Asti

Asti is a city and comune of c. 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed to be the modern capital of Monferrato (Montferrat in English).

The Collegiata di San Secondo (13th century) in the old medieval centre next to the Palazzo Civico. Its name refers toSecundus of Asti, the city's patron saint. The crypt is from the 6th century. The façade has three notable Gothic portals, while the interior houses a polyptych by Gandolfino d'Asti and other works.

Lviv

The stormy and extremely interesting history of the unique Ukrainian city Lviv is seven and a half centuries long. Lviv emerged in mid-13th century as the capital of a powerful Eastern European state – the Halychyna-Volyn Principality. Owing to its unique geographical location at the intersection of the main trade routes between the West and the East, in the 15th-17th centuries Lviv became the leading trade centre of the Eastern Europe and the largest city in Ukraine. Having spent half of a millennium in the European cultural space, the city turned into a genuine architectural gem, a centre of book printing, crafts and arts.

In the 18th-20th centuries Lviv as a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire became known as the city of technical innovations. For instance, kerosene and the kerosene lamp were invented here. In early 20th century Lviv became the capital of the third largest oil producing region after the USA and Russia. Lviv spent the period between 1939 and 1991 under the reign of totalitarian Soviet Union. From the first days of Ukraine’s independence Lviv obtained the status of the cultural and spiritual capital of the Ukrainian state. 

In 2004 Lviv acted as the principal social catalyst of the democratic Orange Revolution. Quite recently, in 2006, Lviv celebrated its 750th birthday.

World Heritage Committee in Kyoto (Japan), Lviv was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The following reasons for the inclusion of Lviv in the World Heritage List and the compliance with the following UNESCO criteria were named:

Criterion Р С’: In its urban fabric and architecture, Lviv is an outstanding example of the fusion of Eastern Europe architectural and artistic traditions with those of Italy and Germany;

Criterion B: The political and commercial role of Lviv attracted to the city a number of ethnic groups with different cultural and religious traditions, who established separate yet interdependent communities within the city, evidence for which is still discernible in the modern townscape.

The territory of the Lviv Historic Centre Ensemble covers 120 ha of the Old Russ and Medieval part of the city, as well as the territory of the St. George’s Cathedral on the St. George’s Hill. The buffer area of the Historic Centre, which is defined by the historic area bounds, is approximately 3,000 h

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County. The first known written record of Vilnius as the Lithuanian capital is know form Gediminas' letters in 1323.

The name of the city originated from the Vilnia River. The city has also been known by many derivate spellings in various languages throughout its history. The most notable non-Lithuanian names for the city include: Polish: Wilno, Belarusian: Вiльнюс, Вiльня, German: Wilna, Latvian: Viļņa, Russian: Вильнюс, Yiddish: ווילנע (Vilne). An older Russian name was Вильна/Вильно (Vilna/Vilno), although Вильнюс (Vilnius) is now used. The names Wilno, Wilna and Vilna have also been used in older English, German, French and Italian language publications. The name Vilna (וילנה) is still used in Finnish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Hebrew (from here). 

Fragment of the Old City

The Old Town of Vilnius (Lithuanian: Vilniaus senamiestis), one of the largest surviving medieval old towns in Northern Europe, has an area of 3.59 square kilometres (887 acres). It encompasses 74 quarters, with 70 streets and lanes numbering 1487 buildings with a total floor area of 1,497,000 square meters. The oldest part of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, it has developed over the course of many centuries, and has been shaped by the city's history and a constantly changing cultural influence. It is a place where some of Europe's greatest architectural styles - gothic, renaissance, baroque and neoclassical - stand side by side and complement each other.

Pilies Street is the Old Town's main artery and the hub of cafe and street market life. The main street of Vilnius, Gediminas Avenue, is partially located in the Old Town. The central squares in the Old Town are the Cathedral Square and the Town Hall Square.

One of the most elaborate architectural complexes is the Vilnius University Architectural Ensemble, which occupies a large part of the Old Town and has 13 courtyards. It was selected to represent Lithuania in the Mini-Europe Park in Brussels.

In 1994 the Vilnius Old Town was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List (No. 541) in recognition of its universal value and originality. The definition of "historic center" itself has a broader meaning than the Old Town, formerly encircled with defensive walls. It embraces the valuable historical suburbs of Vilnius, such as Užupis, which historically used to be outside the city boundaries. Therefore Užupis is often considered a part of the Old Town of Vilnius (from here). 

Peaks of Europe

This postcard came to me from Spain. 

The Picos de Europa (English: "Peaks of Europe", often abbreviated to the Picos) is a range of mountains 20 km inland from the northern coast of Spain, located in the Autonomous Communities of Asturias, Cantabria and Castile and León, forming part of the Cantabrian Mountains. The most widely accepted origin for the name is that they were the first sight of Europe for ships arriving from the Americas.

The Lakes of Covadonga (el. 1134 m.) are of two glacial lakes located on the region of Asturias, Spain. These lakes, usually also called Lakes of Enol, are Lake Enol and Lake Ercina located in the Picos de Europa range and they are the original center of the Picos de Europa National Park, created in 1918.

Summer's time

This postcard I receive from Johanna. She lives in Bielefeld on Germany.

Both of us, loves summer, holidays and sea:) And she and I have access to the Baltic Sea:). Her profession will be common with children so...it's obviously why she sent me this summer card :)

Picture from Findland

This postcard I have received from Anne. She lives in Finland.

The postcard shows a illustration by Rudolf Koivu (1890 - 1946). He was a Finnish illustrator and painter, best known for illustrating books of fairytales for children, which are enduringly and timelessly popular.

Krtek

This postcard I have got from Miroslav, from Czech Republic.

The Mole (in the Czech original called Krtek, or Krteček (little mole); Slovak Krtko; German Der kleine Maulwurf; Hungarian Kisvakond; Polish Krecik; Finnish Myyrä) is an animated character in a series of cartoons, created by Czech animator Zdeněk Miler.

It was first to be seen in 1956 in Prague, when Miler wanted to create a children's cartoon about how flax is processed. He wanted a strong Disney-influence to the cartoon by choosing an animal for the leading role, and decided to pick a mole after stumbling over a molehill during a walk. The first film called “Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel” (“How the mole got his pants”) was released in 1956, and the cute main character won itself an enormous popularity in many Eastern European countries as well as Germany, Austria, India and China. Production for further episodes started in 1963 and since then, around 50 episodes have been created.

The first episode of the cartoon was narrated, but Miler wanted the cartoon to be understood in every country of the world, so he decided to use his daughters as voice actors, reducing the speech to short non-figurative exclamations in order to express the mole’s feelings and world perception. They also became the bottleneck of the creation process as they were the ones who got to see the whole film first, thus Miler was able to decide whether the message of the movie was able to get to children or not (from here).

When I was younger it was one of my favourites cartoon. Well…still I spend a great time when I watch it or on TV or on youtube (for example from here).

Blackberries

Finally I have got a postcard. Today I opened my mailbox and I found this tasty card inside :)

The postcard came to me from The Netherlands from Natalie. It showed a painting by Margaret Tarrant (1888 -  1959). She was a daughter of the artist Percy Tarrant, trained at Clapham School of Art and at Heartherley's. She worked in watercolour, painted figurative subjects, landscapes and wild flowers, but is best know for her illustrations for children's book an designs for cards. much of her painting was inspired by the Surrey countryside, where she lived, but also travelled abroad gathering material for her work.

Greetings from the mountains :)

This postcard I receive from one of my good Polish friends  - Ania :). She and her family were in Muszyna on vacation in this year :) Dziękuję Aniu :)

Muszyna is a town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is a railroad junction, located near border with Slovakia, with trains going into three directions - towards Nowy Sącz, Krynica-Zdrój and southwards, to Slovakia. 

New Zealand

First at all I must say: Big thank you to my wonderful friends Marta and her boyfriend to willingness to send me this postcard to expand my postcard's collection :) :)

On this postcard are some national symbols from New Zealand. So we have:

• the fern - Cyathea dealbata, or the silver tree fern or silver fern (kaponga or ponga in the Māori language), is a species of medium-sized tree fern, endemic to New Zealand. It is a symbol commonly associated with the country both overseas and by New Zealanders themselves (they have this plant on their sports uniforms), 
• Paua - Paua is unique to New Zealand. The most colourful species of Abalone. Regarded by New Zealanders past and present as a taonga or treasure. Maori legend has it that paua was a special gift from Tangaroa, the God of The Sea. It is unique to New Zealand, that lives on the rocky shoreline all around the coast, but grows best in the waters of southern NZ. This marine mollusk eats seaweed and lives clinging to rocks at depths of 1-10 meters, normally along the shoreline. Paua Shell is the most colorful of all the abalone shells. Most other abalone are pale in comparison.
• The Pōhutukawa is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display of red flowers made up of a mass of stamens. The Pōhutukawa is one of twelve Metrosideros species endemic to New Zealand. Renowned for its vibrant colour and its ability to survive even perched on rocky, precarious cliffs, it has found an important place in New Zealand culture for its strength and beauty and is regarded as a chiefly tree (rākau rangatira) by Māori. It's Christmas Tree on New Zealand :)  
• Koru is the Maori word for “bight” or “loop” and refers to new shoots of the silver fern. The spiral shaped koru design is derived from this unfolding silver fern frond. The circular movment towards an inner coil refers to ‘going back to the beginning’.  The unfurling frond itself is symbolic for new life, hope, perfection, rebirth, a new start, awakening, personal growth, purity, nurturing, a new phase (in life), the spirit of rejuvenation, and peace. The koru design is an integral symbol in Maori art forms. Both on itself as well as incorporated in more intricate designs.

