Lake Ladoga, Karelia

I have a soft spot for postcards of the Russian Karelia, maybe because it looks so much like the Finnish Karelia (well, parts of the Russian Karelia used to belong to Finland) so it reminds me a lot of home. The view on this postcard, for instance, could easily be from around where I'm from, they have very similar views there too. This card reminds me of childhood holidays and more recently journeys to and from the town where I used to study at university.



Lake Ladoga ('Laatokka' in Finnish) is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.

The Ladoga is rich with fish. 48 forms (species and infraspecific taxa) of fish have been encountered in the lake, including roach, carp bream, zander, European perch, ruffe, endemic variety of smelt, two varieties of Coregonus albula (vendace), eight varieties of Coregonus lavaretus, a number of other Salmonidae as well as, albeit rarely, endangered European sea sturgeon. Commercial fishing was once a major industry but has been hurt by overfishing. After the war, between 1945–1954, the total annual catch increased and reached a maximum of 4,900 tonnes. However, unbalanced fishery led to the drastic decrease of catch in 1955–1963, sometimes to 1,600 tonnes per year. Trawling has been forbidden in Lake Ladoga since 1956 and some other restrictions were imposed. The situation gradually recovered, and in 1971-1990 the catch ranged between 4,900 and 6,900 tonnes per year, about the same level as the total catch in 1938. Fish farms and recreational fishing are developing.

Lake Ladoga has its own endemic Ringed Seal subspecies known as the Ladoga Seal.

Nizhnesvirsky Natural Reserve is situated along the shore of Lake Ladoga immediately to the north of the mouth of the River Svir.



The stamps on the right and middle are from a set of 4 stamps issued in 2009, depicting Russian National Head dresses in Middle of XIX Century. The one on the right shows a head dress from Yaroslavl Province, while the one in the middle is from Nizhniy Novgorod Province. The stamp on the left was issued in 1999 in a set of 3 stamps showing Brullow paintings.

Puerto Rico

I don't have too many postcards from Puerto Rico so I'm always up for swaps with people from there and couldn't possibly say 'no' to Eduardo who asked me earlier this year if I'd like to swap with him.



This is a view of Fort San Felipe del Morro from Isla de Cabras, an islet located at the entrance of the San Juan bay in Puerto Rico. Fort San Felipe del Morro, or Morro Castle (Spanish: Castillo San Felipe del Morro) is a 16th-century citadel located on the northwestern-most point of the islet of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Named in honor of King Philip II of Spain, the fort, also referred to as 'el Morro' or promontory, was designed to guard the entrance to the San Juan Bay, and defend the city of Old San Juan from seaborne enemies. In 1983, during the Reagan Administration, the fort was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in conjunction with the San Juan National Historic Site. Over two million visitors a year explore the windswept ramparts and passageways making the fort one of Puerto Rico's main visitor attractions. Facing the structure, on the opposite side of the bay, a smaller fort known as El Cañuelo complemented the fort's defense of the entrance to the bay.



US stamps are used in Puerto Rico. This one is a rather familiar one...

Vietnamese girl

Today's cards are a bit of a mixed batch again. I could probably figure out a theme for my posts by now as I have so many waiting to be blogged about, but I prefer it this way for now. The last week has been pretty hectic, what with a birthday party (I turned 29 a week ago), aikido, volunteering.. and yesterday I went to Birmingham for some wedding-related stuff, although I did pick up a few postcards as well. ;)

Anyway. My first postcard for today comes from dear Jo in Vietnam. Earlier this year she offered her most favourites postcard for swap and of course I had to ask for one. It's SUCH a pretty card, no wonder it's so popular (although to be honest, I think most of Jo's cards are really beautiful, I don't think I could ever pick my favourite amongst them!).



This little girl is from Sapa in northern Vietnam where many of Vietnam's ethnic minority groups live. Jo tells me that Sapa is the only place in Vietnam where it ever snows, and earlier this year it snowed there for the first time in 8 years.

As of 2003, Sapa had a population of 42,095. The district covers an area of 677 km² and its capital lies at Sa Pa.



The stamps are from a set of 2 flower stamps issued in 2010.

Tristan da Cunha

One more card for today.. and from a very special place: Tristan da Cunha!! It took some organising, but the staff at the Post Office at Tristan were super helpful and nice, and in the end they sent me SEVEN written and stamped postcards! Wow! They all arrived yesterday and I was SO excited, they are definitely some of the coolest cards I've ever received. It was like an early birthday present (my birthday is tomorrow)! :) I'm probably going to post some more here later, but here's the first one, of 'Edinburgh of the Seven Seas'.



Tristan da Cunha is a remote volcanic group of islands in the south Atlantic Ocean and the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying 2,816 kilometres from the nearest land, South Africa, and 3,360 kilometres from South America. Tristan da Cunha is said to be the "most remote inhabited location on Earth." The territory consists of the main island of Tristan da Cunha itself, which measures about 11.27 kilometres across and has an area of 98 square kilometres, along with the uninhabited Nightingale Islands and the wildlife reserves of Inaccessible Island and Gough Island. It has a permanent population of 275 (2009 figures).

