Beatlemania | England

A very dear couple of friends went to England on a Beatles themed journey. They sent me this postcard, which they got at Cavern Club.

The Cavern Club in Mathew Street, Liverpool was the venue where The Beatles' (formerly known as The Quarrymen) UK popularity started. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and their drummer at the time, Pete Best, were first seen by Brian Epstein at the club. Epstein eventually became their manager, going on to secure them a record contract. Best was replaced by Ringo Starr on 16 August 1962, which upset many Beatles' fans. After taunts of, "Pete forever, Ringo [Starr] never!", one agitated fan headbutted Harrison in the club.

The Cavern Club was the third club managed by Alan Synter, which originally opened as a jazz-only club on 16 January 1957, being styled after the Paris venue, Le Caveau. The Quarrymen made their first appearance at the club on 21 February 1957, but by 9 February 1961, when the group first performed there under their new name of The Beatles, the club was under the ownership of Ray McFall. The Cavern Club's popularity grew, rapidly becoming the most famous club in Britain. According to the club's resident DJ, Bob Wooler, The Beatles made 292 appearances at the club in 1961, 1962 and 1963, culminating in a final appearance there on 3 August 1963—one month after the group recorded "She Loves You", and six months before their first trip to the United States.

The club changed hands several more times before eventually being demolished to allow construction of an underground railway ventilation duct, before being used as a car park. A replica of the club was built on "75 per cent of the original site" in 1984, built with 15,000 bricks retrieved from the original club site. On 16 January 1997, a sculpture of Lennon was unveiled outside The New Cavern Club, and on 14 December 1999, McCartney performed there, playing his last concert of the 20th century and publicising his album, Run Devil Run. [wikipedia]

Andros island | Greece

Recently my uncle gave me his small collection of postcards that he had. Among them I found a dozen postcards from Andros, my favorite Greek island! Most of them seem really old.

 I think this is the oldest. It shows the interior of a house in Alikandros village.

 This second one is a multi view of Andros island.

 This one shows Saint Nicolas and the Navy Club.

And this one shows Theoskepasti and Paraporti Village.

Andros, or Andro (Greek: Άνδρος) is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, approximately 10 km (6 mi) south east of Euboea, and about 3 km (2 mi) north of Tinos. It is nearly 40 km (25 mi) long, and its greatest breadth is 16 km (10 mi). Its surface is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and well-watered valleys. The area is 380 km² (147 sq mi). The largest towns are Andros (town), Gávrio, Bátsi, and Órmos Korthíou.

The island is famous for its Sariza spring at Apoikia where the water comes out of a lionhead. Palaeopolis, the ancient capital, was built into a steep hillside, and its harbor's breakwater can still be seen underwater. [wikipedia]

As I have said before, Andros is the perfect place for vacations. There you will find the most beautiful beaches you have ever seen and the most hospitable people!

Dùn Èideann | Scotland

A friend of mine was in Edinburgh for a business trip and she sent me this beautiful postcard, which shows a panorama of the old town. As she tells me, she wrote this postcard while drinking tea at the Elephant Cafe, where J. K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter!

Edinburgh (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann) is the capital city of Scotland and the seat of the Scottish Parliament. It is the second largest city in Scotland and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a 30 square miles (78 km²) rural area. Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth, near the North Sea.

The city was one of the historical major centres of the Enlightenment, led by the University of Edinburgh, helping to earn it the nickname Athens of the North. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 in recognition of the unique character of the Medieval Old Town and the planned Georgian New Town. It covers both the Old and New Towns together with the Dean Village and the Calton Hill areas. There are over 4,500 listed buildings within the city. In May 2010, it had a total of 40 conservation areas covering 23% of the building stock and 23% of the population, the highest such ratios of any major city in the UK. In the 2011 mid-year population estimates, Edinburgh had a total resident population of 495,360.

The city hosts the annual Edinburgh Festival, a group of official and independent festivals held annually over about four weeks beginning in early August. The number of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for the Festival is roughly equal to the settled population of the city. The best-known of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe, the largest performing-arts festival in the world; the Edinburgh International Festival; the Edinburgh Military Tattoo; and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Other annual events include the Hogmanay street party and the Beltane Fire Festival. Edinburgh attracts over 1 million overseas visitors a year, making it the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom. [wikipedia]

The Black Sea and Asenovgrad | Bulgaria

A friend of mine, who is from Bulgaria, was kind enough to give me some postcards of her country. I have never been to Bulgaria, but it seems that there are a lot to see!

