, while it is still free...just that you'd need to use it through a FB account...even if you dont have one, a temp. account can always see the light of the day :)

Anyways, while I was away (and once I came back), some great mail has arrived....just that my mum sort of mixed some things up, that is, old and new cards, so it took me some time to figure it all out and put things in the right place.
And let's see where do we start off today...well, a brand new country of course!! All the way from Guyana! No, not French Guyana...this is just Guyana...though they are not far from each other...all you need to do is cross Suriname and voila...you are in the other Guyana :)

this awesome surprise comes thanks to dear Despina in Greece, who applied for the good-fairy role to help me out with my collections!! <3

The card shows two important places in Georgetown, Guyana's capital. At the top, you can see St.George's cathedral which is one of the tallest wooden church structures in the world and the second tallest wooden house of worship after the Todaiji Temple in Japan. It is an Anglican cathedral and has been designated as a national monument.

The bottom picture shows Georgetown;s National Library, which is actually very close to St.George's Cathedral (both are situated on Church street). The library celebrated its centenary in 2009 and is said to offer lending services to prisoners. Hmm, I guess that makes it special...I dont know..Ive never really researched the issue of libraries and prisoners..I know prisons should have their own entertaining areas (TV, radio, books, cards...), so I guess here things work differently...cool!

the stamp comes from a set of 9 definitive butterfly stamps issued in 2003.

Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ και πάλι Δέσποινα!!
And thanks a lot to Karline too, who was kind to send me a card!

Carnikava, Latvia

next comes an AWESOME official card from Latvia! The sender saw it in my favourites...and dropped one in the mail for me!

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the card shows the railway bridge over the river Gauja in Carnikava, which is a small village in Latvia.

Just a great great image...I love that deserted gloomy foggy atmosphere of a cold winter morning...well, that is just an assumption that it is a winter morning, but that;s how it feels to me...

here is one nice Train song for you.....

the sender made a great match, using the great Latvian train stamp from 2010. The small stamp represents the Coat of Arms and was issued this year.

Brussels, Belgium

one VERY misleading card!

unless there was an explanation on the back, I would have bet my head that this card comes from China...never in my life I would have guessed Belgium...but yeah, believe it or not, this Chinese style can be seen in Belgium's capital.
It was built in Paris for the world exhibition in 1900 and then bought by King Leopold II and rebuilt in Brussels in 1904. All the decorations are real 'made in China and brought to Europe so it does have the authentic Chinese style.

Cool, I must admit..

the stamp on the very right was issued in 2008 in a set of two flowers' stamps, this one showing a Marigold. The middle stamps is from a set of two newspapers' stamps issued in 1987, while the last, bird stamp is a definitive, showing a duck and was issued in 2010.

thanks a lot to David for such a cool card :)

Asenova Krepost, Bulgaria

always happy to receive written and stamped cards from Bulgaria since I do not get them very often :)

I got this one thanks to the thread I opened at the forum (and re-opened just today). So in case you think you can help me out with my favourite postcards, drop me a line :)
This great card shows Asen's Fortress, situated 2km south of Asenovgrad (grad = city), on a high rocky ridge on the left bank of the Asenitsa River.  The best preserved part of the fortress is the church Holy Mother of God from Petrich - 12th - 13th century. Close to it, there is an inscription by tsar Ivan Asen II.

the stamp on the right was issued in 2009, commemorating the 130th Anniversary of Sofia's Proclamation as Capital of Bulgaria. the other one is from a set of 6 definitives issued in 1999 representing Historical sites, fountains...
thanks a lot to Lilia for the great card!

