Postcards for the weekend 69: Aerial Views

In as much as I love looking close into details, I also enjoy looking at the "big picture". For views of a "big picture" this weekend, I have for you:

Sent from Helsinki on 28 Dec 2016, Traveled 9,323 km

Suomenlinna - an inhabited sea fortress built on 6 islands. My Finnish penpal, Tuija went and mentioned that if not because of the cold, she would have wanted to spend the whole day there. I totally missed the chance to see the place myself when I visited Finland back in April last year. And you guessed it right, the culprit was also the cold weather.

Sent from Dubrovnik on 6 Aug 2013, Traveled 9,925 km

Dubrovnik - another filming location for one of my favorite TV series, Game of Thrones. I've been to Valletta, Malta, one of the first filming locations. If I look into this Dubrovnik aerial view sans the name of the city, could have easily mistaken it for Valletta. This postcard was also sent by Tuija, 5 years ago when I was still living in Manila.

Sent from Frankfurt on 12 March 2017, Traveled 10,252 km

Frankfurt - an aerial view of the city that I received a month prior to my layover there, while on my way to Malta. I remember challenging myself whether I would actually be able to spot this view during the descent and ascent of my incoming and outgoing flights. I didn't! Now I'm strongly leaning on wanting to see the city in person and getting to these buildings and for real. I've never been to any German city and my feet are itching for adventures there. 

Which of these places have you been to? Which place/city (not necessarily any of these 3), would you like to see for your next adventure?

Happy weekend, 

~maria

Thou hast brought me many flowers

Beloved, thou hast brought me many flowers

Plucked in the garden, all the summer through
And winter, and it seemed as if they grew 
In this close room, nor missed the sun and showers.

Postcard ID: DE-1442283, Sender: Kizza00

Sent from Germany, Sent on 28 June 2012
Received on 18 July 2012, Traveled 10,199 km in 20 days

So, in the like name of that love of ours,
Take back these thoughts which here unfolded too,

Postcard ID: HR-27972, Sender: Daca
Sent from Slavonski Brod, Croatia, Sent on 14 Dec 2011
Received on 19 Jan 2012, Traveled 9, 489 km in 36 days

And which on warm and cold days I withdrew
From my heart's ground. Indeed, those beds and bowers
Be overgrown with bitter weeds and rue,

Postcard ID: AU-202808, Sender: IndigoAngel
Sent from NSW, Australia, Sent on 10 May 2012
Received on 4 June 2012, Traveled 6,125 km in 25 days

And wait thy weeding; yet here's eglantine,
Here 's ivy!—take them, as I used to do

Postcrossing Private Swap, Sender: Ayumi
Sent from Hawaii, USA, Sent on 8 March 2012
Received on 20 March 2012, Traveled 5,497 km in 12 days

Thy fowers, and keep them where they shall not pine.
Instruct thine eyes to keep their colors true,
And tell thy soul their roots are left in mine.

Postcard ID: PL-342968, Sender: Mariola
Sent from Jelenia Gora, Poland, Sent on 13 Jan 2012
Received on 23 Feb 2012, Traveled 9, 789 km in 41 days

Sonnet 44 - Beloved, thou has brought me many flowers
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I needed something cheerful so I picked these flower cards from my collection
for today's post. Postcard Perfect indeed! 

~ maria

Flowers of the earth

We're having an odd summer here in the Philippines. It has been raining at days when the sun is supposed to be showcasing its boldest grandeur...and ok, I stumbled upon this English proverb:

April showers bring forth May flowers. ^____^

Aha! That doesn't make me so grumpy about the rain and the floods anymore. Yep, May will be here soon. The young children will need an abundance of blooms to offer to the Virgin Mary every evening. Flores de Maria had always been something for me to look forward into for summer breaks from school.

My grandparents from both sides of the family grew flowers and vegetable garden. I remember both the impatience and amazement in watching the buds becoming more beautiful each day. I also remember the disappointment when the flowers are starting to wilt. How I wished the flowers would stay vibrant forever...held by sturdy stems. But they didn't and they won't. I guess that's life. But with every dying flower is a promise of another beauty waiting to be discovered somewhere in the garden :)

So much for my recollection and back to the topic: SUNDAY STAMPS :D I was unable to post stamps for quite a while now. I'm making up for that today. Since it's flowers/spring theme in Viridian's this week, here are the rest of the flower stamps from my collection:

My favorite! Red tulips are associated with eternal true love.

A 2007 flower stamp from Czechoslovakia. 

Cylamen is both a scientific and common name.

It is also called sowbread, persian violet, or primrose.

Issued in 18 March '09 under the Holy Days & Celebrations.

I wish someone can tell me what flower is this exactly...please.

I am taking a wild guess that it belongs to the genus Tagetes.

I need help on these stamps, too. I don't know how to read Japanese characters :(

My grandma's favorite!

 The flower that knows its chemistry --

The petals would be pink, purple, or blue depending on the soil's pH.

I was searching for info about this stamp, and here's what I found:

The deep blue color of the iris is associated with nobility --

its three petals symbolizes valor, wisdom and faith.

In mythology, Iris is the goddess of the rainbow.

In historical context, it's the fleur-de-lis of the French monarchy.

The greater pasque flower is listed under 'Jewels of Nature' 

in the official travel guide website of Slovenia.

And here's a flower art in stamp from Croatia. The design was made by

Orsat Frankovic and Ivana Vucic. This was a part of the 

Croatian Ethnographic Heritage - Posavina series.

I hope you enjoyed these flower stamps. Happy Sunday everyone and have a great week ahead!

~maria

p.s. If you want to see some flower stamps from my country, find them here.