Aloha!

Hawai'i is the newest of the United States located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, about 4 000 km away from the main land. Capital of the state is Honolulu. Archipelago contains 137 islands but only 8 of them are inhabitated.  Hawai'i means homeland in Hawaiian language which has only by 2000 native speakers . The language is connected with Maori and Samoan- I wish I couls speak Maori one day :)

Hawaii is the only state of the United States that:

• is not geographically located in North America
• grows coffee
• is completely surrounded by water
• is entirely an archipelago
• has a royal palace
• does not have a straight line in its state boundary (found on Wikipedia)

Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Another amazing postcard from Ludmila. I was bit lazy and I just copied the text coming from St.Petersburg website. I blame my laziness on donating blood earlier :)

This church is known to Petersburgers as the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood - or even just the Church on the Blood - as it marks the spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded in an assassination attempt on March 1, 1881. Designed by Alfred Parland in the style of 16th and 17th-century Russian churches, the Church of the Resurrection provides a stark (some would say jarring) contrast to its surroundings of Baroque, Classical and Modernist architecture. Alexander II died of wounds inflicted in an attack by the terrorist group People's Will. Immediately, his heir, Alexander II, declared his intention to erect a church on the site in his father's memory, and moreover to have this church built in "traditional Russian" style - in distinction to what he saw as the contaminating Western influence of Petersburg. Eventually, after Alexander had rejected several architects' designs, Archimandrite Ignaty gave the job to Parland, but made the design himself. The church's final composition drew heavily from St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow and the Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev. Construction began in 1883, and Ignaty died shortly afterward, leaving Parland to complete the job. No baptisms, funeral services, weddings, or other traditional church services were held in the Church on the Blood, as this was not in Alexander III's plans. However, weekly requiems (for Alexander II) and sermon readings attracted large numbers of worshippers. After the Revolution, the church - despite becoming an official cathedral in 1923 - was looted. It was closed in 1932, and essentially turned into a garbage dump. Rumors abounded that the church would be torn down. Damage from World War II and the Siege of Leningrad can still be seen on the church's walls. After World War II, the church was used as a warehouse for the Small Opera Theatre. The valuable shrine was almost completely destroyed. Four jasper columns with mosaic mountings in them, and a part of the balustrade were all that remained. On July 20, 1970 the church was made a branch of the St. Isaac's Cathedral museum, and eighty percent of the church's extraordinary restoration was funded by profits from St. Isaac's. The decades of deterioration and then restoration culminated in the dramatic re-opening of the church in August 1997, when thousands of eager visitors swamped the church. The project was estimated to cost 3.6 million rubles, but ended up costing 4.6 million rubles, mainly from the extravagant collection of mosaics. The more than 7500 sq. meters of mosaics link Alexander II's murder with the crucifixion. One of the most impressive elements of the church is the extravagant shrine constructed on the spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded, which has maintained a special place within the church's interior. It was constructed to Parland's design, and completed in July 1907. Four columns of gray violet jasper serve as the base of the shrine. Rising up the shrine, small rectangular columns unite the carved stone awning and the decorated mosaic icons with images of the patron saint of the Romanov family. The columns are supported by a frieze and cornice and stone-carved pediment with vases of jasper along the corners. The church has an outstanding and varied collection of mosaic icons. Several icons were completed in the traditions of academic painting, modernist style and Byzantine icon painting. The large icon of St. Alexander Nevsky was created according to a design by Nesterov. The icons of the main iconostasis Mother of God with Child and the Savior were painted to designs by Vasnetsov. The mosaic panel Pantokrator (Almighty) which depicts Christ giving a blessing with his right hand and holding the gospels in his left, in the platform of the central cupola was painted according to a design by N. Kharlamov. Parland and Andrey Ryabushkin completed the framed icon mosaic ornaments.

