A beautifully decorated card from the extreme south of Poland. Nowy Targ is a town of about 34 000 people at the foot of the Gorce Mountains. The town was established in 1233. Nowy Targ means "new market." The sender mentions she has a friend who is crazy about ice hockey and "even knows all the good Canadian players." Nowy Targ is home to Podhale Nowy Targ, a professional hockey team who play in the Polska Hokej Liga, the highest level of professional hockey in Poland. They have won the Polish championship 19 times in their history, with their last one coming in 2010. They have won the Polish Cup title twice, and the Interliga Championships once in 2004.  On the roster is Canadian Tomasz Szczerba, who was born in Toronto to Polish parents. He played in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League - a Under-20 league - one of the three league which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, the highest level of Under-20 hockey in Canada. He then moved to Germany to play in...

Mücke is a town of 9500 people located in central Germany. The sender is a Eintracht Frankfurt football supporters. She has had season tickets since 1992, has a membership to the sports club, and is in a fan club. She'll even go out of town to follow the team - nationally and internationally.  Her card, though, is of FC Barcelona's stadium, Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys. It has a 53 367 seat capacity for football. Barcelona is one of the world' most decorated clubs including 27 La Liga titles, 31 Copa del Rey, 15 Supercopa da  España , three Copa Eva Duarte, and two Copa de la Liga titles. Internationally they have won 22 European and worldwide titles - five UEFA Champions League titles, four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, five UEFA Super Cups, three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, two Latin Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups.  Barcelona has a long standing rivalty with Real Madrid. Matches between the two clubs are called  El Clásico. Real Madrid leads in the head-to-head resul...

A great card from Malta from an Italian, living in Germany. The card showcases the traditional Maltese buses. The first Maltese buses came from England in 1905. Buses on Malta were privately owned and there wasn't a lot of regulations in regards to upkeep and maintenance of the buses. This changed in 1931 when regulations required bus operators to upgrade the appearances of their buses. This pride in their appearance was maintained with buses getting frequent paint jobs and becoming very colourful. Today bus service is centralized and Maltese buses are only used for special heritage services. 

Rüsselsheim am Main'f foundation goes back to a Frankish colony in the first half of the 5th century CE. The first written record of  Rüsselsheim am Main (known as Rucilesheim) goes back to 840 CE. In 1435, Count John IV of Katzenelnbogen was the first to cultivate Riesling, a white grape variety that orginated in the Rhine region. Riesling wines are pure and seldom oaked. They are dry, semi-sweet, and sparkling whine wines. Riesling grapes were planted down the river Rhine and up the river Mosel. After World War I, viticulture disappeared in  Rüsselsheim am Main. There is a museum-vineyard near the castle which celebrates 550 Years of Riesling .  Today the population is almost 68 000 people. 

The front of the card reads Greetings from Middelkerke Westende.  Middelkerke is a coast municipality on the Belgian coast. Here's an interesting fact: Middelkerke was the first municipality in the world to have their drinking water disinfected by continuous chlorination.  The senders were on vacation in Middelkerke. They are from Zutphen. It's located in east central Netherlands and has almost 50 000 people. It is an ancient city dating back to 300 CE. Zetphen is called the tower city because there are no modern high rise buildings. Instead there are tower spires that figure prominently in the skyline. There are also over 400 national monuments and over 500 local monuments.

At the time, the sender was living in West Palm Beach, but was planning on moving back to North Carolina.

I love sunflowers so this was a nice suprise in the letter box today. The sender is from  Stephansposching, a small municipality of 3200 people in south east Germany.  The photographer is Christoph Neum ü ller, a local photographer. Sunflower in German is sonnenblume.

 

 

 

Harthausen is a small municipality in south west Germany, near Speyer. The sender says that they are preparing for local elections and European elections and many people are applying for postal voting. She is helping organize people so they get the proper documents in time (May 2024). 

