Alghero, Sardinia, Italy

Ooops... It's been almost a year since I last posted here! That certainly wasn't my intention. Things have happened during this time, though, and my life has been pretty much turned upside down. In October last year I was diagnosed with bowel cancer that had also spread to my liver and lungs. Not something I would have expected as a 36-year old! I had rather an evently 6-week hospital stay, and have been having chemotherapy since. (My next session is tomorrow.) Needless to say postcards got neglected for a while after the diagnosis, but I got back to swapping and collecting postcards fairly quickly again as it's one of the things that keep me at least somewhat sane and brings me joy. I'm trying to remain positive, and postcards have definitely helped with that!

There's a theme for today's cards - apart from a couple, they were all sent by friends or other Postcrossers from their holidays. It has been really interesting to hear more about their trips, and while I'm not able to travel anywhere outside of the UK at the moment (or even too far in the UK), this still brings me into holiday mood. :)

Today's first card is from my friends Keith and Jackie. They were on holiday in Sardinia earlier this summer. I asked them if they could send me a postcard, and they did! This might be my first postcard from Sardinia as well, I'm not quite sure. Hmmm...

Alghero, also known in the local Algherese dialect as L'Alguer, is a town of about 45,000 inhabitants in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northwestern Sardinia, next to the Mediterranean Sea. Part of its population descends from Catalan conquerors from the end of the Middle Ages, when Sardinia was part of the Crown of Aragon. Hence, the Catalan language is co-official (a unique situation in Italy) and known as the Alguerès dialect. The name Alghero comes from Aleguerium, which is a mediaeval Latin word meaning "stagnation of algae" (Posidonia oceanica).

Alghero is the third university center in the island, coming after Cagliari and Sassari. It hosts the headquarters of the Università degli Studi di Sassari’s Architecture and Design department. In 2012 it was the 10th most visited city by tourists in Italy.

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily and before Cyprus). It is located west of the Italian Peninsula and to the immediate south of the French island of Corsica.

Sardinia is politically a region of Italy, whose official name is Regione Autonoma della Sardegna / Regione Autònoma de Sardigna (Autonomous Region of Sardinia), and enjoys some degree of domestic autonomy granted by a specific Statute. It is divided into four provinces and a metropolitan city, with Cagliari being the region's capital and also its largest city. Sardinia's indigenous language and the other minority languages (Sassarese, Corsican Gallurese, Algherese Catalan and Ligurian Tabarchino) spoken on the island are recognized by the regional law and enjoy "equal dignity" with Italian.

Due to the variety of its ecosystems, which include mountains, woods, plains, largely uninhabited territories, streams, rocky coasts and long sandy beaches, the island has been defined metaphorically as a micro-continent. In the modern era, many travelers and writers have extolled the beauty of its untouched landscape, which houses the vestiges of the Nuragic civilization.

I don't normally comment on stamps here, but this one is just weird! Anyone got any information on this? It reminds me of the stamps I once bought in Spain... Why does the cancellation say 'San Marino'?? Strange!

Greetings from Italy

Today's 'Greetings from' postcard comes from Italy. I also just realised that I hadn't posted any Italian postcards here for quite a while... ooops!

I was asking my Italian penpal Marta about the selection of pasta in Italian supermarkets a while back. Apparently it's pretty good. ;) I would love to visit an Italian supermarket... I realised a while ago that if you buy good-quality pasta, you can really taste the difference. The normal supermarket pasta here isn't that great, but the pasta I bought was very nice indeed. Mmmm... Haha, and whenever my sister visits London (she's coming over this weekend actually and I'll be going to see her next weekend. Can't wait!), she always visits this one Italian deli and buys pasta to take home. :D

Is it weird that one of the main reasons I'd love to visit Italy is because of the food? I love Italian gelato, too, mmmmm...!! ...and I'd love to try proper pizza, and other dishes as well. I'd probably gain quite a bit of weight if I was to visit Italy.. :P

Rome, Italy & Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Another swap card from a couple of years ago. I know the postcard is a pretty regular touristy multiview of Rome, but the main focus here is the stamp and the cancellation. Luca offered postcards with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta stamps and cancellations, and I got curious, although I had never heard of this order before.