Pandanggo sa Ilaw

Pandanggo sa Ilaw is folk dance from the Philippines. It have orginated from the island Mindoro, Philippines. Dancers have to balance 3 oil lamps called tinghoy- on the head and back of their palms.The lights of the lamps are said to represent fireflies that are fluttering in the night. Girl who sent it to me used to dance it when she was a kid :)

Postcard from Anne

Pōhutukawa

 Pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) is really beautiful evergreen tree from New Zealand. It's one of endemic species to the country.  The blooming time is November-January and because of that it is also known as New Zealand Christmas tree. The tree grows up to 25 meters and largest one in New Zealand is at Te Araroa on the East Coast. 

 Pōhutukawa is very popular tree and it's easy to grow but it makes it invasive- the roots may destroy sidewalks or the underground installations. 

Kentucky

Postcrossing official US-1135051

I recieved that beautiful card from Amy and Ella via postcrossing. Kentucky is actually a commonwealth (only 3 more- Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are constituted as a commonwealth). The state was a part of Virginia but since 1792 it became the 15ths state to join the Union. Amy mentioned in the card that Kentucky is known as Bluegrass State due to the fact that bluegrass covers many of the pastures in the state. In my opinion the state could be known as 'deer and turkey state' as the number od those animals per person is the highest in the whole States. Kentucky is known for coalmining, horse racing, throughbres horses, bourbon, bluegrass music and tobacco. The name of the state (as in many other cases) comes  from native tribes. One of the biggest tourist attractions is Mammoth Cave National Park but  I will write about it soon as I recieved another wonderfull postcard showing one of the caves :) If I ever go to Kentucky I'll surely visit Cumberland Falls State Park due to moonbows or lunar rainbows that can be regulary seen over there! Johny Depp was born in Kentucky <3

Зимний дворец

Winter Palace- Saint Petersburg

Another set of postcards from Ludmila- I'm really glad that I got in touch with her. That beautiful building is the Winter Palace- former official residence of Russian monarchs. In 1917 it was stormed and that became the symbol of the Russian Revolution. Obviously the Palace is very monumental- the building is 250 m long and 30 m high and it has 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms and 117 staircases.There was a huge fire in 1937 due to unknown cause, it destroyed most of the interior of the Palace.

The Winter Palace is home for The Hermitage Museum. The main Hall of the Museum is the Egyptian Hall with mummies :D  The second view  shows The Alexandrian Column which was erected after the Russian victory in the war with the Napoleon. It was named after the Emperor Alexander I who ruled in Russia in 1801-1825. The column is one of the most notable symbols of the city. It was created bu Auguste de Montferrand

Mickey salutes America!

Funny postcard from Kristi who got to be my new penpal !

The birth of Mickey Mouse occurred on a cross-country train ride (a four day journey) in early 1928. Walt was returning from a business meetingalong with his wife. At the age of 26, and with an active cartoon studio in Hollywood, Walt had set out to arrange for a new contract for his creation, Oswald the Rabbit, but the backers turned him down. As they owned the copyright, they took control, leaving Walt with nothing. To prepare to announce the unpleasant news to workers back home, Walt gave birth to a sympathetic mouse that he first named, "Mortimer". By the end of the ride, which concluded in Los Angeles, Lillian Disney suggested to her husband that the first name was too stuffy. He was renamed, "Mickey." Walt and his head animator, Ub Iwerks, soon completed their first Mickey Mouse cartoon, "Plane Crazy." But no distributor would buy the film. Not one to quit, Walt produced a second silent Mickey Mouse cartoon, called "Gallopin' Gaucho." It was less than a year since Warner Brothers had introduced the talkies with Al Jolson as the "Jazz Singer" (late 1927). In 1928, Walt Disney began work on his third Mickey Mouse cartoon, this time a talkie, entitled, "Steamboat Willie." To add sound to the film, Walt had to take the animated portion to New York since West Coast studies did not have the equipment. The young man invested everything he had into the film, and when it was completed, Walt screened it for New York exhibitors. (Written here)

Russian mailbox

Private swap from Olga

I simply love that postcard! I fell in love with it the first time I saw it and cos I'm not very patient person I've started searching for someone to swap that card with me. Lucky me I found Olga! Thank you so much for that!

