Three Continents in One Mailbox

When I went to the mailbox yesterday, I had four postcards. When I looked at them, I noticed that they came from three different continents. A true world view right in my mailbox!

Of course, North America was the first continent. This postcard comes from Terri in (guess where?) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She writes, "Greetings from Philly! Here's our famous guy." She went on further to say that there are something like 7 representations of old Ben around town and one man who makes a living "being Ben." I would like to see that! Thanks Terri for the wonderful card.

Further down along the east coast of the U.S. is the state of Maryland where this card originated. Maggie sent me this card. It comes from H. Jackson Brown, Jr.'s book, Life's Little Instruction Book. I always thought that life's little instruction book was the Bible. Maybe that is where he got his idea. Plagierism! Just kidding!

Now, this is interesting. I get a card from Maryland that has a stamp with greetings from Massachusetts. Then I noted the amount. $0.37! Currently, the cost of a postcard stamp is $0.27. The price for a letter stamp is $0.42. So, Maggie, did you have some "old" stamps? That's okay, I like it anyway!

Enough of North America, let's move on.

Aha! Beijing, China welcomes me next with a wonderful card commemorate the 2008 summer Olympics. Maomao Chen, with his mother's help sent me this card from the Changping District of Beijing, which is their home. Maomao and his mom are new members of postcrossing and this was their first card they sent. I feel very honored to receive such a card. Maomao is only 19 months old. His mom wants to decorate his room with the postcards from all the "magical" places of the world and hopefully, someday, she says, he might be able to go and see them for himself. She ends with "Seasons Greetings." I do truly love this card and the stamp. Thanks, Maomao and your mom.

The last contintent we visit today is the European continent. Specifically, Lisbon, Portugal. This is my second postcard from the beautiful city of Lisboa as they say in Portugese. Isabel along with her baby, Ana Catarina, sent me this card. Isabel said the picture shows some houses and the Monastery of the Hieronymites, built in the 1500's to commemorate maritime discoveries. The Monastery is the resting place of one of Portugal's discoverers, Vasco de Gama. The Monastery is near Lisbon's harbor as that is one of the "launching" places of the great maritime explorers. This Monastery along with the Tower of Belem is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

And I thought the only trolly cars were in San Francisco. You learn something new everday. This is the stamp and postmark that brought Isabel and Ana Catarina's card to me. Thanks Isabel and baby Ana for the lovely card and for the information about yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Goose, Geese, Moose, Meese?

When first glancing at this postcard in my mailbox, I thought it was a horse, but when you look at the baby and mama more closely, you can see that they are definitely moose, or mooses or meese, whatever you call them! Kristi from Harjumaa, Estonia sent me this postcard and told me that she picked it out just for me since I like moose. Thanks for your thoughtfulness, Kristi.

And here is the stamp and postmark that brought mama and baby moose to me.

"Z" (that is how she signed the card) sent me this bull moose. She asked me on the card how I fell in "love" with moose? She said, "I myself had my first moose sighting on a trip to Canada and was lost forever. :D Though never had the chance to see another wold moose again! Although the card says Vermont, Z actually lives in southern Florida! It's nice to know that there are other "southerners" who love moose besides me!

On the postmark of this card, there was a quote from John Adams, 1765: "Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write." Yes, let's! Isn't that part of what postcrossing is all about?

Grusse, Greetings and So Forth

"Gruss aus Hanau" or Greetings from Hanau is one of many postcard greetings that I have received lately. Cara from Germany sent me this beautiful multiview card. In my thank you message, I told her that I can still remember some of my German so I could read some of the captions on the pictures. Schloss is castle, stadt is city, Rathaus is city hall and strasse is street. Hanau is a city close to Frankfurt am Main in the middle of Germany. Thanks Cara for the greetings.

Mari from Kvopio, Finland sent me my next greeting. As you can see, the teddy bear is writing his letter. It says "Kirjoitan sulle taalta kaukaa...." which Mari says translates "I write for you from (for) here..." Mari is a teenager who loves dancing and taking photographs. She said she also loves animals and has a cat named Elli. I told her that my brother and sister in law have a cat too named Ms. Ellie. Six degrees of separation!

This is the stamp that brought Mari and Elli's card to me. Funny, it is a dog stamp and not a cat stamp! Anyway, this is my second "dog stamp" from Finland. The first one I received had a huskie or malamute on it. This one I believe is a beagle. DOGS RULE! Another type of greeting that I received is from Eleonore who is also a teenager who is studing art in a town in western France. I love her optimistic greeting. We should all "be happy."

Eleonore's homemade card came in an envelope and below is the stamp that was on the envelope. The stamp shows the citadal and town of the Bouches de Bonifacio which is the Straits of Bonifacio. The strait is a narrow inlet of water that separates Bonifacio, Corsica from Sardinia. A large citadal sits atop large limestone cliffs that overlooks the water. A museum and marine preserve are also located there. Plans are being made to name this place at UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Nordsee, Joutsa and a Westie

"Hello from the nort part of Germany" was the beginning of the greeting on the back of this beautiful postcard. Hella sent this card to me. She and her husband along with her kids have a "pension" in the norther part of Germany. A "pension" is like an inn or Gasthaus. Hella said that you could go to this website and see a picture of it and read about it: www.nordseeseiten,de/kb_pension_bessel.htm. Boy, would that be a great vacation during any season! Thanks Hella, for the wonderful card.

Another picturesque postcard from Finland. This card comes from Raija who lives in Joutsa. This is a very small town with a population of about 4,000. It is not too far from Helsinki and is known for its beautiful lakes and outdoor recreational activities. Sounds like a fun place to me! Thanks for sharing your part of the world with me, Raija.

Above is the beautiful first class stamp that brought Raija's card to me.

Now, this little cutie pie comes from Ludmila who lives in the Czech Republic. Cutie pie has a name and his/her name is Gilinka according to his/her owner, Ludmila. I am just not sure if that is the name of a boy or girl. Either way, Ludmila is a true dog lover. She owns several other dogs besides Gilinka here.

Ludmila is new to postcrossing and I was the fortunate person to receive her first postcard that she sent. She has a website as well that has lots of other dog postcards on it. She has cards to sell and other dog cards just to browse through for your enjoyment. I feel very honored, Ludmila that I am the first recipient of your first postcard and hope it is one of many more postcards that you send and receive.

Ludmila's card was also my first card that I have received from the Czech Republic so we both had two "firsts" with this card. I was excited to see the two stamps that came with Gilinka. As you can see, the birds on the right are raptors. I love raptors. It looks like a cat and dog playing with a ball on the stamp to the left. Wonderful, wonderful. Thanks again, Ludmila.

Gateway of India

This card was a little misleading. I received this postcard from Emily who lives in Chicago, Illinois. However, as you can see, the postcard is from India. Mumbai, India to be exact. Mumbai, India is the largest city in India and is also the economic hub of the country. Mumbai used to be referred to as Bombay which is actually the Portugese/English name for the town. Emily stated that she used to have an Indian roomate and she left several postcards when she left and this was one of those postcards. Thank you, Emily for sharing this postcard with me. It is my first one from India (sort of, anyway.)

All Around Europe

Isn't this little guy adorable? I have received many postcards of adorable little "critters" and they just make my day. Believe it or not, this is my second hedgehog! Of course, my first card with hedgehogs was a painting and the name of the painting was "Happy Hedgehogs." I think this little guy is happy, don't you? He looks like he is getting all wrapped up for Christmas. Hmm...a hedgehog for a pet????

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.

Lost (in) Translation?

Below is a card I received in the mail last week (yes, I am behind again!). It is from Lena from Haarlem, Netherlands. It was such a surprise to see it. I was not expecting another card from her. If you recall, back at the end of September, I received a note from Lena asking about a postcard she had sent me. I had not received it so Lena graciously sent me a second homemade card. So, I was surprised to see this. When I sent Lena a "thank you" e-mail, she wrote back saying that THIS CARD was the ORGINAL card (the LOST card) she sent me. The card is dated 24 September 08 and I received it in November! I wonder where it has been all this time. So, now I have received two cards from the creative Lena in Haalem. Thanks again, Lena.

Below also is the beautiful stamps that brought Lena's card to me. Let's see, I can figure out William of Orange on one stamp, Nederland stands for Netherlands, I imagine and the other one with pandas has something to do with nature. I just haven't figured out the other words yet. Cinnamon is my user name on Postcrossing.
Sara from Germany sent me the beautiful card below. She said "I (heart) this postcard." She also apologized that it was in German, but she did translate it for me. It says: "Pay attention to your thoughts, because they'll be words. Pay attention to your words, because they'll be action. Pay attention to your actions, because they'll be habits. Pay attention to your habits, because they'll be your character. Pay attention to your character because that's your destiny." It is from the Talmud. The Talmud is a sort of "Oral Torah" of the Jews. It is a book of rabbinical discussions on how to live the laws in the Torah. Thanks for the lovely postcard, Sara and the lovely words. I do like the beautiful postcard as well.

The stamp on the back of Sara's postcard practically matches the front part of the card. Looks like it cost one euro dollar in send this postcard from Germany (Deutschland) to here.