Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Amsterdam

Received from: the Netherlands
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: August 2011
Distance: 1136 km
Time of travelling: 3 days

What's written on the back side of postcard:

Kroomboomsloot 1907 / J. Gazan's electrical appliances in the second building / The beer cellar sign said "Beer and barrels for brewery prices" / The old Jewish quarter.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Münster

Received from: Germany
Category: Multiviews tag
Date: August 2011

The card came from the meet-up in Münster, with the signatures of German postcrossers! I love it! :)

Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland. The city is best known as the location of the Anabaptist rebellion during the Protestant Reformation, as the site of the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia ending the Thirty Years' War in 1648, and as the bicycle capital of Germany.

USA

Received from: the USA
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: August 2011
Distance: 8566 km
Time of travelling: 18 days

Hand-made postcard from the user, who sends just her own paintings.

Plus American stamps - I haven't had these ones yet.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Torres del Paine

Received from: Chile
Category: Mountain Tag
Date: August 2011
Time of travelling: 17 days

Torres del Paine National Park is a national park encompassing mountains, a glacier, a lake, and river-rich areas in southern Chilean Patagonia. The Cordillera del Paine is the centerpiece of the park. It lies in a transition area between the Magellanic subpolar forests and the Patagonian Steppes. The park is located 112 km (70 mi) north of Puerto Natales and 312 km (194 mi) north of Punta Arenas. Bernardo O'Higgins National Park is its neighbour to the west, while Los Glaciares National Park is located to the north in Argentine territory.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Cali

Received from: Colombia
Category: private swap
Date: August 2011

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Another private swap suggested by the user whose card I liked (or rather whose cards I really love ;) ). I'm completely fascinated by Colombia, so I was so happy that almost speechless :P. I received the postcard from Cali, what's even more special for me that in this city I have a very good friend.

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I love both the card and the stamps :D

Santiago de Cali, simply referred to as Cali, is a city in western Colombia and the capital of the Valle del Cauca Department. With a population of 2.5 million, Cali is the third largest city in the country. It has one of the fastest growing economies and infrastructure in the country because of its geographical location. The city was founded on July 25, 1536 by the Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar.

Nice

Received from: France
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: August 2011
Distance: 1421 km
Time of travelling: 4 days

Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of 71.92 km2 (28 sq mi). The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of 721 km2 (278 sq mi). Located on the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast.
The city is nicknamed Nice la Belle (Nissa La Bella in Niçard), which means Nice the Beautiful – it is also the unofficial anthem of Nice, written by Menica Rondelly in 1912. Nice is the capital city of the Alpes Maritimes département, and the second-biggest city of the Region Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur after Marseille.

Japan

Received from: Japan
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: August 2011
Distance: 8464 km
Time of travelling: 5 days

As the sender wrote me, postcard presents Kikkawa Motoharu Hall (Castle). I couldn't find anything about the ruins, just the short information about the man: Kikkawa Motoharu (吉川 元春, 1530 - December 25, 1586) was the second son of Mōri Motonari, and featured prominently in all the wars of the Mōri clan.

And beautiful stamp! :)

Moscow

Received from: Russia
Category: Capital city tag
Date: August 2011

Manezhnaya or Manege Square is a large pedestrian open space at the heart of Moscow bound by the Hotel Moskva to the east, the State Historical Museum and the Alexander Garden to the south, the Moscow Manege to the west, and the 18th-century headquarters of the Moscow State University to the north. The square forms a vital part of downtown Moscow, connecting Red Square (which sprawls behind the Iberian Gate immediately to the south) with a major traffic artery, Tverskaya Street, which starts here and runs northward in the direction of Saint Petersburg. It is served by three metro stations: Okhotny Ryad, Ploshchad Revolyutsii, and Teatralnaya.

Russia

Received from: Russia
Category: Poland - rest of the world tag
Date: August 2011

Postcard with a funny dragon, maybe it's not something that I usually do collect, but it was really nice :).
Plus I love Russian stamps with animals.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Manila

Received from: Philippines
Category: City you live in tag
Date: August 2011

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast, and Pasay to the south. Manila has a total population of more than 1,660,714 according to the 2007 census. Manila is the second most populous city in the Philippines behind Quezon City. The populace inhabit an area of only 38.55 square kilometers, making Manila the most densely populated city in the world.

Moscow

Received from: Russia
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: August 2011
Distance: 1114 km
Time of travelling: 12 days

Novodevichy Convent, also known as Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery (Russian: Новоде́вичий монасты́рь, Богоро́дице-Смоле́нский монасты́рь) is probably the best-known cloister of Moscow. Its name, sometimes translated as the New Maidens' Monastery, was devised to differ from an ancient maidens' convent within the Moscow Kremlin. Unlike other Moscow cloisters, it has remained virtually intact since the 17th century. In 2004, it was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wierden

received from the Netherlands (via Postcrossing)
(August 2011)

Wierden is a town and a municipality in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel.
The municipality of Wierden also includes the following towns, villages and townships: Enter, Hoge Hexel, Ypelo, Notter, Rectum, Zuna.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Alaska

Received from: the USA
Category: from friend
Date: August 2011

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My friend was spending holidays in Alaska, within Work & Travel programme. After months of complaining that I want a card from Alaska... success ;D

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Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. Approximately half of Alaska's 710,231 residents (as per the 2010 United States Census) live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska is the least densely populated state of the U.S.
The name "Alaska" (Аляска) was already introduced in the Russian colonial period, when it was used only for the peninsula and is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland" or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed". It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Kuala Lumpur

Received from: Malaysia
Category: from friend
Date: August 2011

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A card received from my Erasmus friend from Hong Kong, who spent her holidays in Malaysia. I asked her for a card from this country, sending her back one presenting Warsaw :). I love this card also for a very nice message!

