Sunday Stamps - (O) Otto Dix from Germany

For the letter O - Otto Dix

2016 - Germany - Arts, Culture, and Entertainment

Designer: Prof. Annette Le Fort and Prof. Andre Hers

According to wiki, Otto Dix is considered as one of the most important artists of the New Objectivity movement in German art. For his 125th birthday, the Deutsche Post issued this commemorative stamp.

For more stamps with the letter "O", visit See it on a Postcard

Postcards for the weekend 83: Patterns & prints

I had a minor accident last Sunday evening that has limited my mobility. Since I changed my laptop the week before and the scanned copy of my postcards were temporarily moved to my portable hard drive, I don't have access both to the actual postcards and the scanned copies at the moment. I've been staying at my boyfriend's place since the accident and my portable hard drive is in the office and the actual postcards are at my place. Thankfully, I have some scans that are still yet to be cleaned up from my e-mail. It might be a bit of stretch for this weekend's theme but I hope these still works :)

Souvenir postcard from Seoul, Korea

This postcard is from a 21-pc set entitled Painting of Flowers, Birds, Insects, and Fish. The set was printed by the Cultural Foundation of National Museum of Korea. This is among a few postcards from the set that I kept for myself as a souvenir from the trip back in mid-March.

DE-5853679, Sent from Potsdam
Traveled 9,947 km in 6 days

The label at the back of the postcard was in German. Roughly translated in English: I found them in the spring shadow, where I tied them with rosebands. I'm quite not sure whether the postcard should be in portrait or landscape orientation. The painting looks like a rose garden of mixed colors for me.

Given that this weekend's theme seems to be open for interpretation, I'm specially more excited to see the contributions this weekend.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 81: Monuments

Private Swap

The Arch of Titus is an honorific monument dedicated to Titus, son of Vespasian. It was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Domitian in AD 82. The arch is significant for one reason among others that the menorah depicted on this arch has been the menorah used on the emblem for the state of Israel. 

Private Swap, sent from Berlin, Germany
Sent 17 August 2012, Traveled 9,860 km

Brandenburg Gate is one of the best-known monuments and landmarks of Germany. It was built in the 18th century under the orders of Frederick William II of Prussia. The gate is both a symbol of the tumultuous history of Europe and Germany and of unity and peace.

Happy weekend everyone,

~maria

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

Postcards for the weekend 67: A cup of coffee

DE-6803592, Sent from Germany
Traveled 10,360 km in 16 days

Here is my first Postcards for the Weekend post. And unfortunately, it's another post that needs to start with another apology. I realized that I have edited the linky for the weekend of 16 Dec instead of creating a new one for last weekend. I'm truly sorry about this and for all the other weekends wherein I was late in posting. With work being constantly busy, I have been pondering again whether to discontinue the linky party or not. But then, I'm going to miss all my friends who have been sharing with me this Postcards for the Weekend tradition for more than a year now. So, I'm pushing on! 

DE-6790870, Sent from Halle
Traveled 10,029 km in 20 days

Here are a couple of postcards that I received yesterday. I guess, I just need more cups of coffee to stay on top of things ;-)

I wish you all a nice weekend,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 62: Books/reading/authors

DE-5984055, Sent from Saarbruecken, Germany
Sent 14 Feb 2017, Traveled 10.396 km in 7 days

This painting is called Der Philosoph (Der Leser im Park) by Carl Spitzweg. In English, The Philosopher (The Reader in the Park). I really like this postcard with the excellent lighting focused on the subject of the painting.

DE-5935734, Sent from Germany
Sent 29 Jan 2017, Traveled 10,423 km 5 days

Another painting for this weekend's theme. This painting is called Portrait of Maria Adelaide of France in Turkish Costume by Jean-Etienne. The lighting on this postcard is also very nice, coming from behind her.

I'm keeping this post short for now and I'm off to bury myself in the pages of my novel, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.

Happy weekend,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 47: Bridges

CN-2086490, Sent from Hangzhou
Sent 17 Nov 2016, Traveled 3,621 km in 90 days

Nedi, the sender of this postcard wrote: This picture is the seventeen-hole bridge. It's one of the famous scenes at the Summer Palace in Beijing. 

I love this scene captured during the golden hour.

