Merja from Finland sent me this little guy. Thanks so much, Merja for sending him. He makes me happy.
What is also cool about Merja's postcard is the stamp that brought the hedgehog to me. The picture of the card does not do it justice. It is actually a skier and it is a 3-D hologram. So, when you move the stamp, you actually "watch" the skier move downhill. Awesome! The USA needs to make some stamps like this.
Thanks again, Merja, for the card and the stamp.
From Finland, we go a little bit southwest to Belgium. Judit from Antwerpen, Belgium sent me this card. It came in a package with a WONDERFUL cross stitch magazine that is actually from Great Britain. I met Judit through postcrossing, of course. She sent me a card and I noted on her profile that she collected magnets in the shapes of the countries and the shapes of the states from the United States. She also liked to cross stitch like I do. I noted that she did not have a magnet from Texas so I sent her one. In return, I received "The World of Cross Stitch" magazine. Judit said she hoped I could find a project for the winter months. It would have to be a small one because we dont have much of a winter here in south Texas! Thanks again, for your thoughtfulness, Judit and the wonderful gift.
And now, on to Chesterfield, Great Britain.
Lauren sent me this postcard of St. Mary and All Saints Church in Chesterfield with its own unique spire. Lauren says that "legend has it that the spire turned around in amazement when a virgin was married in the church and that when the next virgin is married there, it will untwist." Interesting! I also found out that another legend has that the Devil wrapped his tail around the spire while hanging on to take a look at the marriage ceremony of the virgin. The REAL reason according to my research is that the timbers were untreated and therefore, became warped in the sun. Also, the cross timbers were not placed in the appropriate places also causing the spire to lean as well as twist.
Below are the two stamps that brought me Lauren's card. As you can see, the stamp on the right is another view of a cathedral, this time, the interior of the Litchfield Cathedral.
From Chesterfield, England, we proceed south to Seville, Spain. Miguel from Seville sent me this postcard of the beautiful La Catedral Y Giralda. This is the largest gothic cathedral in the world. The cathedral was built on the location of the Almohad Mosque of Seville. The Giralda is the bell tower and the bottom two-thirds of the tower was part of the ancient minaret of the Almohad Mosque of Seville. Another interesting point about the tower is that it does not have stairs, only ramps to the top. This was so that the Muslim leader of the Friday prayers could ride his horse to the top of the tower to summon the people to pray.
Of course, we cannot forget about the beautiful stamps that bring the postcards. This is an interesting contrast between the ancient gothic cathedral on the front of the card and the modern satellite dish on the stamp. Thanks, Miguel for the beautiful card. I especially like pictures of cathedrals at night with lights shining on them like this card.
And now, we come all the way back around to Finland where we started this trip. "Nonni" from Finland sent me this brown bear (it looked black to me). She said she could not find me a moose card so hoped a bear card would do. Yes, bears and mooses are faves of mine! The way this bear is sitting reminds me of the way my dog, Charlie sits sometimes when we are just "hanging out." So, I guess that is what this bear is doing. Chill, baby, chill!
Nonni's card had the following stamp on it. the founder of the history of cartography, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832-1901, born in Finland, died in Sweden), is known as the founder of the history of cartography as well as the explorer of the NorthEast Passage and the Nordic Regions.
No comments:
Post a Comment