9 Million Bicycles...or just Hippy Happy =)

Ok, since I started with bragging, let's do a bit more of it :D I guess someone's gonna hate me by the end of today :)

Anyways, as some of you may know again, I LOVE my bicycle, due to which I actually started collecting bicycle postcards. However, for a while now I've been thinking of getting a new bike cos mine feels like it is saving its last breaths sometimes to get from A to B...plus it is a mountain bike, more suitable for men...I wanted more of a girl kind of bike so I can ride it even with a skirt on...I had this idea of getting a red or a black one...until one day I saw one that captured my heart...and few months later, became MINE!! Yup, I got myself a new bike last Thursday and I so much love love love it! (Those who are on Facebook have probably seen it already :))Well, that is one of the reasons why I won't be travelling for the holidays now (so sorry, no surprise postcards from me =/) There will be other opportunities to travel and torture your mailboxes...but for now I want you to meet Hippy Happy! (yep, that's how I named it, cos it seriously, the name is just soo suitable!)

isn't it just lovely? =))))

I can hardly wait for the weather to get better so I can ride it more often...Im rather limited with all this rain and fog and stuff....ahh happiness!!

and well, as a part of the post, for pure pleasure for the bike lovers, here are a bunch of bike cards I received during this year...I think that mine is still the loveliest :P

Yup, exactly! Me + bike = happy =)

Just a few thank-yous to some of the bike-cards contributors that you've seen above...hugs to Agi, Nataša, Svea, Jolly, Natalia, Helena, Jane, Katja, Galina, Stefanie, Andrea, Ksenia, Sasha, Viktoria, Marieke, Jenny, Carmen, Karolina, Irina...

Hopefully from January on Ill go back with my new bike to the Critical mass organized here in Skopje...that's a feeling one of a kind...hundreds of bikers together on the streets of Skopje =)

Pic and video from two different I attended few months ago =) (I feel like im becoming really self-centred =)) (In case someone's interested I appear from 1:39 - 1:41 in the video)

Bonaire

well let's go back to some normal cards, a.k.a where you won't be seeing ME anymore :P
though this one may cause some envy cos you don't get to see Bonaire cards so often, sent from there :)

I got this one thanks to Glenn as a part of his cruise this year...or as he calls it, the B of the ABC Islands. Ha, that's a cool way to name them and not until now I have actually thought of them as the ABC Islands.
Well, I guess I'll have to cover the A and the C soon...yep, Glenn went there as well and was kind and generous to drop me some surprises :)
Actually if Im not mistaken, this is my first Bonaire card on the blog since it got its dissolution from the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. Now it is a special municipality within the Netherlands.

I wonder if those houses in the background serve some purpose..cos I can see no windows at all...just some kind of hole in the front that doesn't even look like a door...

the stamp is from a set of 4 sailboats' stamps issued in 2012 (this one is called the Optimist)

thanks a lot again Glenn!!

Indiana Statehouse, USA

Love the bird view of this card I received as an official!

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Located in Indianapolis, the Indiana Statehouse is the state capitol building of the state of Indiana. Built in 1888, it houses the Indiana General Assembly, the Governor of Indiana, and the Supreme Court of Indiana along with other state officials.

well, at least now I sometimes may think of something else when it comes to Indianapolis, besides the car races =)

familiar stamp =)

Georgian Dublin, Ireland

and one more card for today, from the beautiful Ireland.

I had this one in my favourites, and dear Claudia sent it to me recently.
Georgian Dublin is a phrase used in the History of Dublin that has two interwoven meanings,
 -to describe a historic period in the development of the city of Dublin, Ireland, from 1714 (the beginning of the reign of King George I of Great Britain and of Ireland) to the death in 1830 of King George IV. During this period, the reign of the four Georges, hence the word Georgian, covers a particular and unified style, derived from Palladian Architecture, which was used in erecting public and private buildings;
- to describe the modern day surviving buildings in Dublin erected in that period and which share that architectural style.

And I guess it is safe to conclude that the card refers to the latter meaning. So lovely!

that is one weird stamp...at first looks as those stickers they put at the P.O instead of a stamp due to the print...but I think it is one of those machine labels actually..not quite sure on this one honestly...

well, have a great Sunday everyone...hope you enjoyed your Christmas holidays and are getting ready for New Year's Eve. If I do not manage to squeeze another update before we bid farewell to 2013, I would like to wish you all a Happy Happy New Year, and I hope 2014 brings you peace of mind...and many postcards of course :)

And hope to see you more often next year =) Thank you for staying devoted!! <3

Triumphal Arch, Macedonia

Gloomy Sunday greetings from Macedonia...ok, let me correct that...greetings from Macedonia's capital all covered in smog! Same problem every winter...though I have a feeling that each winter it gets worse and more polluted and just...terrible!