DE-5986656, sent from Leipzig
Sent 15 Feb 2017, Traveled 9,998 km in 12 days

Here's a winter view of Blick vom Johannapark, at the Leipzig city center. I must admit, finding bridges within city parks & gardens always thrills me. There's that adrenalin rush of getting from one side to the other, regardless how relatively small of an accomplishment it might seem.

Friendship Gift Postcard, hand-delivered

Now, this last postcard means so much to me. It was hand-delivered to me by a colleague when she came back to the office from her Australia trip. At the back was written, "Sometimes people need to fall apart, to realize how much you need to get back together. You just need to believe that everything happens for a reason and God has bigger plans for you! Hang in there!!" This postcard was pinned to my office cubicle where I can see it every day while facing my laptop screen. That year, 2014, was tumultuous, to say the least -- this postcard was one of my links to sanity.

I'm sure you folks have noticed the delay in my weekend posts. It's been a real challenge for me these couple of weeks with responsibilities at work. At the moment, I'm finally on my last week of a 3-week series of trips from Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, and now here in Jakarta (moving to Malang on Wednesday!). After that, I'm back to Singapore for 1 week and then I''m off to the foot of the Alps, for a 2-week break. I'm hesitant about this, but I really need a time off from electronics & gadgets so I decided that for 5 & 12 August, I won't be hosting the linky. However, if someone would want to substitute for me on those 2 weekends, please let me know in the comment and I will pass the HTML codes for the link-up platform.

Hope you're all having a free & easy weekend,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 44: City views (day time)

For this weekend's theme, I'm featuring city views at day time from Europe:

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Helsinki
Sent 28 Dec 2016, Traveled 9,259 km

The old buildings in Helsinki City Centre gave me peace and calm. I truly wish I had more than just a 2-day weekend to discover this European capital city. If I'm not mistaken, the tall building in the background is St. John's Church. It stands out tall compared to the rest as it's resting on a hill.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from The Hague
Traveled 10,530 km

Some of you may know that I have a Dutch mom (my biological mother is Filipino but I have a second mom). She sent me this postcard from the city where she works. I will visit Amsterdam this August and I'm figuring out if it's worth it to visit The Hague as well. I like this postcard for showing a contrast of old and new buildings.

Friendship Gift Postcard from Madrid
Traveled 11,374 km

Madrid ranks high on my list of cities I want to explore in depth in Europe. Here's Metropolis Building, an architectural wonder at the corner of Calle Alcala and Gran Via. The building features 4 statues representing Mining, Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce. Its round tower is covered by 30,000 leaves of 24-k gold.

Direct Swap, Sender: Anna
Traveled 10,059 km

Of all these five postcards, this is my favorite. I reckon this picture is taken close to the golden hour. I probably wouldn't have known about Ljubljana if not for this postcard. I don't know how to pronounce this city's name either so I need to ask Google for help. 

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Dr. Arnold
Sent 12 March 2017, Traveled 10,252 km

This postcard steals my attention from that of Ljubljana. The buildings are way so much taller at one part of this city. Excellent vantage point for this postcard!

~ maria

You spoke, and I listened :D Starting this weekend, the time span of the linky is extended to 12 hours more, to accommodate different time zones.

Postcards for the weekend 32: Whimsical and/or magical

I've been up to my neck with work and I almost forgot it's Friday!

For this weekend's theme I've picked three postcards to share:

Friendship Gift Postcard, from Finland
Sent 7 June 2014, traveled 9,171 km

I'm very happy to come across this postcard from my collection again and read the message at the back from my Finnish pen friend, Tuija. She translated the text, "Sometimes it's good to catch one's breath and enjoy the day enjoying one's self, leaving everyday worries behind, take it easy and be happy about the good things in life."

RU-537449, from Russia,
Sent 21 Aug 2011, traveled 8,260 km in 25 days

It looks so magical with the planets and stars in the background. I can't figure out the pink wall that the cats are leaning on though, is it supposed to be a wall?

DE-6024930, from the north of Germany
Sent 1 March 2017, traveled 10,102 km in 13 days

This is one of my most recently received postcards. Because of the black hood and veil of this woman, I always think of Bellatrix Lestrange (from the famous Harry Potter series) every time I look at the postcard.

