Salvador, Brazil

The beginning of this week is just sooo different than how last week ended...until yesterday the weather was just nice and sunny and warm....well, we had some sun today, but it was cold and windy...and they say it may snow again during this week...its so changeable that i really cant keep track of it anymore...and i have to say, i really miss the spring...i used to love the cold weather, but the cold weather here has become somewhat annoying...if i just have to put them on scale, the winter and the summer in Macedonia, i really dont know which one will prevail....both are A-W-F-U-L!

And this card just brings that nice summer atmosphere, to warm up my bones :)
What i especially love about this card, are the colours...they feel so illuminated and make such a beautiful atmosphere! And it definitely feels warm...plus if you take a good look you will actually notice a lighthouse in the background...its exactly between two of the palm trees....
on the back of the card it says: Coqueiral do Cristo com o Farol da Barra ao fundo.....whatever that means...
In general, i can figure out the Portuguese on the back of the cards....on this one im all 'duh?'
Still...I love this postcard! :)

Holy Meteora, Greece

I was convinced that i had bought this card myself, but just as I started making this post i figured that my mum and dad had brought it to me when they went to Greece ones...well, i was at the Meteora so hence the confusion...

I visited Meteora only once...the time i went in Athens for New Years...I just cant recall if it was 1998 or 1999...i have it written somewhere...maybe even at an earlier post here...but right now my memory is not really on my side :)
I must say that this is one of the places in Greece which are a *must*! We visited the place in January, and i recall the weather was somewhat gloomy, and it had rained before that as well...but in general it wasnt really cold....i would manage with a denim jacket during the day...which for January isnt something you can afford in Macedonia for example :)
Anyway, i recall that the road up to the monasteries apart from being very steep, is also narrow, and waaaay tooo curvy...so it was rather scary while the bus was going up, coz all the time i had this feeling it was gonna lean on one side and fall into the abyss...and i could see the abyss from the window....it was right under me...i could see no road, no asphalt....just a deep deep abyys....on a road like that, it definitely didnt feel pleasant....but as you can see, im typing this, which means, ive lived :)
I cant recall exactly which monastery or monasteries we visited...but i know they had this rule, that you HAD to wear a skirt in order to come in...thats somewhat funny coz it goes opposite to all those 'skirts' forbidden rules which im used to in churches...thing here was, i was wearing jeans, and being not a skirt-fan, i had none in my bag of course...but the people there at the monasteries had a bunch for cases like this...so i had to put a long bluish canvass skirt over my jeans...i looked ridiculous....i have a picture of it, but i dont think i will post THAT here...i have this absolutely silly expression on my face so i rather keep it private :)
As i was walking along one of the monasteries, being all curious as i can sometimes get, i was trying to lurk into the rooms which were along, and i peeked into this one, from where i actually have the photograph below...i dont know what the room actually contained, and im pretty sure it wasnt allowed to take pictures...all the rooms were locked, so what i did was, i put the lens of the camera at the something which looked like a window and pressed the button...and took the picture...i think that the room contained skulls of some monks who had lived there....hmmm well...thats a big number of monks...why would someone keep the skulls i really dont know...feels creepy...though it feels creepy that someone like me took a picture of it...but i just couldnt have resisted....i knew that if i dont do it, i would regret it eventually...so here it is...

i just hope you WILL come by this blog again...i just had to share this with you when i was already posting a Meteora postcard...im not THAT insane...just a bit...in order to manage to get by in this crazy little world :)
Im pretty sure other people have taken pictures of this too...no? :)

Canada

Here is one of my favourite type of cards....a map!

This one shows the Canadian province of Ontario, which is largest by population and second largest by total area. The capital is Toronto Canada's most populous city and metropolitan area, while Canada's capital, Ottawa, is also located here.
The province takes its name from Lake Ontario, which is thought to be derived from ontarí:io, a  Huron word meaning 'great lake' or possibly skanadario which means "beautiful water" in Iroquoian.

hmm, ok...it was a short update today...but sometimes i rather make it short, than not make it at all, and get all lagged behind with my cards....

Viet Nam

Vietnam or Viet Nam or Việt Nam....call it whatever you like, but this card increases my collection of countries to 94 :)

When I actually got it, i thought it was a photograph, due to the kind of paper that was used, but it actually has a place for a stamp and address printed  along with an explanation of what this card represents in 3 different languages....i just wonder if all Vietnamese cards are like this or no...

the card here is called "On the ripe rice-field"......mmmmm, rice...i dont know about you, but i absolutely love rice...its just so delicious (if prepared in a nice way of course).
Well, i know this aint a really bright side, but the name of Vietnam often brings the idea of the War in Vietnam...even though i actually know little about it, ive often heard about it on daily basis...esp in the American movies and series....
The war was fought between the communist North Vietnam supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam supported by the United States and other member nations of the SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation).
The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of a wider strategy called   containment. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s and combat units were deployed beginning in 1965.
Under a policy called  Vietnamization U.S. forces withdrew as South Vietnamese troops were trained and armed. Despite a peace treaty signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued.
In April 1975, North Vietnam captured Siagon. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.

