And a Happy New Year...

I have received so many cards over the Christmas and New Year period that there is no way I can put them all on this blog.  So I have just chosen a couple of my favourites.  The above one (1269) is from Susanne, my friend in Dortmund, Germany. 

This one (1273)  is from eight year old Katya, a postcrosser (UA-900492) in the Ukraine.

It had these super stamps on it -

The above stamp is of a beautiful Russian actress from the turn of the Twentieth Century.  Vera Kholodnaya was the first star of Russian silent cinema. Only five of her films still exist and the total number she acted in is unknown, with speculation ranging between fifty and one hundred.  She died young as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic.

Anastasia from Minsk in Belarus sent me this delightful card - 1223 - which says (in Estonian) 'May your Christmas wishes come true'.

This map of Switzerland - 1201 - came from Michi (CH-174908).

This was the first time I had ever seen a hologram stamp (which proved impossible to scan properly).

 Chloe from the Philippines sent me this direct swap map - 1208 -

 
 Books, of course, feature on a lot of my cards.  This one - 1195 - from Danielle in Nebraska is by Katsuhisa Toda and is entitled 'The Key'.

 Bonnie Jeanne sent me this Reading Woman card  - 1222 - which is one of my favourites.  By Edouard Gelhay it is entitled 'Elegant Women in a Library'.

 Kate, a teacher from Russia, sent me this postcrossing card (RU-2247373) from my favourites - 1205.

We have had a mild winter so far but there are floods across the whole country (100 flood warnings last night alone).  So the title of this card from Danielle - "Mail in all conditions" - seems quite appropriate even if we haven't had the snow yet.  Meanwhile Danielle and much of North America is freezing.

Many of my Christmas postcards featured Santa Claus in his various guises but on this one from Monica tomten knocks on the door on Christmas Eve while the family are gathered at the table rather than sneaking down the chimney overnight.

 The postal services have been extra busy over the last few weeks  as 1197 from Heleen in The Netherlands shows.

Heleen used one of the best postal services stamps I have seen yet -

Natalya, a Russian civil engineering student and postcrosser (RU-2236074), sent me this Happy New Year Card (1191) and I am happy to pass on those same wishes to you...

I have been so lucky.  And I haven't even shown you my New York cards from Virginia, my cards of India from Amit,  or my Chinese cards from Dai Li yet...

October - a new start

October is only 2 days old and already it has brought me nine cards.  How wonderful is that?

945 – Eva in Morocco - La Llotja de la Seda, Valencia, Spain – a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Built between 1482 and 1533, this group of buildings was originally used for trading in silk (hence its name, the Silk Exchange) and it has always been a centre for commerce. It is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. The grandiose Sala de Contratación (Contract or Trading Hall), in particular, illustrates the power and wealth of a major Mediterranean mercantile city in the 15th and 16th centuries.

946 – Eva in Morocco – The Alhambra Palace and Fortress, Granada, Spain – a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Rising above the modern lower town, the Alhambra and the Albaycín, situated on two adjacent hills, form the medieval part of Granada. To the east of the Alhambra fortress and residence are the magnificent gardens of the Generalife, the former rural residence of the emirs who ruled this part of Spain in the 13th and 14th centuries. The residential district of the Albaycín is a rich repository of Moorish vernacular architecture, into which the traditional Andalusian architecture blends harmoniously.

947 – Eva in Morocco – The Medina of Tétouan, Morocco – a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Tétouan was of particular importance in the Islamic period, from the 8th century onwards, since it served as the main point of contact between Morocco and Andalusia. After the Reconquest, the town was rebuilt by Andalusian refugees who had been expelled by the Spanish. This is well illustrated by its art and architecture, which reveal clear Andalusian influence. Although one of the smallest of the Moroccan medinas, Tétouan is unquestionably the most complete and it has been largely untouched by subsequent outside influences.

948 – Eva in Morocco – The Tower of Babel by Otto Munch in Zurich Cathedral’s door.

The back of these four cards from Eva in Morocco formed a letter.  One of the nicest I have had in a long time!

949 – Carol from Washington but in England – St. Albans, England.

A pictorial plan of the medieval monastery.  Carol (from Washington) sent this while she and her husband Rob toured England.  Rob is English and visiting St Albans allowed him to explore some of his old haunts.   

I don't often get the chance to show a British stamp.  This one is part of a series of six Merchant Navy stamps recently issued by the Royal Mail.

950 – Susanne in Germany – Detail from Fray Jeronimo Perez by Francisco Zurbaran (1598-1664).  As you will know by now I love pictures of writing implements and hands writing.  This is one of the best I have received.

The back of this postcard had four stamps on it of historic postal uniforms from 1850 from different parts of Germany.  Aren’t they grand!!  I shall have to put a colour photocopy of these into my postal scrapbook.

 

951 – Santa in Latvia (LV-119434) – Treasures of Latvia

Men’s jewellery and weapons from the 5^th to the 14^th centuries.

 

952 – Amit in India – Mahabalipuram - a UNESCO World Heritage Site

This group of sanctuaries, founded by the Pallava kings, was carved out of rock along the Coromandel coast in the 7th and 8th centuries. It is known especially for its rathas (temples in the form of chariots), mandapas (cave sanctuaries), giant open-air reliefs such as the famous 'Descent of the Ganges', and the temple of Rivage, with thousands of sculptures to the glory of Shiva.

Amit and I are swapping directly and this is my first postcard from India.  

  

I love these stamps.

 

953 – Riitta in Finland (FI-1879091) – Another super Inge Löök painting. 

441 - The Swiss Flag

Card no 441 - Elena (CH-160549) 

The Swiss Flag 

Country Card Sent From: Switzerland 

Place that Card Sender Lives: Neuchâtel 

Date Received: 11th March 2013 

Distance Travelled: 611 miles 

Time Taken: 5 days 

The flag of Switzerland consists of a red flag with a white cross (a bold, equilateral cross) in the centre. It is square - one of only two square sovereign-state flags, the other being the flag of Vatican City. (The civil and state ensign, used by Swiss ships and boats, has the more common proportions of 2:3.) Use of the white cross as a military ensign (attached to the cantonal flags in the form of strips of linen) has been used in the Old Swiss Confederacy since the 14th century, but the modern design of a white cross suspended in a square red field was introduced only during the Napoleonic period, first used in 1800 during the Hundred Days by general Niklaus Franz von Bachmann, and was introduced as official national flag in 1889.