Have a relaxing weekend folks!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 25: Gratitude

Searching for postcards to share for this weekend's theme reminded me of the interconnectivity of these four themes I've chosen for this month of February. Please forgive me if the cards might seem redundant with the emotions they convey ...

NL-2055263, sent from Den Haag, The Netherlands
Traveled 10,451 km in 15 days

...gratitude for receiving attention

UA-1478123, sent from Kharkov, Ukraine
Traveled 8,316 km in 17 days

...gratitude for being outside in nature under the warmth of the sun

Direct Swap, sent from Munich, Germany

...gratitude for having food and drinks on the table 

NL-3556071, sent from Volendam, The Netherlands
Traveled 10,517 km in 17 days

...gratitude for seeing and receiving a present from a good friend.

Happy weekend everyone and looking forward into seeing your postcards,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 15: Winter Scenes

Before I moved to Singapore back in January 2014, I scanned all the postcards I have. Both the front and the back were scanned. That was a rush project with all the other things that needed to be taken cared of prior to moving. When I resumed my blogging activities three months ago, I realized that some of the cards are missing the back side scan. The postcard above is one among those without the back side scan. It makes me disappointed as it always delight me whenever I review the back side scan, re-reading the message from the sender and looking up how long and how far the postcard traveled to get to my mailbox. 

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Tuija
Traveled 9,160 km

Moving on, I've never seen snow nor experienced winter. Or perhaps I did, early February this year in Korea but there was no snow ... I've never seen snow. Winter scenes with snow always look magical to me. December is the time of the year when I normally get winter scene postcards. Often, they come with holiday greetings like these two. Do you get winter scene postcards in other months of the year, too?

~maria

Stamps: Wild animals

I'm quite pleased to share these wild animal stamps where two are illustrated and the other two are actual photos.

The two stamps on top were part of the series Australian Bush Babies. The kangaroo was issued in 1 July 2011. I can't find the exact issue date for the dingo, though. The illustrations were designed by Elise Martinson. Other stamps from the series can be found on her page. I find these illustrations well-detailed and it seems like they're out from the pages of a nice children's book with a beautiful story about animals in the wild.

On the bottom left, the bear stamp was issued 21 February 2008 as part of Wildlife in Norway III series. The label Bjorn on the stamp is an old Norse term for bear. On the bottom right, we have a lynx with its young. It's issued in 2012 as part of Native Animals series from Germany.

For a collection of stamps featuring wild animals, please check See It On A Postcard.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 14: Lighthouses

Direct Swap, Sent: 21 Nov 2012
Sent from Black Forest region, Germany, Traveled 22 days

A maritime gem; this lighthouse is the first building to be erected on the sea floor. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1986. It's accessible though for day trips and for rent to those who fancy a night or two in an isolated hotel.

NL-2074177, Sent: 19 Sep 2013
Sent from Utrecht. NL, Traveled 10,084 km

As mentioned in the websites where I read about the Roter Sand or Red Sand Lighthouse / Hotel -- staying here is back to basics as there's no electricity nor heating system. 

Direct Swap: Sent: 29 July 2012
Sent from Cuxhaven. Germany, Traveled 10, 406 km in 14 days

This third card looks like a nice marketing poster for Roter Sand. I'm not sure I'm brave enough for that experience even though this image looks enticing. 

~maria

PS. I'm very sorry for accidentally deleting the linky for the previous week. I searched for a way to revert it on the linkytools website but to no avail. I am sending a message to the admin and we'll see from there :(

Stamps: 20th Century Inventions

Here are my contributions for today's theme at See It On A Postcard.

The stamp on the left was issued on 13 October 2011 under the theme, At Home in Germany: German Inventions. Among these 3 objects, the MP3 player qualifies for the theme. MP3 is an acronym for an audio coding format that was developed and enhanced mostly in the 20th century.

On the right , we have the Schmidt camera or telescope. It was invented in 1930 by the German-Estonian optician Bernhard Schmidt. The stamp was issued by Latvia in 2 April 2009.

~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

Postcards for the weekend 11: Coffee/tea/pastries

Wow!  We're on our 11th linky party, since we started on 3 September. Thank you so much to all of you who's been participating, making visits, and most of all -- showing your appreciation to each participant by leaving your comments on the postcards shared. I hope we're all having fun with our postcards for the weekend.