This postcard shows the Bulgarian Black Sea.
Current names of the Sea are equivalents of the English name, "Black Sea", including:

• Abkhaz: Amshyn Eikʷa (Амшын Еиқәа)
• Adyghe: Khy Shʼutsʼ (Хы ШӀуцӀ)
• Bulgarian: Cherno more (Черно море)
• Georgian: Shavi zghva (შავი ზღვა)
• Laz: Ucha zuğa (უჩა ზუღა), or simply Zuğa 'Sea'
• Romanian: Marea Neagră 
• Russian: Chornoye morye (Чёрное мо́рe)
• Turkish: Karadeniz 
• Ukrainian: Chorne more (Чорне море)

Such names have not yet been shown conclusively to predate the twelfth century, but there are indications that they may be considerably older. The Black Sea is one of four seas named in English after common color terms — the others being the Red Sea, the White Sea and the Yellow Sea.

How do you store your postcards?

The last few days I've thinking about my postcards. For the time being, I am filing them in geographical order. But since I was given a huge amount of old family postcards (read more about it here) I've been thinking that it may be better if I separate the written from the unwritten. The unwritten could be organized geographically and the written ones by date. So, the written ones could be something like a family calendar (the oldest one is from1909!!!).

What do you think? What filing system do you use for your postcards?

Pauwel Kwak | Belgium

This is one of my favorite postcards because it shows one of my favorite beers, Kwak.

Bosteels Brewery is a beer brewery in Buggenhout, Belgium. The brewery was founded in 1791 and is still owned and operated by the same family, now its seventh generation. They brew three beers: Tripel Karmeliet, DeuS, and Pauwel Kwak.

Pauwel Kwak is an amber brewed since the 1980s with 8.4% ABV. Supposedly it is named after an 18th century innkeeper and brewer, Pauwel Kwak. The beer is filtered before packaging in bottles and kegs.

As with other Belgian beers, Kwak has a branded glass with its own distinctive shape. It is held upright in a wooden stand; the brewery claims the glass was designed by the innkeeper Pauwel Kwak in the early 19th century for coachmen who would stop at his coaching tavern and brewery named "De Hoorn". though the beer and the glass were launched in the 1980s. While drinking from the glass, the bulb at the bottom will remain filled for a relatively long time. As soon as air reaches the still-filled bulb, a large amount of beer will gush towards the drinker. This is accompanied by a characteristic sound which sounds like Kwak spoken quickly. [wikipedia]

Somerville College | England

wow! It;s been a while since I last wrote here. Unfortunately, there were a lot going on in my life lately. I hope from now on I will have more free time to upload postcards! I'm looking forward for your comments!

This is a postcard showing Somerville College in Oxford. It was sent by my aunt to my mother on 19 September 1990, when she was studying to be a doctor.

Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and was one of the first women's colleges to be founded there. The college is located at the southern end of Woodstock Road, with Little Clarendon Street to the south and Walton Street to the west.

In June 1878, the Association for the Higher Education of Women was formed, aiming for the eventual creation of a college for women in Oxford. Some of the more prominent members of the association were Dr. G. G. Bradley, Master of University College, T. H. Green, a prominent liberal philosopher and Fellow of Balliol College, and Edward Stuart Talbot, Warden of Keble College. Talbot insisted on a specifically Anglican institution, which was unacceptable to most of the other members. The two parties eventually split, and Talbot's group founded Lady Margaret Hall.

Thus, in 1879, a second committee was formed to create a college "in which no distinction will be made between students on the ground of their belonging to different religious denominations."  This new effort resulted in the founding of Somerville Hall, named for the then recently deceased Scottish mathematician Mary Somerville. The hall was renamed Somerville College in 1894.

Somerville College was converted into a hospital during World War I — Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon were patients there. Sassoon opens Siegfried's Progress with a reference to the college.

Somerville remained a women's college until 1992, when its statutes were amended to permit male students and fellows; the first male fellows were appointed in 1993, and the first male students admitted in 1994. Today around 50% of students are men. [wikipedia]

Seattle | USA

I received thiw card a few months ago, but due to some family problems I didn't upload it at that time. It was sent by my card-pal Valerie from Seattle.

Seattle is the county seat of King County, in the U.S. state of Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country. The city is a major coastal seaport situated on a narrow isthmus between Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 114 miles (183 km) south of the Canada–United States border. In 2010, Seattle was the sixth busiest port in the United States, serving as a major gateway for trade with Asia.

