Danshui, Taiwan

Hello again everybody ! A small update to show you the incoming mail for this week so far . Let's start with an official one from Taiwan. It depicts Danshui (or Tamsui ) which is a sea side district of New Taipei City , named after Tamsui River (means fresh water ).. Located in the northern part of the island it is popular as site for viewing the sunset in to the Taiwan strait (and that's what card is about ). So I guess that mountain slightly shown at the back is in mainland China , well maybe :D Thanks to Cathy ( or 多謝  :D)

Beijing , China

2nd card is from a private swap I had almost forgot it was arranged , you know sometimes mail from/to China can be really slow This particular one needed two months to arrive. It comes from Beijing and is showing the Palace Museum. It is situated in the center of the city , in Forbidden City it was established in 1925 and it is China's biggest museum. Many thanks to Roger or I'd better say 謝謝 :)

Turkey

...and the 3rd one comes from Turkey. My dear friend Bärbel spent her holidays in Turkey and she knows I love the country ( well , you know too just by looking at the amount of cards that are uploaded here) and she  decided to drop one card in the postbox for me ( Vielen Dank ),
In the top row you can see (from left ) 1. Pamukkale 2. Alanya 3. Perge/Antalya &4. Bodrum/Muğla. In the bottom row (from left again) is 1. The Trajan Fountain in Ephesus 2. Anatolian experience 3. Troy/Çanakkale & 4. Nevşehir/Cappadocia while in the center is Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul !

Memories from Turkey

Today I thought I'd post the postcards I have bought while travelling and here I start with 2 multiviews from Turkey the country I have visited the most ;-)

Memories of Izmir

                                               From my visit to Izmir

Memories from Istanbul

                                      Postcards from my Istanbul trips

Memories of Ankara

                                     Postcards from my trip to Ankara

Memories of Çeşme

                                        Postcards from my trips to Çeşme

Memories of Pordenone

Postcards from my trip to Pordenone

Memories of Venice

                                                   Postcards from my trip in Venice 

 

Memories of Rome

Postcards bought while I was in Rome ! Enjoy !!

Hrodna , Belarus

Another small update for the cards that have arrived since the last time I was here. Let's start with the official one coming from the city of Hrodna in Belarus ! Although Belarus is mainly an orthodox country , Hrodna is the center of Catholicism due to its proximity to Poland and a significant Polish minority in the city ! So here it is the Franciscan monastery of the city build in 1635. This card made my day due to to the sender's artistic mood at the back of the card. It put a huge smile in my face this morning :) Thanks!

Teddy bears !!

These cute adorable teddy bears came all the way from Belgium until my doorstep thanks to my dearest Andy !!! Aren't they so sweet?? 

Jeju Island ,South Korea

Just a small update for today of the two incoming postcards for this week !First one for today came from a private swap from South Korea ... Find it strange or not it is not only the first w/s card I received from there but the first postcard in general ... Strange ! But this card worth the waiting as I really loved it ... So this is the Sanji lighthouse in Jeju island..So the card became the reason to learn that Jeju is the largest island of Korea and it is an autonomous province What I also found particularly interesting is that :

Because of the relative isolation of the island, the people of Jeju have developed a culture and language that are distinct from those of mainland Korea. Jeju is home to thousands of local legends. Perhaps the most distinct cultural artifact is the ubiquitous dol hareubang ("stone grandfather") carved from a block of basalt.

Another distinct aspect of Jeju is the matriarchal family structure, found especially in Udo and Mara, but also present in the rest of the province. The best-known example of this is found among the haenyeo ("sea women"), who were often the heads of families, because they controlled the income. They earned their living from free diving, often all year round in quite cold water, without scuba gear, in order to harvest abalones, conchs, and a myriad of other marine products. It is thought that women are better at spending all day deep-water diving because they resist cold better. However, because of rapid economic development and modernization, few haenyeo are still actively working today. ( from wikipedia )

Many many thanks to Hyerim for this :-)