Jerusalem, Israel

I know I've already posted a very similar card of Jerusalem before, but I couldn't resist posting about this one as well. I really like this view and the full moon on the left is such a cool addition, making the atmosphere here somewhat mysterious.



In the background you can see the Old City wall with Mount of Olives, a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters. It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. The Mount of Olives is associated predominantly with Jewish and Christian traditions but also contains several sites important in Islam. The mount has been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years and holds approximately 150,000 graves.



Such a beautiful stamp! It's from a set of 3 stamps issued earlier this year under the theme 'Visit Israel'.

Western Wall, Jerusalem, Israel

It was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, earlier this week, so I thought it would be appropriate to post about this card that I received a few weeks ago from a swap.



Olga who sent me this card was a bit wary of sending me this card at first, as in my postcrossing profile I state that I prefer not to receive any overly religious postcards. We had some discussion over this card - I really like postcards showing people in traditional clothes, but as Olga pointed out, in Israel, religion and traditions are very closely knit together. I have to say it here, too, then, that I don't mind receiving this kind of cards showing religious themes, it's mostly cards explicitly promoting a religion or for example offering to pray for me that I don't like.

This card shows Israel from a slightly different angle. Olga tells me that "except for the Shofar (the big horn) you can see this picture in Jerusalem every day and not only on religious holidays. There are lots of ultra religious people in Jerusalem, and in this way it is very different from all other cities in Israel. They wear heavy black coats all year round, even in +40C!"



The bigger stamp is from a set of 3 stamps issued in 2008 under the theme "Festivals 2008". This one here shows a Turkish Torah Crown. The smaller stamp is from a set of 4 stamps issued in 2003, representing National symbols, this one here being The Menorah (Candlestick).

Jerusalem, Israel

This week has been super hot and sunny, it would be lovely to be able to go to the seaside but alas, no such luck. I live in the middle of England so the sea is pretty far away from here. :( One thing I do miss about Finland is all the lakes, there's so much more water there which is lovely. Anyway, I'm mostly stuck at home this summer. I'm going to Finland for two weeks in August but it looks like that's going to be my only holiday this summer.

My postcard pal Hanna in Finland has had a bit more luck; she's recently been to Israel to visit relatives, and sent me a postcard from there. :) I think Israel would be a bit too hot for me at the moment, though... Hanna told me it was +38 C at the time of writing the card!



The Old City is a 0.9 square kilometre walled area within the modern city of Jerusalem; it lies within East Jerusalem. Until the 1860s this area constituted the entire city of Jerusalem. The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims.



The stamps is so beautiful (and has a lighthouse on it!)! It does seem like they have lots of very nice stamps in Israel. This one is from a set of 3 stamps issued in 2009, representing Lighthouses in Israel. This one shows the lighthouse in Jaffa.