Durango and Silverton, USA

well, finally for today we have a number of cards in one post, since somehow, in a rather short time (all during this year), I had managed to acquire all these Durango and Silverton cards...I have a feeling that another one has remained in some pile, but I just couldnt keep on looking...well, 4 for now would be more than enough :)

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the first one comes as an official...just as a short intro...The Durango and Silverton Railroad (D&SNG) is a narrow gauge heritage railroad that operates 45 miles (72 km) of 3 ft (914 mm) track between Durango and Silverton, in the US state of Colorado. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark and is also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. No wonder they have so many postcards with it :)

here we have a number of not so orderly glued stamps (I guess this would be comforting for people who somewhat miss the straight line for just a bit ;-)) the stamp on the very right is a Forever stamp issued this year as a part of the Year of the Dragon series. The one in the middle is another Forever stamp issued this year, called heart-health (with the U.S. Postal Service hopes to raise public awareness about the importance of maintaining a healthy heart). The three small stamps show the American toleware...a stamp issued in 2004.

the second Durango card comes from dear Andrea, who sent me this lovely surprise for the WOTM lottery earlier this year. The back of the card says: Locomotive 482 leaves Silverton on its trek back to Durango. Without a doubt, the most spectacular 45 mile ride in the world.
Ok people, this is NOT fair! Do you know how many SPECTACULAR rides there are? Ill never get to go on all of them =/

well, the third and the fourth Durango cards came for the Dec-May RR, the first one from Angee and the second one from Naomi.
On the back of this one it is written: One of the formidable engines of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad puffs a cloud smoke as it makes its way to the Colorado wilderness.

three stamps on this card...the right one is a Forever stamp issued in 2011, featuring Gregory Peck. the middle one is also a Forever stamp issued in 2011, celebrating Hanukkah, while the third stamp on the left represents George Washington and was issued in 2011 as well.

the back of this card says: Narrow Gauge Railroad offers spectacular views of the San Juan mountains of Colorado.
The route was originally built between 1881 and 1882, by the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, in order to carry supplies and people to and silver and gold ore from mines in the San Juan Mountains. The line from Durango to Silverton has run continuously since 1881, although it is now a tourist and heritage line hauling passengers, and is one of the few places in the United States which has seen continuous use of steam locomotives

and a bunch of stamps here too...starting from the top right, we again have the Year of the Dragon stamp and below it is the well-known Tiffany lamp. As for the other three stamps, they did give me a hard time, but I am glad to have this variety here and to see some different US stamps. the top left stamp was issued in a set of two 'special delivery' stamps in 1954 (the other stamp is blue). The stamp below it, to the left, is an airmail definitive issued in 1968...and the stamp btw the airmail one and the Tiffany lamp is from a set of 10 stamps issued in 1973, representing the US postal service.

Thanks a lot to Priscilla, Andrea, Angee and Naomi for such great choices!

And thanks a lot to you for reading! Have a great week ahead!

Dhamaka Lake, Pakistan

So, my fellow dear readers..this will be the last post before me taking off on my holidays...I cant believe it that the time has almost come! Now im in the state of panic...and in realization that I should have bought a new suitcase...mine is just NOT enough...but well, I guess Ill have to manage..Im in the middle of packing, and as usual I have no idea what to take..Im sure ill take stuff that are extra and I wont need, and that i will 'forget' something important...the beauty of all travels, eh? :))

So before I go, here is one more update, with a few lovely cards :)

First comes from dear Vera who has moved to Pakistan and who was so kind to search for some of my favourite cards so that she can send them to me! And I dont know if I had said this before, but Pakistan has AMAZING postcards and STUNNING nature in general!
The lovely card here shows the Dhamaka Lake in the Swat valley, which is situated in the north of Pakistan. It has an ancient history, but its recorded history begins with Alexander the Great, who entered Swat in 326 or 327 BC. Swat in the past used to be home to the Buddhism that spread from there to other parts of Asia (China, Bhutan, Tibet and even Japan). Many monasteries have been founded there, where Buddhist monks used to live and Buddhist teachers educated their students.
Probably another reason why this card is so appealing to me is coz it is related to Alexander, so it feels close to heart :)

Before I get down to the stamps, please take a look at the artistic beauty here..makes the card sooo beautiful and special, and I also REALLY appreciate the effort and the time that Vera took to decorate my card like this! Love it!!
As for the stamps..the one on the right was issued this year, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of St Joseph's Convent School in Karachi, while the other one...it should be a definitive..but i cant tell exactly from which year...the other definitives of that kind were issued in 1994, but this one of Rs.28 does not seem to be among them...so any help is welcome :) thank you soo much again dear Vera!!

