Postcards

Za oknem holenderska szaruga i mżawka sieją właśnie spustoszenie, więc swój pierwszy dzień w Amsterdamie spędzam otulona kocem z kubkiem gorącej herbaty w ręce. Jednak nim na dobre pochłonie mnie zagraniczna przygoda, chciałabym wrócić na chwilę do Polski, do pewnego pudła w moim pokoju, w którym trzymam pocztówki.
Moim wielkim marzeniem jest zebranie pocztówek ze 100 państw świata, więc gdy całkiem niedawno byłam w domu na wakacjach, pomyślałam, że to świetna okazja do przejrzenia kolekcji i sprawdzenia postępów w jego spełnianiu. Proszę o fanfary, bo w swojej kolekcji mam już kartki aż z 36 państw!Jednak dziś zobaczycie o 3 więcej, bo dodałam tutaj też pocztówkę z Tajwanu (uznawany jedynie przez 22 kraje), Kosowa (uznawanego przez 105 krajów) i nieistniejącej już Czechosłowacji.
Moja kolekcja jest dla mnie cenna, to od niej rozpoczęło się moje blogowanie, a po tym etapie zachowało się sporo wpisów, które możecie zobaczyć tutaj. Teraz powoli jestem na drodze do spełnienia swojego marzenia, a tymczasem zostawiam was z moimi skarbami. A wy dajcie znać w komentarzach, jakie jest najbardziej odległe miejsce, z którego macie pocztówkę. A jakby kto pytał, to u mnie będzie to chyba Korea Północna.

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There is a grey day with drizzles in the Netherlands today. That's why I spend my first day in Amsterdam wrapped in a cosy blanket with a cup of tea in my hands. So before my foreign adventure kicks off, I've got a moment to go back to my room in Poland where I keep my postcards.
My big dream is to collect postcards from 100 countries in the world so when just recently I was at home for holidays, I thought it'd be a great idea to check my progress and make a quick update here. It's a pleasure to announce that I have postcards from 36 countries! I'm going to show you 3 more today because I also want to share a postcard from Taiwan (recognized only by 22 countries), Kosovo (recognized by 105 countries) and Czechoslovakia which doesn't exist any more.
My collection is quite precious, it's even a reason why I started blogging. Writing about postcards was a huge stage with so many entries on the blog which you can read here. Now I'm on my way to make my dream come true slowly so in the meantime I'll leave you with my treasures. Please let me know in the comments below, what is the most remote place from which you've got a postcard. And if you're curious, it'd be probably North Korea for me.

Malezja, Korea Północna, Chiny // Malaysia, North Korea, China

Turcja, Tajwan, Filipiny, Wietnam // Turkey, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam

Tajlandia, Singapur // Thailand, Singapore

Serbia, Bułgaria, Albania, Estonia, Chorwacja, Kosowo // Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Estonia, Croatia, Kosovo

Dania, Hiszpania, Austria, Ukraina, Francja, Włochy // Denmark, Spain, Austria, Ukraine, France, Italy

Polska, Węgry, Czechy, Słowacja, Czechosłowacja // Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Czechoslovakia

Białoruś, Szwajcaria, Holandia, Grecja, Finlandia // Belarus, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Greece, Finland

Belgia, Niemcy, Rosja, Watykan, Wielka Brytania // Belgium, Germany, Russia, Vatican City, United Kingdom K

Stany Zjednoczone // United States

Maroko, Tunezja // Morocco, Tunisia

Pozdrawiam,
Karolina

Città del Vaticano

Summer seems to be a season of pilgrimages. It's right time to connect something for soul (a prayer) and body (a recreation in more tourist places). One of my friends decided to do so and went for a pilgrimage to Italy. She spent time in cultural parts of Rome but also in religious Vatican City where she saw St. Peter's Basilica which you can see on the postcard below. It's a very important church for Roman Catholics because it's somehow connected with Pope's head office which is located in Vatican City.

Look below, even the stamp is Vatican. That postcard is quite special because it comes from the smallest country (in terms of size) in the world.

Cheerio,
Karolina xx

Joyfulness straight from Singapore!

Today's post can be described as almost live report! :D Well, I've opened a postbox today and saw something special inside. At the beginning of December 2011, I found Singapore Philatelic Museum's action which I joined. To be honest, I was waiting for a reply till February, then with a shade of disappointment I forgot about that action...until today when I've found a reply in my postbox! :D By the way, it's my first postcard from Singapore and it's so unique! :)

Cheerio,
Karolina x

Quelques cartes postales

I know! I know! I know! I told I would add 2 posts, I know! But I really had no time to prepare 2 posts...so I prepared just one! This one! Especially for you :) As you can deduce after reading the title...I'm going to show you some more postcards I have from France :)

Am I the only one person who knows Normandy from history lessons about World War II? But also it's a region located at English Channel with beautiful landscapes around.

Today we're going to find out that Ouistreham is a small port in Normandy.

Ok, it's time to move southwards to Reims. It was a large and important city during the Roman Empire. That's why it has a lot of ancient relics nowadays which are worth-seeing for sure.

  

The capital city of France is known as a city of lights, amazing tourist attractions and a very romantic atmosphere everywhere :D Of yes, and because of its landmark - Eiffel Tower :D

Still heading southwards, we can go to La Salette which is very popular tourist destination for religious people because of Mother of God's sanctuary.