Мост Петра́ Вели́кого

Another beautiful card from Ludmila showing Peter the Great Bridge across the Neva River.  The idea of constructing the bridge in that place was in the air long time before it was built but there had to be a tragedy to start working on it ( sounds like Poland to be honest ). In 1907 the passenger ship Arkhangelk transferring people from one bank to the other sank. Soon after it the construction works begun. The bridge was opened on 26th of June 1909- 200 years from the Battle of  Poltava where the triumphator was emperor Peter the Great and that's why the bridge got named after him.

Wonderful night view from Ludmila

Interesting fact: the bridge itself was manufactured in Warsaw by Rucki Bros and then transported and assembled! According to wikipedia the city rumor has it that one of the clenches in the bridge is made from pure gold, and colored to be the same color as the rest of clenches. It is impossible to verify, since the bridge has more than one million clenches :)

The U.S. project combo

private swap from Jean-Claude

Arkansas is bounded on the north by Missouri; on the east by the Mississippi River, which separates it from Mississippi and Tennessee; on the south by Louisiana; and on the west by the plains of Oklahoma and Texas. In size, it stands 27th among the states, with an area of 53,187 square miles. Of these, over 600,000 acres are lakes with 9,740 miles of streams.   The term Arkansas means south wind and is derived from a name used by some Native Americans to describe the Quapaws, an early tribe in the area. The French Jesuits pronounced the tribe name Oo-gaq-pa, which the Algonquins pronounced Oo-ka-na-sa, and Marquette wrote Arkansoa; LaSalle wrote Arkensa; DeTonti, Arkancas; and LaHarpe, Arkansas. When the state was admitted to the Union in 1836, it was spelled Arkansas. The legislature of 1881 appointed a committee to ascertain the rightful pronunciation of the last syllable, and the result was a resolution declaring the pronunciation to be Ark-an-saw.

private swap from Jean-Claude

North Carolina is the country's largest furniture, tobacco, brick and textile producer. Another important industries are metalworking, chemicals and paper. The agriculture is based on tobacco, corn, cotton, hay, peanuts and vegetable crops. For tourists the most interesting are Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, Cape Hatteras Nationa Seashores, National Military Parks...

Postcrossing official US-1112669

Michigan- Great Lakes Region. Even the name of the state means large water -mishigamaa in Ojibwe- the indigenous language. The state has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. It is also the only state consisting entirely of two peninsulas. No wonder there is a fisherman on the postcard. By the way- this is my first official postcrossing postcard :)

Postcard from my friend Ulbert 

Welcome to the mountain west! Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. Arizona is noted for its desert climate, exceptionally hot summers, and mild winters. In addition to the Grand Canyon, many other national forests, parks, and monuments are located in the state, while more than a quarter of its territory is Federal Trust Land which serves as the home of the Navajo Nation, the Hopi tribe, the Tohono O'odham and Apache people and various Yuman tribes, such as the Yavapai, Quechan and Hualapai.

Sent by Dustin

The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State or OSU, is a public research university located in Columbus. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States. Ohio State currently has over 425,000 living alumni located around the world. Ohio State alumni include Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, and Medal of Honor recipients, ambassadors, as well as Fortune 500 CEOs and members of the Forbes 400 list of the world's wealthiest individuals.

Finland

A nice postcard recieved from Tiia, from Finland. I like this one both for the photo and for the text on the back taking absolutely all of the space. Tiia is quite an interesting person I must say. Thank you for a great postcard!

Saint Petersburg

Today the first of many postcards from wonderful city of Saint Petersburg, thanks to Ludmila!

Beautiful postcard from Ludmila

'The most abstract and intentional city in the world' as Dostoyevsky reffered, St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia with the population of over 4 800 000 citizens. Locals calls the city just 'Peter'

The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703. It used to be capital of Russia in years 1713-1728 and 1732-1918. The city is located along the shores of Neva Bay and islands of the river delta.The baroccan and neo-classical buildings of the city center are well preserved. Historic City Center is listed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO

The reason why I like the city and I'd love to see it are all the refferences of the city in literature. I'm a book freak and I find russian literature the most interesting. The best book ever written is undoubtly "Master and Margarita" (of course it's my personal opinion). Another really amazing books are "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky and "Anna Karenina" by Tolsoy. 

