Postcards for the weekend 60: Reflections

CZ-1246132, Sent from Prague
Sent 10 Sep 2017, Traveled 9,856 km in 30 days

On this postcard, we have the Czech Republic's Konopiste Castle, reflected on the lake. I'm pretty sure this photo was taken during the autumn season, judging by the warm colors of the trees by the lake. 

CZ-1135433, Sent from Dobrnice Village
Sent 27 Feb 2017, Traveled 9,795 km in 17 days

Our second postcard is also from the same country as the first postcard. I love how the clouds are reflected on the water in the lower image. In 1995, this area of Cesky Raj was declared as the first ever nature reserve in the Czech Republic. 

AU-304867, Sent from Melbourne
Sent 2 Sep 2013, Traveled 6,325 km in 13 days

From the opposite side of Europe, we have this last postcard for this weekend's theme of reflections from Australia. Here we have the different buildings and bright lights reflected by the water. Melbourne is the state capital of Victoria, Australia.

Happy weekend everyone,

~ maria

Postcards for the weekend 13: Museum/university/library

For the theme this weekend, the only postcard I have for a university was featured last year. Here are two postcards instead that talk about universities:

DE-5634232, Sent: 11 Oct 2016
Traveled 10,346 km in 8 days

The sender wrote that Freiburg City, where she lives is an old university town in Black Forest Area of Germany, close to France and Switzerland. I think she's mostly referring to the 500-plus years old Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg. It is in the top 5 oldest universities in Germany along with Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, University of Leipzig, University of  Rostock, and University of Greifswald. When I look at this card, I crave for a slice of Black Forest cake, given the colors of the costume the woman & children are wearing and the name of the area.

Direct Swap: Sent: 6 June 2015
Traveled 9,981 km in 20 days

The multi-view card shows places of interest in the university town of Plzn. For this card, the sender wrote about the degree she's studying at the University of West Bohemia. It's called Faculty of Philosophy, International Relations, British and International Studies. I wish I was able to keep it touch. She seems to be a perfect person to speak with about the Brexit and the results of the recent USA elections ...

Sadly, I don't have any library card to share, but I have at least one museum postcard.

Friendship Gift Postcard: Sent: 3 June 2016

Have you ever experienced receiving a postcard in the mail and exclaiming out loud or in your mind, "Oh! I've been there!" -- this postcard is one of those cards for me. Well, except of course those postcards that I sent to myself whenever I travel. 

This postcard came to me 2 months after I was there in Acropolis. It's an understatement to say how grand is their collection, given the rich cultural history of the place. I would love to go back to get lost once again into a different age while viewing their displays.

Happy Thanksgiving to readers & participants who celebrate and to everyone, I wish us all a good rest this weekend!

~maria

C is for Český Krumlov, Czech Republic

Facebook Swap, Sender: Lucie
Sent: 27 Mar 2012 from Prague, Czech Republic
Received 12 Apr 2012, Traveled 10117.49 in 16 days

Lucie wrote:

Hi Maria, This is one of the most beautiful sites in Czech Republic. If you go here, you need to see two cities: Prague and Czech Krumlov.

The card was published by www.unesco-czech.cz This city by the Vltava River was inscribed to the list in 1992, boasting a beautiful example of a small central European medieval town.

~maria

The post, etc.

The theme for Sunday Stamps today is the post, letters, post boxes, etc.

I'm happy to find 4 related stamps in my collection:

From Netherlands, I have this postcrossing.com stamp issued in 14 October 2011 by PostNL.

The 'Posta Italiana', issued in 7 July 2009. According to the Poste Italiane website, the design "features an envelope taking off, leaving behind a trail formed by the colors of the Italian flag."

This stamp was issued by the Česká pošta in 9 October 2011 to commemorate 

the annual World Post Day. 

A commemorative issue on 3 August 2012 by the Office National des Postes Tunisie 

for the Arab Post Day. 

~maria

Under the shade of an umbrella.

CZ-281015, Sender: ptpj
Sent: 19 April 2013, Sent from Ostrava 18, Czech Republic
Received: 9 May 2013, Traveled 9,660 km in 20 days

This postcard that the mailman delivered just this morning made my day! I bet no one can argue about its cuteness. It has that cheer of the innocence and bliss of sweet young love. It's also a beautiful coincidence that I got it on an extremely hot and humid day. Going out in the sun without an umbrella isn't advisable at all. So I fancy myself one like that in the postcard.

My darling and I have always think about reading books together while lying side by side each other as one of our couple's activities. I think it would be great to do it while lying on the grass in a park during mid to late afternoon. We can toss off our shoes and just enjoy the tickling grass on the bottom of our feet. And we can bring a nice umbrella, like this in the postcard if we want to steal a kiss or two -- so not to offend passers by.

Forgive my romantic side on the lose. I am still counting 5 days before I can see the darling again and these days feel like they'll last forever. I'm so impatient to be with him in person again. I never missed someone so badly before. I never knew missing someone can be this tormenting, until we became a couple and experienced spending quality time with each other as a couple. (I deeply miss my dear lolo / grandpa who passed away in 2007 but that's on a different level). Despite the difficulty of being apart, I'm still very happy I've got a very special person; my bestfriend, who is also my boyfriend, to miss.

Happy Guest Heart Thursday everyone! Check out Clytie @ Random Hearts for more heart posts. :)

~maria

Breclav, Czech Republic

CZ-154420, Sender: Pavel
Sent from Louny, Czech Republic, Sent on 22 Dec 2011
Received on 19 Jan 2012, Traveled 9.909 km in 28 days

Written in English at the back of the card:

The old Breclav roadside shrine / A glass of wine decorated for a festival / A pair of dancers from Breclav-Postarna / A girl in the traditional costume of Lanzhot / Breclav lace.

Pavel wrote:

Hello Maria, I found for you a postcard with costume from South Moravia. I visited this region with my girlfriend in the autumn, where there took place 4th Czech postcrossing meeting.

Thanks so much Pavel for sending me a card from my wishlist!

I love that Breclav heart design on the bottom right of the card and I'm entering that to Clytie's Guest Heart Thursday. It's a holiday tomorrow so I'm off to a long slumber, folks! :)

~maria

Prague of the Vltava River

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Veronika Ticha
Sent from Tachov, Czech Republic Sent on 30 April 2012
Received on June 29 2012, Traveled ~10,113 km in 59 days

Veronika wrote on the card:

Hi Maria, Prague is the capital and largest city of the Prague Republic and fourteenth largest city in European Union. It's situated on the Vltava River. Prague is home to a number of attractions including the following: Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, the Lennon Wall, and Petrin Hill. Since 1992, the historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of WHS. 

Another UNESCO WHS card for me. Yey! :D 

To read more about Prague, here's the link for the dedicated page on the UNESCO WHS list.

~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.

Velika Panda & Alfons Mucha from CZ

It's the typhoon season here in the Philippines so it's no longer a surprise that we've got our second typhoon in a single week. Forgive me for saying this, but sometimes I like it when there's a typhoon. The scents of leaves; the smell of nature floats in the air, as the rainwater washes the city greens free from dusts and pollution...

And because I am dreamy about taking a hike into the woods to smell more freshness this weekend, I am sharing a green postcard with a cutie velika panda in it. I learned that velika is Croatian word for giant.

What's more interesting about this postcard from Czechoslovakia (which I always have a hard time pronouncing properly) is the zodiac stamp at the back. The stamp was issued on May 26, 2010 to commemorate the 150 years of Alfons Maria Mucha,. 

Trivia: Alfons Maria Mucha was the first artist to design the postage stamps, banknotes, and other government documents for the Chechoslovak republic when it won its independence after World War I. 

Trivia: Mucha's distinct art nouveau style was the inspiration for the Japanese manga artist, Naoko Takeuchi for the design of a series of posters depicting five of the main characters of his manga series, Sailor Moon.
Source: wikipedia.org