St. Marco Wharf - The Dawn

This is one more card sent to me by Oxana from Venice. Now for me this city looks like romantic place. The city of a dream.

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.

The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. The city historically was the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini described it in The New York Times as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.

The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain, and spice) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history.It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period. Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.

Here is an Italian stamp:

Pula, Croatia

Today I'd like to tell about postcards sent to me my best friend Oxana from Chisinau. She with her husband Vova had a trip last month and sent to me some postcards from these places.
Now me and my husband think about Croatia like a place for our September trip (we also think about some different countries and cannot choose one).

Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula. Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing, shipbuilding, and tourism. Pula has also been Istria's administrative centre since ancient Roman times.

Here is a nice black stamp:

Jip and Janneke by Fiep Westendorp

Postcard ID: GB-552485
Country: United Kingdom

When I saw this postcard in my mailbox, I was sure that this card came to from Netherlands. But no! This is the postcard from United Kingdom :)

It was sent to me by a woman that is Dutch but live in England. Manon grew up with lots of books illustrated by Fiep Westendorp. By the way, I've known about this author due to postcrossing activity :)

Two children from this card are Jip and Janneke. Every Dutch child knows them :)

Here is a UK stamp:

Alaskan brown bears with cubs

Postcard ID: US-2815879
Country: USA

These bears look so nice and cute, however I don't want to meet them in the forest. Brown bears live not only in Alaska ;)

The brown bear, which is distributed throughout  the northern hemisphere, includes several subspecies. In North America, these subspecies include the Mexican brown bear, the grizzly bear, and the Alaskan brown bear. Alaskan brown bears are found in coastal areas where salmon is the primary food source. Brown bears found inland are called grizzly bears. Brown bears have been known to live 34 years in the wild, although this is rare. Old females may live to 26 years of age. In comparison to the black bear, the brown bear is usually larger, has a more prominent shoulder hump, and has longer, straighter claws. The long claws are useful in digging for roots or excavating the burrows of small mammals. The musculature and bone structure of the hump are adaptations for  digging and for attaining the bursts of speed necessary to capture moose or caribou. 

Brown bears have an especially good sense of smell, and under the right conditions they may be able to detect odors more than a mile away. 

Here is a nice almost programmer stamp:

Butterfly Common Leopard flew from India

Postcard ID: IN-101808
Country: India

Yeah, it's my first card from India! With my lovely butterfly! these creations look great in real life, on paintings or ad cards. Amazingly.

Common Leopard (Phalanta phalantha) is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of 50–55 mm with a tawny colour and marked with black spots. It's sun loving seen in the plains, gardens and edges of clearings. Has active and sharp flight movements. 

The butterfly is found in Sub-saharan Africa and Southern Asia (including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Burma) in a number of subspecies.

As usual here are new stamp from new country!

The Gallery of 1812. 1826; 1838-39 in Hermitage, Russia

Postcard ID: RU-2761695
Country: Russia

I like museums. It seems that time stops there. Also it's a great chance to touch History.

When I was in St.-Petersburg I had no much time to visit Hermitage, but I'll return to visit it one day!

The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been open to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise over three million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya and the eastern wing of the General Staff Building are also part of the museum. The museum has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a federal state property. Since 1990, the director of the museum has been Mikhail Piotrovsky.

Door mail boxes, Portugal

Postcard ID: PT-363613
Country: Portugal

This is a real 'post' theme! Oh, would like to have a mail box like anyone from these. But now I only have standard mailbox on the first floor of our multi-storey building. Once, I'll have an own house... :)

By the way, this card also contains a poem (in Portuguese and English!):

This is not my love, 

It's another one much smaller, 

That I summoned from Oporto 

In the wings of a little bird

(c)Eugenio de Andrade

As usual Portuguese postcard has interesting stamps:

Ottawa, Canada

Postcard ID: CA-443562
Country: Canada

This card shows an aerial view of the Parliament Buildings at night with the Chateau Laurier on the right.