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order of, traditionally, a military, chivalrous and noble nature. It is the world's oldest surviving order of chivalry. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is headquartered in Rome, Italy, and is widely considered a sovereign subject of international law.

SMOM is the modern continuation of the original medieval order of Saint John of Jerusalem, known as the "Fraternitas Hospitalaria" and later as the Knights Hospitaller, a group founded in Jerusalem around the year 1050 as an Amalfitan hospital to provide care for poor and sick pilgrims to the Holy Land. After the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade, it became a military order under its own charter. Following the loss of Christian held territories of the Holy Land to Muslims, the order operated from Rhodes (1310–1523), and later from Malta (1530–1798), over which it was sovereign.

Although this state came to an end with the ejection of the order from Malta by Napoleon Bonaparte, the order as such survived. It retains its claims of sovereignty under international law and has been granted permanent observer status at the United Nations. The order is notable for issuing its own international passports for travel, postal stamps, along with its formal insignia, often portrayed as a white or gold Maltese cross. The order nominally invokes the Blessed Virgin Mary under the venerated Marian title of "Our Lady of Mount Philermos" as its patroness and spiritual intercessor.

Today the order has about 13,000 members; 80,000 permanent volunteers; and 20,000 medical personnel including doctors, nurses, auxiliaries and paramedics in more than 120 countries. The goal is to assist the elderly, handicapped, refugeed, children, homeless, those with terminal illness and leprosy in all parts of the world, without distinction of race or religion. In several countries—including France, Germany and Ireland—the local associations of the order are important providers of first aid training, first aid services and emergency medical services. Through its worldwide relief corps—Malteser International—the order is also engaged to aid victims of natural disasters, epidemics and armed conflicts.

In February 2013 the order celebrated its 900th anniversary recognising the Papal bull of sovereignty "Pie Postulatio Voluntatis" formally issued by Pope Paschal II on 15 February 1113, with a general audience given by Pope Benedict XVI and a Holy Mass celebrated by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone at Saint Peter's Basilica.

SMOM has no postal agreement with the UK, or at least it didn't have at the time of sending this card, so Luca very kindly sent it to his own address first and then sent it to me in an envelope.

Kingdom of Bahrain

I don't have many postcards of (or from) Bahrain so when Gosia of Italy was offering some Bahrain map cards for swap last year, I just couldn't resist. ...and I love the pictures of stamps on this card! :)

Bahrain is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,234,571, including 666,172 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.

Bahrain is an archipelago of 33 islands, the largest being Bahrain Island, at 55 km long by 18 km wide. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway. The peninsula of Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The planned Qatar Bahrain Causeway will link Bahrain and Qatar and become the world's longest marine causeway.

Known for its oil and pearls, Bahrain is also home to many large structures, including the Bahrain World Trade Center and the Bahrain Financial Harbour, with a proposal in place to build the 1,022 m high Murjan Tower. The Qal'at al-Bahrain (the harbour and capital of the ancient land of Dilmun) was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix takes place at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Since 2011, the government of Bahrain has faced a series of massive demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of civil unrest, also known as the 2011–2012 Bahraini uprising, and has faced widespread criticism for its crackdown on protestors which has resulted in thousands of casualties.

The postcard was mailed from Italy, hence the Italian stamp (which I really like, btw!).

St. Peter's Square, Vatican City

I received this nice card from a swap earlier this year. It's only my second postcard mailed from the Vatican City.



St. Peter's Square (Piazza San Pietro in Italian) is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome (the Piazza borders to the East the rione of Borgo).

The open space which lies before the basilica was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of Pope Alexander VII. Bernini had been working on the interior of St. Peter's for decades; now he gave order to the space with his renowned colonnades, using the Tuscan form of Doric, the simplest order in the classical vocabulary, not to compete with the palace-like façade by Carlo Maderno, but he employed it on an unprecedented colossal scale to suit the space and evoke emotions awe.