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The Petronas Towers (also known as the Petronas Twin Towers) are skyscrapers and twin towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to the CTBUH's official definition and ranking, they were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 until surpassed by Taipei 101, but remain the tallest twin buildings in the world. The building is the landmark of Kuala Lumpur with nearby Kuala Lumpur Tower.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Tatry

Received from: Poland
Category: from family
Date: August 2011

From 1910 onwards Kasprowy Wierch became very popular among ski tourists so much so a Aerial tramway(cabin aerial ropeway) or téléphérique, reaching almost to the summit, was built between 1935-1936 as such it is one of the oldest in Europe. As part of its modernization, the cabin aerial ropeway was closed for a period until December 2007. In 1938 meteorological and astronomical observatories were built here. Users of the cable car have to change cars midway at Myślenicke Turnie mount. At the top station there are restaurants and information offices with further ski lifts just outside. The cable cars are extremely popular and tourists regularly have to wait up to 3 hours to buy tickets - roughly the same time it would take to ascend the mountain on foot. The cable car service has caused environmental concerns and protest both in 1935 and 2006. In 1961-1962 and in 1967-1968 chairlifts were built on the slopes of the mountain and they run in two sections.

Pieniny

Received from: Poland
Category: from family
Date: August 2011

Pieniny

Received from: Poland
Category: from family
Date: August 2011

Pieniny is a mountain range in the south of Poland and the north of Slovakia.
The Pieniny mountain range is divided into three parts – Pieniny Spiskie and Pieniny Właściwe in Poland; and, Malé Pieniny in Slovakia. The Pieniny mountains consist mainly of the limestone and dolomite rock strata. The most famous peak, Trzy Korony (Three Crowns), is 982 meters high. It is also the summit of the Three Crowns Massif. Pieniny’s highest peak – Wysoka (Polish); Vysoké Skalky (Slovak) – reaches 1,050 meters above sea level.

Szczawnica

Received from: Poland
Category: from family
Date: August 2011

Szczawnica is a well-known resort town since the mid nineteenth century. Due to the presence of alkali sorrel springs and favorable climatic conditions, many respiratory and digestive tract illnesses are treated there. In 2005 the popular local spa was officially returned by the Polish government to its prewar owners – Count Stadnicki family. The spa has almost two hundred year history. Its last private owner was Count Adam Stadnicki, whose grandson – Andrzej Mańkowski – is the founder of the new Uzdrowiskowe Museum being fitted in the center of Szczawnica, at Dietl Square (2009). The museum of the Szczawnica resort aims to present more than 350 different types of artifacts associated with the local therapeutics, archival documents, drawings, plans of buildings, old photographs, postcards and books.

Rzeszów

From: Poland
Category: My collection
Date: August 2011
Rzeszów is a city in southeastern Poland with a population of 179,455 in 2010. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River, in the heartland of the Sandomierska Valley. The city, which was granted a town charter in 1354, has been the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship since 1999, and is also the seat of Rzeszów County. Rzeszów is served by an international airport, is a member of Eurocities, and is home to a number of higher education schools, company headquarters, and foreign consulates.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Cisna

From: Poland
Category: My collection
Date: August 2011

Solina

From: Poland
Category: My collection
Date: August 2011
Solina is a village in Lesko County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It is the former seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Solina (in 1999 Polańczyk became the new seat). It lies approximately 15 kilometres (9 mi) south-east of Lesko and 80 km (50 mi) south-east of the regional capital Rzeszów. In 2002 the village had a population of 190.

Jezioro Solińskie

From: Poland
Category: My collection
Date: August 2011

Ustrzyki Górne

From: Poland
Category: My collection
Date: August 2011

Wetlina

add-cards given in 'Chata Wędrowca'

Wetlina

From: Poland
Category: My collection
Date: August 2011

Bieszczady

From: Poland
Category: My collection
Date: August 2011
Bieszczady is the Polish name for a mountain range in the extreme south-east of Poland, extending into Ukraine and Slovakia. It forms the western part of what is known in Polish as the Eastern Beskids (Beskidy Wschodnie), and is more generally part of the Outer Eastern Carpathians. The mountain range is situated between the Łupków Pass (640 m) and the Vyshkovskyi Pass (933 m).

Barcelona

Received from: Spain
Category: Tag within Europe
Date: August 2011

Ciutat Vella (meaning in English "Old City") is a district of Barcelona, numbered District 1. The name means "old city" in Catalan and refers to the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Barcelona, Spain. Ciutat Vella is nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the neighborhood called l'Eixample (the Extension.). It is considered as the centre of the city; the Plaça Catalunya is one of the most popular meeting points in all of Catalonia.

Szklarska Poręba

Received from: Poland
Category: from a friend
Date: August 2011

Szklarska Poręba is a town in Jelenia Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. The town has a population of around 7,000. It is a popular ski resort. An important regional and national centre for mountain hiking, cycling and skiing, Szklarska Poręba is situated in the valley of the Kamienna, between the Karkonosze Mountains and Jizera Mountains, 1,900 ft. above sea level, 16 miles south-west of Jelenia Góra. The ski resorts in this area are growing in popularity as an alternative to the Alps, thanks to wide range of both Alpine and Nordic skiing facilities.