Postcards from every corner of the world (kind of)

Let's enjoy...

There are various swaps on the Postcrossing forum

and this one caught my eye, "Free (NOT ad) card swap".

I have several free cards, so I wanted to give it a try.

This card landed in my mailbox from China

Stamp:

Jing tai lan series:

set of 6, 2013

“Jing Tai Lan (the Chinese for cloisonné) is a unique form of art with the combination of sculpture, painting, copper smithing and porcelain making. “Jing Tai” being the name of a Ming Dynasty emperor during whose reign mass production of such articles began. And “Lan” means blue, which is the background color of Jing Tai Lan in most cases. Cloisonné enamel techniques were brought from Persia into China’s Yunnan Province during the Yuan Dynasty. These were improved during the Ming Dynasty by incorporating them with some of the traditional techniques for metal inlaying and porcelain making, which eventually gave birth to a new kind of cloisonné called Jing Tai Lan.”

Holiday postcard from the Netherlands, Julianadorp

A sweet cat card from Portugal!

 

Loppem Castle, Belgium

Since it is open to the public, I hope to visit

it some day. 

Queen Astrid from Belgium

born 1905, sadly passed away in a car accident 1935

View on the spa at Rogaska Slatina, Slovenia

Rogaška Slatina is a synonym for health-resort tourism in Slovenia. For centuries the curative mineral water rich in magnesium (branded as Donat Mg), the picturesque countryside, and other local attractions have attracted visitors to the area. Roman inscriptions referring to the spa waters have been found. The spa’s true prosperity starts in the second half of 19th century, when this fashionable tourist destination was visited by imperial families and nobility from all of Europe. Today it advertises to be the “only spa in Slovenia which focuses on disease prevention, continued treatment and the rehabilitation of patients with diseases of the digestive system.”

Lesser kestrel

set of 5, 2014

 The cards which arrived with this stamp are already decorating the door, 

but I can't not show it. 

Europa stamp Austria, 2015

Old toys

Stamps, what else?

Yes! After a very long time, finally a stamp post again!

Slovenia

"Coats of arms of the nobility"

(2014, set of 5) 

Several noble families of the highest rank lived and worked in the lands that

 make up present-day Slovenia and played an important role not only locally 

but also at the imperial level. The coat of arms was one of the most important attributes 

of every noble family; it was the badge by which the family was identified. 

Coats of arms frequently reflected the name of the family and its history.

Germany

Top:

stamp commemorating German Unity Day

(2015)

Bottom right:

The Ishtar Gate was the Eighth Gate to the Inner City of Babylon

Bottom left:

Issued to commemorate the 100-year 

Anniversary of the discovery of the Nefertiti Bust

(both 2013)

Poland

Minisheet about Witkacy

(2015)

Horses

(1989, set of 6)

That was all for this one! What do you think? 

Happy mailbox, happy me

I did several swaps again and here are the results.

I got so many nice cards and stamps that I put the latter in 

a separate post. 

So lets get started!

The first two postcards you see here 

I received from Slovenia for the 

"your language" swap. 

This card came from Poland with a nice view on

Czartoryski Palace in Pulawy 

This card came from a German swapper but,

as you can see, this is a beautiful view on Hohensalzburg Castle

and Nonnberg Abbey, Salzburg, Austria

And to end with, this card from Midland, Texas, U.S.A.

Not from a swap but from my kind pen-friend who lives there.

From the back:

In 1880, the Texas Pacific Railroad began to lay tracks 

westward from Fort Worth at about the same time that 

the Soutern Pacific began building east from El Paso.

The place where the tracks met bacame known as Midway. 

Later, the name was changed to Midland when it was discovered 

that there was another Texas town by the same name. 

The Parmian Basin, of which Midland is the geographic center, 

is said to contain 25% of the nation's reserves. 

Salty stamp from Slovenia

Zicht op Bled eiland

View on Bled island

A new issue in the Fauna series by Posta Slovenije shows four characteristic denizens of the Slovenian sea: Damselfish (Chromis chromis), Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), Common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) and Golden grey mullet (Liza aurata) stamp in miniature sheet.

The stamps were printed using a very special thermography technique, and Posta Slovenije is proud to be the first national postal service to issue stamps on which part of the design is covered with real salt from the Piranske Soline saltworks.

Writing postcards to and receiving postcards from children

Deze keer niet van Taiwan, maar van Slovenië. Kinderen iets leren via postkaartjes is een geweldig idee en ik wil altijd helpen wanneer ik dat kan. Deze mooie viewkaart komt van de 10 jaar oude Tim.

This time not from Taiwan, but from Slovenia. Teaching children something through postcards is a great idea and I'm always ready to help when I can. This nice viewcard is sent by the 10 year old Tim.