Then and Now

I don't know Polish but hints tell me that this is school in Głuchołazach, Poland. I am so grateful for the sender cause it's always nice to see 'then and now' photos of places, buildings, etc. I'm even more grateful for what she wrote at the back of the card. Wow! I'm so happy that my efforts in writing didn't go unnoticed.

Happy weekend everyone!

Take some time to check out Beth's page for your dose of postcards on a weekend. Find her page by simply clicking the photo below. ;-)

~ maria

p.s. Unfortunately the contents she mentioned at the back of the card were taken down when I reformatted from the diary style into a postcards & stamps dedicated blog. What a coincidence though that that fact also captures the 'then and now' of this blog. :D

Yellow & Red Fairies

Two postcards were received last week from the USA. Lots of 'thank you' for the sender Terry of Postcards from Around the World in FB for sending me fairies that makes my fantasy picture of the Anne Hathway's garden more vivid and complete. 

I'm sharing my photos on the Wordless Wednesday hub. Click the meme below for other Wordless Wednesday posts. :)

~ maria

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Terry Lovell

Sent from Arkansas, USA, Sent on 8 June 2012

Received on 20 June 2012, Traveled ~ 13,552 km in 18 days

Shakespeare Houses

Right at this moment, if someone would ask me if I wanna relocate somewhere -- it's gonna be Stratford-upon-Avon in the United Kingdom. Being in that place is like being inside a fairy tale story (or perhaps I'm just really a big Shakespeare fan! He didn't write fairy tales but that's the feeling I got for being in his hometown.)

The best thing that I love in Stratford is the Shakespeare Houses. I had the chance to visit 4 of 5. I was the happiest when I found postcards for the two houses in one of the gift shops at the town center.

The first postcard is the Anne Hathaway Cottage. Anne was the wife of William Shakespeare. The cottage has a lovely garden, full of different flowering plants. I wouldn't mind working as a gardener there. I felt like there's a fairy hiding somewhere, wishing to play with me (if only there were fewer tourists). Oh well, a lady can still dream of girly things. :D

The second postcard is the Shakespeare's birthplace. This one is right in the town center, just a few steps away from where I got these postcards. Oh, some explaining here, Anne's place is not called Anne Shakespeare's Cottage cause she was still unwed to William while living there. Anne's place is where the courting happened (perhaps it's the reason why it's the most romantic of all the Shakespeare houses, sans the garden.) When she got pregnant and William married her in a rushed ceremony, she transferred to William's birthplace house to spend the early 5 years of married life with him there.

I highly recommend this town for tourists who want to visit the UK. Aside from the Shakespeare houses, there's also the Royal Shakespeare Theater for watching a play or two.

I am sharing this with the Postcard Friendship Friday blogroll, check out Beth's page by clicking the photo below. Have a great weekend, everyone!

~ maria

Genus: Prunus

The Sunday Stamps theme for this week is food -- fruit, vine, or dessert.

I am sharing two stamp designs for the genus: Prunus. Dug from the back of the postcards I received from last year, these fruits are regular items for breakfast during my recent UK visit.

The first one is from Moldova, Prunus armeniaca. Or more commonly known as apricot. I usually had it as a jam. The breakfast buffet in almost every hotel and hostel I checked in to had the Coronet apricot jam. I loved having it with my toast, if not the raspberry jam.

The second stamp is from Turkey, Prunus persica, or peaches. Sectioned orange with sliced peaches in sweet syrup was one reason why I woke up early during my stay at the Euro Hostel in Scotland. I believe this combination was a hit among the guests. 

Wow! I miss waking up and rushing into the hostel/hotel's restaurant to grab these items that would get me ready and full for the day.

`maria

Of A Sun & Three Stars

I went home to the province for a few days. School has started and visiting my Tatay's (father) office opposite the barangay grade school, nostalgia swept me. This is the time of the year when we used to pester our parents with pieces of yellow, red, and blue papers and bamboo sticks strewed on the floor. As we, my younger sister and I, struggle to make the most decent looking yellow sun and stars cut-outs.

Back to the present, the classroom windows decorated with mini flags waving at us was a delightful sight. I told my sister, we should have brought a camera to capture the sight!

Come June 12, the Philippines will commemorate it's Independence Day. Declared in 1898, the Philippine was freed from the colonial rule of Spain with the public reading of the Independence Act and the unfurling of the Philippine national flag -- the same design used and honored until today. The same flag by which we recite our pledge of allegiance, the same flag which proudly sways with the wind, hoisted in public places: schools,government offices, by the monuments of our notable heroes, constantly reminding us to hold true with our oath:

I am a Filipino

I pledge my allegiance

To the flag of the Philippines

And to the country it represents

With honor, justice, and freedom

Put in motion by one nation

For God, for the People,

For the Nature, and for the Country.

I definitely missed sharing my postcards with the blogging community and looking at what they have up in their pages, so click the link below for postcards viewing this weekend! :)

~maria

The Armadillo

Hello folks! It's been quite a while...Pardon my absence. I'd been busy preparing for an international conference on radiation protection. My study on occupational radiation doses of interventional cardiologists (which was also my master's thesis) was accepted for oral presentation. The conference was held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Center in Glasgow, Scotland. 

At the SECC area, there's the Clyde Auditorium, more familiar as 'The Armadillo'. This is not in reference to the animal itself, though it looks like one. The architect's reference for the design was the interlocking of series of ship's hulls, as tribute to the Clyde's shipbuilding heritage. Below is a postcard which arrived 2 days ago here in my apartment, sent to me by no other than, myself. Crazy, isn't it? I guess I'm that inclined in getting something from the mail...  :p

This second photo is of me (in the middle) and my professors. Glasgow's temperature of 5ºC was a big challenge for us. I guess that's evident with all of us being all bundled up. Manila was at 37ºC when we left. In Glasgow, I felt like being inside one big freezer! Despite the cold, the experience was very rewarding. Talking in front of professionals and experts in my field from different countries was truly one experience of a lifetime. :)

~ maria