I dont know how from talking of rice, this post evolved into a war one....

New York, USA

This card is actually dark purple...but my scanner insisted on a lighter version....

You know, ive just realized how many things there are out there related to New York...and you know how indecisive i tend to get...and its been somewhat hard to actually decide what to write about New York this time...so i decided to cut my troubles short, to spare you from reading facts and figures and just enjoy.....if you are into this kind of music, anyway :)

Sting - Englishman In New York
Uploaded by Sting

oh, what?? you expected that "New York, New York" song instead?  hey, im not THAT predictable :)
And i really love this one much more....plus it gives me the analogy of the British English vs American English, something i often have trouble with at work, esp. with children who are used to watching American movies, and get the American accent and some American vocabulary...not that i mind, but its just hard to have to switch them to the British one

and btw, im getting really bothered with YouTube coz for some reason it had started removing many many videos....so you can barely find official videos...only live performances or cover songs or some guy who sits on the bed in his room with the guitar in his hands pretending to be a Jim Morrison resurrection...

Tim Tam

Chocolate Biscuits....mmmm...these should taste good....ive never tried them, but they seem promising...and i love the quote :)

And again here we have something related to food...i guess this just all reflects my recent 'im always hungry' mood. I really dont know why i fall into such a trap sometimes....not that im REALLY hungry....i just think of food 24/7 and it always feels delicious and i just have a crave to eat this or that and it gets me really anxious....and even though i PROMISED myself i wont be eating at night or after 8pm, i end up doing it....and no wonder i feel like the wolf from the Wolf and the Seven Goats....my stomach feels as if its full of stones and i just feel like a real slow-motion...i definitely need to get my bike fixed so even if i get stuck in such a period, at least i can ease it all....hopefully it wont be raining or snowing.....I wonder whats for lunch today...

The Netherlands

Now that i had this card ready to post, i realized i hadnt actually thanked Ksenia for sending it to me...duh :(
I always end up with a few people to whom i dont inform upon receiving something from them, or thinking that i had messaged them but eventually turns out i hadnt....well, i know after New Year, the first three weeks i was uber busy....then my pc crashed...then i got ill...and eventually some cards slipped through....im really sorry Ksenia for this...i know you had probably thought it had got lost or something...but its actually here, and i LOVE it...Thank you so so so so much for thinking of me and for sending me lighthouses when you know how much i love them...and im sorry again for the inconvenience...just please, dont pay me back :)
I promised myself to get better on that issue :)

Well, one thing i definitely learned is that "Vuurtoren" means 'lighthouse' in Dutch...here, are represented the Breskens Lighthouse, the Westkapelle Lighthouse(s), the Burgh Haamstede Lighthouse, and the Ouddorp Lighthouse...and on the left side of the card you are given the map of where they are actually located...
I only found information about the Breskens one...

Navigation
Latitude:   51° 24" 44'
Longitude:   3° 31" 16'
Format:     DD DMS
Body of water: North Sea
Height Above Water:  85 feet
Light Characteristics: Occulting (7-second light, 3-second eclipse) sector light, visible for 14 (white), 11 (red) and 10 (green) nautical miles
Address: Westerschelde, Zeeland Province, Breskens,Netherlands

of course, shall i repeat myself...if anyone can provide more information, you are welcome to do so :)

hope you are having a nice weekend...its nice and sunny here...

Copan Ruins, Honduras

Well, if during the week i havent been able to make an update, at least ill close it with one  :)  And starting with nothing more, nothing less but a new country...and if im counting right, its will be no. 93....not bad, not bad at all...i just hope to reach 100 by the end of the year :)
Btw....my GTKY Christmas Flamingos are finally all here, so if you want to, here you can take a look - click me!

Well, not only Honduras takes the 93rd place on my list of countries, but it as well crosses out another UNESCO site from my collection! As i love to say sometimes....two flies killed in one move ;-)

The pre-Columbian city today known as Copán  is a locale in western Honduras in the Copán Department, near to the Guatemalan border. It is the site of a major Maya kingdom of the Classic era.
The kingdom flourished from the 5th century AD to the early 9th century, with antecedents going back to at least the 2nd century AD.
The site in Copan is known for producing a remarkable series of portrait stelae most of which were placed along processional ways in the central plaza of the city and the adjoining acropolis. The stelae and sculptured decorations of the buildings of Copán are some of the very finest surviving art of ancient Mesoamerica.
Many structures are elaborately decorated with stone sculptures, usually constructed from a mosaic of carved stones of a size that one person could carry.

I think that writing about these cultures would never be enough coz they are so magnificent and rich in history....im really really amazed with these civilizations!

Great Britain

Here comes a great map card coming from.....Great Britain!

And there you can actually spot William Shakespeare...one of my favourite writers ever....well...ok, i didnt always have this opinion about him, and i still say that his language and style of writing can be rather annoying and incomprehensive, but his works are masterpieces, thats for sure...his sonnets are amazing, his Macbeth, Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Hamlet, Othello, The Tempest are something everyone should read eventually (Im not crazy about Romeo and Juliet though).
As for his sonnets, i really dont know which one to choose to recommend...they all have their own depth and beauty...they all just feel timeless...

i tried to choose two....it was a hard decision, but if you hadnt read his sonnets yet, these are just to give you an idea about them :)

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.


Sonnet 73

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed, whereon it must expire,
Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.

  

Goa, India

Goa is India's smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest state in terms of population.

Panaji is the state's capital while Vasco de Gama is the largest city. Wow, this is the first time i hear that there is a city in India called like this!
The historic city of Margao till exhibits the influence of Portuguese culture. Portuguese first landed in Goa as merchants, in the early 16th century, and conquered it soon after. The Portuguese overseas territory existed for about 450 years, until it was annexed by India in 1961
Renowned for its beaches, places of worship and world heritage culture, Goa is visited by hundreds of thousands of international and domestic tourists each year.

Stetind, Norway

After a long long Norwegian drought, finally, some rain!! Of 4 cards in total!!! Yaaaayy, 4 Norwegian cards!! What a treasure!!! :))  And this one is even from my wishlist..........mmmmmmmmmmmm

Norway Norway Norway! I want to go to Norway!!!!

Stetind is a mountain in Tysfjord, in Norway. In 2002, it was voted to be the National mountain of Norway.
Well, i have to say, it has some  odd shape for a mountain...the peak is somewhat too sharp, and it feels artificial, but if we leave that out, i have to say that the scenery is just sooo serene and beautiful! Actually, Norwegian sceneries are either breathtaking or serene....

well, i bettet go and get some sleep....i feel really tired, which maybe you could have noticed by my posts :)
Yeah, its been a tiring week....but hooray for the Fridays....and keep your fingers crossed...im having my exam in German today....i have revised almost nothing :(  Im awful sometimes, i know...thats why i need your fingers crossed :)

Moscow, Russia

When i did the update about the republics from ex- Yugoslavia, i told you that i had another one on my mind, and here it comes to day...its about the former USSR republics.

Now, i dont have cards from exactly all of them (and if i had, actually that would have been a several-pages-update which would have somehow lost its sense plus it would  have been way too time consuming) and unlike the former Yugoslavia, here i cant really put my personal experiences or views and all, coz ive never lived in any of these republics, so i think i ll basically stick to the postcards-facts...and maybe something else at random...but either way, i hope youll like it :)

I think ive always been amazed by the vastness of Russia...and i sometimes find it hard to comprehend that it actually stretches out over two continents and that it borders both Finland and China...it feels really amazing.
I would like to travel by the Trans-Siberian railway one day...
And this card may be not of a railway, but i surely love it! I have a soft spot for the postcards of the Moscow metro stations...i dont know why, but there is something absolutely lovely in them. Ive already posted 3 cards like this, so this is my 4th Moscow metro station...and hopefully one is on its way too ;)

Taganskaya is a station on the Koltsevaya line of the Moscow Metro. Opened on 1 January 1950 it was part of the first segment of the fourth stage of the system. The station is named after the Taganka square which is a major junction of the Sadovoje Koltso.
The station is a standard pylon-trivault layout that was built with the post-war flamboyance in mind, the overall design is based on the Traditional Russian motives  in decorations.
The central feature of the station are 48 Maiolica panels located on each face of the pylon. These contain apart from floral elements, profile bas-reliefs of various World War II Red Army and Navy servicemen each dedicated to a group such as pilots, tankists, sailors etc.

Now apart from having a great card, the card itself even has stamps related to it, i.e metro stamps...i find this really neat, and beautiful...having a postcard with matching stamp (s)  

thanks a lot to Tatiana P. for sending me this one :)

Lithuania

Here comes Lithuania....a multiview with several of its cities.

