Sunday Stamps - (I) Ingmar and Ingrid from Sweden

For the letter I - Ingmar Bergman and Ingrid Bergman

(L) 2018 - Sweden - Ingmar Bergman Centenary

Design: Eva Wilsson

(R) 2015 - USA - Legends of Hollywood

Photographer: Laszlo Willinger (1940)

Searching for stamps to feature for the letter I, I was intrigued when I saw these two Bergmans. They share the same family name but are not related to each other. They shared professional work in the film industry though.

The stamp on the left is one of the two designs issued by PostNord in commemoration of the life of Ingmar Bergman. He is considered to be among the most accomplished and influential filmmakers of all time. The film, Persona, featured on this stamp is considered by Bergman himself as one of his most important works.

Thanks to Monica of Beyond the Lone Islands for sending me a postcard from Boras, Sweden with this stamp.

On the right is Ingrid Bergman, also famously known as Ilsa Lund, her character in the film classic, Casablanca. Ingrid is in the list of 100 Famous Actresses of Hollywood's Golden Era (1930 - 1959).

For more stamps with the letter "I", visit See It On A Postcard

P.S. As I'm still locked out from my linky account and I'm yet to receive a response from the page administrator, I decided to step back and cancel the recommence of the Postcard for the Weekend linky. I deeply apologize for the false excitement over this. 

Sunday Stamps - (C) Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden

For the letter C - Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden

2016 - Sweden - Royal Anniversaries

Photographer: Anna-Lena Ahlström

The stamp was issued on 17 March 2016 to mark the 70th birthday of the Swedish king and the 40th anniversary of his wedding to Queen Silvia. With King Carl XVI Gustaf on this stamp is Princess Victoria, heir apparent and Princess Estelle, 2nd in line to the Swedish throne.

For more stamps with the letter "C" - visit See It On A Postcard

Postcards for the weekend 79: Transportation

For the theme this weekend, I'm sharing two postcards with boats and ships from my previous trips.

Souvenir from my trip to Malta, Traveled 9,863 km

This first postcard features luzzu, traditional colorful boats with the eye of Osiris. The boats are painted bright red, yellow, and blue. Moored at the Marsaxlokk Bay, these boats provide a beautiful contrast with the blue waters making the scenery even more photogenic. I've marked this postcard with 14-19 April 2017 at the back. Those were the dates of my visit to Malta. 

Souvenir from my trip to Sweden, 9,984 km

This second postcard features the Klippan, a cultural heritage area that gave birth to the city of Gothenburg. The postcard was given the title "Skepp a hoj". If I'm not wrong, I think it means, "ship ahoy". I've marked this one with 19-30 April 2017. 

I've totally forgotten that these postcards are from the same trip I made to Europe early last year. They make me nostalgic, even more so because I don't think I'll see that part of the world this year.

It's a long weekend here in Singapore for the Easter holiday and I'm not traveling this week. So, for one of those rare moments, this post comes early :)

~maria 

Postcards for the weekend 77: Sunrise/sunset

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Boras, Sweden
Sent 16 March 2017, Traveled 9,926 km

Thank you very much, Monica (Beyond the Lone Islands) for sending me this postcard!

It's such a relaxing image to cap the week with. I am in Seoul attending an international medical equipment show. Yesterday I did a product presentation. It's such a relief that the presentation is over now. I'm calm and looking forward into viewing sunrise/sunset postcards from my blogging friends this weekend.

~maria 

Postcards for the weekend 68: Winter Scenes

The temperature has been dropping here in Singapore. It was around 26 two weeks ago and now it's at 22 degrees Celsius. Standing in the kitchen earlier this evening while hanging my laundry to dry, I feel the chill with the wind continuously blowing stronger than usual. This isn't normal for us here with the temperature normally ranging from 29 to 34 degrees Celsius throughout the year. 

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Sweden

It makes me wonder how much cooler it is for countries where there's actually winter and where nature freezes around you. Thank you, Monica for sending me this "really snowy Christmas card". You're right, I don't get to see snow here on my side of the world. There are no four seasons in Southeast Asia. 

Private Swap, sent from Taipei, Taiwan
Traveled 1,161 km

Tracing upwards though, like in China -- some parts do freeze. Here's a frost-covered UNESCO World Heritage Site Wulingyuan Scenic & Interest Area in Hunan Province, China. According to the sender of this postcard, James Cameron's floating islands on his movie, Avatar was based on the quartz-sandstone pillars on the backdrop.

Have a nice weekend and stay warm, folks!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 54: Fall Scenes

Our theme this weekend is fall scenes. It’s such a pity that Singapore doesn’t have four seasons. I would very much love to watch the color change from green into yellow/gold and orange/red. Although on a second thought, perhaps that’s morbid to enjoy watching leaves die… 

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Gothenburg
Sent 14 September 2017, Traveled 14734 km in 9 days

The first card is from Monica who blogs at Beyond the Lone Islands. It’s always an indescribable joy whenever I get postcards from blogging friends. Monica said this is one of her favorite autumn cards. It easily became one of mine, too!

UA-936361, Sent from Kiev
Sent 28 Jan 2014, Traveled 8,188 km in 33 days

The second card I believe says, “This is my Ukraine”. It features the largest lake in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, Lake Synevyr. 

I was just back from a higher elevation myself (Kathmandu, Nepal). But I was only in the city and I didn't' have the chance to go into nature. Hopefully, when I travel again next month, I'll be lucky to be in nature and surrounded by the colors of the fall season for real, once again!

