San Francisco | USA

This postcard shows the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, USA. San Francisco (Spanish for 'Saint Francis'), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. It covers an area of about 46.89 square miles (121.4 km2), mostly at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 13th-most populous in the United States, with a 2017 census-estimated population of 884,363. The consolidated city-county is also the fifth most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. As of 2016, it was the 7th highest-income county in the United States, with a per capita personal income of $110,418.

Lovely Kingston upon Thames | England

I live in Kingston upon Thames for almost 2 years now, and this is the first time I find a postcard of Kingston. It is a multiview [in clockwise order]: 

• Kingston Bridge is a road bridge at Kingston upon Thames in London, carrying the A308 across the River Thames. It joins the town centre of Kingston in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, to Hampton Court Park, Bushy Park, and the village of Hampton Wick in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. As of 2005, it carried approximately 50,000 vehicles per day with up to 2,000 vehicles per hour in each direction during peak times. Kingston Bridge is on the reach above Teddington Lock and close to and downstream of the mouth of the Hogsmill River, a minor tributary of the Thames. It is on the route of the Thames Path and is the end point for the Thames Down Link long distance footpath from Box Hill station.
• A Tudor style building next to Everyday Church
• The waterway
• The City Center
• 'Out of Order' sculpture, created by David Mach. David Mach (born in Methil, Fife, on 18 March 1956) is a Scottish sculptor and installation artist. Mach's artistic style is based on flowing assemblages of mass-produced objects. Typically these include magazines, vicious teddy bears, newspapers, car tyres, match sticks and coat hangers. Many of his installations are temporary and constructed in public spaces.
• A view of the River Thames from Kingston Bridge
• Bentalls Shopping Center
• Hampton Court Palace

Bath spa | England

Wow. It's been 3 years since I last wrote on this blog. Unfortunately the Greek crisis brought my life upside down so I couldn't devote any time on my post cards. Now, 3 years later, I live in another country and my life is almost normal again. So I can do what I love most: travel!

I went to the amazing city of Bath. Bath is a city in Somerset, South West England, that is known for the curative Roman-built baths that still exist there. In 2011, its population was 88,859. It became part of Avon in 1974; since Avon's abolition in 1996, it has been the principal centre of Bath and North East Somerset. The city, in the valley of the River Avon, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

 

The city became a spa with the Latin name Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") c. AD 60 when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, although oral tradition suggests that the hot springs were known before then.

Golden London | England

My mother sent me this multi view postcard from London, when she visited my brother a few weeks back. She told me that she posted me three more postcards, but I have only received this one..Hope that I will receive the rest of them soon :)

Prague | Czech Republic

Some very dear friends of mine went to Prague a few weeks ago and sent me this lovely postcard. Even though it was really cold, they had a wonderful time!

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is our most valuable historical city reserve. In 1992 the historical core of the city covering 866 hectares was listed in the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Register.

Prague represents a unique collection of historical monuments dominated by the Prague Castle which towers high above the city. It is a display of all artistic styles and movements. The historical core of the city is situated on both banks of the Vltava river and consists of 6 parts - formerly independent urban units unified in the 18th century. They are as follows: Stare Mesto (Old Town), Josefov (the preserved part of the former Jewish Town - today a part of the Old Town), Nove Mesto (New Town), Mala Strana (Lesser Town), Hradcany and Vysehrad. Naturally, most of the historical monuments, museums and galleries are concentrated right there. [praguewelcome.cz]

Midnight in Paris

This picturesque view of Pont Neuf in Paris was sent by Alexandra via postcrossing [FR-173795]. It reminds me of a wonderful movie I saw recently, called "Midnight in Paris". So, instead of writing some words of this amazing city, I give you the soundtrack of the movie. Listen to it and travel to Paris!

Alps

This is a multi view postcard showing some castles in the Alps. Starting from top left is shows Schloss Linderhof (more you can read here), Kloster Ettal, Schloss Neuschwanstein (more you can read here), Schloss Hohenschwangau, Echelsbacher Brucke, Wierkirche and Fussen.

The Alps (German: Alpen; Italian: Alpi; French: Alpes; Greek: Αλπεις; Occitan: Aups/Alps; Romansh: Alps; Slovene: Alpe) is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west.

The highest mountain in the Alps is Mont Blanc, at 4,810.45 metres (15,782 ft), on the Italian–French border. All the main peaks of the Alps can be found in the list of mountains of the Alps and list of Alpine peaks by prominence. The English name Alps was taken via French from Latin Alpes, which formerly was believed to be ultimately cognate with Latin albus ("white"). Few scholars share this opinion today. The German Albe, Alpe or Alp (f., Old High German alpâ, plural alpûn), the Occitan Alp/Aup and the French Alpage or Alpe in the singular mean "alpine pasture", and only in the plural may also refer to the mountain range as a whole. [wikipedia]

Arta's Bridge (Το γεφύρι της Άρτας) "They built all day--each night it fell"

As I have mentioned before, I am an architect so I get to visit many old, abandoned houses. In one of these houses I found 10-15 old postcards. One of them is this one, which was sent on 25 February 1974. It shows the most famous old bridge in Greece, which is situated in Arta. It crosses the Arachthos river (Άραχθος). The bridge is famous because of an urban legend that is connected with its construction. It is said that every day 60 apprentices and 45 craftsmen, under the leadership of the Chief Engineer, tried to build the bridge, but its foundations would collapse every night. Finally a bird with a human voice informed the Chief Engineer that in order for the bridge to remain standing, he must sacrifice his wife. As the wife was being built in the foundations of the construction, she uttered curses that concluded with blessings.
Up until now, whenever someone crosses this Bridge, becomes silent and shy as a tribute to the wife of the Chief Engineer. The legend has it, that her sacrifice made the construction of the Bridge possible, reversing the curse into a wish for the generations to come. The Bridge finally connected the two riversides of Arahthos river. Apart from the physical connection of the river, this Bridge is also what connects Arta with its historical past, its living present and hopefully its future.

Golden Gate Bridge | USA

As you might know, I am an architect. A few days ago I visited an old mansion that is going to be demolished (it has no architectural or historical value), from which the owners wanted nothing! There I found many interesting old things (furniture, photographs, paintings etc). Among them were many old postcards! I will try to upload them all! The first one is the one you see above, picturing Golden Gate Bridge on a foggy day. It was sent on 7 May 1989.

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula to Marin County. The Golden Gate Bridge was the longest suspension bridge span in the world when it was completed in 1937, and has become one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and of the United States. Despite its span length being surpassed by eight other bridges since its completion, it still has the second longest suspension bridge main span in the United States, after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City. It has been declared one of the modern Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The Frommers travel guide considers the Golden Gate Bridge "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world". [wikipedia]

Düsseldorf

This postcard from Düsseldorf was sent by another of my postcard pals, Chris. She writes: "Düsseldorf is the state capital of North Rhine - Westphalia. Düsseldorf has a beautiful old town. On the card you can see the Ko, a boulevard with a canal running in the middle of it. It has many luxury stores of well-known brands. It's too expensive, but it's nice to walk along the street and just to do some window-shopping."

Well,  it sure looks amazing on the card and the description of Chris makes it even more appealing. Hope I'll do window - shopping at Ko boulevard someday, too!!

Party Bus

Another postcard from our New Year's trip to London! I really like this one! We had a great time and we always tried to sit to the upper deck of the bus, in the front seats :) One night, as we were returning home, another double-deck bus coming near us. When it came close enough, we saw that inside that bus there was a party!!People with party hats, music and everything! What a great idea!! Party inside a bus...Party-bus! I wonder if I can do the same thing in Greece....

Brisbane, Queensland

A friend moved recently to Brisbane, Australia, and sent me this amazing postcard! It really looks breathtaking and [combined with the photos I've seen] is one of the places I would love to visit someday :)

It may be Australia’s third-largest city, but for the longest time Brisbane was seen as something of a poor cousin to Sydney and Melbourne: a sleepy country town hiding behind a big city façade. In recent years, however, Brisbane has stirred from its slumber and is casually emerging as one of the most desirable places to live in Australia with an estimated 1000 people packing their bags and moving up here every week.