Finland - Finnish lakes (FI-333552)

This nice card shows the Finnish lakes and ways of spending time there :) There's no further information about it, but the sender wrote some text in Finnish with translation into English, which I really appreciate, because I enjoy reading in languages that I don't understand when I can compare them with one that is understandable for me :)

FI-333552

Germany - Lüneburg Heath map (DE-191745)

I spent the whole day in Germany yesterday (I went there with my friend by train at 5AM and we came back at 11PM), so it was nice to find a German postcard in my mailbox in the evening (with stamps identical with the ones I bought yesterday on German post office) :D
That's already my 2nd card from Lüneburg Heat, but this one is a map card! :) And it helped me to realize that Celle is in that region.
I remember Celle, because I spent there a week on a student exchange, when I was 11 and that was my first trip to Germany. Poland wasn't an EU member then, so it was really something :) Now it's absolutelly different. Yesterday I visited Dresden and Görlitz. I just want to write about Görlitz, because half of this town is in Germany and another half in Poland and the 2 countries are divided by a small river. I've already been there before, but that was also before Poland joined the EU, so you had to have a passport to go to another part of the same town and you were often asked what were you going to do there! Now you an just go through the border bridge (I love border bridges!) ;), of course there's an information that you're entering another country, but people can even swim in the river (I saw children swimming there yesterday) and it's not a problem anymore. It was especially surprising for my Russian friend (that is spending holidays with me now), because she needs a visa to go anywhere. I hope it's going to change someday, too. Isn't that better, when you can just enjoy crossing the border bridge without being asked about anything?

DE-191745

Taiwan - a painting (TW-15211)

That's my first postcard from Taiwan :) Unfortunately, I can't give you any information about it... I know it's a painting... A really beautiful one... And I know that it's from Taiwan Museum of Art... Of course, there's some more information about it, but in Chinese... It's a pity, when I can't read about the postcard. If it's in any of languages written in pne of alphabets that I know (Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew) - there's always a chance to google it. But in this case, the only thing I can do is to put the description of card here. Maybe someone from China or Taiwan will read it and help me to understand something more than just the dates :)

TW-15211

USA - Lake Superior, Michigan

This postcard was a total surprise for me, because I received it from a postcrosser from texas that I've already swapped with :) I just didn't expect another postcard :) The writting "Lake Superior" on this card is quite big, so i couldn't have a doubt that it was a lake, but it looks like a sea :)

Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by Ontario, Canada and Minnesota, United States, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and is the world's third-largest freshwater lake by volume.

Thank you very much, Shirley! :)

Bulgaria - Bourgas, Plovdiv, Sofia, Veliko Turnovo

I received this pretty multiview card in a swap from forum member dj_christina from Bulgaria :) It shows 4 Bulgarian cities - Бургас (Bourgas), Пловдив (Plovdiv), София (Sofia - the capital of Bulgaria) and Велико Търново (Veliko Turnovo).
I've been to Bulgaria once (this year!), but I spent only 3 days in Sofia... Of course it's not enough to say that I know this country, because Sofia is very multicultural (it was interesting to see an Orthodox church, mosque and synagogue in one quarter of the city). I also liked the ancient churches (the church of Sv. Georgi was built in 4th century) that aren't shown on this postcard.
I noticed that most of Bulgarian people (at least in Sofia) speak English much better than Poles, but I wanted to pratise my Bulgarian anyway :) That was difficult, because I'm very shy and I was afraid of making too many mistakes. But I was able to understand them and probably they understood them, so it's not so bad :) I'd like to go Bulgaria again someday, at least to check, if my Bulgarian has already improved :)

Netherlands - Nieuwerkerk aan de IJssel (NL-89073)

This postcard is my 2nd official from the Netherlands :) Yes, I've received only 2 offical cards from the Netherlands so far. What I like about postcrossing is that you never know, where will your postcards come from. Of course, if you join postcrossing - you'll receive many cards from Finland, Germany and USA. But other countries are always a surprise :) For example, I haven't received any card from Portugal, which is a Top5 country, but I already have some officials from quite 'rare' countries, such as Romania or Thailand.

But, let's come back to the Netherlands :)

HämeeNieuwerkerk aan den IJssel (population: 22,344 in 2004) is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland.

It is situated along the Hollandse IJssel river, across from the town Ouderkerk.

Within the boundaries of this municipality lies the lowest point of the Netherlands: 6.76 m (22.2 ft) below Amsterdam Ordnance Datum (mean summer sea level in Amsterdam).

NL-89073

Germany (DE-188050)

This official postcard came from a new postcrosser from Germany :)

My German isn't very good (although Postcrossing helps me to practice it) :), but as far as I know (let me know, if I'm wrong), "Du bist es!" means "You're the one!" or something like that :) I like this kind of postcards. Well, when it comes to so called "rare" countries - I prefer receiving typical view cards. But this one is my 10th official card from German and I'm sure I'll remember it better than some German city views :)

DE-188050

Finland - New Valamo Monastery (FI-327329)

This card is an official one from Finland :) The sender writes that it's the Valamo Monastery of Orthodox Church in Finland and the photo was taken by one of the brothers in Valamo. So, of coruse, I decided to read more about it on Wikipedia :)
I was very surprised, when I searched for Valamo Monastery, because...

The Valaam Monastery, or Valamo Monastery is a stauropegic Orthodox monastery in Russian Karelia, located on Valaam, the largest island in Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe.

