Season's Greetings

A very pretty card from my friend Ada in Warsaw. Thank you Dear. Wish you all the best in the New Year too.

Hirvensalo, Finland

Hirvensalo is an island in the Archipelago Sea, belonging to the city of Turku, Finland. It is divided into 14 districts, the largest ones being Moikoinen, Kukola and Haarla. Most of the island's economic activity is concentrated on the suburb of Moikoinen, which has a school, shops, a Lutheran church, and a post office. The island's total population is 6,547 (as of 2004).

Hirvensalo was formerly part of the municipality of Maaria, until it was annexed to the city of Turku in 1944.

This pretty card sent to me by Pia shows a few sights of Hirvensalo. Lets start with the top, which shows a view towards the Aristo Sea. The ships you see are of the Silja and Viking lines going from Turku to Stockholm. The next is the popular Skiing Centre on Hirvensalo. The two lower pictures are of the local church there and the other is where the artist Aaltonen the Finnish artist and sculptor lived.

Khanty-Mansiysk Concert-Theatre Centre "Yugra Classic"

The originality of Yugra is that the authorities here, headed by the governor Alexander Philipenko, is taking a good care about the level of citizens’ living, about their upbringing and cultural education. For the last 14 years Khanty-Mansiysk turned from barrack village into a modern city with red-brick houses, restored churches, good roads, trade centers, well-equipped museums and first class hotels one of which was occupied by Helikon artists.

Undoubtedly, one of the brightest achievements of city’s development and building is the concert-theatrical centre Yugra-Classic. The walls of its lounge are decorated with Venetian plaster and authentic onyx; it consists of three perfect concert halls, one of which contains a unique organ, specially manufactured for Yugra in Germany (its keys are finished with natural mammoth’s bone) and one of the three Fazioli pianos which Russia has. There is also a transformer hall for drama performances. The third is the Big hall for 1000 seats, the stage of which is equipped with modern machinery and there are special acoustic seats in the hall. Yugra-Classic is built as the big Tour house, where for the last three years only super stars have been performing. Among them are Valery Gergiev with Mariinsky theatre, Gidon Kremer with “Kremerata Baltica”, Yuri Temirkanov with Academic symphonic orchestra of St.-Petersburg Philharmonic, Peter Fomenko’s Theatre, Moscow Artistic Academic Theatre named after A. Chekhov, Lev Dodin with Academic Small drama Theatre – Theatre of Europe and Boris Eifmann’s St.-Petersburg’s State Academic theatre of ballet.

Thank you Galina for this nice card.

Animals celebrating Christmas

My friend Ella sent me these cards issued by Åland post. These 2012 postal stationery cards appeared in time for Christmas. They were designed by artist Alexander Lindén. The funny and different motifs of the cards are well suited for both Christmas cards and winter greetings. The cards depict :-

ROE IN A KNITTED SWEATER. Alexander has designed four animals celebrating Christmas in various ways. The first card shows a roe in a knitted sweater, sitting in a chair reading while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate or, perhaps, mulled wine. A small fox relaxes by the chair, and the scenery is highlighted by the shining moon.
PIKE DRESSED IN CARDIGAN. The motif of another card takes us below the ice where we find a merry pike, dressed in a warm, green cardigan. Further down swims a chubbier type of fish, also dressed in a warm sweater. Someone also let down a Christmas star on a fishing line through a jig hole in the ice.
THREE SQUIRRELS DANCING IN A RING.  The third card shows us three merry squirrels dancing in a ring around a tree decorated with Christmas baubles, tinsel and a star at the top. Dressed in warming cardigans, the squirrels all seem to be happy and enjoying themselves.HARE IN A HOT TUB. Leaving its tracks in the snow, a hare has jumped into the hot tub shown on the fourth and last card. With a box of carrots within reach, it is very content to relax in the hot water. The sea, the archipelago and a Christmas tree on a rock sets the background.
ALL ANIMALS ARE HAPPY. The common feature of the four card designs is that the animals all seem to be merry and enjoying themselves. The cards are therefore perfect to send as a
greeting to your friends and acquaintances regardless of season!  

The Grand Canyon from Below - Running the Colorado River

Mile 52. This view looks downstream from the granaries at Nankoweap Creak. The granaries were seed corn storage structures built under an overhang by the ancestral Puebloan people, aboriginal inhabitants of the Grand Canyon.
Thank you Hemant for this nice card.

Merry Christmas

Thank you Trudy from Canada for this lovely card. Merry Christmas to you too.

Kazan Taynitskaya tower overlooking the Kazanka

The Kazan Kremlin is a unique historial and cultural monument, which preserved elements of 3 epochs: tatar, russian and european. Architectural traditions of Bulgar, Golden Horde, Medieval Kazan-Tatar, Italian and Russian culture are interlaced here. Kremlin hill is a cradle of Kazan. Kazan began its development from that very place. Khan’s palace, 5 stone mosques and burial vaults were situated inside the Kremlin . 

The main Kul-Sharif mosque was decorated with 8 high many-tier minarets. Wooden houses of the Tatar nobility and guard premises were also situated here.

Quadrangular mosques with cupolas, minarets with patterns were the decoration of the Kazan Kremlin. Most part of wooden walls and towers of the Kazan Kremlin were destroyed during the capture of the city in 1552. Ivan the Terrible, having understood the expedience of Kazan location and its importance for the security of the eastern borders of Russia, decided to reconstruct the Kazan Kremlin and to make an unassailable fortress.

