Space Needle again

That's another great Seattle card from Beachyblonde, sent for the AugustRR. Thanks, Whitney!

Official Russian cards

Postcrossers have different ways to display their cards. Mine is to put the officials on a wall, next to a huge map where I mark all the countries I have received a card from. As the space there isn't endless, I take the old cards down when new ones arrive. Many of the old cards do not appear in my picasa album as I did not have a scanner then. That's the reason why many older cards are now in my blog. Whenever an old card makes space for a new one, I scan and upload it and then it will be stored in a box.

The card above shows the Grotto Pavillon in Tsarkoye Selo (RU-87835); the one below the Kremlin Embankment (RU-44500)
And this is a new Russian card (RU-203432) and it's special because it was sent from a forum member, ElSol. We meet regularely in the various RRs. The card shows the historic part of the city Veronesh with the oldest convent for women in this region.

It's always great to meet a forum friend via an official card!

The Great Promenade Show

This card shows the sculpture "They shoot horses, don't they?" by Michael Trainor. It is part of the Great Promenade Show at Blackpool's New South Promenade. Here's what the show's homepage has to say (click): All sculptures are unique interpretations of Blackpool's natural and man-made environments. The sculpture shown below acknowledges Blackpool as the ballroom capital of the world. The ball's 47.000 mirror tiles create dramatic patterns of reflected light around the feature. A dance was held under the 4,5 tonne artwork in September 2002 to make it officially the biggest dance hall mirror ball in the world. It takes its name from the American film about dancing marathons and record breaking.

A great card from reader22 for the AugustRR. Thank you!

Way of St. James

Santiago de Compostela is famous for being the destination of the Way of St. James, a major historical pilgrimage route since the Middle Ages. In recent years this pilgrimage route became more and more popular, not just with devout Roman Catholics, but also other people who were searching for the deeper meaning of their life or wanted a break from their daily life. Countless books have been published, my favorite being the one by German comedian Hape Kerkeling "I'm off then: my journey along the Camino de Santiago". Here he described his adventures with the other pilgrims, especially his fellow German ones! Simply hilarious!

Unfortunately the card does not explain what we can see on the pictures. I just recognize the cathedral in the upper left corner. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Merci Cécile, for sending me this card from your journey.

Bella Italia

A beautiful Italian card arrived for the JulyRR! It shows the Piazza del Campo and the Palazzo Comunale in Siena. The card was sent by edo (as most of my Italian cards).

Greetings from Brugge!

Another surprise card in my mailbox. The card was sent by masito, host of the vacation RR. While being on vacation in Belgium, he went to the postcrossing meeting in Brussels and sent me this card! It is also signed by the other participants! How I wish I could go on a postcrossing meeting some day!

Kia Ora!

In the NZ travelling RR you get the chance to receive a card from a Kiwi host. The first two cards are both for the Group #53. The Queenstown card was sent by the RR host, adriennegarry, because she thought that our group host did not send her cards. But I guess all was just a misunderstanding, as the original #53 card from the group host arrived two days later. And no wonder it was late! The card stopped in Singapore, as you can see on the sticker on the card! That's probably why it took so long to arrive. I read in the forums about some mis-sendings of Kiwi post to Singapore or post travelling to NZ being directed to Singapore and getting stuck there. That's obviously a common problem!

This card shows the church at Lake Tekapo. The text on the back of the card says: "The Church of the Good Shepherd is a compulsory place to stop when visiting Lake Tekapo. This solid stone, pioneer Anglican Church sits out on a point and has a magnetic appeal. Visitors are certainly drawn to it and it often looks like it is under seige, with buses, cars and vans all around it."
Thank you, Sally, for this card!

Australia Post

Here are two cards I really like, both were sent from onecraftymumma. The dog is so cute and so is the special cancellation. The stuffed bear also looks adorable! Thanks, Mel!

(Cards arrived for the JulyRR respectively the AugustRR)

A birthday surprise!