The Seattle area had been inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent white settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. The settlement was moved to its current site and renamed "Seattle" in 1853, after Chief Seattle of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes.

Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. By 1910, Seattle was one of the 25 largest cities in the country. However, a combination of strikes and the Great Depression severely damaged the city's economy. Growth returned during and after World War II when the local Boeing company established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The city developed as a technology center in the 1980s. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and internet companies led to an economic revival, which increased the city's population by 50,000 between 1990 and 2000. More recently, Seattle has become a hub for "green" industry and a model for sustainable development.

Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, there were nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs along Jackson Street in the current Chinatown/International District. The jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix and the rock music style known as "grunge," which was made famous by local groups Melvins, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam. In more recent years, Seattle has been known for indie rock and indie dance music. [wikipedia]

Προβολή Postcards σε χάρτη μεγαλύτερου μεγέθους

their Royal Highness the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Yet another postcard from London, sent by my mother in one of her trips there. It shows their Royal Highness the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the day of their wedding.

Duke of Cambridge is a title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family several times. It was first used as a designation for Charles Stuart (1660–1661), the eldest son of James, Duke of York (later James II), though he was never formally created Duke of Cambridge. The title was most recently bestowed upon Prince William on 29 April 2011.

The first officially recognised creation was in the Peerage of England in 1664, when James Stuart, son of the Duke of York by his first wife, was granted the title. James, Duke of Cambridge died young and without heirs, and the title became extinct. The title was next granted to Edgar Stuart, another son of the Duke of York by his first wife. Edgar also died young and the title again became extinct.

The Duke of York's eldest son by his second wife, Charles Stuart (1677), was also styled Duke of Cambridge, but died approximately a month old, not having lived long enough to be formally created.

The dukedom was next granted to George Augustus, son of George Louis, Hereditary Prince of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who would later become George I of Great Britain. When George Augustus ascended to the throne as George II, the dukedom merged into the crown. The title was next given, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, to Prince Adolphus, the seventh son of George III. Upon the death in 1904 of his only son, Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge, without a legitimate heir, the title became extinct.

The first Duke's grandson (through a female line), Adolphus, Duke of Teck, who was the brother of Queen Mary, George V's consort, was created Marquess of Cambridge in 1917 when he gave up his German titles and took the surname "Cambridge". Upon the death of the second Marquess without any male heirs, the marquessate became extinct.

In 1999, during the time leading up to the wedding of The Prince Edward, the youngest son of Elizabeth II, experts had suggested the Duchy of Cambridge or Sussex as the most likely to be granted to him, and The Sunday Telegraph later reported that Prince Edward was at one point set to be titled Duke of Cambridge. Instead, Prince Edward was created Earl of Wessex, and it was announced that he would eventually succeed to the title Duke of Edinburgh, currently held by his father.

On 29 April 2011, the day of his wedding, Prince William was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus. [wikipedia]

Петрозаво́дск | Russia

It's been a while since I last wrote here...But now I'm back for good :)

This postacrd arrived today. It was sent by Lesha via postcrossing [RU-764636]. It shows a church in Petrozavodsk, but unfortunately I could not figure out which church it is. If someone knows Russian and can identify it, please let me know!

Petrozavodsk (Russian: Петрозаво́дск; Karelian/Vepsian/Finnish: Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia. It stretches along the western shore of the Lake Onega for some 27 kilometers (17 mi). Population: 263,540 (2010 Census preliminary results).

On September 11, 1703, Prince Menshikov founded the settlement of Petrovskaya Sloboda ("Petrine Sloboda"). He did so at the behest of Tsar Peter the Great, who needed a new iron foundry to manufacture cannons and anchors for the Baltic Fleet at the time of the Great Northern War (1700–1721). At first the foundry used the name Shuysky zavod (literally, "factory at the Shuya River"), but a decade later it became Petrovsky zavod ("Petrine factory"), after the name of the reigning monarch. From this form the present name of the city derives.

By 1717, Petrovskaya Sloboda had grown into the largest settlement in Karelia, with about 3,500 inhabitants, a timber fort, a covered market, and miniature palaces of the Tsar and Menshikov. The town's best-known landmark became the wooden church of Saints Peter and Paul, rebuilt in 1772 and renovated in 1789. The church retained its original iconostasis until this relic of Peter's reign was destroyed by fire on October 30, 1924.