Pardon me, for my round of visits will be delayed for this weekend and the next as I'm traveling. Nonetheless, I'm making sure that the linky is here even though I'm away.

DE-5534053, Sender: ha45K
Sent from Germany, Traveled 10,352 km in 16 days

For this weekend, I'm a non-kitchen-genius so my idea of a theme with coffee/tea and everything usually served with either for a snack (ie, cake, cookie, biscuits) has been reduced to "pastry". I'm posting these cards ahead of time to hopefully, try to provide reference as for the inclusion of the theme. For the first card above, how I wish I have at least one of these cupcakes to enjoy with my cup of mixed lemongrass, ginger, and citrus tea at the moment.

BY-1171367, Sender: Anna
Sent from Minks, Belarus, Traveled 8,926 km in 33 days

Here's a cup of tea (perhaps coffee) with matching biscuits. I love the appearance of tiny white bunnies on this postcard. It's a work of Alyona Baranova, a Dusseldorf-based illustrator from Ukraine.

It's getting cooler and cooler here in Singapore. I'd say despite the daily downpour, I love this time of the year when I have my time out from extremely warm days! As some of you may know, our weather here in the tropics usually can only be warm, warmer, and warmest. We don't have four seasons with more significant temperature changes. This weekend until the next, I will be in a country where I can enjoy autumn colors. I'm not exactly sure though if I will very enjoy the temperature, forecasted to be at 15 degrees Celsius drop from my usual 27 - 33 here in Singapore.

Happy weekend everyone!

~maria

Sunday Stamps: Fireworks and night views

For fireworks and night views:

UL - Macau International Fireworks Display Contest, issued in 2004

This stamp has appeared here in my blog back to 4 years ago. It came with this postcard. That is probably my only postcard from Macau and this is my only fireworks stamp to date.

LL - A 2013 issue featuring the Fehmarn Sound Bridge. It is a 963-meter long bridge connecting the island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea to mainland Germany. The bridge is considered a historic monument but I can't find any further information from wiki as to the reason for such distinction.

UR - It's from a 2-pc set joint issue in 2009 between Indonesia and Iran. This stamp is the Indonesian face featuring Masjid Al-Markaz in Makkasar. It is a center of Islamic studies in the eastern part of Indonesia. Its architecture is patterned with the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina.

LR - Almost of a night view, this 2013 stamp is from the Coastlines of New Zealand set of 5 issue. This is probably my favorite among these 4 stamps shown here in my page today. I love the aptness of the name for the tiny rocky islands and the mixed hues of yellow, orange, and blue as the background.

Visit See it on a Postcard for more fireworks and night view stamps features for today.

~maria

Sunday Stamps: Bizarre or Unexplainable

My guess is that this stamp is only bizarre for me. For a German, for sure it's not. Please help me identify what are these two yellow objects on the beach.

For other bizarre of unexplainable stamps, check out the linky at See it on a Postcard.

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 3: Flowers

FI-1797307, Sender: Nina
Sent 2 Jul 2013, Traveled 8,827 km in 10 days

It all seems fitting for me to share a lotus while writing this post from my hotel that's on the Chao Phraya river bank. Thai people are mostly Buddhists. As most of us know well, lotus is one of the main symbols of Buddhism. A pink lotus is associated with the Great Buddha's history and legend. It also represents from being a bud into a full bloom flower, one's journey towards nirvana or ultimate state of enlightenment.

DE-2553328, Sender: Sylvia
Sent 12 Oct 2013, Traveled 10,319 km in 10 days

Please don't judge me based on what I'm going to say next -- I'm on both sides of the spectrum now: on the reverse of that calmness from the lotus, I'm imagining I could go for a scenic hike on flowery fields this weekend. But alas, I have to work!

Our theme next week is "fall colors". For the guidelines of the linky, please click here. See you all again next week. I wish you all a relaxing weekend.

Cheers,

~maria

For Beth of The Best Hearts Are Crunchy

DE-2880049, 5 Feb 2014 from near Hanover, Germany
Traveled 10,116 km in 11 days

Beth, the lovely host of Postcard Friendship Friday linky party is one of the selected bloggers whom I connected with and made a friendship bond over several years.

My thoughts are with her; hoping her impending surgery will not have any complication and that she would recuperate fast. To send your best wishes for Beth, her page can be reached here.

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday! 

~maria