#375

Received: August 22nd, 2014
From: Michaela (Prague, Czech Republic)
Depicts: Xavi Hernández

I was really happy that Michaela decided to send me this card - it's known that I love FC Barcelona a lot, and Xavi is, of course, one of my favorite players ever, for he represents the club better than practically anybody else. I'm really happy I get to have him in a card too.

Postcard stamps:

I totally loved these stamps.

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#374

Received: August 21st, 2014
From: Jeanette (New York City, USA)
Depicts: Quote card

This "open" card was part of the birthday gifts my dear Jeanette gathered to send me and I really liked it, because it actually shows one of the things I always wish for, every year: that I can travel and see more of the world. I often found that it is traveling that you best get to know yourself. I love it!

Postcard stamp:

None, since it came in an envelope.

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#373

Received: August 21st, 2014

From: Carlota (Spain)

Depicts: Nuestra Señora de Estrella

I won this card through a lottery in the Postcrossing forum a few weeks ago and it's one of the rare religious cards I've received. It shows Nuestra Señora de Estrella, which is patron saint of Espiel, in Spain.

Postcard stamp:

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#372

Received: August 21st, 2014

From: Gabriel (Lübeck, Germany)

Depicts: "Walpurgis Night on the Brocken" (1910)

In our second swap of cards, Gabriel sent me a reproduction of a 1910 postcard from the top of "Brocken", the highest mountain in Northern Germany. The legend says that in Walpurgisnacht (Walpurgis night), which happens every April 30th, the witches all meet there!

Postcard stamps:

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#371

Received: August 21st, 2014
From: Kostadinov (Burgas, Bulgaria)
Depicts: Views of Belene, Bulgaria

This postcard is very special, given that it's my first official Postcrossing postcard from Bulgaria, and no matter what it would have on it, I would always cherish it a lot! But it's actually quite interesting - it shows the town of Belene, in Northern Bulgaria, one of the many towns in the right bank of the Danube river. From what I could gather, the city is best known for its prison (which was formerly a concentration camp) on Belene Island, where many, many innocent Bulgarians were killed during the communist dictatorship.

Postcard stamp:

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#370

Received: August 21st, 2014
From: Leonid (Moscow, Russia)
Depicts: Russian State Armoury and Diamond Fund (Moscow, Russia)

It's the second time that Leonid and I exchange cards and I really like this one that he sent me - it's about the Russian State Armoury and Diamond Fund, which is definitely related to the old Russian monarchs (those crowns and jewels on the image on the right were used in their coronation ceremonies), which pleases me a lot.

Postcard stamps:

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#369

Received: August 21st, 2014
From: Erico (Norrtälje, Sweden)
Depicts: Cranberries

Erico - who is an Argentinian living in Sweden - accepted to swap cards with me and sent me this very typical Swedish thing: cranberries. It's known that cranberries are common in the North of Europe and they're actually one of my favorite fruits, all the more reason why I think I'd be just fine with living in Sweden for (at least) a while. That typical Swedish basket is made with birch tree's wood.

Postcard stamp:

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#368

Received: August 21st, 2014

From: Guenter (Bochum, Germany)

Depicts: Griechische Kapelle (Wiesbaden, Germany)

In our second exchange of cards, Guenter sent me this postcard of the Griechische Kapelle (which means "greek chapel"), a Russian Orthodox church in Wiesbaden, the capital of the German federative state Hesse. Wiesbaden is known as a popular thermal resort city, with 26 hot water springs (between 46 and 67ºC). I find it interesting that a Russian-style church exists in the middle of Germany!

Postcard stamp:

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#367

Received: August 18th, 2014
From: Chema (Cardedeu, Spain)
Depicts: La Pedrera (Barcelona, Spain)

Getting cards from Barcelona always make my day, whatever's on them, but this one made me especially happy because it shows one of my favorite places in the city, and also one I didn't have a card from! This is Casa Milà, most commonly known as La Pedrera, the most famous of all the houses designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. It was built between 1906 and 1910 and its amazing interior (and the exterior too, of course) is etched in my mind ever since the one and only time I visited it, back in 2004. I love Barcelona so much, and I really want to go back soon.

Postcard stamp:

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#366

Received: August 18th, 2014
From: Claudia (Rome, Italy)
Depicts: Albert Dock and Mersey Maritime Museum (Liverpool, United Kingdom)

I can't say for how many months I had been trying to get a decent view from Liverpool - and finally it arrived... and came from Italy, of all places! Claudia, as always, was a dear and sent me something I loved, even if it wasn't from our beloved Italy. I'm really curious about getting to know Liverpool one day. Claudia told me that the North of England is, in general, more beautiful than the South and that the people are nicer and more friendly - Portugal can certainly relate to this, at least from my point of view!