St. Peter's Square today can be reached from the Ponte Sant'Angelo along the grand approach of the Via della Conciliazione (in honor of the Lateran Treaty of 1929). The spina which once occupied this grand avenue leading to the square was demolished ceremonially by Benito Mussolini himself on October 23, 1936 and was completely demolished by October 8, 1937. St. Peter's Basilica was now freely visible from the Castel Sant Angelo. The effect of its demolition, however, was to destroy the characteristic Baroque surprise. The Via della Conciliazione was completed in time for the Great Jubilee of 1950.



The stamp is an Easter stamp issued earlier this year.

Venice, Italy

If everything had gone like it was supposed to, I wouldn't be updating this blog right now. I really wanted to go to my Aikido class after missing it last Thursday and there not being practice this Tuesday, but I got ill yesterday. :( Not sure if it's a flu but my head feels like a balloon and I feel so tired and achey. I didn't want to fall ill during a holiday!! Grrr. Anyway, I've spent lots of time in bed now, drinking tons of tea and mostly feeling very useless. I wanted to do something nice as well, however, so, hi blog! Here are a few random postcards I've received earlier this year.


IT-127920

This is such a lovely, lovely card! I absolutely adore the view and the atmosphere. It probably wouldn't be much fun to live in one of those houses in the long run but I prefer to imagine just visiting them. I used to have a penpal living near Venice for years when I was younger so it's kind of special place for me.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I love receiving postcards from other people who have moved to live in a different country - be it for love or something else. It's just really interesting to hear other people's experiences of it. The sender of this postcard is originally from Russia - and also a tea addict, and we seem to have lots of other things in common as well. :) I love it when that happens!



The bigger stamp has featured in this blog before, but since it's such a nice one, I'm putting it here again. It's Italy's contribution to the Europa stamp series, last year's theme being children's books. (I believe this year's theme is Forests. I'm really disappointed with the UK's contribution, it's one stamp of a rainforest type of thingy on a miniature sheet. What the hell?!? Yes I know the UK isn't exactly covered in forests, but there's still something here that could've been used instead. < / rant >) The smaller stamp is from a set of 7 definitives issued in 2002, depicting women.

Tuscany, Italy

Mmmmm, to be on a holiday again... I don't know when I'll have one again or at least be able to go abroad again, but I can dream. This card is from Ilaria in Italy, she went on holiday in Tuscany this summer. I'm jealous...!



Matt's brother has been teasing me about Rome again - he went there some years ago and I doubt he'll ever forget the ice cream bars. :P He keeps telling me about them as well, knowing how much I love ice cream. Rome is definitely one of my dream holiday destinations, although not just for the ice cream :p Tuscany wouldn't be bad either, though, it looks like a gorgeously beautiful area.

Earlier this year I tried to read 'Under the Tuscan Sun' by Frances Mayes. I would've loved to like it, I honestly thought it would be a good book as it's supposed to describe such a beautiful area, but it was really boring and I just couldn't be bothered after maybe 40 pages. By now I've figured that life is too short to waste on bad boods.

Tirana, Albania

I don't receive too many postcards from countries that are "new" to me, mainly because I'm not awfully active on the main postcrossing site and don't have postcards from "rare" countries for trade. That, plus I don't really know where to look for these swaps anyway. Occasionally there are offers on the forum, though, and I've got some great cards that way. This is one of such cards, and a new country to my collection. It was mailed from Italy, though, but it's still precious to me. Thank you, Luca!



Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded in 1614 by Sulejman Pasha. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920. As of 2008, the city's urban population was officially estimated at 618,431.

The area now occupied by the city of Tirana has been populated since Paleolithic times dating back 10,000 to 30,000 years ago. On February 8, 1920, Tirana was chosen as the temporary capital of Albania, which had acquired independence in 1912, by the Congress of Lushnja. The city retained that status permanently on December 31, 1925. From 1920 to 1924 Tirana experienced attacks from the army of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the forces of Zogu at the Shkalla e Tujanit (Step of Tujan).

In 1939, Tirana was captured by Fascist forces. In November 1941, Enver Hoxha with other Albanian communists founded the Communist Party of Albania. The town became the center of the Albanian communists' in mobilizing the people of Tirana to fight against the Italian fascists and later Nazi Germans, while spreading ideological propaganda. The town was liberated after a fierce battle between the Communists and the people of Tirana against the German forces, on November 17, 1944. The Nazis eventually withdrew and the communists seized power.