A nice Postcrossing Meetup card from Kevelaer - their second meet up in May 2024. Looks like about 15-16 people were there, based on the number of signatures and stamps found on the back. Kevelaer is in western Germany, very near the border of Netherlands.  Kevelaer is the largest Catholic pilgrimage location in north-west Europe. One million Marian devotees from Germany and the Netherlands, visit the Basilica of Kevelaer every year to honour the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to tradition, a merchant named Hendrik Busman, days before Christmas 1641, heard a voice say three times "Here thou shall build me a chapel." He began to set money aside but didn't want his wife to find out. She had her own vision near Pentecost in which she saw a little chapel containing a print of Our Lad y of Consolation, all bathed in light. Two passing soldiers confirmed the story who saw the house light up at night. Two other soldiers tried to sell her two copperplate engravings with the sme i...

I love these reproduction cards of old advertisements. This one is from 1951 for Licor  Beirão. It is the most consumed alcoholic spirit in Portugal. When I teach sex education at school, one of the topics we discuss is whether 'sex sells.' All research has determined that sex does not sell. I love to show students some of the ads that were once used that showed misogyny. This ad is a great example of the bottle being a phallic symbol that the women worships.  The sender says he is a supporter of S.L Benfica, a professional football team who play in Lisbon in the Primeira Liga, the highest level of Portuguese football.  They were founded in 1904. They are considered one of the "Big Three" club in Portugal. Along with Sporting CP and FC Porto, they have never been relegated to a lower league. Benfica has won 87 major trophies, making it one of the two most decorated clubs in Portugal. They have won 84 domestic trophies including 38 Primeira Liga titles, 26  Taça de Po...

The sender is a 1.FC Magdeburg supporter. They play in the 2.Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. They were founded in 1965 in East Germany and played in the DDR-Oberliga - the top tier of East German football. they won the league championship three times, and won seven cup titles. They also won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1974, the only time an East German club won a European trophy.  When East and West Germany reunified, Magdeburg fell on hard times but returned to professional football in 2015 with a promotion to the 3.Liga. In 2018 they made the 2.Bundesliga and have remained since.  The postcard features Thomas  Müller, who has nothing to do with 1.FC Magdeburg. He plays for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. He also has 131 international appearances (caps) with Germany from 2010-2024. At the 2010 FIFA World Cup,  Müller won the Best Young Player Award and won the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer (5 goals in 6 games). At the 2014 FIFA Wor...

This card is commemorating Canoe '22 - ICF Canoe Spring and Paracanoe World Championships, which were held at Lake Banook, near Halifax, right across the harbour from Dartmouth.  In International Canoe Federation (ICF) was formed in 1946 and administers all aspects of canoe sport worldwide. There are 157 member countries.  There are four disciplines: Flatwater - canoe sprint, canoe marathon, dragon boat, canoe polo, paracanoe, and va'a Ocean - canoe ocean racing, canoe sailing, wave-ski, and surf ski Whitewater/Wildwater - canoe slalom, wildwater canoeing, canoe freestyle Flatwater & Ocean - standup paddle-boarding. Lake Banook was the site for the 2022 Canoe Sprint World Championships from August 3 - 7, 2022. Germany won the most medals with 14 (2 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze), but Spain won the overall medal table with 8 medals (4 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze). Canada finished fourth with six medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze). On the paracanoe side, Great Britain was the o...

A cute little card from San Diego. This card comes from a set called, The Little World of Liz Climo: 30 Postcards . 

One of Hangzhou's  杭州市  most popular sights is West Lake  西湖  which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The West Lake Cultural Landscape covers 3323 hectares and includes important historic and scenic places. The lake is 6.39 square kilometres and is 3.2 km long and 2.8 km wide. There are four causeways, three artificial islands, and the Gushan, the only natural island. Several famous temples are found in the mountains west of the lake. The lake has been a tourist attraction since the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Poets and painters have been inspired by the lake for its natural beauty and historic relics. 

 

The sender is from Arizona; the card is from South Korea; and the postmark and stamp are from Italy. The sender is a professional musician (here's the link to his webpage  francislarsonmusic.com ). The last few years he's been working on cruise ships. That explains the international flavour of this card. 