UNESCO Headquarters, France

For some reason I keep confusing myself that this card comes from Brussels when it actually comes from Paris...I dont know, maybe i just have this general idea in my head that all those important buildings are situated in Brussels :)

And it is nice to see UNESCO's Headquarters! After collecting UNESCO cards for so long, and struggling with many of them since many come from such rare countries and are like impossible to get, it is nice to see where all these crazy ideas and decisions come from :)
The building is located on the Place de Fontenoy, and was inaugurated on 3 November 1958.
Nicknamed the ‘three-pointed star’, the entire edifice stands on seventy-two columns of concrete piling. It is world famous, not only because it is the home of a well-known organization but also because of its outstanding architectural qualities (here in the dark I honestly cant see any architectural qualities...or I may be at the wrong building since three more buildings complete the headquarters site. The second building, known affectionately as the "accordion", holds the egg-shaped hall with a pleated copper ceiling where the plenary sessions of the General Conference are held. The third building is in the form of a cube. Lastly, a fourth construction consists of two office floors hollowed out below street level, around six small sunken courtyards. The buildings, which contain many remarkable works of art, are open to the public.

the stamp was issued in a set of 2 in 2010 and is UNESCO related. The French Post regularly issues since 1960, some official stamps for UNESCO, which can only be used on mail from the headquarters of this United Nations agency devoted to science, culture and education. On this stamp, the Alpaca is depicted, and with these stamps UNESCO wants to remind us of the endangered species throughout the world. An alpaca is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in appearance

Madeira, Portugal

two dear friends of mine visited Portugal this summer...the dates were unfortunately inconvenient for me, so I couldnt join them..it is really a pity since it would have been soo cool to visit Portugal! But work is work, and comes first...and maybe some other time Ill have the chance to go.

they also went to Madeira for a few days and were really nice to drop me a postcard! :)
they say it is most flowery island, with lovely beaches.And this card is so nice and colourful that it definitely makes me believe it! Plus, I missed the chance to get a swim in the ocean....for the first time in my life...

the stamp comes from a set of 3 stamps issued in 2011, representing Traditional Festivals

I also had to include this card, since this Botanical Garden Cable Car is represented on one of the small pictures in the previous one :)
The Botanical Garden Cable Car has a total of twelve cabins, each with a capacity of 8 seated places, allowing the visitor a dream trip with a magnificent view over the beautiful Madeiran landscape. This trip allows a panoramic view along a 1600 metres route.
 The round trip is approximately eighteen minutes, being the maximum speed of 4,2 metres per second

Ålesund, Norway

well, my last card for today is another one sigh-provoking...ahhh...

this card was for a LOOONG time in my favourites! I mean, how can it not be...just look how magnificent this place is with all these lovely colours and surrounded by water! Plus it is Norwegian :)
the entire city of Ålesund burnt down in 1904 (except for one house in the middle of the city) and it was rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style. It feels like living in some fairy tale!

btw, I just remembered that today on the news I heard today was one year since the bomb attacks in Oslo and the island of Utoeya. Maybe I should have chosen a different card instead of Ålesund but while choosing the cards I honestly had no idea today was the day....plus, well, I dont feel like commemorating such a bad thing right now...however, may the victims rest in peace, and may this never happen again

the stamp is from the set of 6 issued in 2009 representing the Norwegian tourism...this one in particular shows the Stottafjorden in Meloy, Nordland

and a huge thanks for this card go to dear Catherine from Norway, who sent it to me, and my dear Rajko monster, who actually asked Catherine to send it to me as a RAS. Thank you both soooo much!! If it wasnt for you, I would not have had this card in my collection! <3

And ok, I guess it is time to announce the short holiday this blog will take..at least there will be no updates until August 10, though you can always drop by and read some of the previous stuff :)

Enjoy your summer wherever you are or wherever you may go...and keep fingers crossed i manage to find some postcards to send :)))

Hugs to you all!!!!