This beautiful card, showing Maiko girls on the terrace of Kano River, Kyoto, arrived as a birthday surprise from kyoto348. Thank you, Junko, that was such a sweet surprise!

Nouvelles images

The August RR and the Surprise RR brought some great Atelier Nouvelles Images cards. Red fruits from Sheila, Pink Cakes from Michaela0705 and Apples from nathj92.

Alphabet fun!

The Alphabet RR is always fun, as members try to match a card to a certain letter, letter combination or word. These cards are from the Diction Dilemma Group. When signing up for this group, you had to choose two numbers: First, the page in the dictionary and then the word on the page. My combination was 208, 8 and it matched the word "groundskeeper". Here are two cards that I received for this group. The first is from erniedogdaisy and shows two people taking care of the grounds around their home in Colonial Williamsburg, VA.

The second card (from purpleferret) shows the Fortress of Louisbourg in the National Historic Park, Cape Brenton, NS. The sender notes that this site has a crew of about 30 to keep the grounds tidy.

Thank you, letterfriends, as always great choices!

Greetings from China

This official card (CN-233245) shows the Western Garden in the Chinese city of Nanjing. It must be great to relax there on a beautiful day!

Did you know?

I really like "Did you know?"- Cards and those from Canada are just great. Her are my two newest additions. The Sea Lions arrived for the Alphabet RR (Comic group) from canbcpost and the Aurora Boralis card for the August RR from phuleshouse! Thank you both!

And no, I did not know before, but now, I do ;)

New State cards

Here are two new US State cards. The first one arrived for the AugustRR and was sent by abbeyrd84.

The second shows "the Ocean State" Rhode Island - it may be the smallest state, but it is packed with things to do and see, says the text on the card. Well, for me, RI is associated with a long roadtrip and not one available hotelroom in the whole state...thank God for Foxborough, MA, for providing the much needed hotel room! The card was sent by elemenopy for the AugustRR. Though my memories of RI are not the best, I really like the card!

US-754652

Here is a great official card, showing a Griffith Stadium Seat. The text on the back of the card says: "This wood and cast-iron seat from the home of the Washington Senators was removed when the stadium was demolished in 1961. It sold for $ 1320,-- at Leland's January 1992 Heavy Hitters Auction."

The sender chose this card because my official profile says that I like sports related cards. And I really do, especially as this is not the typical sports card, but instead a little unusual and the sender really put some thought in it! While the sender watched a lot of games when she was younger, my baseball knowledge is somewhat limited to Peanuts comic strips, a visit to the Boston Red Sox Fan Shop at Fenway Park (and buying a baseball cap there) and watching a Little League World Series game in 2008.

Groetjes uit the Netherlands!

This cute cow card came as a surprise via the Surprise RR reloaded. There you sign up secretely via u2u to the host and tell her how many cards you'd like to send. Once you receive the addresses, you send the cards but do not post in the thread. You post as soon as you get your own surprise cards and the other surprised ones do the same :) It was really nice to meet postcrossing friends again and get surprised. Thank you, MarianneJS!

Another surprise card arrived from the Netherlands, sent by Annerie. Its a map from the South west part of Friesland. Thank you!

Vietnam

Another great Vietnamese card sent by JOinHanoi (for the JulyRR). It shows the People's Committee Building in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). I love the composition of the photo, the yellow castle-like building in front of the blue sky and the snowy white clouds!

Thank you, Jo, you always send wonderful cards.

More "Bröllop" cards

I received two more cards with the wedding portrait of HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Mr. Daniel Westling.

Thanks to SusaTiina and aj-person (AugustRR) for sending these cards and reminding me of the romantic wedding (*sigh*).

Homeprinted!

Many postcrossers don't like handmade or handprinted cards. But I really like them if the sender puts some thought in them. This official card (US-766311) is a really great exampel of a homeprinted card. Sharon shared some stories with me about her life and her travelling experiences!
It was great meeting you! Thank you!