Jackie Robinson (1919 - 1972) broke Major League Baseball's "Colour Barrier" in 1947. The formal beginning of segregation in baseball began in the 1867 season when a "colored" team, Pythian Baseball Club, was denied admission in the Pennsylvania State Convention of Baseball in Harrisburg.  The National League had no black players in the 19th century except for recently discovered William Edward White, who played one game in 1879. The American Association had two black players who played for the Toledo Blue Stockings in 1884 for a few months. Fleet Walker and Weldy Walker were the last two black players to play int he Major Leagues until Jackie Robinson in 1947.  Jackie Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) and batted .297. He was the stolen bases leader and selected as Rookie of the Year. The Dodgers won the National League pennant that year.  In 1997, Major League Baseball retired his number across all Major League teams. The f...

 

A movie card of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure: The Story of a Rebel and His Bike  from 1985. It stars Paul Reubens (1952 - 2023) as Pee-Wee Herman, and was directed by Tim Burton. Pee-Wee Herman was a character Reubens created as a stage act. It led to an HBO special, which then led to the movie. A year later, Pee-Wee's Playhouse  was created as a children's show that ran from 1986 to 1991. Movie sequels Big Top Pee-Wee (1988) and Pee-Wee's Big Holiday (2016)   were released.  Hercules is a city in the San Francisco Bay Area, about 16 km north of Berkeley. It is a suburban bedroom community of 25 000 people. 

The City of Virginia Beach, or VB as the locals call it, is the biggest city by population in Virginia. There is almost a half of million people in the city. It's on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. It's a resort city with many kilometres of beaches and hundreds of hotels, motels, and restaurants along its ocean front.  Cape Henry, near the point were the Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay meet, was the site of the first landing of the English colonists who eventually settled in Jamestown.  VB was established in 1906. It is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest pleasure beach in the world. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was once the longest bridge-tunnel complex in the world at 28.3 km. However, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge  港珠澳大橋  significantly beat the record in 2018 at 55 km. It was designed to last 120 years. 

Calgary is a 2.5 hour drive from me. I've been there many times. It is the largest city in the province of Alberta and home to the world famous Calgary Stampede. The Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League play there - they are getting a brand new arena in a couple of seasons. The Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League play there - they need a new stadium. 

A beautiful card of Nigatsudo Temple, or  Nigatsu-dō,   二月堂. It translates to "The Hall of the Second Month." It is located in Nara and Nigatsudo Temple is located to the east of the Great Buddha Hall, on the Hillside of Mount Wakakusa  若草山. It was founded by Sanetada, a Buddhist monk in 752. Another Buddhist monk, Jitchu introduced a repentance service dedicated to the image of the eleven-faced Bodhisattva, Kannon, in 760. The annual rite has taken place annually without interuption. 

What a special card of original art work. The sender did a continuous line self-portrait of herself and signed it.  She is a retired Spanish and English teacher. I need to show this one to my art teacher at the school I work at, and look for a small frame to put it in. 

This is part of a series entitled Indonesian Beauties . I thought that Sumba , which is found on the card was the name of the model. Instead it is Indonesian island located in Eastern Indonesia. There are about 820 000 people on the island and the largest city is Waingapu with 72 000 people. 

United States National Parks series of Hot Springs National Park, found in central Arkansas. Hot Springs Reservation was created in 1832, and then established as a national park in 1921. In 2022, it received 2.6 million visitors. The city of Hot Springs is adjacent to the park and has a storied history itself. In the early 20th century, it was home to Major League Baseball spring training camps. In the American Prohibition Era, illegal gambling and speakeasies (underground drinking establishments) were plentiful. Al Capone, infamous American gangster frequented the area. 

Boims' Chapel ( Капли́ця Боїмів), is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is found in Cathedral Square in Lviv and was constructed from 1609 to 1615. It was built for the Boim family, who were affluent patricians of Catholic background. George Boim is credited with the foundation of the chapel, and was finished by his son, Pawel Boim. There are 14 members of the Boim family buried here. 