Palau

well, it's been over a month...a rather long time, though personally, i didnt really notice when it flew away..I was out of town due to work for like almost a month, with the weekend-scheme being at home, and then on the road again...it got extremely tiring towards the end, but now i have some time to recharge for a bit...i wanted to post during this past month, but the time simply didnt allow it...so now I have like a week to squeeze in a number of updates, send a bunch of postcards before I finally take off on holiday for two weeks...oh yeah, holiday time! It was just today that it actually HIT me I was going somewhere....you know, when you are constantly out of town you dont actually get to notice and feel it since you are not at home anyways...but now it is starting to feel real! Uh...cant wait! Though im having a list of worries regarding all that...And where Im going...hmmm, well, ill keep it a secret for now...in case you already know, dont reveal it please :).
But before I reach my planned (and WELL deserved) destination, ill show you some more beauties that have arrived in my mailbox....

and first we start with a new gem in my collection...an awesome card from the small island of Palau, located in the Pacific Ocean. I was about to give the general facts and figures about the country, but then a few information caught my attention...
the first one was that Palau, in 1981, voted for the world's first nuclear-free constitution which banned the use, storage, and disposal of nuclear, toxic chemical, gas, and biological weapons without first being approved by a 3/4 majority in a referendum.
This ban held up Palau's transition to independence because while negotiating a Compact of Free Association with the United States, the U.S. insisted on the option to operate nuclear propelled vessels and store nuclear weapons within the territory.
After several referendums that failed to achieve a 3/4 majority, the people of Palau finally approved the Compact with the U.S. in 1994The second one was that On June 10, 2009, Palau announced that it would accept up to all 17 of the remaining Uyghurs detained in Guantanamo "as a humanitarian gesture". Five Uyghur captives were released without being prosecuted in 2004, and transferred to Albania in 2006. The remaining seventeen were released due to lack of evidence in 2008. I have no idea how Uyghurs ended up in Albania actually and why...funny..
Palau seems like such a peaceful place to be at...i will certainly not have associated it with nuclear weapons and detainees.....

the thank-yous for this awesome piece of card go to Patrick...and he used a bunch of fantastic stamps too!
the one on the left is a definitive issued in 2009 in a set of 10 fish stamps, showing the 'scissor tail fusilier' the bird stamps next to it are definitives issues in 2002 in a set of 18 birds' stamps which here portrays the Rufous Fantail. The Euoplea butterfly is also a definitive issued in a set of 18 butterfly stamps in 2007, while the birdy on the right comes from a set of 6 endemic birds of Palau' stamps issued in 2006, representing the Morning bird.

Crooked River Gorge, USA

next comes an extra cool card...not only coz it is railway related..the view is just jaw-dropping!

The Crooked River High Bridge is a steel arch bridge that spans the Crooked River gorge in Oregon, which is a 150 m deep gorge located around Warm Springs and Smith Rock State Park
. The bridge is 141 metres long with a main span of 100m. The deck is 90 m above the canyon floor. The bridge was eventually unable to keep up with the growing traffic demands of U.S. Highway 97, and was replaced by the wider Rex T. Barber Veterans Memorial Bridge. The old bridge is open to pedestrians. Too bad, coz it is really cool.
I remember when I was very little and i would go with my grandparents on a train visiting some relatives to Serbia...there was this bridge I ALWAYS dreaded somewhere en route....you could have simply seen the river in between the rails and you could feel how the rails themselves were all shaking under the weight of the train...i always had the feeling of 'now we're gonna crash..now we're gonna crash'...amazingly enough, the bridge did withstood all that burden..i guess nowadays it is a new modern one so (un)fortunately, you can't have an experience of that kind again :)

two stamps are affixed on the card. The top one was issued this year in a set of 5 Birds-of-prey stamps and it portrays the Northern Harrier. The other stamp is a definitive issued in 2011, representing George Washington...well, you all know who he is :)

Nekromanteion, Greece

time ago i came across a lovely person..Despina from Greece...ok, she came across me actually...and I couldnt have resisted her offer...and im glad to know that i was the guilty person to have introduced her to Postcrossing and to have given her back the addiction for a mailbox full with cards! It is such a noble feeling you know...coz at least I know how Postcrossing has changed my life ever since I discovered it...

