Craig's Postcrossing Blog

Cards from November 20th

2011-11-20T08:36:00.000-05:00

Cards from November 15th

2011-11-20T08:32:00.002-05:00

Cards from November 14th

2011-11-20T08:31:00.000-05:00

Cards from November 12th

2011-11-20T08:29:00.000-05:00

Cards from November 10th

2011-11-20T08:24:00.000-05:00

Cards from November 8th

2011-11-20T08:20:00.000-05:00

Cards from November 7th

2011-11-20T08:18:00.000-05:00

The past couple of weeks have been very hectic. My father, who has been battling lung cancer for the past few years, has been in and out of the hospital since the beginning of the month. So I'm uploading the cards I've received, but not really going to get into any detail. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to more frequent updates soon!

Grafton, New South Wales Map Card

2011-11-06T10:29:00.000-05:00

AU-163735

A great map view of New South Wales. Grafton is located in the north-eastern part of the state.

A cute dingo stamp!

Antwerp Cathedral

2011-11-06T10:27:00.000-05:00

BE-119624

I really like this card of the Antwerp Cathedral because it shows how the building was a work in progress over many decades.

Goethe Institute - Minsk

2011-11-06T10:24:00.000-05:00

BY-268406

This is the second card that I've received from the Goethe Institute with the other one coming from Athens. This Postcrosser was at the institute to take a German language exam.

I was curious how much 1100 Belarus Rubles is worth in US Dollars. Well, it's about 13 cents! I think I'll go to Belarus to send to send out the cards for the next Round Robin!

La Ghirlandata

2011-11-06T10:17:00.000-05:00

NL-852564

A teacher of the Dutch language sent me this beautiful paining done by the English painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Russian Views

2011-11-06T10:13:00.000-05:00

RU-616665

This card shows the Kopyitenskaya Tower the Smolensk Battlements. Unfortunately, the sender only wrote the ID number on the card and nothing else.

RU-458685

This card was sent well after the address was drawn. It shows the Archangel Gabriel.

Ukrainian Colour

2011-11-06T10:08:00.000-05:00

This pair of singing Ukrainian women came as a thank you for an official that I sent in October. The Postcrosser who sent this is studying Ukrainian folklore and songs at university and she gets the opportunity to visit villages in the summer to record traditional songs and ceremonies. It sounds like a fascinating course of study!

Vintage America

2011-11-06T10:05:00.000-05:00

The first two cards that I received for this month's North American Round Robin show two vintage pieces of Americana. The first is a beautiful Art Deco gas station, built in 1933 and is located in Bedford, Pennsylvania along Business Route 30, the former Lincoln Highway. It's sad that most of the small, in-town gas stations have disappeared. To get gas now, you typically have to drive to the outskirts of town, in the land of strip malls in order to find gas.

And the second piece of vintage America is this great senior picture of Jack Nicholson. He was born just a couple years after the gas station was built in the previous card. I was able to guess who it was before even reading the clues or verifying the answer on the back of the card.

Slovak Spa

2011-11-02T15:49:00.000-04:00

My swap-friend in Bratislava sent this great card of the spa-resort town Piestany. I love the stamps as well. I'm hoping that when I'm in Bavaria/Austria & Slovenia in the spring, I'll be able to find a spa to relax in for a few hours!

Frisian Scenes

2011-11-02T15:46:00.000-04:00

A great combination map and multi-view card from the town of Dokkum in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands.

Bam! Pow!! Blam!

2011-11-01T16:26:00.000-04:00

DE-1096157

I grew up watching the Batman TV show and loved it! Going back and watching it now, as an adult, I think to myself, "wow! That's pretty cheesy!" And...I still like it :)

Crumpled Photo

2011-11-01T16:20:00.000-04:00

JP-209138

I have to say, I wasn't overly impressed with this card. It is on photo paper, so it got crumpled in the mail because it's so thin, and really, the composition is rather boring. The stamp is nice, at least.

Scenes of Holland

2011-11-01T16:15:00.000-04:00

NL-846850

While many do not like multi-view cards, I think that this one is great! There are so many little vignettes of life throughout the Netherlands. What a wonderful card!

The Canoe in Tung-Ching Village

2011-11-01T16:13:00.000-04:00

TW-390892

From the postcard: "The photo is the ten-men-canoe in Tung-Ching village. Each village has its own big canoes on Orchid Island; however, few people catch fish by the ten-men-canoes at present." I have to say, for a foreign produced card, I'm impressed with the correct punctuation around however! It's a stunning view and a nice stamp as well.

Iowa By Way of North Carolina

2011-11-01T16:09:00.000-04:00

US-1368778

I was very happy to see this card in my box today. I went to college in Iowa and haven't been back in well over ten years now. So this brought back some good memories for me.

Stift Klosterneuburg

2011-10-30T06:27:00.000-04:00

Another beautiful card arrived from marcie08 this past week. This one shows Klosterneuberg Abbey, located near Vienna. I wouldn't mind seeing this on our next vacation to Austria, but it's a bit far from where we'll be staying.

Austria produces some of the most beautiful stamps! I just wish that there were more Austrians involved in Postcrossing so I could see more of them! Given the postage costs, though, I can understand why there aren't too many.

Belarusian Medieval Times

2011-10-30T06:23:00.000-04:00

BY-256.184

The Knights' Tournament at Lida Castle

The Church of Vytautas the Great

2011-10-30T06:19:00.000-04:00

LT-159.014

Another beautiful view from Lithuania! I really do hope to visit the country at some point in time. I've seen some amazing views thanks to the many cards that have come my way from this small country.

Palm Oil Factory

2011-10-30T06:18:00.000-04:00

MY-77.236

This rather industrial view shows a remote palm oil factory of the Ulu Bernam Estate in Southern Perak. This Postcrosser is from the town of Ipoh which was at one time the world's leading producer of tin. Who knew that Malaysia was such an industrial location!