The sender is from Bad Windsheim, an historic town of 12 000. The card is from Rothenburg ob der Tauber. As you can see from the photo it has medieval city walls. They are only one of four towns in Germany that still have completely intact city walls. Rothenburg ob der Tauber translates to "Red Castle above the Tauber."

Laval is a city and suburb of  Montréal and is the 13th largest city in Canada. It is situated on  Île Jésus and Îles Laval. Jesuits were the first European settlers in Laval, arriving in 1636 and granted a seigneury (land). In 1675, François de Montmorency-Laval  gained control of the seigneury. In 1965, 14 municipalities were merged with Laval.  The  Montréal Canadiens of the National Hockey League have their American Hockey League affiliate in Laval - the Laval Rocket. The Rocket are the eighth incarnation of the franchise which started in 1969-70 season as the  Montréal Voyageurs. They have also been in Nova Scotia, Sherbrooke, Fredericton, Québec City, Hamilton, and St. John's. The Rocket have not won the American Hockey League's Calder Cup.

Tilbury is a town found on the north banks of the River Thames and is a part of the Port of London. This deep-water port is located about 40 km east of central London. There are 12 500 people who live here.  The cover shows a picture of the Southend Pier, which is a major landmark in Southend-on-Sea. It extends 2.14 km into the Thames Estuary and is the longest pleasure pier in the world.  The first pier was made of wood and finished in 1848. The iron version of the pier was completed in 1898. During World War II, the Royal Navy took over the pier and became the Naval Control Centre for the Thames Estuary.  Today the pier carries pedestrians, shuttle trains, lifeboat crews and supplies. 

A great card promoting the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. The sender is from Greenville. It is a city of about 70 000 people, but is a part of the Greenville Metropolitan Area which has almost 930 000 people. It is the largest metropolitan area in South Carolina.  The Blue Ridge Mountains are a part of the Appalachian Highlands range. Two major national parks are located in the range - Shenandoah National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The two parks are connected by a 755 km long scenic highway. It runs along the crest-lines. There are also eight national forests located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

This card commemorates the Taiwan International Balloon Fiesta at Luye Highlands  鹿野高台 , Taitung County, Taiwan. This balloon festival has been held here since 2011. Luye Highlands are famous for its hot air balloons and paragliding. 

This card comes from a future pharmacist in Shanghai. In her biography, she says January 29 is Chinese New Year! I wish her the best of luck with her studies!

The sender lives in Ostrava, the third largest city in the Czech Republic. The card comes from  Bohumín, located in eastern Czech Republic.  This looks to be an old Czechoslovakian card. The description on the back translates to:  An industrial city and an important railway junction. in 1885, ironworks were established here, and in 1896, wireworks, which are among the largest in the republic. The city expands and changes its shape with new construction. 

A beautiful poem on the front of this card; Spring is in the air. Wishing you a beautiful and wonder spring. All the best for the bright future ahead of you.  Atsugi  厚木市  is a city of 224 000 people located in Kanagawa Prefecture. 

 

Connah's Quay is on the River Dee and next to the border with England. The city of 16 771 was once called Wepre, dating back to the Domesday Book of 1086.  The card is a painting entitled Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset . The very famous steep cobbled hill, that leads from the Town Hill to St. James. The street in lined on one side by a massive stone retaining wall. The opposite side features cottages and small houses from the 18th century. 

 

Grand Island is a city of 53 000 located in central Nebraska. It is home is the home of the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center which is solely responsible for training law enforcement officers throughout the state.  This card is entitled My Neighbors the Yamadas by Hisaichi Ishii. 

Incheon  인천 is a city of 3.1 million people located in north west South Korea, near Seoul. The postcard is a photo of the Ganworam Herimitage, located near Seosan, Chungcheong Province.  Ganworam Herimitage is found on a small island which can be accessed by land at low tide. There is a walkway visitors can maneuver on. There is a small temple and other buildings. The pavilion located inside the temple is used to pay tribute to the three Buddhist priests Jigong (d 1363), Naong Hyegeun (c 1320-1376), and Muhak (1327-1405). The hermitage was founded by the Buddhist monk, Muhak  무학  during the Joseon Dynasty. The legend says that Muhak founded enlightenment here in the moonlight. Monks still live here.

Mount Pocono is a borough of about 3200 people located in eastern Pennsylvania. It was once a popular tourist destination in the late 1880s to the mid 1900s. The Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad provided transportation from New York City and Philadelphia. It was a summer resort for many to escape the cities in the summer time. The tourist boom ended was passenger service began to dwindle and then finally stop in 1965. Most of the resort hotels closed down. 

A neat cartoony Happy Teachers Day card. I'm not sure if the characters on the front are popular cartoon characters or not. Nonetheless, Happy Teachers Day!

The sender bought this card from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The art on the front was created by Irma Boom (1960-), a Dutch graphic artists who specializes in bookmaking. She has created over 300 books and is well reputed for her artistic autonomy within her field. 

The area around Austin began to be settled by pioneers in the 1830s. Spanish forts were established at what are now the towns of Bastrop and San Marcos. In 1835-36, Texans fought against Mexico and won their independence. Texas became a country. The Texas Congress formed a commission in 1839 to look for a new capital city of Texas and chose the site where Austin is now. Originally the name was to be Waterloo, however, it was changed to Austin to honour Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas" and the first secretary of state.  Stephen F. Austin (1793 - 1836) was born in Virginia. In 1825, he led the second successful colonization of of the region by bringing 300 families and their slaves from the United States to the Tejas region of Mexico. Austin maintained good relations with the Mexican government and helped suppress the Fredonian Rebellion - the first attempt by Anglo Texans to secede from Mexico. He also helped introduce slavery to Texas, despite Mexico's opposition....

This card is from Iceland and is of Seljalandsfoss, a waterfall near  Hvolsvöllur, in the south of Iceland. The waterfall is 60 metres and a part of the Seljalands River. The water falls into a small cave. The water comes from the  Eyjafjallajökull, a volcanic glacier. 

This is a photo of the FrontRunner, a commuter train operated by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). It runs along the Wasatch Front with service from Ogden to Salt Lake City to Provo. In 2023, 3.7 million riders used the system - about 15 000 per day. The total length of the track is 131 km, with 17 stations. It began operating in 2008. Future plans include taking the track further north to Brigham City, and south to Payson, making the total length 180 km. The base fare is US$2.50, plus US$0.60 per station. University students from Utah Valley University, Brigham Young University, and the University of Utah, can travel the line for free with a valid university ID card. 

A great card from the Maps of the Ancient World collection. This is a map by an unknown map maker of the Promised Land Canaan. It was made in the 17th century.  Bowling Green is located south central Kentucky. It has a population of 73 000. The source of the town's name is somewhat controversial. One source says the city was named for the first county commissioners' meeting in 1798, which named the town "Bolin Green" after the Bowling Green in New York City, where patriots had pulled down a statue of King George III and melted it down to use the lead to make musket balls during the American War of Independence. Another says the name came from Bowling Green, Virginia, where early migrants came from.  During the American Civil War, Bowling Green was the provisional capital city of Confederate Kentucky.  Today is the home of many manufacturers, including General Motors, Spalding, and Fruit of the Loom. All Chevrolet Corvettes have been built in Bowling Green since 1981. ...

A neat card about cycling in the Pyrenees, a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. The card shows all the altitudes of the mountains.  Luz-Ardiden, 1720 meters; Col de Bagargui, 1327 meters; Col D'Ispeguy, 672 meters; Port de  Balès , 1755 meters;  Col de Putmorens, 1920 meters; Col D'Aubisque, 1709 meters; Hautacam, 1509 meters; Col du Tourmalet, 2115 meters; Col de Portet, 2215 meters; Col du Somport, 1632 meters; Col du Soulor, 1474 meters; Col D'Aspin, 1489 meters; and  Col de Peyresourde, 1569 meters.