Karadag. The Karagach mountain

Postcard ID: UA-865570
Country: Ukraine

Kara-Dag is mining and volcanic massive on the territory of Crimea, on the Black Sea. Maximum Height is 577 m. Title Karadag is translated from Turkish and Crimean Tatar languages ​​into Russian as "black mountain".

There is a legend about a "Karadag monster" that lives in the sea at the foot of.

Here is one stamp:

and once more:

The last one is about the first star of Russian silent cinema - Vera Kholodnaya. Only five of her films still exist and the total number she acted in is unknown, with speculation ranging between fifty and one hundred.

Memorial Hall of Founding of Yilan Administration in Taiwan

Postcard ID: TW-1079798
Country: Taiwan

Yilan, officially known as Yilan City, historically spelled Ilan or I-lan, is a city and the county seat of Yilan County, Taiwan. The city lies on the north side of the Lanyang River. The Yilan Plain in which the city is located was originally known as the Kapsulan Plain or the Komalan Plain. These names, as well as that of Yilan itself, were given to the sites by the Kavalan tribe of Taiwanese aborigines. Later arrivals included Han Chinese settlers during the Qing Dynasty in China (1802) and settlers from Okinawa during Taiwan's period of Japanese rule (1895-1945).
Area: 29.40 km²
Population: 94,188 people (2004).

Memorial Hall of Founding of Yilan Administration is one from tourist attractions.

Oat cookies

Postcard ID: UA-868183
Country: Ukraine

Do you like oat cookies? I like.

The main ingredients of the dough are oats, flour, butter (or margarine), egg and spices (often vanilla or substitutes, and cinnamon). Cookies are molded from the dough, spreaded on a baking sheet and baked.The composition of the test may include walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, chocolate, honey. Sometimes cookies are made with fillers - such as jam .Cookies usually has a rounded shape.

Yummy-yammy!

The stamp is so colourful!

Life is so cool :)

Postcard ID: DE-2704553
Country: Germany

This card looks so simple, however this is really positive :) I love ice-cream and everything is so cool now :)

Here is the German stamp:

Illustration by Fiep Westendorp

Postcard ID: NL-2203925
Country: Netherlands

Sophia Maria "Fiep" Westendorp was a Dutch illustrator who became especially popular due to her long-term collaboration with writer Annie M.G. Schmidt. Three generations of Dutch people have grown up with her illustrations. The drawings she made for Jip en Janneke, a series of stories which ran in Dutch newspaper Het Parool from 1953 to 1957, now adorn a variety of items sold by Dutch department store HEMA. Since the regular Dutch awards for illustrations always eluded her, she was given a unique award for her entire oeuvre in 1997. Since 2007, the University of Amsterdam have an endowed chair for illustration in Westendorp's honor.

Happy New year!

Postcard ID: FI-1957714
Country: Finland

Here is one more card about winter and New Year. All these cards bring me happy mood and expectation of something good :)

Wish you all the best in upcoming New Year -2014!

Here is boy with trees from postcrossing stamp:

Children on a sled by Josef Lada

Postcard ID: CZ-364317
Country: Czech Republic

This is one more card with winter theme. It's painted by Czech artist Josef Lada.

Josef Lada was a Czech painter and writer.

He is best known as the illustrator of Jaroslav Hašek's World War One novel The Good Soldier Švejk. He produced nearly 600 cartoons of the Švejk characters, depicting Austria-Hungary officers and civil servants as incompetent, abusive and often drunk. All subsequent editions of Švejk used Lada's illustrations, except for the 2008/2009 Czech edition illustrated by Petr Urban.

Born in the small village of Hrusice in a cobbler's family, he went to Prague at the age of 14 to become an apprentice binder. He loved to draw and paint. Entirely self-taught, he created his own style as a caricaturist for newspapers, and later as an illustrator. He wrote and illustrated the adventures of Mikeš, a little black cat who could talk.

Lada produced landscapes, created frescoes and designed costumes for plays and films. Over the years he created a series of paintings and drawings depicting traditional Czech occupations.

He won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis in 1963. The asteroid 17625 Joseflada has been named after Lada.

The Czech stamp is:

Butterflies

Postcard ID: TW-1080225
Country: Taiwan

"No matter where you are, I'm always here for you". I don't know who is author of this quote, however I like it. 

The stamp is great and I think that this is one from the best combination card+stamp. Thanks a lot for this, Mia!

Happy New Year!

Postcard ID: RU-2242689
Country: Russia

New Year is coming... And I've started to receive cards with the appropriate themes. This one was paint by soviet artist V.I. Zarubin and was popular in USSR time. I think that I can try to find similar cards in our home. However I'm really glad to receive a part from my childhood :)

The stamp is also nice:

And I would like to show an envelope from these senders (they are Svetlana and Egorm students from St. Petersburg):

The inscription in the bottom says:  "A butterfly, cactus and chocolate.. You are like it =)". Yes, I like it so much :)

Sexual card from Germany

Postcard ID: DE-2684788
Country: Germany

When I've tried to find any information related to this card, Google said me that I used illegal content :)

So the one thing which I can tell, it's a translation of the quote in the top of the card:

"Sex without Love is better than no sex". Huh, probably it;s true.

Herbal Tea

Postcard ID: RU-2193777
Country: Russia

Tea is one from my favourite drinks during winter season. Also it's the best means to help a body cope with the cold. Now I use tea with lemon and ginger.

Here is the best stamp I've received during last monthes!

Fish. Painter Anton Gorcevich

Postcard ID: UA-826813
Country: Ukraine

This strange fish with trees on its back is painted by Russian painter Anton Gorcevich.

