Wordless Wednesday

For the Wordless Wednesday, I would like to add this postcard. I have a collection of them and some are very hilarious! They are also all for trade as my daughter bought 2 copies of the postcard book. She absolutely loved them!

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon (or Lisboa in Portugese) is a capital and the largest city in Portugal. I could not believe how old this city is! The archeological findings dated back to Neolithic period are found there! From wikipedia: Since 1200 BC, a Phoenician trading post might have occupied the centre of the present city. Lisbon was under Roman rule from 205 BC, when it was already a 1000 year old town. Julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, it was captured by Moors in the 8th century. In 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city for the Christians and since then it has been a major political, economic and cultural center of Portugal.
This card makes me want to go travel to far away lands and unknown places!

All About Women RR

I have so enjoyed participating in this special Round Robin! Although the name of the group was "Women in groups", all of the cards I received were also black and white! I never thought I would enjoy the black and white cards so much! I always love color, but I am rethinking now...

First card comes from Paris, France. "Can you hear the drums and hear the beat?" asks my sender.

Another card is from the Netherlands. The caption reads: "Eddy van der Veen, 1996/ "Stranddutje!" (which in English means "beach nap"). Nice nap!! I wonder if the gazebo was provided or they brought it themselves??

To continue the theme of elderly people, comes this card from California. I loved the caption MonkeyFlower left me: "I guess these women are having fun. The one on the left does look like she wishes that she was somewhere else".

And on with the sun and nap, this card is from Helsinki, Finland. It is a french card that is copyrighted to Robert Doisneau "The Hairdressers in the Sun, 1966". A bliss!!!

Rungus ethnic group, Malaysia

Through the traditional costumes tag, came this beautiful card from Cikgu Dale. Rungus is an ingenious tribe which inhabits the Kudat Peninsula of Borneo. Here is a bit of info from VirtualMalaysia.com: "The Rungus, a sub-tribe of the Kadazan-dusun people, are the main ethnic group living in Kudat. They are renowned in Sabah as highly skilled artisans who traditionally make local plant seeds and clay. They still maintain the longhouse community system whereby a longhouse which begins as a single apartment built by the father, and when children grow and start their own families, they build similar apartment to their father’s unit, thus creating a longhouse." Very beautiful beadwork! If you would like to read more about his particular costume, please visit this site.

Happy postcrossing!

Sapa, Vietnam

I am sorry for abandoning my blog for a while. My Dad's visit from Russia, my older daughter starting Middle School and a little one going to Kindergarten kept me very busy this month.

I will have to hurry and catch to all the amazing and wonderful happening in the Postcrossing World!

Here is a card I received through an Expat Tag from Jo (RussianRuby). It depicts Sapa (or Sa Pa) - a small picturesque town in Northwestern Vietnam, on the Hoang Lien Son mountain range near the Chinese border. I am especially excited about this card, because it is a home place to one of the minority people, called Hmong. There is a large population of Hmong living in Minnesota after they relocated here as a result of the Vietnam war. If you watched Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino", these are the people in the movie. I love the tranquil look of these terraced fields and hills! But can't even imagine the walking you have to do to work them!!!

View Larger Map

Postcard Friendship Friday - rare countries

Some of the countries are considered more rare than others among the postcrossers. Most often, the reason is the size of the country, therefore the size of the population. Recently, I had a chance to receive 2 of the cards from more rare countries. One is from Montenegro (14 postcrossers registered) and another one is from Cyprus (only 10 people registered). The card from Montenegro comes via Yelena (vergi) from Russia, who visited the country on vacation this summer.Montenegro ( Montenegrin: Црна Гора/Crna Gora) (meaning "Black Mountain" in Montenegrin) is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It is on the coast on the Adriatic Sea. Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as the Prijestonica (Пријестоница), meaning the former Royal Capital City. From 1918, it was a part of former Yugoslavia. The independence was declared on June 3, 2006. The population is about 670,000 people, who mostly speak Serbian language and belong to Orthodox Christian church. The town of Bečići is a resort town on the sea.

View Larger Map
Another rare card comes from a Finnish user, who lives in Cyprus. It was actually an official card, so I can consider myself lucky for receiving it, I guess. :)By the look of the ruins in the top picture, I was able to find out that they are located near the city of Limassol and used to a beautiful Temple of Apollo. Apollo Hylates, God of the Woodland, was the protector of the city of Kourion. The cult of Apollo was celebrated here from the eighth century B.C. to the A.D. fourth century. The second picture might be from the ancient Roman city of Salamis in the northern (Turkish) part of Cyprus. Legend has it that one of the heroes of Trojan war, Teucer, built the city and it became the capital of Cyprus as long ago as 1100 BC. The ruins that remain are from the Roman period. Salamis was a very important economic center. The Romans built a lot of buildings with beautiful colorful decorations and columns. Later, the city became base for the early Christianity, as Apostle Barnabas lived and died there. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the location of the third picture. Maybe, one day I could visit Cyprus and find out for myself? I sure hope so!

View Larger Map

London, England

Through the geography Round Robin, comes this beautiful multiview card with famous sites of London. Wonderful card and amazing views!!!

View Larger Map