This World Postcard Day meetup card is coming from Pori, but the meetup was in  Hämeenkyrö. The small group of Finnish Postcrossers met in a hamburger restaurant and each person sent their maximum allotted cards to places around the world. The sender actually writes she attended 7 different meetups in three days!

This sender from Dallas mentions in her postcard that she and her husband went to a Texas Ranger and Los Angeles Angels baseball game and the Rangers won. She then asks if I like baseball. I do like baseball but I don't usually watch it on television. However, as I write this blog on October 30, 2025, Canada is in the midst of baseball fever as the Toronto Blue Jays - Canada's only Major League Baseball team - is one win away from winning their third World Series - first since 1993. They are currently playing the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 2024 World Series Champions. I haven't watched this much baseball on television in years. The Blue Jays and the Dodgers each won a game in Toronto, and then the Blue Jays won 2 of the next 3 games in Los Angeles. They now return to Toronto for game 6 and game 7 (if necessary). It has been an exciting series, especially game 3. If you are not familiar with baseball, teams play 9 innings. After 9 innings in this game, teams were tied at 5 api...

Frankfurt an der Oder is home to 1. FC Frankfurt, who play in the Brandenburg-Liga (VI), the sixth level of German football. In fact, 1. FC Frankfurt are the current champions of the league - their fifth championship. They were also the East German champions six times, the last title in 1969. 

A cool info card about the United States. I can't imagine living in a place like New York City. I get annoyed by the traffic of the nearby Trans-Canada Highway at times. On television and movies they portray New York City with traffic noise and constant sirens. I guess if you live there you get used to the smells and noises.  New York City was never a bucket list city for me until about five years ago. When I always thought of New York City, I saw how they portrayed it in television and movies from the 1970s and 1980s - lawless, dirty, noisy, drug infested. It has changed quite a bit since then and it is a city I would like to spend some time exploring.

The sender is a fellow educator, but retired (lucky)! This card is a reproduction of the large letter state name postcards from the 1930s-1940s. I love these cards and many Postcrossers have them on their lists of favourites and preferred cards.  Tacoma is home to the Tacoma Rainers of the Pacific Coast League. The Pacific Coast League is a Triple-A baseball league, which means they are one level below Major League Baseball. Triple-A teams have a Major League Baseball team they are affiliated with and prospects of the Major League team play there. The Rainers are the oldest team in the league having been founded in 1960 as the Tacoma Giants, the affiliate of the San Fransisco Giants. They are the current affiliate of the Seattle Mariners since 1995.  Here are the names and affiliates of the Tacoma Baseball Team: 1960-1965 - Tacoma Giants - San Fransisco Giants 1966-1971 - Tacoma Cubs - Chicago Cubs 1972-1977 - Tacoma Twins - Minnesota Twins 1978 - Tacoma Yankees - New York Yan...

The sender brought this card back from holidaying in Cambodia. This card is from Siem Reap  ក្រុងសៀមរាប , the second largest city in Cambodia and the capital city of Siem Reap Province. Siem Reap is full of French colonial and Chinese style architecture, especially in the Old French Quarter and around the Old Market. It is also close to many of the ancient temples of Angkor. The city was named the Association of Southeast Asian Nations City of Culture (ASEAN) for 2021-2022 by the ASEAN Ministers Responsible of Culture and Arts. 

A World Postcard Day (2024) card from  Jyväskylä. According to the number of ink stamps on the back, it looks like 10 people participated! Jyväskylä is a regional capital of Central Finland and has a population of about 192 000 people. In the 20th century it was one of the fastest growing cities in Finland. In 1940, there were only 8000 people!

I remember a few years back when I visited Ikea in Calgary and they were selling postcards! I bought a few packs. I received an Ikea postcard from Hong Kong! The sender is from Yuen Long  元朗, a town in Hong Kong. Yuen Long was the site of a mob attack on 21 July 2019. Over 100 armed men dressed in white attacked civilians on the streets and passengers in the Yuen Long MTR Station. Forty-five people were injured in the attack, including the eldery, children, journalists, and lawmakers. It was in response to an anti-extradition bill protest in Sheung Wan and was meant to be against the pro-democracy protesters. 