Postcard stamps:

It always amazes me how Claudia manages to send me postcards for only two cents!

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#365

Received: August 18th, 2014

From: Kate (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

Depicts: Italy National Team (2006)

I won this amazing card through a lottery in the Postcrossing forum and was so happy! It shows the Italy team that won the World Cup 2006, that was hosted in Germany. I wasn't the biggest football fan back then - now I am, though, so it compensates! - but I remember the final Italy won, of course, because of its most famous incident: Zidane headbutted Materazzi; they had both scored goals during the regular time and the game went into extra time and apparently the Italian had insulted the French's mother and sister, and so Zidane went mad and was, of course, expelled after that. Yet another football card to add to my collection! Oh, and Kate said something that I found quite interesting: that she finds the results of her club, FC Kaiserslautern, much more important than those of Germany in the World Cups, even though her club is in the second division of the Bundesliga. I completely agree with her - first, because I'm not the biggest fan of my country's national team, and then because our clubs are much more "constant" in our lives than the World Cup, which only happen once every four years, so what our clubs do gets much more important. But of course the World Cup is the best football event ever!

Postcard stamp:

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#364

Received: August 16th, 2014

From: Jeanette (New York City, USA)

Depicts: Peacock open card

I really like yet another stationery "open" card that I got from Jeanette. She told me quite a lot about her life these days - that's what's so good about these cards, they allow you to write so much more - and then she attached a special detail that I loved even more!

First of all, all these Disney princesses I love so much! And then more of the flattened pennies she had sent me once before! As I said back then, in New York there are machines that flatten your pennies and let you imprint an image of the place you're visiting. I really love that and this time I got pennies from the M&M's World Store and also the Museum of Natural History!

Postcard stamps:

None, since it came in an envelope.

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#363

Received: August 16th, 2014
From: Sofiya (Syktyvkar, Russia)
Depicts: Bolshoy Ice Dome (Sochi, Russia)

Sofiya proposed the swap to me and I gladly accepted, especially when she mentioned she could send me a card from the Winter Olympics in Sochi, that happened earlier this year. And here it is! It's even more beautiful than in the pictures I had already seen. The Bolshoy Ice Dome is an indoor sports arena that opened in 2012 and hosted the ice hockey competition during the Olympics.

Postcard stamps:

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#362

Received: August 16th, 2014
From: Jeanette (New York City, USA)
Depicts: Map of New York State, USA

Jeanette said this card made her think of me for some reason and I'm happy it did, because it's quite unusual and I had nothing of the sort, so I was happy I had the chance to add it to my collection. Plus, it shows me a lot more of New York State apart from New York City itself, which is amazing, because I love to get to know and learn new things every day, and if the cards help me do that, better! For example, I learnt that the bluebird (I love them!) is the state bird and the rose is the state flower of New York!

Postcard stamp:

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#361

Received: August 16th, 2014
From: Drazenka (Velbert, Germany)
Depicts: Budva, Montenegro

I found out, some time ago, that one of the best feelings, when getting postcards, is getting them from your friends! I'm lucky enough to have Draz as my friend - for a few years now! - and I'm also really lucky that she's originally from Montenegro and spends her holidays there, because otherwise I believe it would be quite hard for me to ever get a card from there! Now, not only do I have one, but I have one from my lovely friend, which makes it all that more important to me. Plus, it's really beautiful there and I want to visit one day!

Postcard stamp:

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#360

Received: August 16th, 2014
From: Maria (Moscow, Russia)
Depicts: Spasskaya Tower (Moscow, Russia)

Maria proposed a swap to me a few weeks ago and of course I accepted, because I love Russia and anything I can get from there is welcome. Plus, I absolutely love Russian architecture. She chose for me a view of the Spasskaya Tower, part of the Moscow Kremlin, which has an important Russian clock.

Postcard stamps:

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#359

Received: August 8th, 2014
From: Jeanette (New York City, USA)
Depicts: Cartoon quote card

This cute stationery, open card came from my dear Jeanette, who never fails to surprise me with amazing, nice things. Although it's not a common postcard in the true sense of the word, I didn't mind getting it, especially because she had twice the space to write to me and I always enjoy to hear from her!

Postcard stamp:

None, since it came in an envelope.

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#358

Received: August 8th, 2014
From: Hing Yan (Singapore)
Depicts: Girl in traditional Singaporean costume

I was happy to get this official card from Singapore because it's only my third from there - and the other two didn't depict anything from Singapore, which was kind of a shame, I think. Anyway, Hing Yan told me quite a bit about the republic of Singapore and its different populations and the national pasttime there, which apparently is... eating, haha. I really liked this.

Postcard stamp:

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#357

Received: August 8th, 2014
From: Violeta (Gijón, Spain)
Depicts: León's Cathedral (León, Spain)

I won this card in the Postcrossing forum and was very happy that Violeta decided to send it to me, because I love Spain and I still didn't have any cards from León! She's actually from Gijón, but her husband's family lives in León so she visits this beautiful cathedral quite often. My mother used to travel a lot around Spain because of work and I think I was once in León when I was little, but I don't remember it at all.

Postcard stamp:

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#356

Received: August 8th, 2014

From: Jordi (Barcelona, Spain)

Depicts: FC Barcelona squad from 2013/14 season

I was absolutely ecstatic when I saw that I had gotten yet another Barça card - I love them so much! It took almost a year, but at least there have been amazing people finding me these amazing cards! And this was an official card, which makes it that more special that Jordi took the time to find me what I ask for.

Postcard stamp:

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#355

Received: August 8th, 2014
From: Javi (Zaragoza, Spain)
Depicts: El Pilar Basilica and River Ebro (Zaragoza, Spain)

Javi first contacted a few months ago and then never got back to me again and I was a little mad, thinking he was never going to send me anything - but fortunately I was wrong. And then I got this beautiful card from Zaragoza, his hometown, and also another "recuerdo" from him: a football match ticket! I really liked everything.

Postcard stamp:

None, since it came in an envelope.

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#354

Received: August 7th, 2014
From: Alina (Nizhni Novgorod, Russia)
Depicts: Ice skates

Another official card and this one I really loved - figure skating related and coming from Russia, I can't ask for anything better! And with this postcard I also learned that Nizhni Novgorod, Alina's hometown, is the fifth largest city in Russia - I could never have imagined this, since (shame on me) I hadn't even ever heard about the town!

Postcard stamps:

I absolutely love the corner stamp, especially because it has reliefs!

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#353

Received: August 7th, 2014
From: Donggua (Beijing, China)
Depicts: Grazing land (Nanshan, China)

Another official card in a matter of few days, I really enjoy when they come! This one was, unfortunately, blank in the back, only had the Postcrossing code. But at least it was different from the usual cards I get from China, which rarely are real images! This one shows a pasture in the Nanshan District.

Postcard stamps:

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#352

Received: August 7th, 2014
From: Thomas (Vienna, Austria)
Depicts: Habsburger lineage

I've lost count to the postcards Thomas and I have already exchanged, but he always sends me things I appreciate, especially when they're related to the royal family in Austria, like this one! This is the family of the House of Habsburger, the Austrian emperors back in the day. And there's Sisi and Franz, my favorite, near the bottom left!

Postcard stamp:

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#351

Received: August 6th, 2014
From: Sandra (Ermesinde, Portugal)
Depicts: Patchwork Owl

I won this card through a game in the Portuguese part of the Postcrossing forum and was happy to get it, not only because it came from Portugal, and therefore written in Portuguese - I really like to get cards in my language for a change! - but also because it's different and original and I didn't have any cards similar to this!

Postcard stamp:

The most common stamp when you send mail within Portugal.

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#350

Received: August 6th, 2014

From: Patrick (Minneapolis, USA)

Depicts: Written card

It's always great to get official cards from Postcrossing and this one was, at least, unusual. Patrick wrote on the entire card and since it was all about Disney, I really liked to read his words! And he attached some more stamps than those needed, which I always love. Plus, this is my postcard number 350 and that is amazing for little more than a year into this venture!

Postcard stamps:

Sports stamps are always great.

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#349

Received: August 5th, 2014

From: Sara (Porto, Portugal)

Depicts: Suberco Belvedere (Nazaré, Portugal)

It's always great to get a card from your best friend, especially when the card's as beautiful as this one. It shows the Suberco Belvedere and Nazaré's most known beach, a place where I was only once, in 2009. It's a very popular destination in our country and Sara was there just last month and sent me a card. Thank you, lovely Peanut!

Postcard stamp:

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