After Peter's death, Petrovskaya Sloboda became depopulated and the factory declined. It closed down in 1734, although foreign industrialists maintained copper factories in the vicinity.

The industry revived in 1773 when Catherine the Great established a new iron foundry upstream the Lososinka River. Designed to provide cannons for the ongoing Russo-Turkish Wars, the foundry was named Alexandrovsky, after Alexander Nevsky, who was considered a patron saint of the region. The factory was modernized and expanded under supervision of Charles Gascoigne in 1787–96. Local pundits claim that the first railway in the world (чугунный колесопровод) was inaugurated for industrial uses of the Alexandrovsky foundry in 1788.

During Catherine's municipal reform of 1777, Petrovskaya Sloboda was incorporated as a town, whereupon its name was changed to Petrozavodsk. A new Neoclassical city center was then built, focused on the newly-planned Round Square. In 1784 Petrozavodsk was large enough to supplant Olonets as the administrative center of the region. Although Emperor Paul abolished Olonets Governorate, it was revived as a separate guberniya in 1801, with Petrozavodsk as its administrative center.

During the Finnish occupation of East Karelia in the Continuation War (1941–1944), the occupier chose to style the city Äänislinna (or Ääneslinna), rather than the traditional Petroskoi. The new name was a literal translation of Onegaborg, the name of a settlement marked on a 16th century map by Abraham Ortelius near the present-day city, Ääninen being the Finnish toponym for Lake Onega.

The city was occupied by Finnish troops for nearly three years before it was retaken by Soviet forces on June 28, 1944. The Finns set up concentration camps for the civilians which they operated until the Red Army reoccupied the area. The first camp was located at Petrozavodsk (October 24, 1940). Six such camps were set up in Petrozavodsk, with about 25,000 women, children and old people confined in them. One source estimated 4,000 people perished there, primarily because of malnourishment, most dying during the spring and summer of 1942. [wikipedia]

Ukok Plateau | Russia

This postcard [amazing aspect of the lake] was sent by Elena from Russia via postcrossing [RU-420053]. It shows Ukok plateau.

Ukok Plateau is a remote and pristine grasslands area located in the heart of southwestern Siberia, the Altai Mountains region of Russia near the borders with China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The Pazyryk is the name of an ancient people who lived in the Altai Mountains on this plateau who are associated with some spectacular archeological findings, including mummies found frozen in the permafrost. Many ancient Bronze Age tomb mounds have been found in the area and have been associated with the Pazyryk culture which closely resembled that of the legendary Scythian people to the west. The term kurgan is in general usage to describe such log-barrow burials. Excavations of this site have continued to yield fascinating archaeological findings. One famous finding is known as the Ice Maiden, excavated by Russian archaeologist, Natalia Polosmak. Three tattooed mummies (c. 300 BC) were extracted from the permafrost of the Ukok Plateau in the second half of the 20th century.

It is recognized as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site entitled Golden Mountains of Altai as an important environmental treasure. It provides a habitat for many of the world's endangered species including one of its least studied predatory animals: the snow leopard. Other endangered species protected there include the Argali mountain sheep, the steppe eagle, and the Black Stork. Currently the Ukok Plateau is being threatened by plans for a gas pipeline between China and Russia. It is also being threatened by a proposal to build a road through it as well as overuse of the steppe by ranchers.

The Ice Maiden and other archaeological finds were located just within a disputed strip of land between Russia and China. The residents of the Altai Republic are demanding the return of the burial artifacts from their current location in Novosibirsk. [wikipedia]

Cristo Redentor | Brazil

I received this postcard two weeks ago. It was sent by MarianaReis via postcrossing [BR-151907]. It is pretty weird that it took 267 days to travel from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Athens, Greece!! I'm just happy it finally reached me! :)

Rio de Janeiro (River of January), commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th largest in the Americas, and 26th in the world.

The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries, from 1763 to 1815 during the Portuguese colonial era, 1815 to 1821 as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarves, 1822 to 1960 as an independent nation. Rio is nicknamed the Cidade Maravilhosa or "Marvelous City."

English Royal Family

 Two more postcards sent by my mother from London. They both show the Royal Family, of the House of Windsor.

The House of Windsor is the royal house of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V by royal proclamation on the 17 July 1917, when he changed the name of his family from the German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the English Windsor, due to the anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom during World War I. Currently, the most prominent member of the House of Windsor is Queen Elizabeth II [for more information about her check out this post], the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms.