Postcards for the weekend 56: Children

October 6 is recognized as Children's Day in many places around the world. Hence, our theme for this weekend: children.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Sherwood, Arkansas
Sent 10 September 2016, Traveled 15,650 km

This book cover postcard is entitled "A Necklace of Raindrops and Other Stories". It was illustrated in 1975. I like the silhouettes in the foreground, with the little girl who seems to be marveling at the sight of something in the sky.

TW-505373, Sent from Kaohsiung
Sent 22 Mar 2012, Traveled 890 km in 8 days 

This photograph is from an exhibition, according to the sender. It seems that the little girl's name is Miyako.

FI-1999405, Sent from Nokia
Sent 29 Jan 2014, Traveled 8,982 km in 17 days

This one was sent for my birthday 3 years ago. I love the jolly faces and the merry-making on this postcard!

Have a great weekend everyone,

~maria

Postcards for the weekend 24: Love

Private Swap, Sent from JM Aalten, The Netherlands
Sent 21 Sep 2011, Traveled 10,374 km 

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

I don't have the words to describe these gestures of love and affection ...

Lovely weekend everyone,

~maria

Albert Einstein: Self-Portrait

Albert Einstein, c. mid-1920's
Photograph courtesy of American Institute of Physics - Niels Bohr Laboratory
US-1897546, Sender: Gina, Sent: 3 Oct 2012 from Williamsburg, Virginia
Received: 17 Dec 2012, Traveled 13,972 km in 75 days

"One doesn't need to understand the world, it's enough to find one's way around it."
DE-1388891, Sender: Alare, Sent: 21 May 2012 from Cologne, Germany
Received: 8 June 2012, Traveled 10, 339 km in 18 days

Mass-Energy Equivalence
FI-1544668, Sender: Plp, Sent: 22 Sep 2012 from Espoo, Finland
Received: 5 Oct 2012, Traveled 8,952 km in 12 days

August 2013 is Inventor's Month. Before it ends, I wish to share some of my Einstein postcards and also one of my favorite essays of him from the book, Albert Einstein: Out Of My Later Years. --

Self-Portrait

Of what is significant in one's own existence one is hardly aware, and it certainly should not bother the other fellow. What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life?

The bitter and the sweet come from the outside, the hard from within, from one's own efforts. For the most part I do the thing which my own nature drives me to do. It is embarrassing to earn so much respect and love for it. Arrows of hate have been shot at me too; but they never hit me, because somehow they belonged to another world, with which I have no connection whatsoever.

I live in the solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

The English translation of the quote on the second postcard was by the sender. Thinking deeper of it, I believe it's a shorter version of the essay I found on the book.

Sharing these postcards for Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday. Wishing every one a relaxing weekend.

~maria

Beauties of Paris

Bookmark
Sender: The future
Sent: 2 Aug 2013
Rcvd: 12 Aug 2013

Today's post is inspired by last Postcard Friendship Friday's entry of Grace. She's French, a marketing strategy consultant, who also loves postcards. I can't exactly remember how we bumped into each other here at bloggers but ever since then, I've always loved visiting her page.

Her entry, 'Three Faces of Paris Beauty' shows postcards with the Eiffel Tower, a mix of French attractions (Montmartre, Mona Lisa, Arc de Triomphe, etc.), and Pont Alexandre III arch bridge. Following her post, I'm sharing here a bookmark, which I saw in my study table today, upon returning in my apartment from fieldwork. 

I got a message at the back of it: Someday in the not so far future, you will be sitting where this woman is, reading a book with your lover beside you. It was signed: Yours faithfully, the future -- Today is "Tell A Joke Day" and if the muse of destiny is gonna play a beautiful joke on me, may it be that this message of the future becomes a reality.

Still following Graces' lead, my second card is the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre -- the famous church on top of a hill at the heart of Paris. On a separate post from the past, I posted a postcard with the steps leading up the church. The name of the church means "mount of martyrs" because many saints visited the hill. The church is dedicated to the Heart of Jesus.

Facebook Swap, Sender: Ulla
Sent: 26 Nov 2012, Sent from
Marly, France, Rcvd: 28 Dec 2012
Traveled ~10,900 km in 32 days

If you checked Grace's entry, you can see that my third card is another view of the Pont Alexandre III arch bridge -- which is also the third card on her post. This historical monument spanning the Siene River connects the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower quarter.

Together with the bookmark from Paris above, I also received 9 other postcards from France today. I'm so excited to share them all here but will save them for future posts. I have two views of Avignon, two views of Le Mont Saint Michel, a postcard of raclette, one view of Saint Emilion, one of Le Pont du Gard, a card of La Grotte De Lascaux, and of Conques.

I am also very excited because Ulla, the sender of the 2 postcards on this post, has just agreed to send me two postcards of Alsace.

I am happy that I'm getting postcards of France from private swaps because I seldom get one from the official postcrossing website.

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Ulla
Sent & Received dates similar to the one above

I am sharing this with Beth's PFF. Check out her blog roll at The Best Hearts Are Crunchy for more postcards to enjoy reading and viewing for the weekend. I am also sharing with Paulita at The Accidental Blog for the Dreaming of France blog roll. 'The future's message and the France postcards I got today have truly made me dreaming even more of France.

~maria

La Liberté éclairant le monde

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: My twin, Wan
Sent: 1 August 2013, Sent from Paris, France
Received: 6 August 2013, Traveled 10,908 km in 6 days

My second black and white postcard from Paris, thanks to the beau. The first one is the Avenue des Champs-Élysées which can be found here.

The Liberty enlightening the world; La Liberté éclairant le monde is shown in this card in sculptor Auguste Bartholdi's studio. The time is 1885. The location is rue de Chazelles. It is shown here prior to its shipping to the United States of America; a gift from the people of France to commemorate the American Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776.

The statue is modeled to Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom. She bears a torch and a tablet evoking the law where the date of the American independence day is inscribed. She also has a symbolic broken chain lying on her feet.

I found it a bit odd that with so many postcards I have from New York, USA, I haven't got a single one with the Statue of Liberty on it. Oh wait, there's one but it's not a single view card of the famous statue but it's just included in my State of New York map card. I wish I can get one soon.

As mentioned in my previous entry, it's a national holiday here in the Philippines. I just want to go back to bed after posting this... Happy Friday everyone!

~maria

La plus belle avenue du monde.

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: My twin, Wan
Sent from Paris, France, Sent on 10 March 2012
Received on 22 March 2012, Traveled 10,908 km in 12 days

Avenue des Champs-Élysées, said my twin at the back of the card, 'is as famous to the French as the Epifanio delos Santos (EDSA) is to the Filipinos'. Champs-Élysées of the French is witness to many historic events, with the Arc de Triomphe at one end of it (shown here on the card), built to honor the victories of the famous Napoleon Bonaparte. EDSA Avenue is an eternal reminder to the Filipinos and the world, of the very first ever peaceful people power revolution.

This card fashioned to the '80s, marks the time when the avenue  transforms into commercial vibe from what was once fields and market gardens. Today, Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous and most expensive strip in the world for upscale shopping. Hence, the name la plus belle avenue du monde or "the most beautiful avenue in the world".

Hope each of us is having a beautiful start for the week! Beautiful Monday, readers!

~maria