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.