Russia?! Well, the postcard was definitely sent from Finland. And there were no writtings in Russian language on it :) Later I found information that there's New Valamo Monastery in Finland and that's where this postcards comes from :)

New Valamo (Uusi Valamo in Finnish) is an Orthodox monastery in Heinävesi, Finland. The monastery was established in 1940, when some 190 monks from Valaam Monastery in Karelia were evacuated from their old abode on a group of islands in Lake Laatokka (Ladoga) to Eastern Finland. The old (Valamo) Valaam Monastery was quite soon after the outbreak of the Second World War occupied by the armed forces of the Soviet Union. After a temporary dwelling place the monks decided to settle down in Heinävesi in Eastern Finland. The choice fell on a mansion in Papinniemi, Heinävesi, after the monks had found there, quite surprisingly, an icon of St. Sergius and St. Herman, the founders of Valaam (Valamo) monastery in the 12th century. The monks considered this to be a sign from God. Having received evacuees from the Konevsky (Konevitsa) and Pechenga (Petsamo) monasteries, it is now the only monastery for men of the Finnish Orthodox Church.

FI-327329

Finland - Hämeenlinna

I received this beautiful night view of Hämeenlinna in a swap with forum member TingeZ, who lives there :) Actually, I like all of Finnish postcards that I've received so far, but this one really fits all of my wishes, because it's a night view, because it's a city view (I receive many cards from Finland that show nature or generally the whole country with Suomi-Finland writting, but it's very interesting for me to see , what are Finnish cities and towns like).

Hämeenlinna, or Tavastehus in Swedish, is a municipality and city of about 48,000 inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and is the residence city for the Governor of the province of Southern Finland. Nearby cities include the capital Helsinki (150 km), Tampere (73 km) and Lahti (72 km).

The medieval Häme Castle (Hämeen linna) is located in the city.

Japan - Mount Hakkoda (JP-37109)

I received this postcard today from a New Zealander, who works as an English teacher in Japan. And that's my first official card from Japan :) It shows Mount Hakkoda in Aomori, Northern Japan. The tallest peak of Hakkoda is 1584m and is called Odake (big peak). According to the information from sender, it's a great place to hike and to ski during the winter.
I saw the name of my country written in Japanese on the postcard. I wonder, how do they pronounce it? :) Sometimes I feel a temptation to start learning any Asian language, such as Japanese and Chinese, but I know that I would never learn all of their characters... And even if I'd learn them, people might have serious problems with reading it - my handwriting is terrible even when I use Latin or Cyrillic alphabet...

JP-37109

Macedonia - Skopje

This postcard, also sent by Ana, shows Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. The name of this city in Macedonian is Скопје (By the way, I wonder, why do they use "j" instead of Cyrillic "й" in Macedonia - and also in Serbia, if I remember well). Although the site of modern Skopje has been inhabited since at least 3500BC, the city developed rapidly after the World War II. Ana writes that the Vardar River that you can see on this postcard isn't that blue and clear in fact :) Well, I think it's the same with most of rivers in urban and industrial areas, but it's good that at least on the postcard it looks blue :)

Maybe my postcard blog isn't the best place to write anything about politics, but anyway, I use every chance to express my point of view :) I don't know much about Macedonia and I haven't been there, but it always makes me a bit angry when I hear about "FYROM" ("Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"). This strange name appeared because of naming dispute with Greece (if you're interested, you can read more here). Shortly, Greece claims that the name "Macedonia" is part of Greek history and heritage, while people living nowadays in Macedonia are a Slavic nation. Of course, it's all more complicated, that's why I advise you to read the article, because I'm not an expert at all. But I know that my favorite country is Ukraine and I would be really furious if anyone called it the "Former Soviet Republic of Ukraine". I don't know, if there's any good solution of this dispute, but what I'm absolutely sure about is that people should have right to use the correct name of independent country that they live in.

And thanks Ana for choosing a card with a bit of orange! :) That's my favorite color :)

Macedonia - Struga and Ohrid

I received this postcard from Ana (take a look at her postcard blog, it's much more interesting than this one, because her English is better) :))) It shows 2 Macedonian towns - Struga (Струга) and Ohrid (Охрид), which are both touristic destinations situated at the Ohrid Lake.
Here's some information about the Ohrid Lake:

Lake Ohrid (Macedonian: Охридско Езеро) straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern region of the Republic of Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is probably the oldest lake in Europe, preserving a unique aquatic ecosystem with more than 200 endemic species that is of worldwide importance. The importance of the lake was further emphasized when it was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1979. However, human activity on the lake shores and in its catchment area is resulting in the ecosystem coming under stress.

I don't collect UNESCO cards yet, but I think someday I'll decide to start, so I'll already have one in my collection (actually, I'm sure that I have more of them, but I'd have to check it with the list) :) Thanks, Ana! :)

USA - Texas map card

I received this wonderful map card (I love map cards and I love this style!) from a new postcrosser, who is looking forward to receiving her 1st official card, so she decided to swap a bit too :) Another nice surprise was that this card arrived in just 4 days!

Germany - Berlin

This postcard shows Berlin, the capital of Germany. Sometimes I wonder, why haven't I visited Berlin yet, if I've been to Germany for so many times and Berlin is so close to the Polish border?
By the way, several days ago I read that now Berlin regrets destroying their wall totally, because many tourists want to see it, so now they have to use special guided tour and they can learn, where exactly the wall used to be. Anyway, I think it's much better without the wall.

China - traditional painting

I received this postcard in a private swap from a Chinese postcrosser from Shanghai. I like it very much, although I can't give you any information about it. The sender writes that it was a traditional Chinese painting. But all the information printed on the postcard is in Chinese (and, "surprisingly", I can't read it)... Well, with a small part of it in Latin transcription - "Dai Dun Bang Hua Tang Shi". I tried to google it, but with no result. So, I just enjoy this painting, whatever it is :)