The Treasury - Petra, Jordan

That's my first and so far only card from Jordan. My postcrossing friend pinucca bought the card while being in Jordan for business and sent it for the MayRR. Thank you so much, Pinar! The card shows the UNESCO site of Petra.

The visit Jordan homepage (click) says that "although much has been written about Petra, nothing really prepares you for this amazing place. It has to be seen to be believed."

You can also read that Petra is Jordans greatest tourist attraction and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. The description goes on: "Petra is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. After the 14th century Petra was lost to the western world until 1812 when it was rediscovered by the Swiss traveller, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, who tricked his way into the fiercely guarded site by pretending to be an Arab from India wishing to make a sacrifice at the tomb of the Prophet Aaron." (All information from the visitjordan Homepage).

There's also some trivia on the homepage: Petra made its appearence in Hollywood in the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” starring Harrison Ford.

Moscow

Here's the official Russian card RU-171880. It shows the Kremlin in winterly Moscow and the Annunciation Cathedral - A really impressive view! The card travelled 14 days and 1,830 km (1,137 miles).

Vacation IV

Some more cards from the vacationRR and all from places where you can have a great vacation! The first two cards are from earwen showing the region of Galicia and the city of A Coruña.

This card was sent by Videl from the vacation in Portugal. I love this scene with the cute donkey.

And the last card shows the island paradise of Santosa. I really understand why this island is so popular! I would love to stroll around the beach! Thank you, sybones, for sending this card!

Vacation RR III

Here are some more cards from the vacation RR: The first one is from TrickySticky. It shows the famous wooden shoes, the Klompen. I got the same card from MarianneJS for the AugustRR. I really like the colorful shoes!

The next card is from a series of tropical fruit of Madeira issued by the Portuguese postal office. You can also find stamps for example with avocado. I'm not sure about the fruit we see on the card, but I guess it's a guava. Uhm, I don't think I've ever eaten one... Thank you, Isacle, for this card!
This card was sent by nyassa. I love the Royal Mail Stamps cards! It's a reproduction of the stamp "Hurdling" issued on 11 June 1991. The card came with another sport themed stamp, this one for the Olympics 2012 in London, showing football - what else?

Vacation RR II

Here are some cards I received as a host for the vacation RR groups #88 and #89. The first is from Beachyblonde and it tells us about the beautiful Mt. Rainier and is a wonderful addition to my Washington State collection! Thank you, Whitney!

The next card is from my list of favorites. When I was in Boston we had no trouble finding our hotel, though. I love the card and *hint* cards about Boston are always welcome. (Sent by EvansCrew - thank you.)
The third card shows the Yale Harkness tower, which was built between 1917 and 1921 by James Gamble Rogers (class of 1889). It was modeled on St. Botolph's Tower in Boston, England, and conceived as a memorial to a recently deceased alumnus, Charles W. Harkness. The card was sent by Fjordita.

Vacation RR I

Summer is definitely the time for vacation and the vacation RR is therefore popular! I joined some postcrosser's vacations and also offered two groups when I was travelling to Helsinki and Tallinn. In this post I'll share Craig's postcard with you from his "working-vacation" to Washington DC.

I love the red sky and how it is highlighting the Washington Monument and the US Capitol in the background. The information on the card says: "From the top of the Monument, each visitor is treated to an unequaled view of the city of Washington. Visibility can be over 40 miles on a clear day from this, the tallest structure in the city."

I've been to Washington two years ago and I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately we just had a day there, but I'll definitely go back there!

Thanks, Craig, for choosing this wonderful card!

I'm back!

Yes, I'm back from vacation. And as always there are a million things to do! Not just normal stuff, like laundry, give out the souvenirs, get back to real life, NO, as a postcrosser you can add sort through the stack of cards, update them on the various forum threads, register the officials, scan everything and upload it to the albums and blog. So, that's what I have been doing since my return...

As I have been to Finland, I chose a Finnish card for this post. It is a language lesson in Kotka-lingo, a local dialect of the town Kotka in South-Eastern Finland. The card was sent by Annimanni for the JulyRR. Kiitos.