 

 

Wonderful news from this sender. He just became a father to a daughter 12 days ago (this would have been in August 2024). 

Soini is a small municipality of 1800 people in south central Finland.  I love the sender's message on the back, "I was a physical education teacher's nightmare; out of shape, stiff as an iron bar, no eye for the game! But I still made it to the age of 56!"

Oslo has been one of my bucket list cities for a while now. It is supposed to be a beautiful city.  It is ranked number one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report by fDi magazine. However, it is also the second most expensive city in the world for living expenses, after Tokyo, in 2011.  Lonely Planet named Oslo one of its Top Ten Cities to Visit in 2018. It citied Oslo's "innovative architecture and unmissable museums alongside cool bars, bistros, and cafes." It is also one of the safest capital cities in Europe. Crime has been on the decrease since 2020.

This card is coming from Northampton, which is located in western Massachusetts. There are about 30 000 people in Northampton. It is known as an academic, artistic, musical, and countercultural hub. Politically it is considered quite liberal and has a number of alternative health and intellectual organizations. There are also a high number of residents who identify as gay and lesbian, and a high number of same sex marriages and households.  Northampton has existed since 1654 and was named by John A. King (1629-1703), one of the first European settlers in Northampton. King was born in Northampton, England, and named the area after his birthplace.  The card shows a photo of the Equestrian Statue of Paul Revere found in Paul Revere Mall near the Old North Church in Boston. The statue was cast in bronze in 1940 and dedicated on September 22, 1940. Cyrus Dallin won a competition to make the statue.

A beautiful card, but I don't know what or where the building in the painting is. The sender no longer does Postcrossing so I can't even send them a message. Tainan is home to the National Museum of Taiwan Literature. It researches, catalogues, preserves, and exhibits local literary artifacts as part of its multilingual, multi-ethnic focus. The building it is housed in was built in 1916 and is Tainan City's old city hall. 

The sender sent a great card with an old football photo of Otto Rehhagel (b 1938). He was a player and a manager in the Bundesliga - the highest level of German football. He had 291 appearances as a player, and as a manager he has 387 wins, 205 draws, and 228 losses with 10 different teams. Rehhagel was also the manager of the Greek national team from 2001-2010 and managed them in the Euros and FIFA World Cup. He had a 106 game with Greece and had 52 wins, 22 draws, and 32 losses for a win percentage of just under 50%.  On the card is a quote credited to Rehhagel. In English, it says "Sometimes you lose and sometimes the others win."

A nice meetup card from Metzingen, located about 30 km south of Stuttgart. It is known internationally for its outlet stores of all kinds of famous companies, centred around Hugo Boss. The former textile section of the city has been transformed into Outlet City and is full of outlet stores. Tourists from all over come for the shopping experience. 

This card comes from Mundelein, a village and suburb of Chicago. This village has almost 32 000 people in it! The card is of Missionary Ridge, found in Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park.  Missionary Ridge is a geographic feature in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was the site of the Battle of Missionary Ridge, a battle in the American Civil War. It was fought on 25 November 1863. Major General Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, and George H. Thomas were in charge of the Union forces, while General Braxton Bragg led the Confederate forces. The Union won the battle and lifted the siege of Chattanooga. One Confederate officer later described the battle as "the death knell of the Confederacy."

Kemi is a town of about 20 000 in northwest Finland. It is the home of the world's largest snow castle! The SnowCastle of Kemi is different each year. The highest tower constructed was 20 meters, and longest walls were 1000 meters. It has also been constructed with three stories.  Despite the different designs each year, three things are consistent: an ecumenical SnowChapel with 50-100 seats is built; a Snow Restaurant with ice tables and seats covered in reindeer fur; and the SnowHotel, which offers choices of double rooms and a honeymoon suite. The rooms are decorated by local artists using local materials. Many people from around the world come to the SnowChapel to be married. 

This great Pixar card is coming from a police officer in Dehradun. There are almost 900 000 people in this metropolitan area of northern India.  The Uttarakhand Police headquarters are found here. The Director General of Police, Deepam Seth, is the head of the force, while the district is headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police. There are 13 districts within the Uttarakhand Police.