Charity Collection #11

Alaska's Quiet Beauty
Joycelyn Stahl
Oil painting

A painting of Alaska in the spring time.

Sent to Finland to a nature lover.

Postcard #24: Montreal

Caption: Montreal
Le Centre-ville (vu du Mont-Royal)
Downtown (view from Mont-Royal)
Photograph: Michel Degray
Postmarked: October 16, 2011 (from Yancy)

Obviously this is not your typical view of the downtown skyline.

My friend Yancy sent me this postcard during her stay in Montreal for a research conference. She mentioned that finally on their 6th day in Montreal, they (she and her fellow researchers) got to tour around and even hiked up Mont Royal. At the top of Mont Royal, they were able to oversee the whole city. And because this was in Fall (October), they were actually able to see the skyline juxtaposed with the Fall colors - just like on this postcard.

Annnnd, not only am I currently in Canada, I'm off to see Yancy tomorrow! So this postcard is perfect =)

Friday Stamps #2: Poland

The stamp on the right shows one of Polish manor houses. This one is called "Dwor w Janowcu k. Pulaw", or (Manor in Janowiec near Pulawy)

The stamp on the left features Castle of Sieradz, built by King Casimir the Great (during the 6th century?). Sieradz is one of the oldest towns in Poland, and known as the 3-time location for the coronation of Polish monarchs. (I also think this stamp dates back to 2005).

Postcard #19: Helsinki, Finland

Caption: The Market Square, Helsinki, Finland
Photo: Antero Vartia
Postmarked: May 27, 2011
(Ari series #6)

Here we have the last postcard that Ari sent during this trip. I was a bit surprise when I received this postcard; usually when I receive postcards from people on vacation, they feature heavily on famous attractions and other nationally iconic things. But this was actually a really nice card to receive from a series of "tourist" postcards: It gives you a sort of wound down, relaxed feeling - and it's certainly a good way to end a 2-week vacation. (And of course, the scenery is extremely European, if nothing else).

I also really enjoy the stamp; I actually really prefer to have a stamp featuring the flag of the country before I collect the other "special" stamps, so this was super nice to have in the collection. While I do have a friend in Finland (Hi Mosh!), we usually send each other packages and pay the post office for a boring little barcode sticker. Maybe I can convince Mosh to send me some used stamps (wink wink!).

Details of Helsinki can be found on Ari's travel blogs here, here, and here.

And this concludes the "Ari special" Eastern Europe postcard series! (It also concludes Ari's vacation lol). Hope you guys enjoyed it. And we'll return to the regular programming now. =)

Postcard #18: St Petersburg - by Night

Caption: The Church of the Resurrection of Christ (the Saviour-on-the Spilt-Blood)
Photo: none credited
Postmarked: May 24, 2011
(Ari series #5)

 This church is absolutely gorgeous! Of all the postcards Ari sent me during this vacation of his, I have to say this is my favorite.

Say what you will regarding religion/ religious establishments, but I think most people will agree that they have the most splendid architectures in human history; granted, they have a completely different feel than structures like grand pyramids, but the attention to details is something to be admired. And this certainly includes the restorations done on them.

PS: I used to get St. Peter's Dome and this church confused, but now that I have postcards from both places, I think my brain is finally cleared up!


Details of St. Petersburg can be found on Ari's blog here and here.

Postcard #17: Moscow, Russia

Caption: Moscow. Red Square. Lenin Mausoleum
Photo: none credited
Postmarked: May 22, 2011
(Ari series #4)

My boyfriend described this as the "final chilling place of Comrade Lenin". It seems like a pretty good place to chill indeed. I mean, dead or alive, a fortress is always a good place to stay, right?

The... fortress-like barrier/ isolation reminds me a little bit of Great Wall of China... Just saying.

Details of Russia can be found on Ari's travel blogs: here, here, and here.

Postcard #16: Minsk, Belarus

Caption: Minsk. The National Library of Belarus
Photo: Sergey Melnik
Postmarked: May 20, 2011
(Ari series #3)

This grand library in Minsk is an extremely strange modern feel it. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It seems very cool at first, but the more I look at it, the more "gimick-y" it feels. It could very well be more beautiful when seen in person.

I do, however, love the stamps. These two Belarus stamps are the only two I've shown so far because they were on all the postcards that were sent thus far - so apparently Ari had bought all of them, wrote them out, and sent them all in Belarus (insert Callie's scream of "That's cheating!" here...) On the blog, Ari mentioned that his travel companion, Sunny, was obsessed with sending postcards from the country she got them from; I think there's merits in that. (Love you Ari, I'm just giving you a hard time ^_^ )
Not to worry, there are new stamps in the following postcards. Stay tune.

Details of Minsk can be found on Ari's travel blog here, here, here and here.

Postcard #15: Warsaw

Caption: Warsaw. Palace of the Culture and Science.
Photo: R. Jablonski
Postmarked: May 17, 2011
(Ari series #2)

The red in this card is very cool, but a tiny bit intimidating. My boyfriend described this as the "scary Stalin-era building". Yup. Even the sky is fittingly red.

Again, details about this trip can be found on Ari's travel blog: here and here.

Postcard #14: London

Caption: London. Piccadilly Circus
Photo: none credited
Postmarked: May 15, 2011
(Ari series #1)

Hi everyone! It's exactly a year since my boyfriend Ari went on his 2-week trip to Eastern Europe. He sent me a series of postcards, one by one, which I've decided to showcase in the next several blogs. Interestingly, the postcards were a perfect way to keep track of all the places he's been, especially since he went through a few countries (including Russia, Poland, and Belarus). Anyway, please note that I won't be talking too extensively about these postcards - anyone that wants to know more should visit Ari's travel blog that describes his trip in details.

The first is a postcard from London, featuring the prominent red telephone booths. The postcard is mostly black and white except for Red and a few selective street lights. As I've said before, I'm always intrigued about this type of selective highlighting in photography. Another interesting thing is that I actually though this postcard was a collage at first glance - my mind just doesn't want to blend the phone booths with the rest of the picture.

Stay tune for Warsaw...

Postcard #11: Havana, Cuba

Caption: Ciudad Habana, Cuba.
              Paseo del Malecon.
Received: March 11, 2012

I have a friend - a crazy friend - who decided to go to Cuba. Not only is this friend American, he decided that being American and going to Cuba alone is a good thing to do. As you've probably suspected, digital communication from Cuba isn't very good, and he was certainly without internet for the duration of his trip. I must say, those of us that know him wondered if he was still alive.

And indeed he is! The good news is that he actually returned to us before this postcard reached me, which definitely made getting the postcard a 100% happy occasion. (Instead of the 50% happy, 50% omg-is-he-still-alive??? anxious).

The stamp is also very very cool. It's the 50th anniversary of Ministerio del Interior, and feature several modes of transportation. It's also big enough to almost cover my name on the address, haha.

This is probably the one and only mail I'll ever receive from Cuba. Special might be an understatement. Enjoy!

Postcard #5: Lake Havasu City - London Bridge

Caption: Located along the eastern shore of the Colorado River, the London Bridge has been a fixture of Southerwestern life since 1971, when it was moved from London, England to Lake Havasu CIty, Arizona
Photo: Steve Gibson

This is an old postcard I found in my travel collection - I don't remember exactly when I visited Arizona, but it was a good many years ago. I will tentatively say that it was during a roadtrip where I visited Grand Canyon and part of Yellowstone.

Did you know there was a "London Bridge" in Arizona? I definitely forgot until now. (Actually, that's probably why I bought it...)

Postcard #2: Rome

Caption: Roma. Il Tevere con San Pietro (The Tiber with St. Peters)
Photo: Alberto Cecchi

This was a postcard I sent to my parents when I traveled to Rome a few years back, during my college spring break. So naturally, I (temporarily) stole it back from my parents to scan it for your entertainment. Unfortunately, there are a few scuffs from whatever machine it went through at the postal services.

In regards to the postcard... I will tell you that my friends and I walked all the way to the top of the St. Peters dome. Yes, that really tall dome you see in the postcard. We went all the way up there, 323 steps up, then 323 steps down. Going up was surprisingly fine; I remember being extremely excited and probably fueled by such. And honestly, even if you're tired, the sights from the top of that basilica will have you forget it in a heartbeat.

Coming down though, nearly killed my knees. (Funny that you don't notice the stress on walking down steps until you repeat it like, 323 times). I remembered having purposely worn my comfy old tennis shoes for this trip, knowing that we'll be doing a lot of walking and that those shoes are well broken into. And by the time we rested in the lobby, my poor shoes were destroyed - on both shoes the creases near the front where your toes curled were split wide open. I had to throw them away that night at our hostel, haha.

The stamp features the Vatican, says "Il Perugino del Papa la Pala della Resurrezione" - which is "Perugia, the Pope of the altarpiece of the Resurrection."

Postcard #1: Chicago - The Windy City

Caption: Chicago's Water Tower shines brightly surrounded by a blanket of new-fallen snow
Photo: D. Maenza

Hello everyone, and welcome to my new blog!

For my first post I would like to pay homage to this city that's close to my current home: It's about a 3-hour drive from where I live, but I like driving so I don't mind frequent visits. My favorite Chicago thing to do is probably the Field Museum (I suspect I will upload some Field Museum postcards in the future). My mandatory routine, however, is Santoka ramen at Mitsuwa Market in Arlington, and then cupcakes at Molly's Cupcakes. I am convinced that Molly's Cupcakes are the best cupcakes in the world, but my boyfriend will probably beg to differ.

This is also the first postcard I'm sending through Postcrossing - It is going to Belarus! A bit about Postcrossing: It's a project that lets you send a postcard so you can receive a postcard back from someone somewhere in the world. I'm extremely excited - I suspect that postcrossing will provide me with ample material (both postcards and stamps!) to blog about.

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Since this is my first post, I'm inserting a little bit about the blog here:
My friends can tell you that I like to randomly send out snail-mail. I think postcards (and other non-special-occasion cards) are a very special form of art, and they are underrated in this digital age where emails and messages are instant, unlimited, text-based. There is a warmth in the foresight and planning required to select, write, and post a birthday card so that it can arrive precisely on your friend's special day. And there is a certain cleveness needed to contain all you want to say to the little patch of space on the left side of the postcard - especially when the picture on the postcard might be worth 1000 words already. With calligraphy all but gone, it would be sad to have art leave this delayed but satisfying communication.

I don't really have concrete plans for this blog yet. I believe it will be mainly composed of postcards and stamps. (I will have to retrieve my old stamp collection from my parents' home, so perhaps stamps will arrive later.)