We are going to finish our tour across France on southern coast at Mediterranean Sea. First of all, we're visiting Montpellier. I have no idea why but cities, towns in southern France seem to be pretty ambient to me!

And now it's time for Provence - my beloved French region. As you may know, Côte d'Azur is a part of Provence. It's a very, very popular tourist destination because of perfect weather for most of the time in the year.

Moreover, Cannes is very famous because of Film Festival which takes place over there every year.

I'm not proud of that post....it's short and written in hurry...shame on me!

Cheerio,
Karolina x

North Korea

Today I'm going to show you a very valuable item from my postcards collection. Especially that I got it by post - so I've got a genuine stamp and a postmark. You can ask me why it is so important. Sure, it is. It's from North Korea which, as you know, is not a very popular tourist destination.
I received it because of an event on Jean-Luc's blog. He's been to North Korea and has sent 197 postcards to his followers. That was a big surprise for me when I opened my postbox and saw that postcard :)

If anybody knows what the caption means, let me now - I'm curious!

So...I'm leaving tomorrow! But don't worry, I've prepared two posts which will appear on my blog automatically when I'm away! :D

Cheerio,
Karolina x

al-Maghrib*

*name of that country in Arabic

I think it's high time for another kind of geographical riddle today! :D
First of all, I'm presenting you postcards from a county which belongs to a group of positive countries, according to my weather classification. If it's sunny and warm country, it's a positive country...and That country surely is a hot&sunny place.

That postcard depicts sand dunes on Erg Chebbi which is placed in the neighbourhood of Merzouga - a small village.

Additionally, this is a postcard from the capital city of that country. It presents Kasbah of the Udayas - a fortress with a place for sovereign.

And yes, it's Morocco! :)

Guys, I'm so excited! On Friday I'm going with my friends to Poznań! It's my second visit in that city and I promise I will be more accurate photographer this time! :D I can't wait  to take amazing pictures and show them to you! :)

Cheerio,
Karolina x

Endless heat

It seems to me that summer time has begun for good in Poland! :) However, not only is it that hot only in Poland but also in Italy! :D That's why I'm going to present you my Italian postcards today :)

I've got loads of postcards from province of Imperia in Liguria region because my grandparents used to spend a few times their holidays over there. They reminisced that place many times and really enjoyed their holidays there.

When it comes to Liguria, I can also show you a postcard from another city in that region. Alassio is a popular both in summer and winter holiday resort.

The following card is from Abruzzo region. Alba Adriatica is also very popular holiday resort which was high quality standard of beaches. Town got Blue Flag prize (a certification that beach meets strict quality standards) 4 times.

 The Floating City, located in Veneto region, is an extremely important tourist destination. Maybe because of carnival. Or perhaps because of canals which create romantic, lovely atmosphere. That place does not need introducing. Ladies and Gentlemen, Venice:

Ancona is located in Marche - a region I discovered lately. My love to Italy has started from Tuscany, then I read about Marche which only intensified my fascination.

The last Italian postcard is not so summery...Forgive me! :D I got it from my friend while she was on her winter holidays. Dolomities are simply pefrect for skiing in winter! :D

I adore everything which is connected with retro/vintage. I associate Italy with retro because of antique places, climate. Therefore, I would like to visit every region in Italy in my life to enjoy its cuisine, landscapes, atmosphere, people and lovely-sonorous language. :) <3

Cheerio,
Karolina x

Καλησπέρα!*

*Καλησπέρα! (pronounced: Kalispera) means Good afternoon in a language of a country I'm presenting postcards from today.  

I've chosen a set of postcards from a country which is an ideal summer holidays destination so I hope it'll be an colourful, optimistic and dreamy post! :D
So...it's time for the first prompt: Rhodes (or Rodos) is an island on Aegean Sea and is very popular tourist destination:

 

Meteora is a complex of monasteries built on sandstone rocks. By the way, in one of James Bond film series For Your Eyes Only you could see a scene with Meteora in the background.

Patra is the third biggest city in that country. I love that postcard so much - the view and colours are gorgeous - I adore landscape postcards pretty much :D

And the last clue is: Athens is the capital city of that country. Moreover, it's one of the oldest cities in the world with many ancient relics. That postcard presents Acropolis with Parthenon temple.

Okey, I know, I know, it was so easy! But yes, it's Greece on the postcards! :D
Cheerio,
Karolina x

London 2012

I decided to give you a small gap in my travel account and show you a postcard I got from my friend on Monday. It presents a logo of 30th Summer Olympic Games which will take place in London this year. There are going to start in last week of July.

Greetings,
Karolina :) 

Santa Claus

Hello! :) I know it's sunny and warm outside but I must come back to winter in that post today - forgive me, please! Six months ago I decided to fulfil desire from the childhood. On 4th December, I wrote a letter to Santa Claus which I posted on 6th December. Exactly 5 moths later, a reply letter was posted from Finland to me! :D
This is how my letter looked like:

     

And this is how the reply looks like:

To be honest, I didn't expect to get the answer...but it was a very pleasant surprise to see that letter in my mail box. By the way, it's very funny because I wrote the letter in English and got an answer in Polish - magic! :D

Greetings,
Karolina