and one of the results of meeting each other was this lovely card arriving in my mailbox...a great place with a cool and rather scary story...Nekromanteion means 'Oracle of Death' and according to the ancient Greeks this was the entrance of the souls to the underworld.  When Christianity came to the area, a church was built on top of it, and that's what you can actually see on the card.
The temple was dedicated to Hades and Persephone.
I wonder through what sort of gate my soul would go through one day...
And I must say i love to have a card from Greece which shows something different from the usual places ive seen so far.
Btw, just after I uploaded the card, i noticed that big Hellenic Post stamp on front of the card...I dont know what it is doing there...and more over, I wonder how i hadnt noticed it while looking at the card previously....anyways, it does blend with the card nicely, so i dont mind it :)

the stamp was issued in 2008, representing the logo of the Asteras Tripolis F.C. football club.

Efharisto para poli Despina!!

Titanic, Canada

as for my last choice today come these two cool Titanic cards, sent by two dear people respectively.

As many of you probably know, 2012 is a year commemorating the 100 year memorial of the Titanic disaster so many Postal services have issued a commemorative stamp (even Macedonia..though I cant say the stamp is anything special, plus as usual, the face value is totally useless....it is enough not for one, but 3 postcards actually..so unfortunately, cant be something to be used on daily mails).
Anyways, Canada also issued the Titanic stamps, plus it issued a reprint of old Titanic postal cards, each one with a matching preprinted stamp. The card above shows the bow of Titanic and I received this card from Glenn as a part of his National Postcard Week Quest! Im honoured and touched to be one of the chosen for this, since you can use like just seven cards. So to be one of those, means a real lot!
I hope that next year Ill be able to take part in this too...though im not sure how ill manage it with Sunday, since post offices here do not work and our mailboxes are not operational..but we'll see...there is till plenty of time to come up with a plan.

as i said, these are matching stamps to go with the card...

the second card shows Titanic's prow and propellers...im not sure if i got the terms 'bow' and 'prow' correctly here, so sorry for any potential misuse.
This second card came from Bryon who as you could have figured out by now, loves making surprises and putting smiles on people's faces :)

I dont know if there is any point in asking if you had watched Titanic...i could say I guess you have...well, I watched it when it came out to the cinema, so long time ago...for that age i was, it was not bad...but even then, Leonardo was not someone i fancied..neither Kate...plus lasting over 3 hours...give me something else please!
I wonder if they're gonna maybe make a movie soon about Costa Concordia......

thanks so much Glenn and Bryon for always cheering me up! I hope I manage to do the same...at least from time to time!

I would like to say that I would try to squeeze in updates every day for the rest of the week....but lets not get overambitious...every second day would be perfectly fine :)

stay well!

Son Kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan

Yes, someone is still alive here...or better said, struggling to survive this heat....i know I always complain about the summers in Skopje (though practically summer hasn't even come yet), but the worst thing is that this weather strikes all of a sudden and from 10 degrees, it just decides to go to 30 overnight...and then people feel lost in the universe...well of course they do..and i dont seem to be an exception...

apart from that...well, I dont know, life has been going at some fast pace and i just seemed to have really little time for one of my favourite hobbies lately...so my mailbox is in some starvation phase, my postman feeds it like once a week with some breadcrumbs...and then my dear darling blog has not been given enough attention from my side...and that pretty much gets me down coz I have some really great stuff to give to my blog, but I've been this selfish little thing, depriving it of what it deserves..and what has either way initially been intended for it...
Erm, Im talking too much no? But this cute horse seems to be patiently waiting for me to stop the claptrap and get down to something meaningful...like for example telling you that this sweet horse came all the way from Kyrgyzstan...and he came tagged (in the philatelic terms, read: written and stamped) Yay!! Finally a written and stamped card from Kyrgyzstan! Im soo extra happy!  Thanks a bunch to Sonya and Travis who have offered to send cards from their Silk Road journey. I tried to be modest, and pick just a few out of all the countries they are travelling to *blush*
It is so cool to visit a card like Kyrgyzstan....with such undiscovered beauties (like Macedonia, btw...;)

the card shows some yurtas near the Son-Kul Lake. Yurtas are portable, bent wood-framed dwelling structures traditionally used by Turkic nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. And what's funny is that they are designed in a way so that they can be dismantled and the parts carried compactly on camels or yaks to be rebuilt on another site. So cool! These are most likely the yurats that are rented to tourists, since there are no other facilities in the area, but for sure you will not remain without accommodation.
And this beautiful Son-Kul lake is the second largest lake in the country (18x29km wide, 13 meters deep).
The area is inhabited and safely accessible only from June to September....so you still have time to pack your bags and enjoy the morning sunshine lurking through the yurt.

and i just love the cancellation...so clear! and the stamp is so beautiful too!! (and pretty much blending the whole postcard mood). It was issued in 2008 in a set of 4 stamps representing the Yaks of Kyrgyzstan.

Kilauea, USA

Long time ago (actually at the beginning of my posctcrossing career) I posted some Hawaiian volcanoes, here and here. Compared to those, these are in an active mode and are so bright and colourful :)

the card above is called "Birth Day" and the back of the card says: Almost every day the newest land on Earth is born here on Hawai'i Island. Since 1983, when most recent eruption began on the southeast flank of Kilauuea, nearly a cubic mile of lava has gushed forth, adding some 500 acres of new land - so far: Often, our excitable volcano goddess Pele likes to celebrate with fireworks when she gives birth.

Interesting story and an amazing eruption!
Thanks a lot to Mary for sending me this awesome card as a part of her Vacations RR group. She also used a number of lovely stamps as you can see below:

the two on the right side are part of the four stamps issued in 2011 representing the US Merchant Marine (i really like those); the top left stamp was issued in 1974 as a part of 4, mineral heritage stamps, while the Magna carta stamp below dates back from 1965. I dont know if Mary had these stamps purchased in advance or found them on spot (though my guess bets on the first), but she certainly had put effort in them!

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the second volcano came as an official card, and it again represents the Kilauea volcano at twilight and you can see (or not) how lava is flowing into the ocean. 

the stamps you can see hee are the American clock from 2003, the Cars from the Send a Hello series, issued in 2011, and one more ship from the US Merchant Marine series....the owl is a sticker ;-)

Victoria, Malta

this great citadel card came as a lovely surprise from dear Agi, from one of her 'conquering the world' trips. This time, the target was beautiful Malta.

on the card you have a close-up view of the Citadel situated in the heart of Victoria, the capital of Gozo, an island of the Maltese archipelago.
It is known to be first fortified during the Bronze Age approximately around 1500 BC. and was later developed by the Phoenicians and continued into becoming a complex Acropolis by Roman times.
It is a really beautiful peace of architecture.
The massive defensive stone walls of the fortifications rise above the town and were built by the Knights to protect the village communities from foraging corsairs attempting to take slaves and threatened invasion of Moslem forces fighting Christendom

and here is how you can recognize a tourist has found a philately..or at least was on the hunt for good stamps. I really love this pair...these buses are just soo cool! I could remember seeing them on the streets of Skopje too. When I was in kindergarden, there was this van/bus which resembles the ones on the stamps (that one was yellow though) and it was in charge of transporting the lunch each day.
You can still see one of these every now and then, but it is very rare, and they are in poor condition...esp compared to all those modern-class vehicles along the streets next to them
But it is nice when some memories are revived :)

hvala ti drugarice Agi!! <3

Bear's Den Stone, Finland

I got this adorable card from the favourites tag! Just look at this pair of cute children.

if im not mistaken, these traditional clothing should be typical for Inari, the largest, sparsely populated municipality with four official language and the centre of the Sami culture.
And Bear's Den Stone is the English equivalent to Karhunpesäkivi, a place in this area.
I would still need some help from some of my Finnish readers....Anu? Please? :)

well, whether im right or wrong, I wish you days ahead full of love and hugs and kisses :)

the stamp is from a set of two self-adhesive Dahlias issued in 2011.
I know the Finnish issue some of the most unusual stamps...but the last one ive seen definitely beats them all so far...maybe ill get it on some postcard too :)

In the meantime, you can check it out here:

as a whole, it is crazy, no?? and just fantastic. It represents the Sami culture. Übercool!