The Fairmont Château Laurier is a 660,000-square-foot hotel with 429 guest rooms in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive and designed in the French Gothic Châteauesque style to complement the adjacent Parliament buildings. The hotel is above the Rideau Canal locks and overlooks the Ottawa River. The main dining room (now the Laurier Room) overlooks Major’s Hill Park. The reception rooms include the Wedgewood-blue Adam Room; the Laurier Room defined by Roman columns; the Empire-style ballroom and the Drawing Room featuring cream and gold plaster ornament. The hotel was designated a national historic site in 1980.

Also I see here an interesting stamp. It's not a real stamp that sticked on the postcard, but printed image that says that postage paid:

Salt Lake city, USA

Postcard ID: US-2830672
Country: USA

I received a postcard from the city that is associated for me winter Olympic games :)

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city in the state of Utah.

The city was founded in 1847 by Brigham Young, Isaac Morley, George Washington Bradley and several other Mormon followers, who extensively irrigated and cultivated the arid valley. Due to its proximity to the Great Salt Lake, the city was originally named "Great Salt Lake City"—the word "great" was dropped from the official name in 1868 by the 17th Utah Territorial Legislature. Although Salt Lake City is still home to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), less than half the population of Salt Lake City proper are members of the LDS Church today.

Immigration of international LDS members, mining booms, and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad initially brought economic growth, and the city was nicknamed the Crossroads of the West. It was traversed by the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway, in 1913, and presently two major cross-country freeways, I-15 and I-80, intersect in the city. Salt Lake City has since developed a strong outdoor recreation tourist industry based primarily on skiing, and hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. It is the industrial banking center of the United States

Cat by Ekaterina Chuikova

Postcard ID: RU-2761697
Country: Russia

It looks that I discovered modern artists for last 2 years more than for my previous life :) everything happens due to postcrossing :)

This cat is so nice, cute, funny! When I found a bio of its author it was so interesting to read. Bio is written in English, so I didn't described it here. Go to the Katja's site, read her bio and see her another works ;) especially. if you like cats!

In addition I show a Russian stamp:

Krakow, Poland

Postcard ID: PL-721378
Country: Poland

I've noticed that this is the 3rd postcard about Krakow from 4th that described in this blog :) I think that this is a sign to visit this city as soon as possible to see all objects listed on this card :)

By the way the girls says that she  has found here the love of her live. Someone finds love in Krakow, someone in Chisinau...)

Gossips by Maria Galybina

Postcard ID: RU-2756640
Country: Russia

The last year I have started to like owls :) as butterflies they are on the postcards, bags, bijou and so on. Owls from this card are cute and awesome. These owls are painted by Russian artist Maria Galybina. I haven't found her bio, but found her Portfolio and instagram :) now I want to receive more her card. They look so tender.

Olympic games finished, however stamps are still existing on the cards:

Music on the rocks

Postcard ID: MY-145361
Country: Malaysia

A sender said that this postcard looks like true vintage. And I agree with her. 

In my schooltime I had a cassette player and I listened to different Russin pop music, huh :). At home we had tape recorder and periodically I recorded songs from broadcast. Ohh... there is so nice memory. Now all these devices at village with my grandparents. Among with player with the music records.

Uithoorn, Netherlands

Postcard ID: NL-2505504
Country: Netherlands

This postcard shows me a new (for me) city in Netherlands - Uithoorn. On postcard it looks like calm and beauty city. The sender lives there (it's about 20km from Amsterdam).

Uithoorn is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.

Also this card has an amazing set of stamps:

Ta-da-da-dam! A stamp issued for 2014 World Cup (I so wanted to receive postcard with this stamp)!

