Trujillo, Peru

This is one of the beautiful postcards of Peru I received from a swap with the lovely Jane last year. I have a thing for pretty windows and doors and little details so posting this card here at some point was a pretty obvious choice. It all looks so pretty!

Trujillo, in northwestern Peru, is the capital of the La Libertad Region. The city is located on the banks of the Moche River, near its mouth at the Pacific Ocean, in a valley of great cultural hegemony with Moche and Chimu cultures at its respective time.

Trujillo was honored in 1822 by the congress of republic with the title "Meritorious City and Faithful to the Fatherland", for its role in the fight for independence. Trujillo is the birthplace of Peru's judiciary, and it was twice designated as the capital of the country. It was the scene of the Revolution of Trujillo in 1932.

In Trujillo, the birthplace of Liberty, was born on the Judiciary, and the judges took their historic responsibility to ensure the weapons of law: freedom and rights of the people freed from political and military power, normative and ideological of state Spanish The city is also considered the cradle of liberty and cradle of the judiciary in Peru.

Trujillo is known as the "Capital of the everlasting Spring", is considered the "Capital of the Marinera," which is a typical dance in Peru, "Cradle of the typical Peruvian Paso Horse" well as the "Capital of Culture of Peru". It has sponsored numerous national and international cultural events, and has a lively arts community. Current festivals include the "Marinera National Festival", the "Spring International Festival" and the "International Book Fair", which is one of the most important cultural events in the country.

Trujillo is close to two major archeological sites of pre-Columbian monuments: Chan Chan, the largest adobe city in the ancient world, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986; and the temples of the Sun (the largest adobe pyramid in Peru) and Moon.

The city centre contains many examples of colonial and religious architecture incorporating distinctive wrought ironwork. It includes residential areas, a central business district and industrial supply distribution to the various districts. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Trujillo has its seat here. Catholicism still dominates and 10 colonial churches remain inside Avenida Espana, with those of Huaman, Huanchaco and Moche within 15 kilometres of Trujillo's centre.

Lviv, Ukraine

This very pretty card is from a swap with Viktoria in Ukraine. Don't you just love the colours and all the little details?! Viktoria says that you can't get bored with Lviv with its pretty, narrow streets, and sometimes the city's compared with Paris or Krakow. Well, it certainly does look very nice!



Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically also for Ukraine’s neighbour, Poland, as the city before WWII and the following population transfers was the second most important Polish cultural centre. The historical heart of Lviv with its old buildings and cobblestone roads has survived World War II and ensuing Soviet presence largely unscathed. The city has many industries and institutions of higher education such as the Lviv University and the Lviv Polytechnic. Lviv is also a home to many world-class cultural institutions, including a philharmonic orchestra and the famous Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet. The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Lviv celebrated its 750th anniversary with a son et lumière in the city centre in September 2006.



The two stamps on the left are from a set of 7 (or 8?) stamps issued in 2008, representing Ukrainian Handicrafts, while the other two stamps are from a set of 13 (?) definitives, also issued in 2008.

The Maltese Islands

Another Christmas is over... Mine was alright, got to sleep a lot and ate lots of chocolate. :D Christmas in England always feels a bit weird and not quite right, but it wasn't that bad. I do think I might be getting old, though, as Christmas doesn't feel all that 'magical' anymore. *sigh* I had some very nice presents, too, including an ice cream maker which I hope to try out soon (as soon as there'll be some room in the freezer for the bowl, that is). Yum yum! I got some postcards as well, I'll be posting about some of those soon as there were lots of great ones there. I don't care if some others thought it's a bit sad to get postcards for Christmas. :P

Anyway, this card is sort of Christmas-related. Not the card itself, but it's got a special Maltese Christmas cancellation.



Isn't that a pretty little police station in the bottom left corner?! Ours are nothing like that, although we do get those red telephone boxes over here. :p Leena, who sent me this card, said I would probably really love wandering around these little Maltese villages, taking tons of photos. I think she's VERY right. Maybe one day...



And here's the special cancellation. The stamp is from a set of 3 Christmas stamps issued this November. They are all Old Master paintings depicting the Madonna and Child, this one here being the painting 'Madonna di Maggio' by Pierre Guillemin (early 1700s) and is found at St George Basilica in Gozo.

Lisboa, Portugal

I thought I would've posted more cards from Portugal here, but no, this is only the third (or second, as the first one doesn't show a view from Portugal). I should really do something about that as I have so many very beautiful postcards from Portugal. This one is SO nice, too. A pretty old window, a cat, gorgeous tiles, great colours.. what's not to love?!


PT-146938

The picture here is from Lisbon's Campo de Ourique district. The building has a typical facade with "azulejos" (glazed tiles). I tried to find more information about Campo de Ourique, and a lot of travel websites seem to describe it as a very beautiful and popular area in Lisbon with lots of old shops, cafes, a market, and generally a great atmosphere. This is what one website says:

For many centuries there was just a fortress on this hill, only much later, from 1880 until the coup that established the Republic in 1910, did this area develop into a self-contained residential area. Today, Campo de Ourique is one of Lisbon’s favourite residential districts. From small shops to designer boutiques there is a wide variety to choose from. Stroll through the tree lined High Street, Ferreira Borges, and take your time to feel its flair, do some window shopping and just allow yourself a break at one of the cult cafes “O Gigante” or “A Tentadora” and enjoy your bica (Portuguese expresso coffee). At the heart of this charming borough stands a covered market place rather interesting for its architecture. An agreeable place to sit down and fell the atmosphere of this area is the “Teófilo Braga” small park, where locals meet for a chat, a game of cards or just slowly sipping at their bicas. Other places of interest are: the former house of the poet Fernando Pessoa, the historical cemetery of Prazeres with elaborate sculptured family vaults, the Basilica da Estrela, a cathedral with an imposing baroque interior in a neo-classical building, just across, the beautiful Garden of Estrela, and last but not least, on the other side of this park, the English cemetery with church, where the novelist Henry Fielding (“Tom Jones”) is buried.

Sounds like a lovely area to me!



The stamp is from a set of 7 stamps issued earlier this year, depicting Rock in Portugal.