St. Petersburg was usually claimed to be artificial, messed up, mechanical... The symbol of disorder and the city where status is the most important thing. It's hard for me to understand looking at the beautiful sights from there. Anyway since I've read "Crime and Punishment" I'm dreaming about Saint Petersburg and I hope one day in the future I'll visit it!

Tharr will be more ;)

Hello Wisconsin

Wisconsin is located in the north-central United States. It's capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee. I'm not really in writting mood so I will just tell that secret polish plan for colonizing the worldworks fine in Wisconsin because 9,3% of people there are Polish or have Polish ancestors and that's the highest percentage of  residents from my country of any state :)

Postcard from Jean-Claude

I like that postcard and there are few reasons for that. First at all it's a US card of the state I haven't had. The other reason is the map as I find map cards very interesting. This one is beautiful and I think that Wisconsin's coat of arms is awesome! And there is another reason why "Wisconsn" on the card made me smile... I used to watch a lot of  'That's '70s Show' and it takes places in fictional town in Wisconsin state ;) So I thought of recalling some memorable quotes from the TV show ;)

Fez: Cake is good, but you can not have sex with cake.
Kelso:Cause my mind is always doing stuff I don't even know aboutKitty Forman: Sex, it's not dirty.Red Forman: It's not clean either.Kitty Forman: All families are embarrassing. If they aren't embarrassing they're dead.Eric: I know when I go to hospital i like to NOT die.

Kiwi, kiwi, kiwi

I'm one of those lucky ones that has a boyfriend who understands and supports girl's passion. Mine even helps me with my little collection and this postcard is from him :)

Kiwi postcard from a Kiwi 

Kiwis are the most recognizable symbol of New Zealand. The relation is so strong that  world 'kiwi' became also an informal synonim of New Zealander. New Zealand dollar is often called a kiwi dollar. During the Firts World War the soliders from New Zealand were called kiwis and they have carved a giant kiwi on the chalk hill in England. Kiwi is present in the coates of arms, crests and badges all over in the country.

Kiwis are flightless, cute birds which are endangered due to deforestation. The birds are quite shy and they are active by night. Unlikely to the other birds, Kiwis have highly developed sense of smell and they have nostrils located at the top of the beak. They eat fruits and insects. 

Kiwis are monogamists- once bonded they live entire life together and the relationships may last up to 20 years. Isn't that great? The egg can weight 1/4 of the body weight and it's the biggest among the birds in proportion to their body size. That means that their eggs may be 6 x bigger than chicken eggs! Similary to pinguins, the male incubates the egg.

The Māori calls themselves the Kiwi guardians and also believe that birds are under protected by Tane Mahuta- god of the forest.

I can't wait till I see a kiwi myself. 

Mailboxes

I love this postcard! I saw it on postcrossing gallery and I liked it a lot. It was wonderful finding this postcard in my mailbox especially that it's official postcrossing one. Lera totally made my day! Thank you very much!

postcard from Lera

That made me think about mailboxes. Can you believe I don't have one? I moved in to the house in the village and I still haven't got a mailbox. Postman just wait for someone to pick it up or he puts them on the fence ;)


The idea of mailboxes comes from France. First of them are believed to show up in Paris in 1653. During the 19th centary they were installed all over the world. Usually there is a standard colour for the mailboxes in every country. In Poland it is red. Also green, dark blue and yellow are popular in other countries. In some countries colour indicates the type of letter that can be put inside- in Poland we used to have green boxes for the letters travelling in the region and red one for all of the others.


Post boxes come with different shapes and sizes. In Russia in the past they were made out of  cast iron which was a protection from being stolen cos they weighted up to 45 kg. The main idea is to protect the letters from weather conditions and from the thefts.