Coffee set by Katika

Postcard ID: RU-2765085
Country: Russia

This postcard was painted by a sender Katya! This card is one piece of her "Coffee set" series of pictures. You can find more her works in this blog. Nope, this is not advertisement, I just like any creative people :)

So, this postcard is simple and beauty. I had similar coffee set in my childhood :)

Lubecker Town Hall, Germany

Postcard ID: DE-3216062
Country: Germany

Here is an amazing Town Hall that is included in UNESCO World Heritage. When I see postcards like this one I want to visit this place immediately :)

Lübeck Town Hall is one of the most beautiful town halls in Germany. From 1230, three gabled houses were constructed on the marketplace and extended over the next few centuries to ultimately create the Hansesaal (Hanseatic Hall) for meetings and the Danzelhus (Dance Hall) for social meetings.
Its interior boasts a grand audience hall: the doors to this former courtroom have different heights. Acquitted defendants were allowed to leave the hall via the tall door, sentenced defendants had to remove their hats and leave via the low door.

Krnov, Czech Republic

Postcard ID: Krnov
Country: Czech Republic

Again and again I discover my lovely Czech Republic trought postcrossing. This time I've known about Krnov city.

Krnov is an Upper Silesian town in the northeastern Czech Republic, in the Moravian-Silesian Region, the District of Bruntál, on the Opava River, near the Polish border.

An industrial center of the Upper-Silesian region, it manufactures textiles (especially woolens), beverages (including the most popular Czech soft drink Kofola) and musical instruments (notably organs and guitars). It is also a summer resort and a winter sport area with close access to the Jeseníky Mountains, the second-highest mountain range in the country. The city was founded in 1221 and served as the capital of an independent duchy from 1377 to 1523. Krnov has an 18th-century castle, several churches and abbeys as well as a lookout tower from 1903. The Krnov Synagogue is one of the few large synagogues to have survived the Nazi occupation of Europe.

On the stamp you can see botanist Gregor Mendel:

Black butterfly on Lilac

Postcard ID: DE-2278370
Country: Germany

Here are one more beautiful butterfly to my collection and Lilac as wonderful memory about spring. Aftre googling I found that name of black butterfly is used by  American hard rock band Buckcherry for their fourth studio album. However I've not listened to hard rock music :)

Also here is a nice and cute stamp:

Skoenlapper

Postcard ID: DE-3224280
Country: Germany

I like really not a big number of handmade cards. And this one is a good example of great handmade for me, Firstly, it's a butterfly. I always like postcards with them. Secondary, it looks amazing. I understand how it's difficult to draw this card for me and looking after the 2 little boys. Thirdly, now I've known how butterfly is translated into Afrikaans!

'You do not need to be great to start' by Victoria Kirdiy

Postcard ID: RU-2727885
Country: Russia

This is my 6th received postcard painted by Victoria Kirdiy. However in this blog I have only 2 described cards that can be find by tag Victoria Kirdiy (ohh, I haven't described almost 200 postcards yet).

Postcards and other artworks made by V. Kirdiy give so many kindness and happiness. I love them all for that.

The backside as usual contains a motivating inscription:

You do not need to be great to start. You just need to start to become a great

Also on the backside I found amazing stamps related to Olympic games in Sochi:

Horsewoman by Igor Filippov

Postcard ID: UA-1068198
Country: Russia, Ukraine

It was really surprise to find this card in an envelope with beautiful stickers.

I am not a fan of contemporary art. For me this card would be better without horsewoman, but with Eiffel tower :)

Igor Filippov is Russian artist, who was born in 1961 in Sevastopol. He graduated from Sevastopol children's art school and later studied at St. Petersburg on the art-graphic faculty of Pedagogical University.

He has lived and worked abroad, primarily in Scandinavia. In 2008 he showed interesting exhibition by Scandinavian, Russian legends and myths of the Soviet era at the Ukrainian/Russian gallery "Green Pyramid".

Each of  paintings "Trip to Paris" is a small story about Paris, the city of love and dreams, a city familiar and unexpected. Each person has his own Paris. This card shows Paris of Igor Filippov.