Here is a picture of Skopje this morning, courtesy of my friend Goran Andonov...where here, in front of you, you should be seeing the Triumphal Arch...a really huge and grand object that can't be missed even from afar...but with such thick smog, you really need to be right in front of it to be aware of its existence...can you believe it that this image is taken during the day? when there should be sunshine and all????
They are comparing us to Mexico City, when it used to be known as the most polluted city on Earth...though from what I've seen there are places in China that are real competition.
Anyways, no signs of any winds or rain or snow in the near future...so we'll just continue breathing in whatever crap this air contains....

and well, this is what you actually should be seeing on the picture above...I know that for a moment you may get the feeling you are in Paris, but no, this is our own Triumphal Arch...part of that notorious Skopje 2014 project...does look cool on the postcard I must admit..but as I've said times before, I am really against the entire money-waste regarding this project.

And it is actually cool to be posting a written and stamped Macedonian card, or more particularly, from my own town!  I do not get such very often :) and this card was actually sent as a surprise by the same Goran Andonov whose picture I used above! Nice coincidence and actually I like it how the jigsaws fall into their place sometimes and give me such a complete post =D
To see more of his great work, you can visit and follow his facebook page here => Goran Andonov's Photography

the stamp Goran used is a bit overpriced for sending a card within the country, but I guess some postal workers here either do not care enough or want to rip you off or whatever...quite unfair..but then again, I don't think I'll ever receive this stamp on a letter or a card, unless I move to live abroad and people send mail to me :) The stamp was issued in 2004, as part of those "Macedonia in the EU" series...even though Macedonia is not a part of it, but we never seem to give up...I won't go into my opinions of why I do not want to be a part of EU, despite it does have some advantages...

And well, below you will find a few more Triumphal Arch cards from my collection (bought to myself)...all surrounded with clear blue skies...*sigh*..

And it is funny how most of them  try to capture Alexander's monument right through the gate...

In case you feel like having some more info on the Arch though...
It is dedicated to commemorate the 20 years of Macedonian independence and its outer surface is covered in 193 m2 of reliefs carved in marble, depicting scenes from the Macedonian history. It also contains interior rooms, one of which has a function of state-owned souvenir shop, as well as elevators and stairs providing public access to the roof, allegedly intended as space for weddings. I still haven't been on top of it but I'm sure it offers a nice view..when there is no pollution :)

Did you know that it is said that the money spent on this Arch are estimated to €4,4 million? And that the whole Skopje 2014 project is estimated to €500 million? Isn't that just way too much? Especially for a country like Macedonia, with such terrible standards, high unemployment rate and where many employees work for the minimum wage? And what frustrates me to the utmost is how the Government never reveals the actual data but keeps convincing people how all these monuments and stuff are necessary, the money are reasonably spent. the rate of unemployment has decreased...yeah, sure...

At least some nice postcards have resulted from all this =)

Blue Morpho, Costa Rica

Posting that Cuba card last time made me realize that i haven't posted a Costa Rican card either since 2008...and here comes a truly beautiful one that arrived from Glenn this year

It is not cos blue is my favourite colour...this butterfly is just really really reaaaally beautfiul!!!!!!
this is considered to be the most common butterfly in Central America and Costa Rica, it can be found throughout the country in all kinds of forest and in most regions. It is most often spotted along habitat edges—of forests, fields, rivers, or oceans.
Different species of morpho show a variety of color schemes, although most have the characteristic metallic coloration. Within the Morpho genus, adult colors range from a shocking pearly white to a lighter blue to a heavier violet shade of blue. Some species have the black border around the wings that this particular species has, but others have a paler edge color or none at all. Females are generally less colorful than the males.

so what do you think, is it a male or a female on the card? :)

Glenn used three cool stamps on the card, all issued in 2007. Both the left and the right stamp come from the set representing Musical Instruments from Guanacaste. The left stamps shows the Marimba, while the right one shows the Quijongo. The stamp in the middle is from a set of 5 Pre-Columbian Art stamps.

Thanks a bunch Glenn!!