Tristan da Cunha is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Saint Helena 2,430 kilometres to its north, and equatorial Ascension Island even farther removed, grouping the British South Atlantic islands into one far-flung centrally administered aggregate.



The stamp is from a set of 6 stamps issued in 2009, depicting Potato Production. I was really surprised the cards arrived so soon, I mean they travelled for less than a month! That's pretty impressive considering there's no airport on the island so they have to use ships for everything.

Borgund Stave Church, Norway

Another official, but this one is much older, back from 2008. It's from Joey who used to be the most active postcrosser in Norway, but he's since left Postcrossing, which is a shame as he was such a nice guy. I've received a few cards from him and they are all great.


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Borgund Stave Church is a stave church located in Borgund, Lærdal, Norway. It is classified as a triple nave stave church of the so-called Sogn-type. This is also the best preserved of Norway's 28 extant stave churches.

Borgund was built sometime between AD 1180 and 1250 with later additions and restorations. Its walls are formed by vertical wooden boards, or staves, hence the name stave church. The 4 corner posts were connected to one another by ground sills, resting atop a stone foundation. The rest of the staves then rise from the ground sills, each stave notched and grooved along the sides so that they lock into one another, forming a sturdy wall.

Borgund has tiered, overhanging roofs, topped with a tower. On the gables of the roof, there are four carved dragon heads, swooping from the carved roof ridge crests, recalling the carved dragon heads found on the prows of Norse ships. Similar gable heads also appear on small bronze house shaped reliquaries common in Norway in this period. Borgund’s current dragon heads possibly date from the 18th century, however original dragon heads remaining on earlier structures, such as the stave church at Lom stave church and nearby Urnes stave church, the oldest still extant stave church, also in the Sogn district, suggest that there probably would have been similar dragon heads there at one time. Borgund is one of the only churches to still have preserved its ridge crests, carved with openwork vine and vegetal repeating designs.



The stamp on the right is from a set of 4 stamps issued in 2008, with the theme 'Transport'. The other one I couldn't find any info of.

Shymkent, Kazakhstan

I very rarely get "new" countries on the official postcrossing site these days. I don't mind receiving cards from the same countries but I can't deny it's nice to get the occasional new country, it's always a nice surprise finding something a little different in my mailbox. This is one such card. I have a few postcards from Kazakhstan through swaps and such, but this is my first official from there.


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The picture is from Shymkent, and the people here are wearing traditional clothes from the area. Shymkent is the capital city of South Kazakhstan Province, the most populated region in Kazakhstan. It is the third most populous city in Kazakhstan behind Almaty and Astana with a population of 629,600 (2011). A major railroad junction on the Turkestan-Siberia Railway, the city is also a notable cultural centre, with an international airport. It is situated 690 km west of Almaty and 120 km to the north of Tashkent, Uzbekistan.



The "stamp" on the right is printed directly on the envelope the card arrived in. The other two were issued in 2010, to commemorate the 125th Birth Anniversary of Mirzhakyp Dulatov.

Novosibirsk, Russia

I'd been wanting this card for quite a while, I'm so happy to finally have it!



The card shows the Novosibirsk Puppet Theatre, where you will be able to view many beautiful handmade puppets and marionettes from the past. Housed in an especially attraction historical building, the theatre dates back to the late 1930s and features regular performances for all ages.

Novosibirsk, then, Russia's third-largest city, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,700 (2010). It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District. The city is located in the southwestern portion of the federal district and occupies an area of 477.2 square kilometres.

The city was founded in 1893 at the future site of a Trans-Siberian Railway bridge crossing the great Siberian river of Ob. It was named Novonikolayevsk (Новониколаевск), in honor of both Saint Nicholas and the reigning tsar, Nicholas II. The bridge was completed in the spring of 1897, making the new settlement the regional transport hub. The importance of the city further increased with the completion of the Turkestan-Siberia Railway in the early 20th century.

Novosibirsk is a large industrial center. The industrial complex consists of 214 large and average industrial enterprises. These produce more than two thirds of all industrial output of the Novosibirsk region. Leading industries are the electric power industry, gas supply, water supply, metallurgy, metal working, and mechanical engineering.




Theh stamp on the top right is a Europa stamp from 2004, that year's topic being Tourism (?!). The smaller stamps are definitives from 2008 in a set of 15 stamps, the ones here representing representing a Brown Bear, Fox and Hare. The stamp at the bottom is from 2001 and is Russia's contribution to that year's Europa stamps series, that year's theme being 'water'.

Postcrossing International meet-up, London, 7 May 2011

So I went to London on Saturday last week, to attend an International Postcrossing meet-up. I had a great time - good company, the weather was nice, there were lots of postcards.. what more can you ask? :P



The meet-up was originally going to take place a week earlier but had to be postponed because of the Royal Wedding. I don't mind, we got better weather now at least. :) It was really warm and sunny, so un-British, lol! There were people from the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Romania there. It was good to meet old friends, and some new faces as well. Everyone was really nice and friendly, and Steve particularly was super helpful, so special thanks to him! I wish I could've stayed longer but I had to leave early in order to catch my coach. Grrrr... My photos from the meet-up are here.