Here is the post-stamp from the card with....The Pōhutukawa :)

Wat Chaiwatthanaram

My first postcard from Thailand:)

I have got this postcard from Rawiwan. She lives in Ayutthaya. She told me that Thailand also is know as land of Siam Smile. Her city was old capital of Thailand but currently Bangkok is the capital of country. 

The city was founded in 1350 by King U Thong, who went there to escape a smallpox outbreak in Lop Buri and proclaimed it the capital of his kingdom, often referred to as the Ayutthaya kingdom or Siam. It is estimated that Ayutthaya by the year 1600 CE had a population of about 300,000, with the population perhaps reaching 1,000,000 around 1700 CE, making it one of the world’s largest cities at that time. The ruins of the old city now form theAyutthaya historical park, which is recognized internationally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was refounded a few kilometers to the east. The city is sometimes called „Venice of the East”.

This is a Buddhist temple in the city of Ayutthaya, Thailand, on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, outside Ayutthaya island. It is one of Ayutthaya’s most well known temples and a major tourist attraction.

The Wat Chaiwatthanaram structure reflects the Buddhist world view, as it is described already in the Traiphum Phra Ruang, the “three worlds of the King Ruang”, of the 14th century: The big "Prang Prathan" that stands in the centre symbolizes the mountain Meru (Thai: เขาพระสุเมรุ - Khao Phra Sumen), which consists the central axis of the traditional world (Kamaphum - กามภูมิ). Around it lie the four continents (the four small Prangs) that swim in the four directions in the world sea (นทีสีทันดร). On one of the continents, the Chomphutawip (ชมพูทวีป), the humans live. The rectangular passage is the outer border of the world, the "Iron Mountains" (กำแพงจักรวาล).

Greetings from Hannover

This postcard came to me from Hannover. I've receive it as "thank you" card from Michael, who collect postcards with town hall. And because I had one on this theme - we swap some cards:)

Hannover is the capital city of Lower Saxony. On card you can see The Market Church. this building is one of the oldest churches in that town, built in the 13th century and is considered the southernmost exemplar of the "North German brick gothic" (Norddeutsche Backsteingotik) architectural style. It was nearly totally destroyed in World War II, but rebuilt from 1946 until 1952.

The church is a “Hallenkirche” (“hall church”) which means that the sidenaves are as high as the middle nave. Above the three naves rises a monumental saddleback roof. The high western tower was a symbol for the power and the wealth of the citizens of the town. Until today it's one of the largest in Lower-Saxony.

P&L exchange postcards :)

This postcard I have got from Wendy from Holland. Both of us take access in postcard exchanging between penpals :)

This is a typical Dutch postcard. You can see on it flowers, windmill and wooden shoes.

On the way

This postcard came to me from Ludwigshafen, Germany. Ludwigshafen am Rhein is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Ludwigshafen is located on the Rhine opposite Mannheim. Together with Mannheim, Heidelberg and the surrounding region, it forms the Rhine Neckar Area.

Ludwigshafen is known for its chemical industry (BASF). Among its cultural facilities rank the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. Ludwigshafen is the birthplace of the former German chancellor Helmut Kohl and the philosopher Ernst Bloch.

This is nice postcard and it can brings calm on busy and very stressful day J. 

Tranquil, peaceful evenings on the beach

This postcard I have got from Lindsay – the girl who lives in Jacksonville, Florida. Jacksonville is situated on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida. It has the misleading distinction of being the most populous city in the state as measured by the number of residents within the city limits which comprises all of Duval county, but it is in fact the largest city in area in the continental United States. The metropolitan area extends beyond Duval County into Nassau, St. Johns, Baker and Clay counties and has a population of more than 1.25 million people, easily exceeded by Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando.