First Sunday of Advent

Happy Advent Season!

Advent begins on the fourth Sunday prior to Christmas Day, or the Sunday which falls closest to November 30, and lasts through Christmas Eve, or December 24. When Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, it is the last, or fourth Sunday of Advent.

 Light one candle on the First of Advent, let it burn down a little and then light it again on the second Advent together with the second candle and so on.

Universities

The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. University of Tartu is the only classical university in the country and also the biggest and most prestigious university in Estonia. It was established by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1632.

 From Helen in Saaremaa, Estonia

Distance: 485 km

Travel time: 7 days

Main Building of Moscow University on Vorobyovy Hills

From Alexandra in Moscow, Russia

Distance: 1,148 km

Travel time: 26 days 

Moscow State University

From Julia in Rostov on Don, Russia

Distance: 2,015 km

Travel time: 26 days

Lomonosov Moscow State University ( MSU) is a coeducational and public research university located in Moscow, Russia. It was founded on January 25, 1755 by Mikhail Lomonosov. MSU was renamed after Lomonosov in 1940 and was then known as Lomonosov University. It also claims to house the tallest educational building in the world. It is rated among the universities with the best reputation in the world.

Anna Silivonchik

  "Kisses under the tree"

From Ina in Postavy, Belarus

Distance: 856 km

Travel time: 10 days

"Blossoming Season"

Direct swap from Olga in Moskow, Russia  

"Love and Carrots" comes from Sveta in St. Petersburg, Russia

Distance: 538 km

Travel time: 18 days

"Machine" from Katja in Minsk, Belarus

Distance: 1,014 km

Travel time: 9 days

 One of my my favourite artists is Anna Silivonchik. She is well-known for her individuality among young Belarusan painters.

Cats and Flowers by Victoria Kirdiy

These super cute and funny cats were direct swaps sent by Olga from Belarus.

 Flowers came from Russia sent by Elena in Nizhny Novgorod.

Distance: 1,400 km

Travel time: 30 days

Happy Children's Day

Little Mongolian girl, Altai Mountains, Mongolia

Yi Children, Yunnan and Sichuan Provence China.
Yi people are the largest ethnic minority group in Sichuan.

The International Day for Protection of Children is observed in many countries as Children's Day on 1 June since 1950. It was established by the Women's International Democratic Federation on its congress in Moscow.  Major global variants include a Universal Children's Day on 20 November, by United Nations recommendation. In Finland, Children's Day is known as Day of Children's Rights.

Kansainvälinen lasten päivä (myös lapsen oikeuksien päivä) on YK:n yleiskokouksen aloitteesta vuodesta 1954 vietetty kansainvälinen vuosipäivä. Päivän ajankohta vaihtelee maittain. Useissa maissa, myös Suomessa sitä vietetään 20. marraskuuta. Suomessa päivä merkittiin Suomen UNICEFin aloitteesta lastenpäivän nimellä kalentereihin 1990-luvulla. Aluksi ajankohtana oli lokakuun ensimmäinen maanantai, mutta vuodesta 2002 lähtien päivää on vietetty 20. marraskuuta nimellä Lapsen oikeuksien päivä.

Books

200th Anniversary of Birth of I.A.Goncharov (1812-1891)

Date of Issue 4 June 2012

Designer: O.Shushlebina.

Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov  Goncharov  was a Russian novelist best known for his novels A Common Story (1847), Oblomov (1859), and The Precipice (1869). 

Stack of books and globe by Elena Schweitzer

From Marina in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Distance: 538 km

Travel time: 18 days

Rahva Raamat - Sajandijagu armastust - Century of Love

Rahva Raamat is a book business with long-standing traditions, which has been in operation in Estonia since the year 1912. Today Rahva Raamat has ten bookstores in seven different cities. This card is from Pärnu Rahva Raamat bookstore.  

When I visited Tallinn last summer I  stopped at one special antique book store (Raamatukoi, Harju 1.) in the Old Town. In this shop there are the old books neatly arranged and easy to search. I  bought only some books and a big stack of art postcards :) 

This is my entry for Maria's "Postcards for the Weekend" on her "Connections to the World-blog" and the theme for this week is "Books/reading/authors"

Crafts of Ukraine

Embroidery, wicker baskets, pottery, wood works, wheat weaving, decorative painting,  forging and weaving.

From Lisa in Kiev, Ukraine 

Distance: 1,454 km

Travel time: 8 days

Ukrainian folk art, Petrykivsky Rozpis

From Sasha in Chernivtsi, Ukraine

Distance: 1,607 km

Travel time: 11 days

Petrykivsky painting or “petrykivka” is traditional Ukrainian decorative painting, which originates from Dnipropetrovsk oblast of Ukraine, Petrykivka village. Pertykivsky painting traditionally decorated everyday household items, and the earliest samples of it date back to the 17th century.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

Japanese culture

Music Lesson by Shirataki Ikunosuke (1873 - 1961)

The shamisen or samisen is a three-stringed, Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument sanxian. It is played with a plectrum called a bachi.

From Rie in Tokyo, Japan
Distance: 7,757 km
Travel time: 6 days

Maiko is an apprentice geisha in Kyoto, western Japan. Their jobs consist of performing songs, dances, and playing the shamisen or the koto (traditional Japanese instruments) for visitors during feasts.

From Eri in Osaka, Japan

Distance: 7,688 km

Travel time: 9 days

Kyoto geiko.

Kyoto geisha prefer to be called ‘geiko’ meaning ‘arts child’, rather than ‘geisha’, which means ‘arts person’. This  was set by Jui in Taipei, Taiwan

Distance: 8,015 km
Travel time: 14 days

Keeping tradition alive

Kyjov folk costume, Czech Republic

Young woman in a richly decorated ceremonial folk costume.

From Johanna in  Zlin, Czech Republic.
Distance: 1,519 km
Travel time: 6 days

Mother and child , Czech Republic

From Ondra in Klatovy, Czech Republic
Distance: 1,569 km
Travel time: 6 days

Kroje are folk costumes worn by Czechs and Slovaks. Gothicinfluence is seen in tying shawls and kerchiefs on the head. Fine pleats and gathered lace collars typify the Renaissance era. From Baroque bell-shaped skirts to delicate Slavic patterns.

Every village or area had its own "Kroj" ("Kroje" is plural), which we would call a folk costume or dress. It played a very important role: it showed which village or area you were from, if you were single or married. In general, if a woman was wearing some sort of headpiece (cap or scarf), most likely she was married; unmarried girls wore nothing or flowers in their hair.

Kαφενεíο - Café

At a Greek Kafenio.

A kafenio typically serves various types of Greek coffee, including Greek coffee and frappé, as well as beer, retsina, and ouzo. Most kafenia provide meze or free snacks and rarely serve full meals. Kafenia were traditionally family-run businesses and furnished simply. The walls are often whitewashed. Kafenia often serve as social centers of the villages and islands where they are located. People socialize after work or play a game of cards. In previous centuries, the kafenio was a place where women were not welcome but now kafenia are frequented by girls and women.

Two different kafenios on the island of Crete

 Traditional rural cafe in the tiny village of Deres.  Sitting here during the late afternoon hours when the sun disappears behind the mountains you can experience real peacefulness.

Bistro 22 in Rethynmnon is a  modern version of a kafeneio.  It is a great place to sit down and have a coffee and some delicious  cake with smooth music - quite relaxing.


This is my entry for Maria's "Postcards for the Weekend" on her "Connections to the World-blog" and the theme for this week is "Coffee/tea/pastries"

Memories

From Christian in Vienna, Austria
Distance: 1,646 km
Travel time: 4 days

Hippie Envelope from Gemma in Doetimchem, Netherlands

Distance: 1,510 km

Travel time: 5 days

Six Campervans from Heather in Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Distance: 1,735 km
Travel time: 7 days

One Hippievan

Love and Peace from Tatjana in Bremen, Germany

Distance: 1,316 km

Travel time: 8 days

 Our blue Campervan ( Kompivaari) on the way to adventure for sure.

 Perhaps we were  listening to Bob Dylan .

Bygone Days

 Hollmannstraße corner in Berlin

From Heli in Mikkeli, Finland

Lady Liberty draped in a bolt of American-flag fabric, circa 1915

From Juanita in Chicago, U.S.A.

Children playing on deserted ground in Docklands. 1992.

Docklands, London, England

Photo Ian Berry / Magnum Photos 

From Charlotte in Bordeaux, France

Sauna sausage!

An old Finnish idiom  " Puhtaus on puoli ruokaa"  - "Cleanliness is half a meal"

There's always room for three sausages, especially when you're hungry

Roasting sausages either on open fire or in tin foil directly on the stove is a key part of the summer sauna evening.

This is my entry for Maria's "Postcards for the Weekend" on her "Connections to the World-blog" and the theme for this week is "Food". 

Monuments

 Beata sent this Little Uprising Soldier, a monument sculpted by Jerzy Januszkiwicz. The monument is dedicated to the child soldiers of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.

Distance: 1,157 km

Travel time: 10 days

The Syrenka Mermaid  monument in Warsaw Old Town Square.  The sculpture was designed by Varsovian sculptor Konstanty Hegel in 1885. Warsaw is one of the cities with mermaids as their icon.

Mermaid was sent by Petrycia, Silesia, Poland

Distance: 1,394 km

Travel time: 4 days

Museums

Museum Tinguely, Basel. Switzerland
The Museum Tinguely is an art museum in Basel, Switzerland that contains a permanent exhibition of the works of Swiss painter and sculptor Jean Tinguely.

Comes from Claudia in Basel.

Distance: 1,906 km
Travel time: 9 days

Antoine Rredock architect, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, Canada

Antoine Predock is an American architect, landscape architect and interior designer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, since 1967. The Museum’s Architectural Review Committee chose his design because they believed it "could fulfill the objectives for an inspirational building that achieves a complexity relating to the diversity of human experience."

From Cynthia, in Hamilton, Canada
Distance: 6,371 km
Travel time: 6 days

The Bonnefantenmuseum is a museum of fine art in Maastricht, Netherlands. The building was designed by the Italian architect Aldo Rossi. With its rocket-shaped cupola overlooking the river Maas, it is one of Maastricht's most prominent modern buildings.

From Gemma, Netherlands
Distance: 1,510 km
Travel time: 5 days

The Museu Paulista of the University of São Paulo (commonly known as Museu do Ipiranga) is a Brazilian history museum located in the city of São Paulo. It contains a huge collection of furniture, documents and historically relevant artwork, especially relating to the Brazilian Empire era.The building was designed by Italian architect Tommaso Gaudenzio Bezzi in 1884

From Antonio, São  Paulo, Brazil

Distance: 11,477 km

Travel time: 20 days

Rio 2016 Olympics