Ö is for Österreich

Ö is the last letter of Finnish alphabets and it was a little difficult to find any word or  and card starting with Ö, so I  choosed German for the language this time.

Kaiserin Elisabeth von Österreich - Elisabeth, Empress of Austria

Elisabeth of Austria was the wife of Franz Joseph I, and therefore both Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. She also held the titles of Queen of Bohemia and Croatia, among others. From an early age, she was called Sisi by family and friends. Wikipedia

Sissi,  filmed in 1955

This is one of  my movie star postcards from the 60s.

 Karlheinz Böhm as Franz Joseph I and Romy Schneider as Sissi

 Sissi was the first of a popular series of films showcasing Romy Schneider as the

young Empress Elizabeth.

The young Bavarian princess Elisabeth, who all call Sissi, goes with her mother and older sister Néné to Austria where Néné will be wed to an emperor named Franz Joseph, yet unexpectedly Franz runs into Sissi while out fishing and they fall in love.......

Back to the real world...

Wien, die Hauptstadt von Österreich

From our daughter 12. 8. 2002 

Main attractions of the beautiful city Vienna.

The Hundertwasser House, built in 1985, is an unusual public apartment block, designed by Austrian artist Friedrich Hundertwasser. Within the block there are 50 apartments each different from each other. The apartment block is multicoloured; has irregular windows; onion dome cupolas; uneven ceramic line; floors uneven; terraces with over 200 trees and bushes

This is the end of A to Ö April

Thank's for following and cheerful May Day to everyone

Ä is for Äiti - Mother

The main peculiarities in the Finnish alphabet are the two extra vowel letters ä and ö.

A with two dots above sounds like A in HAT.



For Mother

 For Mother and Grandmother

Our Best Wishes on Mother's Day

 Picture of May from Martha Wendelin's calendar

At the end of the 1920's, Mothers Day was set to the second Sunday of May in Finland, and in 1947 became an official flag raising day. In Finland mothers traditionally receive flowers and home-made cards from their children, and usually breakfast, home made cake and coffee are served in bed.

Å is for Åbo ( Turku )

 The City of Turku was founded in 1229. 

 Finland's first university was founded in Turku in 1640, even though the number of inhabitants in the city was not very large at that time. The staple town charter (the right to conduct foreign trade) guaranteed, however, that trading was brisk.

In 1827, a large section of Turku was dramatically destroyed in a fire. The burnt city needed an altogether new town plan, which was drawn up by C. L. Engel the following year

Luostarinmäki the Handicrafts Museum.

The area of the museum was the only old residential area left in 1940, when the museum was opened. The location was the largest area to completely survive the Great Fire of Turku. Contemporary handicraft items are presented. The museum received the Golden Apple international tourism award as the only site in Scandinavia in 1984.

The Turku Market Hall, completed in 1896.

The Market Hall, which extends the length of an entire block,

was designed by architect Gustaf Nyström.



Restaurant Samppalinna – a part of the vibrant Turku history since 1832 –

is a spectacular wooden villa with terraces located on the banks of the River Aura.

Turku ( Åbo ) was my home town from 1970 to 1976.

Z is for Zoo

Snow leopard kittens (Uncia  uncia ) in Ähtäri Zoo, Finland.

Ähtäri Zoo is located in the middle of Finland, some 160 km from Tampere, and is the first natural wildlife park of its kind in Finland. Set in 60 hectares, the aim of Ähtäri has been to provide a spacious and natural environment for the animals, and it has a varied terrain and flora which has provided an excellent opportunity for the implementation of the basic principles of EAZA, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, on how best to care for animals in care.

Przewalski's Horse ( Equus przewalskii )

Korkeasaari Zoo in Helsinki is located on an island in the harbour, and is home to some 150 animal species and almost 1000 plant species, and includes many endangered species that are raised here. The zoo is laid out in zones, enabling visitors to pass from the tropical climates of Africa, Asia, and the Amazonian rain forests, into the deserts of Africa and the jungles of Indonesia. In the Arctic environment such animals as the snowy owl, musk ox, and the European forest reindeer are all at home in the Finnish winter. In the Cat Valley you'll find Amur tigers, lynxes, and leopards that are used to similar wintery conditions in their homelands.