Following the communist takeover, the city experienced a significant period of development. In terms of urbanization, the city witnessed the creation of socialist-styled apartment complexes and factories. In the 1960s, the historical identity of the city faced a critical moment as the central square was redesigned. As a result, a number of buildings of cultural and historical significance were demolished to make way for the formation of present-day Skanderbeg Square.

The post communist period is described to have been the worst one in terms of the urban development of the city. Tirana experienced a chaotic development as high rise buildings started to be constructed without planning, and illegal structures rose on public areas. New informal districts started to form around the city as internal migrants gathered from around the country. During this period Tirana was transofrmed from a centrally planned economy to a market oriented economy. All the builidings and the apartaments were denationalized. A modern water-supply system and electrical-supply system was build during 1992-1996. These systems form the backbone of the modern Tirana.

The city experienced radical changes at the turn of the millennium. In 2000, a massive political campaign began to beautify and to liberate public space, which was previously occupied by illegal commercial establishments. The campaign, called Return to Identity, included the transformation of river banks, of parks, and of other public structures to their state before 1990. The overall infrastructure has improved as considerable number of roads have been reconstructed. More parks and squares have also been built giving Tirana a more "European" look. Common spaces between apartment buildings have been targeted by a subsequent campaign in bringing back green spaces and a vast number of illegal buildings have been demolished. It is observered that some existing green spaces are used for the construction of skyscrapers and multi-functional centers. Apartment buildings are being built on grounds of former residential houses.



As I said earlier, the card was mailed from Italy. The stamp is great, though. It's Italy's contribution to Europa 2010 stamp, this year's theme being children's books. Geronimo Stilton is a best-selling children's book series in Italy. In the series, the title character is a talking mouse who lives in New Mouse City on Mouse Island. A best-selling author, Geronimo Stilton works as a journalist for the fictional newspaper The Rodent's Gazette.

Venice, Italy

I don't have much to say about this postcard, except that it's also from Rossella and I really love it. It shows San Pietro di Castello, an island in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy.

Acireale, Italy

This card is really old (for me anyway :p). I can't make out the date in the cancellation and there is no date on the card, but it's probably from some time in the 1990s. This one is also from an ex-penpal. Rossella was one of my first penpals, a lovely girl from near Venice. I haven't heard from her for years but I don't think I'll ever forget her. She would often go on holidays around Italy with her family and send me postcards. This one is from Acireale in Sicily.



According to the card, what you can see here is "the best balcony in Europe", Villa Belvedere. Well, the views certainly are gorgeous!

I found a little more info about Acireale, too... (from Wikipedia. I'd like to say it here that most of the info about cards in this blog is from wikipedia... I hope there aren't any huge mistakes in my posts, then...)

Acireale is a coastal city in the north-east of the province of Catania, Sicily, Italy, at the foot of Mount Etna, on the coast of the Ionian Sea, and with mineral waters. It is a diocese, famous for its churches, including the Neo-Gothic St. Peter's Basilica, St. Sebastian's Basilica in the Sicilian Baroque style, and the 17th century Acireale Cathedral; and there is a seminary, for the training of priests. Acireale is also noted for its paintings: the oldest academy in Sicily, the "Accademia dei Dafnici e degli Zelanti", is located here.

Naples, Italy

IT-85803

This card arrived on the same day as the raccoon below. It's from Betty, a Dane living in Naples (Napoli in Italian, and also in Finnish :D), Italy. It's interesting how many people I've "met" through Postcrossing who have also moved abroad for love. Good to know I'm not the only one.. :p

The card shows a street in Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarters) in Naples. According to Wikipedia, it's a poor area with high rates of unemployment and youth crime. The area consists of a grid of around eighteen streets by twelve. It has a population of 80,000 people per square kilometre. (In comparison, London, at its most densely populated, has 10,000 people per square kilometre, so that does sound quite crazy!) Most houses are tenements, usually six storey blocks with a roof terrace and a central courtyard.

So... it might be a poor area, but I think this street at least looks very cute, charming in a shabby way. I really like cards like this that show ordinary life in different countries.



There was a very nice stamp on the card, too!