Lappeenranta, Finland

Uh oh.. long time no see. I didn't realise it's been *that* long since I last updated this blog. I don't want to go into details here, let me just say that I haven't really been in the mood for updating this, or doing many other things. I haven't actually sent that many postcards in the past few months, either.. :/ ...and now Christmas is almost here (again)! I'm not very much in a festive mood at the moment and it's not helped by the fact that it's been raining so much for the past few days, and it looks like it's going to be the same over Christmas. I don't normally like snow all that much but it does make the scenery more Christmas-y. :P Therefore I thought I'd post a couple of snowy views of my old hometown Lappeenranta in Finland.

These are actually both Christmas postcards, issued by the local energy company. You couldn't really tell, though, they are REALLY nice. The top one was sent to me and Matt's family by my parents a couple (?) of years ago and shows a view of the harbour, one of my favourite places in the town. The card on the bottom, then, was an official I received in 2009 from a Postcrosser who lives in Lappeenranta! I love coincidences like that :D The picture is from the old fortress, another favourite place of mine and perfect for sliding down the hills with a big bin bag in winters :D (We did that when Matt's family came over some years ago for a visit, hehe.)

Merry Christmas!

Have a lovely Christmas if you celebrate it!

Dedushka Moroz, Russia

I wasn't going to post any Christmas cards here but I dediced to make an exception with this card I received from my friend Katya in Russia. Firstly because Russian Christmas traditions interest me, and secondly because I want to show you the cool stamps and cancellation on the card. :D



Russians actually celebrate New Year instead of Christmas. I quite like the idea - wishing friends and family all the best for a happier, better new year. :)

Dedushka Moroz or "Grandfather Frost" plays a role similar to that of Santa Claus, and is said to bring presents to children, however, unlike the secretive Santa Claus, the gifts are often delivered "in person", at New Year's Eve parties and other New Year celebrations. (This is from Wikipedia - The Finnish Father Christmas also often delivers presents to children "in person"!)



Such nice Russian Christmas stamps from 2010, and with a special cancellation, too! ...although annoyingly they had to add a normal cancellation on top of the special one, grrr!