Walls and towers of the Kazan Kremlin were built in 1556-1562 according to the decree of Ivan the Terrible by Pskov masters Ivan Shiryay and Postnik Yakovlev. Whole brick and stone Kremlin was constructed at the end of XVIII century. The towers played the great role in defence of the Kremlin. There 13 of them in XVII century. Only 8 of towers remained till today, 5 of them had the gates to the Kremlin. There are only 2 tower gates functioning for today – Spasskaya and Tainitskaya towers. 

During a siege of Kazan the Taynitskaya tower was blown up. 3. The entry to the Kremlin from the Kazanka side is through the Tainitskaya Tower. The siege of Kazan in 1552 was the final battle of Russo-Kazan Wars. It led to the fall of Kazan Khanate. However, it was not the last battle on the khanate's territory. After the fall of Kazan, rebel governments formed in Çalım and Mişätamaq, and a new khan was invited from the Nogais. This continuation guerilla war was ended only in 1556. Thank you Galina for this nice card.

The Titanic

A nice painting of the RMS Titanic. Card sent to me by my dear friend Pia.

Happy New Year

Thank you Galina for this pretty card. Wish you a Very Happy New Year too.

Merry Christmas

Thank you Merja. This is indeed a lovely card - Santa at Work and Play - Yes, Merry Christmas to all of you.

Merry Christmas

Thank you Ella for this lovely card. And yes, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too.

Boqueria market in Barcelona

The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, often simply referred to as La Boqueria, is a large public market in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and one of the city's foremost tourist landmarks, with an entrance from La Rambla, not far from the Liceu, Barcelona's opera house. The market has a very diverse selection of goods. This lovely card was sent to me by Anna from Barcelona.

The first mention of the Boqueria market in Barcelona dates from 1217, when tables were installed near the old city gate to sell meat. From December 1470 onwards, a pig market was held at this site; at this time it was known as Mercat Bornet. Later, until 1794, it was known simply as Mercat de la Palla, or straw market. In the beginning, the market was not enclosed and had no official status, being regarded simply as an extension of the Plaça Nova market, which extended to the Plaça del Pi.

Later, the authorities decided to construct a separate market on La Rambla, housing mainly fishmongers and butchers. It was not until 1826 that the market was legally recognized, and a convention held in 1835 decided to build an official structure. Construction began on March 19, 1840 under the direction of the architect Mas Vilà. The market officially opened in the same year, but the plans for the building were modified many times. The inauguration of the structure finally took place in 1853. A new fish market opened in 1911, and the metal roof that still exists today was constructed in 1914.

Old Believers’ manuscript “ The roll from the White Sea Coast region (late18th – early 19th Century)

The roll or scroll shown on on the card is one of many in the National Library of Belarus. This roll is from the collection of Old Believers’ manuscript “ The roll from the White Sea Coast region (late18th – early 19^th Century). This card was sent to me by Alexander from Minsk.

The National Library of Belarus is the main information and cultural centre of the country. Its depository collections include 8 million items of various media. In 1993 the National Library of Belarus started to create its own electronic information resources. It has generated a collection of bibliographic, factual graphic, full-text, graphic, sound and language databases that comprise more than 2 million records. The scope of databases is quite wide: humanities, social sciences, history, art and culture of Belarus. Library users also have access to databases of other libraries and academic institutions, including foreign ones.

Painting by Inge Löök

A lovely painting by Inge Löök (real name Ingeborg Lievonen) gives a real Christmasy feeling to this card. Thank you Pia for this pretty card. 

Zaan Streek Museum at Zaandam

This lovely painting of a tall ship reproduced on this card is at the Zaan Streek Museum  at Zaandam. The card was sent to me by Marijie from Holland.

Zaandam is a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad, and received city rights in 1811. It is located on the Zaan, close to the North Sea Canal, and is close to Amsterdam. The statistical district Zaandam, which covers the city and the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 72.597. Zaandam was a separate municipality until 1974, when it became a part of the new municipality of Zaanstad.

Minsk Railway Station Square

Viktor from Minsk sent me this pretty card. The square was formed in the period 1947-1956, before the beginning of the 60s near the square stood a water tower. In the late 20th century, construction of a new railway station began at the square. And in the early 21st century the square had acquired a modern look.

Minsk Passazhirsky  is the main passenger rail terminal in Belarus. It is located in the centre of Minsk. It is sometimes called Minsk Ploshchad Lenina due to the metro station serving the terminal, or simply Minsk.

The station was built in 1873 as Vilenski vakzal, Vilnius station. The initial wooden building was demolished in 1890 and rebuilt in stone. During World War II Minsk railway station was completely destroyed. It was rebuilt in 1945-1946 and served until 1991. The new building of Minsk-Passazhyrski railway station was built in 1991-2002. Its construction was delayed due to financial difficulties. However now Minsk boasts one of the most modern and up-to-date railway stations in the CIS. There are plans to move all suburban rail traffic from Minsk-Passazhyrski to smaller stations Minsk-Uskhodni (East), Minsk-Paudnyovy (South) and Minsk-Paunochny (North) by 2020.

The two large buildings at the Station Square are centrally located and are characterised by the obvious Stalinist architecture .