Y is for Yesterday

 I recieved  these cards from my pen pal in 1965. I was so proud, nobody else had such special Beatles photos as me.  You can peek into my room  and take a time travel to the 60s if you go here and listen to this.

 Yesterday was recorded in 1965 in album Help!

But it was 50 years ago on March 22 1963 
when The Beatles' released Please Please Me,

 their first studio album.

More postcards in Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday

X is for XOXO ( hugs and kisses )

Casa di Giulietta Verona



Juliet’s house (Casa di Giulietta) is one of the main attractions of Verona with the most famous balcony in the world. Every day crowds of people make their way through the narrow archway into the courtyard to admire and photograph the famous balcony. Couples of all ages swear eternal fidelity here in memory of Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”.

Juliet's Balcony.

Juliet's Wall of Love

Many people write their names and the names of their beloved ones on the walls of the entrance, known as Juliet's wall. Many believe that writing on that place will make their love everlasting. After a restoration and cleaning of the building, it was intended that further writing should be on replaceable panels or white sheets placed outside the wall. Writing love-struck graffiti on the walls of the courtyard and the tunnel that leads into it will be banned, apart from on specially-provided, removable panels. Anyone caught breaking the new rules, which will be enforced by local police, will risk a fine of up to 500 euros!

Verona  21. 5. 2003

W is for Wildlife

 Many wildlife species inhabit Ohio. Some such as the squirrel, fox, chipmunk and raccooncan be found throghout the state in rural as well as urban enviroments. Black bear is once again present in Ohio after years of absence.

All types of birds are abundant throughout Ohio - song birds, waterfowl, game birds and birds of prey. The beautiful red cardinal is the official state bird. The Bald Eagle, symbol of American Freedom, has steadily increased in population in the state during last decade.

V is for Venice

St. Mark's winged lion, the mascot of Venice - Detail of the Clock Tower

The winged lion is a metaphoricat representaton of Mark the Evangelist, protector of Venice, a symbol that is typical of the type of Christian iconography that is derived from the profetic visions of the Apocalypse, written on the island of Patmos by the  Apostle John.

The winged lion appears with open book in its hand, bearing the Latin words PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEUS - Peace to you, Mark my Evangelist. The image of the lion also represents strenght, pride, might and capacity to administer peace and justice.



Venetian carneval mask

Venetian masks can be made of leather, porcelain or with the original glass technique. The original masks were rather simple in design, decoration, and often had a symbolic and practical function. Nowadays, most of them are made with the application of gesso and gold leaf  and are all hand-painted using natural feathers and gems to decorate.

And of course romantic gondolas.

22. 5. 2003

If you like Venice, carnevals, gondolas and Vivaldi, watch this.

U is for United Kingdom

Only London this time.



24.11. 1999 from my brother

Westminster Bridge

One of London's famous Routemaster busses is seen in the shadow of Big Ben. The bus has just been repainted and the advertisements have yet to be to be affixed making it look redder than usual.

12.7.89 from my daughter

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge was completed in 1894. It is one of the best known features of London scene. The lifting and lowering of the bascules, each weighting over thousand tons, to allow the passage of ships, takes about five minutes, and is perfomed by the hydraulic machinery.  By an act of Parlament a tug has always to be in readiness nearby for emergencies. 

T is for Tunisia

 



Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is the smallest country in North Africa.

It was in 1999 when we made a trip to Sousse in Tunisia.

We enjoyed it's white sandy beaches, facinating culture and history

 and of course couscous, merguez, baklava and drank a lot of mint tea.

And I loved Tunisian doors.

They are eye-catching decorated with metal studs

and are often painted a vibrant blue that match the sky.

The most common patterns that can be found in the medinas

are the eye, the fir tree and the star shape.

They are real works of art.

S is for Space Hero

For the hero of my childhood.

Fly on Juri Gagarin....

Thank you Lubov from Russia for my first Yuri Gagarin card!

"On April 12th we have a wonderful holiday, we celebrate The Day of Space

That’s when Yuri Gagarin was was launched into space! "

I remember April 12th in 1961

More about  about Yuri's life here.

R is for is for Raising Teenagers

This happened quite often in my job teaching geography for teenagers :)
"Raising a teenager is like nailing jelly to the wall. "

Perhaps they felt like this:
"High school is worse than having to swim through multiple piranha filled lakes
 - and that's before the truckload of homework.”

This is my entry to Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday.


Q is for Queen

We Finns don't have any royals but luckily we can follow the royal life from our dear neighbor country, Sweden.

Engagement Silvia & Carl Gustaf

H.M. Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden and Silvia Sommerlath

H.M. King Carl XVI Gustav,  H.M. Queen Silvia with H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria,

H.R.H. Prince Carl Philip and  H.R.H. Princess Madeleine, baptism of Madeleine

 The Royal Family, Victoria 18 years old

 The Royal Guards perform state ceremonial duties on behalf of the Swedish Armed Forces. They also take part in royal ceremonial occasions, official state visits, the opening of parliament, Swedish National Day, formal audiences, the official opening of the Swedish Academy, naval visits etc.

Also they are guarding The Royal Palace of Stockholm and Drottningholm Palace. Changing the Guard takes place every day of the year. However the march through the city of Stockholm with military band is usually only during the summer months from May to August.

 My sister in law sent these cards to our daughter.

P is for Poland

In 1986 I made a trip to Poland with our daughter. These are some cards from our trip.

Gdansk

 St Nicholas' Church is the oldest church in Gdansk built in late 12th century. Between 1348 and 1390 a cloister was added. This is the only church in Gdansk which wasn't damaged during the last World War.  

The Royal Chapel - Kaplica Królewska

is the only Baroque church in old Gdańsk built between 1678 and 1681.  

King Jan III Sobieski wasthe founder of the chapel.

"Hi! We are now in Gdansk. The boat trip went fine.

Ps. Greetings to Kuutti, Jymy and Julle"

( Kuutti was our samoyed and Jymy and Julle our guinea pigs :)

Warsaw

Palace and garden in Wilanów:

Road by the Lake, View of the Castle, The Tower of Palace

The Paroque Garden,  Sundial on the wall of the Palace

Wilanów Palace is a royal palace located in the Wilanów district, Warsaw. Wilanów Palace survived the time of Poland's partitions and both World Wars and has preserved its authentic historical qualities,  also is one of the most important monuments of  Polish culture.

Zakopane

The Tatra Mountains, Tatras or Tatra, are a mountain range which forms a natural border between Slovakia and Poland, and are the highest mountain range in the Carpathian Mountains.

More here.

" Hi! We are on our way home now. It has been very hot about 35 degrees but the mountains were amazing. "

O is for Ohio

In 2009 our son was working in Columbus, Ohio and we had the opportunity to go there on our winter holiday in February. It was really lovely to see the whole family and to  explore Columbus and Ohio our son as a guide.



Ohio is a state in the Midwestern United States. Ohio is the 34th most extensive, the 7th most populous, and the 10th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state's capital and the largest city is Columbus.

O - Cardinal - State Bird

H - Nelson and Kenned State Park

I - Marblehead Lighthouse

O - Sunset, Lake Erie

Ohio Buckeye Candy is a tradition in the state. The official tree of the state is the Buckeye Tree and the candy as formed to resemble it's "nut". Buckeye candy is popular for tailgating, holiday parties and other festive occasions. ( recipe up ) 

 The state's original settlers found this unfamiliar tree in the forest, and adopted it as a symbol of Ohio heritage. These pioneers carved the soft buckeye wood into troughs, platters and even cradles. Today, buckeye trees are prominent in the Ohio River Valley.

The nuts of the tree, which are actually mildly toxic, were given their name because of their resemblance to the eyes of white-tailed deer. Folk wisdom says that carrying a buckeye nut in your pocket brings good luck.

Columbus Skyline



N is for Norway

10.7. 89.

"Greetings from the northernmost post office of Europe. The sceneries are really amazing! "

Soile

Nordkapp is a 307 m (1007 ft) high cliff rising above the Arctic Ocean. Nordkapp is promoted as the northenmost point of Europe, this is however not true. The neighbouring point Knivskjellodden is actually 1,457 m (4780 ft) further north

  Nordkapp - The North Cape, the North Cape Horn has always been a well-known an important point of orientation for all boats and ships. The rock has had a great variety of names and it was only in the mid 16th century that it was given the present name.

View from Salen,  Habor, Hurtigruta dock

Hammerfest – the world’s northernmost town – is one of the most important travel destinations in Northern Norway.