Masca, Tenerife

I bought these cards on our vacation in Tenerife in December 2013.

Masca is a small mountain village on the island of Tenerife. The village is home to around 80 inhabitants. The village lies at an altitude of 600 m in the Teno mountains, which extend up to the northwesternmost point of Tenerife. Until the 1960s the village was accessed only by paths and was inaccessible by roads. The centre of the village features a small square (plaza) and a small church. Some of the homes are abandoned. Many of its inhabitants have left for larger towns and cities on Tenerife and on other islands and for Spain.

High mountains surround the tiny village and there is a small peak near the village centre. Forests including cypresses and palm trees abound. The rocks and forests and a slope of about 70° to 75° angle lies westward. 

Austria

Radstadt 865 - 1,770 m

The Salzburg Sportwelt lies in the centre of the Ski Amadé resort, Austria’s largest area of skiing fun.

Festival city of Salzburg, the city of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Greillenstein Castle in Horn, Lower Austria

Basilica Our Dear Lady, Rankweil, Vorarlberg Austria

Private swaps from Anna :)

Amerikkaan - To America

My great-uncle sent this card from Copenhagen to his wife on his second journey to America in 1923.

In the autumn of 1891 the Finnish Steamship Company started regular traffic between Hanko and Hull. The company also made an agreement with the Companies running the Ocean Liners from England to America. From the beginning of the 20th century most of the emigrants from Finland traveled with the Finnish Steamship company. The journey from Hanko, via Copenhagen to Hull in England 4-5 days

 My great-uncle received this card in 1928 from Hull. His cousin was on the  way to America and everything was "ok" 

 Oberon collided on 12-19-1930 in fog near Laesø in Northern Kattegatt with S/S Arcturus of Finland Steamship Co Ltd., while on passage from Finland via Copenhagen to Hull, and sank in three minutes with loss of 25 crew members and 17 passengers. 36 people were saved by the crew of Arcturus.

These two cards I received from Annet, Netherlands. 

 In England, the Finns arrived in Hull and continued by train to Liverpool, Southampton or Glasgow. They continued their journey with ocean liners to North America, arriving in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia or Portland. In Canada the arrival ports were Halifax, Quebeck, Montreal and St. John. Totally the journey from Finland to North America usually lasted an average of two weeks.

And this one is from Steffilie, Germany

Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt A.G. was established in 1847 and also called HAPAG, Hamburg-America Line.  HAPAG for the first time, introduced a sandwich to their passengers with meat in it. This inspired later businessmen to sell this (until then) unknown food in the US, creating the 'Hamburger'.

Australia

Laurent from Sydney sent this card of Bruny Island National Park in Tasmania.

" Bruny Island represents a delightful combination of scenery, history  and it  provides the ultimate Tasmanian wilderness experience, a perfect place  and ability " to get away from it all"

Really stunning views from this beautiful island.

Barbara from Toowomba sent this card on 26th January and she was celebrating the Australia Day. Most Australians consider January 26 with national pride, flying the Australian flag from businesses, homes, cars and even their babies. They attend festivals, fireworks, community and sporting events or gather for family barbecues at homes, parks or on the beach.

Australia Day, 26 January, is the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain, and the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by its commander Captain Arthur Phillip in 1788.

The Great Ocean Road in the card is the world's largest war memorial in the south-eastern coast of Australia. It was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I. The road is  winding through varying terrain along the coast and providing access to several prominent landmarks, including the Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations, the road is an important tourist attraction in the region.

Heather was on a road with her husband and she found this card from grocery store and she thought I might like it, and she was right :)

This abandoned house, that overlooks the S-Bend Caravan Park, is typical of the limestone buildings that were constructed on the Greenough Flats in the latter part of the 19th Century.

Christine lives in a small place near Newcastle NSW and she choosed this nice card for me  since I wished for colourfull cards. Yes, I like  the card with country rodeo, red dirt road, emu and cattle driver very much. 



Cats

Anna from Pushkin, Russia writes that we have birthdays on the same day in May.  From her I got  this cat on the watch, drawn by Olga Popova.

Also Felice has the same birthday as Anna and me :) She lives in Chicago, USA and she bought this card from her favourite postcard shop. These cats are painted by Théophile Alexandre Steinlen.

Joseph from Philippines sent this third cat card. The card is made from recycled paper :) and I also like the short, funny aphorism very much.

Sneaky cat, it is obviously up to something!
From Antje, Germany 

Shaili lives in Taipei, Taiwan and with this cute cat card she welcomes us to visit her beautiful country. Thank you Shaili, I hope we can do it someday!!

 Manon from France sent this cute cat from the set "Chat Enchante" by Séverine Pineaux.  Matoomuch, the pretty fashionable cat, has long been familiar to miss Cha...nel. She is really elegant but beware her mood swings...

Peterson and Findus are making pancakes in a very special way and Marion, from Germany, admits that she hasn't tried this method yet.

Shannon from Taiwan sent a cat on my favourite colours. This cat is pleased and contented after reading for a long time. I like the sunny, bright colors of the japanese artist, Makoto Muramatsu. 

Belarusian churches

Anastasia lives in Polotsk and her card is showing The Holly Cross Cathedral of Convent of the Savior and St. Euphrosyne, Polotsk, Belarus

Lena from Minsk sent a larger view from The Convent of the Savior and St. Euphrosyne. Polotsk is the oldest town in Belarus and founded in 862.

Natasha lives in Russia and on her vacation to Belarus she bought this card of Minsk Town Hall and Roman-Catholic Church of St. Virgin Mary.

From Olga I received a card from Kamenets - The Church of St. Simeon built in the 16th century and rebuilt in 1914.  St. Simon's church is near The Tower of  Kamenets.  

Street views

Magnificent flower street in Alsace, France from Jean-Jacques

He wrote that Alsace is the most beautiful area of his country - I believe him.

Back Street, St. Ives, Cornwall, Great Britain.  Carol lives in St. Ives and she  found this genuine old postcard from an antique shop and it suits perfectly for my " narrow streets with old houses"- collection:)

Butchery Lane, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom from Laura

Butchery Lane is a narrow shopping road in Canterbury city centre

 and one of Laura's favourites.

Petersilienstraße, Lübeck, Germany
Greetings from my sister and her family from an old Hanseatic City of Lübeck.
Lübeck's  medieval centre was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1987.

Calle de Obispo, Barcelona, Spain
From our daughter. She wrote that yesterday she walked on this street
 and after that she had to climb 96 steps to her friend's apartment, quite tough.