Birches

Postcard ID: FI-1777020
Country: Finland

The sender wrote that this is the typical Finnish summer. However when I found this card in my mailbox I thought that ths came to me from Russia. In my mind birch is absolutely Russian tree :)

Birch is a broadleaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus Betula in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams, and is closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The genus Betula contains 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on the IUCN 2011 Red List of Threatened Species. They are typically rather short-lived pioneer species widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in northern temperate and boreal climates. This tree is sometimes called "The Watchful Tree" because of eye-like impressions on the bark.

Shaun the Sheep

Postcard ID: DE-3158181
Country: Germany

I've never heard before about this animated film. So, postcrossing again and again helps me to discover the world around us :)

Shaun the Sheep is a British stop-motion animated spin-off of the Wallace and Gromit franchise, starring the sheep character of the same name from A Close Shave. The show follows Shaun, now the leader of his flock, on madcap adventures around a small farm. It first aired in the UK on CBBC in March 2007 and has been broadcast in 180 countries around the world. It currently consists of 120 seven-minute episodes and is in its fourth series.

The show has also inspired its own spin-off, Timmy Time, which follows the adventures of Shaun's small cousin and is aimed at younger viewers. A feature-length film based on Shaun the Sheep is scheduled to be released in 2015.

Here is one more German stamp:

"Magu Tu" brand for cotton cloth products type

Postcard ID: CN-972332
Country: China

Backside of this card said that this is a trade mark for cotton clothes, but I cannot find any useful information about this. So, for me it's a beautiful Chinese postcard, in corresponding style. Everything as I like :)

By the way I like cotton clothes, especially during warm summer time. And I can be upset if I see amazing dress from my dreams, but with inscription "100% viscose". Yes, I am choosy :)

View of Tallinn

Postcard ID: EE-158276
Country: Estonia

I've received some really nice views from Tallinn and this is one of them. I know that Tallinn is a beautiful city and we're planning to make a Baltic trip across Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, maybe by sea :)

Tallinn (/ˈtɑːlɪn/ or /ˈtælɪn/,[3][4] Estonian pronunciation: [ˈtɑlʲˑinˑ]) is the capital and largest city of Estonia.

Tallinn occupies an area of 159.2 km2 and has a population of 431,184. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, 80 km south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is ranked as a global city and has been listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world. The city was a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku in Finland.

Here is an amazing sharped stamp with Estonian flag:

Costume design by Erte for a gypsy dancer

Postcard ID: US-2813306
Country: USA

To be honest I said that have never heard about Erte and his works. However once I received this postcard I started to search information to make a post. I was really wonder that this cards was painted by a man, a Russian man. And he has many beautiful works! And he has big influence on the fashion in the beginning of XX century

Romain de Tirtoff was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté, from the French pronunciation of his initials. He was a diversely talented 20th-century artist and designer who flourished in an array of fields, including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, costume and set design for film, theatre, and opera, and interior decor.

Tenderness

Postcard ID: LT-307083
Country: Lithuania

This is a postcard that shows ideal spring/summer morning. A cup of coffee (in my case - tea), chocolate and music are great way to start a day with positive mood. I like all postcard with this theme, as we say here "vanilla themes".

On this card I really like post stamp. Belarus in different period of times was a part of Lithuania, then Poland, then Russia. So we have many common symbols, events, people. And this stamp is like reminder for me: we are one. 

1410 year - The Battle of Grunwald, was my examination question on the History of Belarus courses on my school exams :)

Illustration by Shiho Enta

Postcard ID: JP-539243
Country: Japan

This is so romantic and beautiful card came to me from Sawako. I like Japanese culture, however my husband is a real fan :)

So, we both really appreciate it.

Shiho Enta was born in Akita Prefecture in 1979. She graduated from the Faculty of Education and Culture of Akita University. After graduation, Shiho Enta worked as a teacher for three years, and in 2005, she got married and moved to Saitama Prefecture. After that, the artist started taking on illustration jobs little by little.

Her job until has mostly consisted of book covers for the bigger part, manga, illustrations, and others. Shiho Enta also covers a lot of genres, from common literature to children’s books and light novels.

Here is a postcard stamp and amazing scotch tape with butterflies: