Take a coffee break

The Cafe de Flore, a celebrated gathering place for Parisian artists and intellectuals. 

From Twiggy in Paris

Distance: 1,962 km

Travel time: 11 days

A corner of paradise 

From Janine in Chartes

Distance: 2,033 km

Travel time: 17 days

Steamming Coffee

From Aline in Châteaubriant

Distance: 2,270 km

Travel time: 11 days

In the Evening

From Patricia in Paris

Distance: 1,959 km

Travel time: 6 days

Perfect Summer Bikes

 This beautiful flower bike came from Nely in Holland.
Distance: 1,531 km
Travel time: 8 days

There are more bicycles than residents in The Netherlands and in cities like Amsterdam and The Hague up to 70% of all journeys are made by bike. Perhaps Nelly  has her own omafiets - or "granny style" - bike completed with wicker basket and pedal-back brakes. 

 Ria sent these colorful bikes .  I'll choose the yellow one.
Distance: 1,527 km
Travel time: 8 days

I found these  bikes on our vacation to Rodos island in May. We usually rent a bike because that way it is possible to see much more than just walking,  but the traffic seemed much too dangerous... so I only took photos.

This bike has even some clothes on :)

Amorbach Abbey Church

 Amorbach Abbey Church ceiling fresco

This card came from Germany, from Michael in Mainfrankenl

Distance: 1,593 km

Travel time: 6 days

The fresco is an artwork of  Matthäus Günther (1705 -1788)

Matthäus Günther (also Mathäus Günther) was an important German painter and artist of the Baroque and Rococo era.  Günther, who was born in Peissenberg, helped develop the rococo style of painting in Bavaria and Tyrol, working on over 40 churches. His known work includes about 70 frescoes and 25 panels. In particular, he was known for his lifelike imagery and lively coloring.

Martta Wendelin - Juhannus / Midsummer

Martta Wendelin (23 November 1893 – 1 March 1986) was a Finnish artist who illustrated fairy tales and children’s books, postcards, school educational books as well as magazine and book covers. She also illustrated approximately 650 Christmas cards between the years 1931 – 1963. 

She created an image of the idyllic Finnish family.  The cozy red cottages, birch trees, lakes and rural people, caring mothers and boldly working men are still part of the Finnish mindscape that Wendelin created.

Wendelin also painted landscapes, portraits and still lives. Her career peaked in the 1930’s, when the printing industry in Finland expanded rapidly. But by the later 1950’s, her drawings no longer had their former extent as magazines began to use photographs for illustrations rather than paintings.

Happy Midsummer!

U.S.A. Maps

From Sarah in Orem, Utah

Distance: 7,845 km

Travel time: 48 days

From starlitskies in Seattle, Washington

Distance: 7,381 km

Travel time: 16 days

From andiel in Madison, Wisconsin 

Distance: 6,784 km

Travel time: 7 days

From Rob in Cape Coral, Florida

Distance: 8,065 km

Travel time: 11 days

Feels like traveling with these map postcards :)

Istanbul

 Ortakoy mosque and Bosphorus bridge

Came from Ainu in Jakarta, Indonesia

Distance: 10,369 km

Travel time: 63 days

Ortaköy Mosque, officially the Büyük Mecidiye Camii (Grand Imperial Mosque of Sultan Abdülmecid) in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, is situated at the waterside of the Ortaköy pier square, one of the most popular locations on the Bosphorus.

Bosporinsalmi  on Istanbulissa Turkissa sijaitseva kapea salmi, joka erottaa Euroopan ja Aasian maanosat. Salmi yhdistää Mustanmeren ja Marmaranmeren. Vuonna 1973 valmistunut Bosporin silta on toinen kahdesta Euroopan Aasiaan yhdistävästä sillasta. Silta on 1,8 kilometriä pitkä ja sen korkeus merenpinnasta on 64 metriä.

Sultanahmet Mosque - Blue Mosque

Came fromAlexis, Canada

Distance: 6,477 km

Travel time: 13 days

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Mosque is a historic mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is still popularly used as a mosque.

Sulttaani Ahmedin moskeija, Sininen moskeija on moskeija Istanbulissa. Se on Turkin kansallismoskeija ja yksi niistä moskeijoista, joista käytetään nimitystä Sininen moskeija, sillä niiden sisusta on verhoiltu sinisillä laatoilla. Se on rakennettu vuosina 1609–1616 Ahmed I:n valtakaudella Jumalan lepyttämiseksi kehnon sotaonnen jälkeen. Kuten moskeijoissa usein, sielläkin on sen perustajan hauta, koraanikoulu eli madrassa ja vierasmaja. Sulttaani Ahmedin moskeija on Istanbulin merkittävimpiä nähtävyyksiä. Wikipedia

Ephesus, Turkey

Turkey, Ephesus, Fountain of Trajan

 Upper row: 

The Polio Fountain,

 The House of Virgin Mary, 

 The Temples of Dea Roma and Divus Julius Caesar (Temenos)

Lower row: 

The Prytaneion , 

Theatre, 

Curetes Street

From my vacation to Turkey and Ephesus

Chichen Itza

Chichén Itzá is a large Mayan city famous for a large, pyramid temple built by the Maya civilization. It is on the Yucatán Peninsula, about 120 km to the east of Mérida. The temple, called Castillo, is about 1 km in diameter. There are many temples and pyramids at Chichen Itza.  

 Chichén Itzá on kuuluisin ja parhaiten kunnostettu esikolumbiaaninen arkeologinen alue ja historiallinen kaupunki Jukatanin niemimaalla Meksikossa. Sen rakentamisen aloittivat mayat. Chichén Itzá kuuluu Unescon maailmanperintöluetteloon. Vuonne 2007 Chichen Itza valittiin maailman uuden seitsemän ihmeen joukkoon globaalin yleisöäänestyksen perusteella. Alue on Meksikon toiseksi eniten vierailtu arkeologinen kohde. 

Great add for my UNESCO World Heritage collection. Thank you Heather!

Distance: 7,047 km
Travel time: 12 days

Agia Fotini

Chapel of Agia Fotini in Pigadia. 

Karpathos island has at least 18 early-Christian basilicas, from the 5th and the 6th centuries AD. The basilica of Saint Fotini or Afoti, at Vronti beach, in Pigadia on the way to Village of Aperi, is one of the best preserved, although in ruins, and one of the most interesting historical sites on the island. The site contains the marble frame of the church and early Christian marble decorations and religious symbols.

Kouros

Kouros stone statue found around the village of Apollonas in Naxos island, Greece

Naxos is home to three ancient Kouros statues, dating from around 8th to 6th Century BC. The term Kouros refers to statues representing young male figures. The three in Naxos are truly exceptional. The first is located on a hillside, directly above Apollonas village. The other two are close to the village of Melanes.

The unfinished statue at Apollonas dates from around the 6th Century BC. It lies horizontally along the ground and is about 10.5 meters in length. Archaeologists believe it was meant to depict the ancient Greek God Dionysus.

Our vacation to Naxos in 2000. 

Tauria -Tauric

The Chersonese is a unique monument of antiquity in Crimean Peninsula.

 It was listed to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2013.

Taurien Khersonesos tai Tauria oli antiikin aikainen nimitys nykyiselle Krimin niemimaalle. Kreikkalaiset kolonisoivat alueen 600-luvulla eaa. Taurian tärkeimpiä kaupunkeja oli nykyisen Sevastopolin liepeillä sijainnut Khersonesos, jonka perustivat Herakleia Pontiken asukkaat. Wikipedia

This great card  reached me through direct swap. Thank you Irina in Russia!

Gran Canaria Fanatasy

Teide seen from Gran Canaria, Roque Nublo,  Dunas de Maspalomas and Playa de Maspalomas

Valle de Agaete Presa de La Sorrueda and Dunas de Maspalomas

Roque Nublo, Utiaca, and Valsequillo

I bought these fantasy cards on our vacation to Gran Canaria in January.

Also our girls liked it :) :) :)

Japanese art

Hiroshige

Utagawa Hiroshige original name Andō Tokutarō   (born 1797, Edo, Japan—died October 12, 1858, Edo), Japanese artist, one of the last great ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”) masters of the colour woodblock print. His genius for landscape compositions was first recognized in the West by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. His print series Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (1833–34) is perhaps his finest achievement.

 "Shinano" ( 1853, colour, woodcut) 

Mt. Kyodai and the Moon Reflected in the Rice Fields at Sarashina in Shinano.

 Series: Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces

Received from Ramona, Germany

Distance: 1,670 km

Travel time: 6 days

The Junction of the Pilgrim's Road to Ise at Seki 

Series:  Pictures of the Famous Places on the Fifty-three Stations

Received from Mike, U.S.A.
Distance: 7,812 km
Travel time: 30 days

A Winter Day at the Temple Asakusa (19th C.) 

Series: One Hundred Views of Edo, Ukiyoe

Received from Yoko, Kawasaki, Japan

Distance: 7,791 km

Travel time: 10 days

Chihiro Iwasaki

"My Box"  

Chihiro Iwasaki  (15 December 1918 – 8 August 1974) was a Japanese artist and illustrator best known for her water-colored illustrations of flowers and children, the theme of which was "peace and happiness for children".

My collection 

Karijoki, Finland

Greetings from Karijoki.
Karijoki is a municipality of Finland.

It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Karijoki is 1,363 (March 31, 2016) and the municipality covers an area of 185.77 km2 (71.73 sq mi) of which 0.78 km2 (0.30 sq mi) is inland water.  The population density is 7.34/km2 (19.0/sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish. 

Karijoki Lutheran church was built in 1812, is is also called Helena's church. According to the legend a girl named Helena extinguished the fire in the church during the Finnish War. The enemy had put the fire under the sacristy. 

The Wolf Cave (Susiluola) is Karijoki’s main attraction for tourists and locals. This is a geological result after million years of climate changes. It consists on a wide horizontal fissure of the rock and it is named after its location on Wolf Mountain (Susivuori). This has a very important impact on the Scandinavian prehistory studies because investigators are convinced that the Neanderthal men habitated this cave.

Peurajärvi

Country life