So far I only have Vilnius on the Lithuanian postcards. Ive been wanting to get a postcard from Trakai...you know, that lovely, breathtaking aerial view....if anyone has it, please let me know :)
This what the sender has written on the card...a really nice summary i have to say :)

Trakai is a small city about 25km far from Vilnius. There is the best place to taste national Lithuanian food.
Klaipeda is a port. A lot of Lithuania's pop music "stars" live in this city. And pop music in Lithuania is pretty bad.
Nida....it is a piece of paradise.

Anyway, i have a small favour to ask here. I got this and another Lithuanian card from Laima, sent from England. Laima, if you read this, can you please leave a message or contact me, coz i cant find your address and ive been wanting to send you cards ever since i received your envelope...if you read this, or if anyone else who reads this happens to know Laima, please help me :)

Latvia

I got this card as a surprise from dear Janek....apart from showing a beautiful scenery, the card has also a map engraved in it...absolutely perfect!

 I was about to write something and i figured out that i actually dont know anything about Latvia nor i can related to something else but Riga and Eurovision...i dont want to make excuses with "im tired" even though i really am, but i definitely should sit down and read some facts and figures about it.
Ooooooooooohhhh, speaking of Latvia and Eurovisionnnnn.....Brainstorm come from Latvia!!!!
Well, there is something i can relate Latvia to afterall :)

Well, i dont really know many of their songs but there is this one which i totally love!!!!  "MAYBE"!

You say..
My Skin, My blood
My devil, My God
My freedom is what You see

But still I say
Maybe we could divide it in two
Maybe my animals live in Your Zoo
Maybe I'm in love with You..You You You..

mmmmmmmmmmmmm.................

Saaremaa, Estonia

Here is where Janek again comes to stage....this time with this amazing amazing postcard of a lighthouse...more over, its from my wish list...do you know that special feeling when you go to your wishlist album and under the postcard you write 'received'?! Well, its a feeling one of a kind :)

This is the Kiipsaare lighthouse of Harilaid. 

In a reverse to most stories about global warming and erosion damaging our lighthouses, an inactive lighthouse in Estonia, the Kiipsaare Lighthouse on the island of Saaremaa, has actually straightened up due to erosion. The tower, constructed in 1933, began to list to one side (due to erosion) around 1991. A comparison of photos taken in 1981 and 1990 shows that the coastline had eroded at a rate of three meters (about 10 feet) per year. As the water edged closer to the lighthouse, the waves slammed the tower, and sucked the sand from underneath the base. A story in the Batic Times says the return to the straight and narrow was first noticed by a keeper at a nearby nature preservation center on January 25 of this year.

Well, if it has the same destiny as the leaning tower in Pisa, then its not gonna fall down any time soon. It will be a pity if that happens...but if it does, i will be glad to have this memory of it :)

And last, but not least, please take a look at the awesome stamps...again a matching stamp with a lighthouse!! Lovely, just lovely!!

Janek, thank you for everything!

Thernopil, Ukraine

Next on the list comes Ukraine...and of course, the thank you here goes to whom else if not Ksenia :)

Ksenia says that there arent really Thernopil postcards, but that they mainly sell ones from Kyiv and L'viv.
What you can see on the card is the Thernopil Regional Academic Musical Dramatic Theatre named after T. Shevchenko, built in 1957.
Thernopil is quite an old city, founded in 1540, but it was completely destroyed during the World War II.

Well, unfortunately, i couldnt really find much information about it, so if anyone else can pop in and contribute with something, you know that as always you are more than welcome to do so :)
Thank you in advance!

Minsk, Belarus

The last card for today represents Belarus.
Well, i think that its maybe good that right now i dont have postcards from more former USSR countries and that 6 is more than enough for one update...

This card shows a Belarusbank building at the Dzerzhinskogo Avenue in Minsk...hehe, Minsk...remember my previous (well, and only one) Minsk postcard? That Minsk relation always makes me laugh :)

Anyway, i was wondering, did you notice the moon on the postcard? It feels so surreal somehow, but so beautiful! As if it's just come out from the sky....awkward but interesting.

before i close this, ill share a silly fact with you...back in time, when the Soviet Union fell apart, i thought that Russia was the whole Soviet Union and that eventually, it fell apart into pieces and to each piece of land they had to give a new name, so thats how all these new countries were born...well, dont take it for granted, i was like 11 or 12 back then ;-)

Well, thats all for today...hope you liked the cards...and hope you have a nice week ahead...and hope to see you soon... i have a number of things to do and backlogs to finish, but ill try not to make such big gaps in-between posts

'till next time...