I sent a bunch of cards to friends, some of them have already arrived and hopefully the rest of them will arrive soon, too. Last year I really wished I would've sent a card for myself as well, so this year I made sure I had one for myself. I didn't want a cliched London postcard so I chose this one from The Caravan Gallery. Their postcards are hilarious, and pretty accurate as well. :D



A couple of people had to leave early but here are the signatures of most of the people who were there. I used an older stamp to mail this card. It's from a set of 10 black & white stamps issued in 2001, depicting cats and dogs.

Map of Israel

One more card for today. I did want to do a bigger update but I'm too busy, too many things to do and I'm also trying to get everything sorted and ready for the Postcrossing meet-up in London this Saturday.



This card is from the lovely Debora in Israel. I've received a few postcards from her and it's always a joy to get mail from her. This card is from a tag, isn't it adorable! I love mapcards and it's nice to see some rather different ones such as this one occasionally. The illustrations here remind me of some 80's children's books, the style is pretty similar to some I vaguely remember reading/looking at as a child.



Israeli stamps are so pretty! The one on the left is from a set of 5 stamps issued in 2009, depicting Fruits. This one here is Orange. The other stamp is from a set of 2 stamps issued in 2010, with the theme 'Cinemas in Israel'. The one here shows the Zion Cinema in Jerusalem.

Colmar, France

Another official... This one is quite possibly one of my favourite official postcrossing cards I've received so far this year. The houses look so pretty and colourful, and the card has a matching stamp!


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Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in north-eastern France. It is situated along the Alsatian Wine Route and considers itself to be the "Capital of Alsatian Wine" (capitale des vins d'Alsace). In 2006, the city of Colmar had a population of 65,713 and the metropolitan area of Colmar had a population of 120,367. Colmar is the center of the arrondissement of Colmar, which has 144,700 inhabitants in 2006.

Colmar is the home town of the painter and engraver Martin Schongauer and the sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi, who designed the Statue of Liberty. The city is renowned for its well preserved old town, its numerous architectural landmarks and its museums, among which the Unterlinden Museum.



Like I said, this card came with a matching stamp, issued in 2010. The other two stamps are from a set of 14 definitives issued in 2008, with the theme 'Marianne and Europe'.

Bernina Express, Switzerland

This very nice card arrived as an official earlier this year. The sender lives in Germany but she was on holiday in Switzerland and picked up this card from there. I'm not complaining, it's very pretty and for once I don't really mind it being a multiview.


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The Bernina Express is an express train connecting Chur (or Davos) in Switzerland with Poschiavo and Tirano in Italy, by crossing the Swiss Alps from north to south. For most of its journey, the train also passes along and through the World Heritage Site known as the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula / Bernina Landscapes.

The train is operated by the Rhaetian Railway company. It is not an "express" in the sense of being a high-speed train, but, rather, in the sense that it provides a one-seat ride for a long duration trip. The Bernina Express itself is composed of panoramic coaches with a piped multi-lingual commentary, and a small supplement and seat reservation are both obligatory. The train is popular with tourists, and connects in Tirano with the Post Bus service via Lake Como in Italy to Lugano in Switzerland.

The Albula line and the Bernina line on the Bernina Express route were jointly declared a World Heritage Site in 2008. The trip on the Bernina Express through this World Heritage Site is a 4 hour railway journey across 196 bridges, through 55 tunnels and across the Bernina Pass on the highest point at 2,253 metres in altitude. The entire line is 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) (metre gauge).



This card was mailed from Germany. The stamp on the right was issued in 2006 and represents 'spring'. Unless I'm very much mistaken, it's from a set of 4 stamps depicting the four seasons. The other one is one of those automated labels, this one showing Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Prince Edward Island, Canada

I've got a bit of a mix again for today... this first card is from another swap with Emma in Canada, she sent me more beautiful postcards from the Prince Edward Island. :)



I've already written about Prince Edward Island so I don't want to repeat myself too much here. This is the description at the back of the card:

Prince Edward Island, once only accessible by ferry, is now just a short drive from the mainland by crossing the Confederation Bridge. Largely a fertile farming land, this small province is also famous for its rich fishing trade, peaceful sandy beaches and colourful history.

Pictured on this card are: Green Gables House (top left corner), Confederation Bridge, Fishing Boat and West Point Lighthouse.

Green Gables is the name of a circa-19th century farm in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is one of the most notable literary landmarks in Canada. The Green Gables farm and its surroundings are the setting for the popular Anne of Green Gables novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The site is also known as Green Gables Heritage Centre. A national historic site, it lies within Prince Edward Island National Park.



The smaller stamps are from a set of 5 definitives issued earlier this year, with the theme 'Canadian Pride'. The big stamp is from a set of 2 stamps also issued earlier this year, depicting sunflowers.