I hope all of you, fall lovers are starting to enjoy this season. Please let me know your favorite place to watch the leaves turn into red and gold, in the comment section below.

Happy weekend,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 41: Flags, with a flag(s)

FI-1422572, Sent from Vihti, Finland
Sent: 10 May 2012, Traveled 8,964 km in 25 days

Finland is the latest addition to the list of countries I've visited so far. I went there during the third weekend of April to meet my pen friend from Kuopio. It was a lovely meeting and I learned that Finland is celebrating its 100 Years of Independence this year. This card arrived with a matching stamp for the flag on the postcard. 

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Boras, Sweden
Sent: 5 March 2017, Traveled 9,926 km

The trip to Finland was a side trip that I made as a part of my business trip to Gothenburg, Sweden. Less than a month prior to my trip, I received this card from Monica of Beyond the Lone Islands. Thanks to Monica's message at the back, I was able to properly select the clothes needed for the cold & wet northern European weather. It was so much colder in Gothenburg as compared to the April weather I remember from my first visit in 2015. And oh, my side visit to Helsinki gave me my first ever hail storm and wet snow fall experience! I finally saw snow! Some of you might remember that I was ranting about it in one of my posts after missing it from my Japan trip back in November 2016.

Thanks to these two cards, I learned that all Nordic countries except Greenland have adopted the Nordic Cross flag. 

Postcrossing Private Swap, Sent from Victoria, Australia, 
Sent on 13 September 2011, Traveled 6,185 km in 9 days

This postcard has appeared here in my blog 5 years ago. I noticed it in my scanned postcards folder while looking for postcards for our theme and decided to narrow down my search to flags with cross/crosses on it. There's a long article in wiki about this flag and it's quite an interesting read for those who are interested in their national and political history. 

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Oxfordshire, UK
Sent: 13 Nov 2013, Traveled 10,777 km

As I'm sure most or all of us know, the Union Jack emblem exist on the National Flag of Australia, the country being a member of the Commonwealth. On the London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom card above, we have the widespread Union Jack, the flag of UK as a bright and beautiful backdrop. The Union Jack is a union of three historical crosses: Saint Andrew's, Saint Patrick's, and Saint George's.

The similarities of the Nordic country flags to that of the Union Jack has made me very curious. My research has landed me into a well-written article in Quora. Apparently, the Nordic cross gave rise to the flags of the British Isles, among which are the historical crosses that currently comprise the Union Jack. 

I learned so much while researching about the postcards I've chosen for the theme this weekend! Yay!

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 19: Trains/trams

Direct Swap, Sent from Pawlowice, Poland
Sent 26 July 2012, Traveled 9,615 km

A steam railway locomotive photographed by Ilya Semenov. It's a model L-3348 from the former Soviet Union. Do you know a place where steam trains are still used for passenger service?

Souvenir postcard from Gothenburg, Sweden

I ran out of stamps for all the postcards I bought when I went to Sweden in April of 2015. This is one of a couple of postcards that remained with me. I think these are much older models of the trams I saw and used when I was there. It was my first time to ride a tram in Europe and I think I spent a good 5-10 minutes just to watch the trams passing by and stopping at the Central Station in Gothenburg.

CA-249624, Sent from Hong Kong
Sent 18 May 2012, Traveled 13,422 km in 21 days

Here's another tram that looks like an older model compared to what exists in Hong Kong nowadays. Hong Kong was my first out of the country trip back in 2009. I was amazed to see the tram as no trams exist in the Philippines (at least none that I'm aware of which are being used for public passenger service).

I wish the year is starting well for all of us!

Happy weekend,

~maria

Y is for "Your Mind Afloat" with Gothenburg's Opera, Sweden

For letter "Y" --

"Your mind afloat" is the vision of the architect Jan Izikowitz for the Gothenburg Opera. He said:

The building should be possessed by an airiness that sends your mind soaring 

across the meandering landscape like wings of seagulls.

I sent this postcard design to several people (including myself) while I was in Gothenburg last week. Now I am excited to receive it from the post.

Do you think the architect was able to realize his vision with this work?

~maria

Q is for Queen's Islet Palace, Sweden

While researching for my Sweden trip, I was treated to a pleasant surprise at the Visit Sweden website. The photos on the page could be sent over as an e-postcard! Kudos to technology, even postcard delivery now has been automated. So I tried and sent myself one.

For letter "Q" --

E-Postcard from Visit Sweden Website, Sender: Myself
Sent: 9 April 2015 via email, Photo: Ola Ericson/imagebank.sweden.se

According to Uncle Wiki, "Drottningholm" in the name Drottningholm Palace literally means "Queen's Islet". The palace is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I am hoping for nice weather this coming weekend so I could take at least a nice view of this palace from Gamla Stan. It would be a bit far from me if I travel all the way to Lovon where it is located. So a panoramic view from a nearby island would be enough I think. :)

~maria

G is for Gothenburg, Cathedral

For letter "G" --

Direct Swap, sent by Iwona Miazek
Sent: 17 Oct 2013 from Salzgitter, Germany
Received: 07 Nov 2013, Traveled 10,108.2 km in 21 days

Gothenburg Cathedral is a church that was burnt down and rebuilt twice. The current building is of classicist style, designed by Gothenburg's first city architect, Carl Wilhelm Carlberg.

It would probably be one of the places I'll try to see for my touristic side trip. I'll be traveling to Gothenburg very soon for work. I am currently researching for a few touristic places which are not too far from the city center to see in the evenings. Any suggestions?

~maria