Pisco Elqui, Chile

Hello everyone....after some silence....as usual....
Funny how there always has to be something happening which in one way or another will put me off from updating...first, last Saturday my PC died...and when i say, died, i literally mean it...i tried to fix it, but no luck...it was some system-file problem and i felt helpless...I just felt sooo down...first, im not used to being without my PC...i can say that im somewhat addicted to it...second ALL my stuff for work were there....all my other stuff were there...ever since my Burner went kaputt ive been barely transfering files, except to my USB every now and then...so i just felt totally helpless and worried....until the next day sometime in the evening i wanted to give it another try...and guess what?? MY PC got resurrected!!!! I was staring at the screen while Windows was starting itself...and i couldnt have believed it!! My PC was saved!!! Magically, but saved!!
And of course, that was fixed but eventually i got ill the following day, to the extent that i just didnt feel capable to sit, think or do anything without shivering from cold all over (yet i had a very high temperature)
Im still ill...my throat hurts, i have a runny nose, my head hurts and i just feel overall weakness, but thank God its Friday tomorrow and i dont need to go to work...so i can just take my time....and hopefully get a good use out of the weekend...im not going out due to my condition, so i hope to clean some backlog of stuff...and i hope they will broadcast the Nadal-Verdasco match in the morning (even though originally its played in the evening, but this is what time-zones do)...
And lets get down to the update :)

Here is a card from Chile....showing Pisco Elqui...the back of the card says "The Our Lady of the Rosary Church, some local village streets and an old valley distillery.
Noelle, the sender, says that she had been to the Elqui Valley, and that she stayed in this village. She says that its a beautiful and relaxing place.
Well, i cant tell much from the card if it seems relaxing to me, but it wouldnt surprise me.
This was the area where pisco was distilled in the early history of Chile. The original name of the town was La Greda. It was later changed to La Union. In 1936, the Law Decree 5,798 changed its name to Pisco Elqui, to reinforce Chile's claim to have rights over the alcoholic drink pisco.

Anyone ever tried a pisco? Can you share your thoughts about it?
 

South Carolina, USA

Lately I got somewhat into getting officials....for some time i had put it o n stand-by coz first i couldnt manage along with the swaps...and i got some expired cards in a row and that somewhat put me off....but then one day i started receiving cards...and again my ratio was more received than sent...and i just had this itch to see where my cards were gonna go to...i planned to take like 3 addresses only, but guess what did i get...of course, US, DE and FI...i dont mind getting them, but now since those 3 were drawn out, i was really curios to see what will i get next...and I got France...and after a few hours, i couldnt sit still, so i pulled out another one, and got China (this one worries me since my previous to China is expired and this one is still travelling) and the last one was Italy! This is when i recalled what was the charm of sending officials...you never know what you'll pick, and that brings the excitement...just as you never know what you're gonna get...so once i get one or two officals back, ill again make a full pull out from the sea of addresses :) All the ones i sent got registered, except the Chinese one...so i hope ill get something in return soon...

US-310267

What i like about this, is the kind of card the sender chose to send me. Now i dont know if this was a lucky chance, or she had read thru my profile, and morever looked at my blog, and eventually sent me this...but first, you know how much i love map-cards...second, i already have one from South Carolina...but this one is different....so i was really wondering if she had checked what i already have or no....either way, im delighted and really thankful.

the card has the Fun Facts thing...ive already written some about South Carolina, but here ill go again...these are not EXACTLY the same :)

Capital:  Columbia
Area:  30,207 square miles
Statehood:  May 23, 1788 (8th state admitted)
Mottos:  Animis opibusque parati (Prepared in mind and resources)  and Dum spiro spero (While I breath, i hope)
Song:  "South Carolina on My Mind"
State Bird:  Carolina Wren
State Tree:  Palmetto
State Flower: Yellow Jessamine

wasnt there a song "Georgia on My Mind" as well? does it have anything to do with being a song of the state as this one above? am i just ranting maybe?

Poland

I got this card as a surprise and of course, was in total delight with it :)

This is the Polish flag, in a circled shape..it IS a circle indeed...just that whenever i scan cards, the bottom line never appears as it actually is, in case its something different than a standard flat line..
The flag of Poland consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red. The two colors are defined in the Polish Constitution as the national colours. A variant of the flag with the national coat of arms n the middle of the white stripe is legally reserved for official use abroad and at sea.

well, this one is with the coat of arms kind of flag :)

Ania, thank you soooooo immensly much for this!! Im sorry my thank-you card didnt arrive to you....but know that im really delighted and greatful you have thought of me :)