Anton was born on August 16, 1974, in Smolensk. In 1990 he moved to Tver and graduated to the Venezianov art college.
Since 2004 Anton is a member of Assosiation of Free Artists of St.Petersburg. The artist's personal exhibitions were held in Smolensk, Tver, St.Petersburg and in the State Duma of The Russian Federation.
Anton works in different genres, but prefers fantasy.

Here is one more Ukrainian stamp:

Cat and fish

Postcard ID: DE-2618384
Country: Germany

When I received this card I found it really funny :)

Now I've tried to search this picture with better quality (as my scanner is not good enough) and saw that this picture was used in Wiskas advertisement :)

Arizona, USA

Postcard ID: US-2496240

Country: USA

Here is the description from the backside of the card:

Arizona became the 48th state on February 1912, and is the sixth largest state in the U.S. at 114,006 square miles. The statealso carries the distinction of leading the  nation in copper production.

I think that this is absolutely amazing card. I'm so happy to receive this one!

Here is the flag from the back side...

...and the stamp:

Jip and Janneke

Postcard ID: NL-2177420

Country: Netherlands

Jip and Janneke is a series of children's books in the Netherlands, written by Annie M.G. Schmidt and illustrated by Fiep Westendorp.

The series was originally written for Het Parool. Between 13 September 1952 and 7 September 1957 a weekly episode of no more than 250 words was published. Each episode is an independent story in itself. The stories were later collected and published as books.

I like this series of cards and already have a few postcards with Jip and Janneke.

Here is the Dutch stamp:

Winter Is Coming

Postcard ID: RU-2155633
Country: Russia

Winter is coming to our country. I like this season of a year despite the cold. Of course, a snowman is one from the most known symbols of winter. I like to make snowmen, or build a castle from snow, or playing snowball with friends. Or just ride with ice slide :)

Now I wait for many cards relating to winter or New Year themes.

Here is the Russian stamp:

Ayora, Valencia, Spain

Postcard ID: ES-259365
Country: Spain

Ayora is a municipality in the comarca of Valle de Ayora in the Valencian Community, Spain. It lies in the inland part of the Valencian Community on the border of the provinces of Albacete and Alicante.

The Valley of Ayora runs between the mountain ranges of Sierra Palomera and Mugrón to the west, and Cortes de Pallás and the Caroig Peak. Its landscape consists of numerous forest tracks crossing the valleys and bordering the mountains. It contains a number of tourist attractions: the Cave of Don Juan, the Ayora Castle, the Parish church of Our Lady of the Ascension, Hermitages, the Iberian town of the Castellar of Meca, Cave paintings (Cave La Vieja), La Hunde and the rivers Cabriel and Júcar. The region contains a rich variety of fauna and flora and resembles a typical landscape of inland Mediterranean zones.

Here are the Spanish stamps:

Chocolate is the new black

Postcard ID: LT-333011, EE-180568
Country: Lithuania, Estonia

Chocolate is my religion :)

Most of all I like milk chocolate, however I know that black chocolate is more useful.

As you see this card came to me from Lithuania. I love their chocolate Pergale. Recommend it!

As I received one more copy of this card, but from another country, here are some amazing additional stamps from Estonia:

Colourful emotions

Postcard ID: UA-840452
Country: Ukraine

Do you go for a walk on the rainbow with me?
I love all colourful things, especially in grey seasons of a year. This autumn was so beautiful, trees have an amazing view! However now here is boring...
So this card has been really appreciated by me :)

Wish you all who reads this post, colourful mood! :)

Look at beautiful Ukrainian stamps:

Grand Bazaar, Istanbul, Turkey

Postcard ID: TR-151534
Country: Turkey

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. The Grand Bazaar is located inside the walled city of Istanbul, in the district of Fatih. 

Today the Grand Bazaar is a thriving complex, employing 26,000 people, and one of the major landmarks of Istanbul. It must fight the competition of the giant malls built everywhere in Istanbul, but its beauty and fascination represent a formidable advantage for it. According to the head of the Grand Bazaar Artisans Association, the complex has been in 2011 - the year of its 550th birthday - the most visited monument in the world. A restoration project starting in 2012 should renew its infrastructure, heating and lighting systems. Moreover, the Hans inside the Market will be renovated and later additions will be demolished.

The Grand Bazaar is opened each day except Sundays and bank holidays from 9:00 until 19:00.

Storm at Creac'h Point

Postcard ID: FR-331264
Country: France

Here is in Belarus we don't have access to the sea. So we don't see it at the storm or calm. However postcrossing helps to know more about things which I don't see during my everyday life.

I think this is very beautiful card. And I would like to meet with a lighthouse keeper :)

Here is the French stamp:

A butterfly with poem written by A. Fet

Postcard ID: RU-1987930
Country: Russia

Butterflies are my passion :)
The poem on this card was written by Russian poet Afanasy Fet:

You're right. An outline of the air
I'm so sweet.
My whole velvet with him alive by blinking -
Only two wings.

Do not ask: Where did?
Why rush?
Here I light the flower down
And now - breathe.

For how long, without purpose, without any effort
I want to breathe?
That's it now, flashing, Raskin wings
And fly away.

Camels

Postcard ID: CN-1040995
Country: China

I have never seen camels in real life. However postcrossing helps me to see these animals on the pictures :)
I don't know if calms live in China (probably not), but here is in Belarus we can find them inly in zoo.

By the way, did you know that camel is a symbol of the Perl programming language?

Also the sender used sooo many wonderful stamps (without camels :)):

Finnish sweets

Postcard ID: FI-1858053
Country: Finland

Sweets, sweets, sweets! After wedding (which was 4 October) we still have some boxes of chocolate. However chocolate is never too much!

Especially, when in the back side you can see amazing Moomins family

Aaaand wonderful Postcrossing stamp!