The Death Railway, Thailand

A really cool card I received at the beginning of the year..The Death Railway...how can it not be cool :D

here is what google says about it:
"In 1943 thousands of Allied Prisoners of War (PoW) and Asian labourers worked on the Death Railway under the imperial Japanese army in order to construct part of the 415 km long Burma-Thailand railway. Most of these men were Australians, Dutch and British and they had been working steadily southwards from Thanbyuzayat (Burma) to link with other PoW on the Thai side of the railway. This railway was intended to move men and supplies to the Burmese front where the Japanese were fighting the British. Japanese army engineers selected the route which traversed deep valleys and hills. All the heavy work was done manually either by hand or by elephant as earth moving equipment was not available. The railway line originally ran within 50 meters of the Three Pagodas Pass which marks nowadays the border to Burma. However after the war the entire railway was removed and sold as it was deemed unsafe and politically undesirable. The prisoners lived in squalor with a near starvation diet. They were subjected to captor brutality and thus thousands perished. The men worked from dawn until after dark and often had to trudge many kilometres through the jungle to return to base camp where Allied doctors tended the injured and diseased by many died. After the war the dead were collectively reburied in the War Cemeteries and will remain forever witness to a brutal and tragic ordeal.

Funny fact: The Bridge On the River Kwai (where the movie was shot) is actually part of the Death Railway!
Haven't watched it though...

nice stamps! left one issued in 2012 in a set of 8 stamps commemorating the Centennial of the RTAF Founding Fathers' Aviation (Im sure Glenn would like this stamp :)). The other one was issued in 2009, marking His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 82nd Birthday

Stonewall Confederate Cemetery, USA

Last card for today comes from the USA...and it is cemetery...again...yay! =)

From the back of the card (one thing I love about US cards is that they often have some description/story about the card on the back): Winchester was a strategic military prize during the Civil War. With excellent roads to the north and the east, it was a serious threat to the supply lines of the Union armies when the Confederates took control. An estimated 3,000 Confederate troops are laid to rest here at Stonewall Confederate Cemetery.
Robin, who sent me this card for the North American RR, says that she also enjoys visiting cemeteries. It is nice to know I am not the only one who finds such places beautiful :)

Familiar stamp I guess :)

Wishing you all a great Sunday..and I guess most of you are having the last Christmas preparations as well. I doubt I'd be able to post in the next two days, so would like to use this opportunity to wish a Merry Christmas to all my readers who are celebrating it now in December :)

Havana Great Theatre, Cuba

Cold cold coooold!! Have I mentioned it is just soo cold!! Days are actually nice...sunny (if the sun can fight the smog and pollution actually)...but once the sun goes down, it is just freezing!! Brrrrr...-5° C...brrrrr!!

well, after I spent most of the day cleaning around, lets post some cards here...cos it's about time, no? =)

Recently Agi took a trip to Cuba (*im not jealous! im not jealous! im not jealous!*...ok, a bit :P) and that somehow reminded me that it's been a long long time since I've posted a Cuba card here...more precisely, 2008..so here comes a Cuba card that that Glenn sent me last year from one of his awesome trips!

the card shows the Havana Great Theatre, and as the back of the card says: The construction began in 1907 for the Galician Centre of Havana, including the ancient Tacon Theatre and the annexed lands that completed the block. It was inaugurated in 1914 and the National Theatre the following year. Its style took as model European Baroque constructions. The sculptural groups of the facade were made by the Italian sculptor Giuseppe Moretti. It is the current site of the Havana Great Theatre and the National Ballet of Cuba.

mentioning the baroque style makes my teeth cringe, cos that's what they've been enforcing here, trying to give the city centre a new look in the....yup, baroque style.  Kitschy? Ridiculous? Outrageous? Well, you name it...but certainly ain't something to be proud of...

btw, unfortunately you can't actually see it, but this is not just an ordinary postcard, the facade of the building is raised as well as the "Cuba" letters beneath, so you can feel its structure...as those relief maps, you know? really cool!

Glenn used a really nice ship stamp issued in a set of 5 Cuban sailingstamps in 1996 for CAPEX 96.

Thank you Glenn! =)

Lommel, Belgium

Next comes an awesome cemetery card from Belgium!

I love the dim, mystic atmosphere...pretty ghosty :P
The card shows the German war cemetery in Lommel. It is the largest German military cemetery in Western Europe outside Germany itself. Established after World War II, the 16 ha cemetery holds 38,560 burials from World War II and there are also 542 casualties from World War I .
The remains of the fallen German soldiers which were provisionally buried at Henri-Chapelle, Fosse, Overrepen and Neuville-en-Condroz were transferred here in Lommel in 1946 and 1947 by the American Battle Monuments Commission

there is even a YouTube video about the place...nothing spectacular, but you can take a look if interested

beautiful stamp that was issued in 2010 in a set of 5 stamps portraying Regions of Belgium. On this stamp here you can see an orchard in St. Trond

Salt Lake Temple, USA

beautiful official card! I LOVE the colour of the sky, and the white-blue contrast...and I love the reflection of the Temple in the water in front of it!

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The special thing about this official card is that it is from dear Katie, whom I've known for a long while and who used to be my penfriend as well (when I had the time for it..unfortunately as time went by I realized Im just not up for it..but that's a whole different story =)

Katie chose this lovely card for me, showing the Salt Lake Temple, at the centre of Temple Square, which took over 40 years to complete and was finally finished in 1893. The neo-gothic structure is open to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, and the detailed architecture, grounds and extensive surrounding attractions are free for public viewing. (from the back of the card)

and as a good friend who knows how much I love stamps, Katie did her best to put a bunch of them!
At the top right is a Forever stamp issued this year, showing Lydia Mendoza, one of the first and greatest stars of Tejano music. Next to it is another Forever stamp, this one issued in 2011, in a set of 16 Go Green stamps, where this one here promotes composting. And then, vertically you have three more stamps. The well-known American clock one, underneath is the Silver Coffeepot issued in 2007, and at the bottom is the American Toleware, also from the same set of definitives issued in 2007

Leżajsk, Poland

Last card for today brings us this snowy view from Poland, showing the Bernardine Fathers Basilica in Leżajsk.

The current Bernardine church was erected in the years 1618–1628. It was founded by Łukasz Bnin Opaliński, the Great Marshall of the Crown and his wife, Anna from the Pilecki family. The church was built in the place, where, according to the legend, in 1590 Tomasz Michałek saw the Virgin Mary with St. Joseph. In 1594, a wooden church was built in the place of revelation, and 16 years later, the first stone church was erected by the Bernardines, who came here from Przeworsk in 1608.

the stamp is a definitive issued in 1996.

enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone! and see you around =)

Martinique

Rainy rainy Sunday evening...and really cold...not the most appealing weather for going out...not that Ive been in the mood for something else but staying at home doing nothing...this update was supposed to finally happen yesterday, but how I possibly managed to waste two days in vain, beats me!
Well, I must admit that actually this kind of gloomy weather does suit me..my mood in general sucks...I guess im on a roll of crappy things happening...so in general. when I'm not sleeping or giving/having classes, you'll find me either 1. catching up with postcards; 2. Playing Candy Crush Saga (yeah, seriously, that's what people feeling depressed do); 3. Arranging stamps; 4. Watching "Big Bang Theory".
And well, lets add 'posting postcards' to all that..hopefully on a more regular basis...for now I just wanted to change that sad post you end up seeing when you come for a visit...so it may not be some chatty long update, but still it counts as one..and to my surprise (again), I realized that this is my very first Martinique postcard here...when I was thinking why is it so, the answer I came up with is that probably I was waiting for a Martinique card with Martinique stamps...yeah, I can hear some of you bursting in laughter on behalf of my ignorance...I don't mind...I deserved it  =) So, here then comes the beautiful Martinique card with...of course, French stamps =)

kind of a dreamy card...during the winter months...and as for the basics, Martinique is one of the twenty-seven regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the French Republic. As part of France, Martinique is also part of the European Union, and its currency is the Euro. Its official language is French, although many of its inhabitants also speak Antillean Creole.

27 regions of France...no wonder I so often see French stamps on my postcards =P

This country owes its name to Christopher Columbus, who sighted the island in 1493 and finally landed on 15 June 1502. The island was then called "Jouanacaëra-Matinino", which came from a mythical island described by the Tainos of Hispaniola. According to the historian Sydney Daney, the island was called "Jouanacaëra" by the Caribs, which would mean "the island of iguanas". After Columbus' initial discovery, the name then evolved into Madinina ("Island of Flowers"), Madiana, and Matinite. When Columbus returned to the island in 1502, he rechristened the island as Martinica. Finally, through the influence of the neighboring island of Dominica (La Dominique), it came to be known as Martinique.

a small revelation: my first thought about Madinina 97.2 on the front of the card, was that it is a radio station in Martinique (yeah yeah, blushing blushing blushing :))))))))

well, Im not complaining about the frequency of French stamps...France has really nice stamps actually, and even nicer mini/souvenir sheets!
Both stamps were issued in 2012 and belong to two respective sets of 12 stamps..with the first one coming from the set of 'green vegetables' while the av...pardon, papaya one, is from the fruits' set...yeah, looks like an avocado to me, sorry :)