Czar Alexander II statue at Senate Square | Finland

Today was a good day for my mailbox!! As I returned tired from work, I found six cards waiting for me :D

The first one was this:

It was sent by Pirjo via postcrossing [FI-925057]. As Pirjo writes, this is the Senate square, a very popular meeting place. Many people enjoy sitting at the stairs in the background and watching other people going by. 

On the right you can see a statue of emperor Alexander II. The statue, erected in 1894, was built to commemorate his re-establishment the Diet of Finland in 1863, as well as his initiation of several reforms that increased Finland's autonomy from Russia. The statue comprises Alexander on a pedestal surrounded by figures representing the law, culture and the peasants.

During the Russification of Finland from 1899 onwards, the statue became a symbol of quiet resistance, with people of Helsinki protesting to the decrees of Nicholas II leaving flowers at the foot of the statue of his grandfather, then known in Finland as "the good czar".

After Finland's independence in 1917, demands were made regarding the removal of the statue, and later, a suggestion was made that it should be replaced with the equestrian statue of Mannerheim (currently located along Mannerheimintie, near Eduskuntatalo). Nothing came of either of these suggestions, and today the statue is one of the major tourist landmarks on the city, standing as a monument to Finland's relationship with Imperial Russia. [wikipedia]

Glorious....mutilation???

Ok...this is the most weird card I have. It was sent on 25 September 1908 from Harwich (a small port in Essex) to London. In the front it is written: "It's simply glorious here!".

And, as you can see, there is this cute scene.

 

But, in the back, it says: "Dear L. hope you are quite well as I am same  at present. sorry to say I am deprived of the top of my Finger second on the Left Hand. Hope you will excuse me for not writing [?]

Remember me to Rose"

This is all so weird... How did he lost the top of his finger and what was his relationship with the two women (L. and Rose)? Too bad we will never know :(

Acropolis of Athens

Well, it was about time for me to upload a card with the most famous Greek sight! This is the Acropolis, an Unesco World Heritage Site. The Acropolis is actually a total of approximately 20 temples and buildings, most of them built at the Golden Age of Athens. At that time, Pericles was the leader of Athens. He put in charge of the construction Ictinos and Callicrates, two famous architects, and Pheideas, a famous sculptor. In the center of the card you can see the Parthenon temple, dedicates to Athena, the protector goddess of Athens. Underneith, you can see the Irodeion Theater.

From Bucharest to a greek Kafeneio in Athens

 Once again I took a walk at Monastiraki, where there is aflea market of antiques and old things. I found some beautiful postcards. The one I like the most is this :

 It is a card of Romania, but unfortunately the stamps cover the description of the place. In the back there are six different stamps!

But, what I like most in this card is that it is addressed to George Taflian and instead of an address it was sent to the local Kafeneioand at the bottom says: "Guys, hello from Bucharest to everybody".
Kafeneio is a Greek kind of cafeteria, where only men used to go. There they would drink traditional Greek coffee or ouzo, they would play cards and discuss about politics. Depending on in which neighborhood the Kafeneio was, you would see not only people of the lower class, but also people of the spirit [professors, writers, poets etc]. Kafeneia [plural of Kafeneio] still exist, but nowadays you may even see women there.

..and then, there is paradise..

This Summer we decided to spend most of our vacations at some exotic island, where there would be only palm trees, golden sand and us! For some reason [still I cannot explain why], we thought of Canary Islands. We booked flights and hotel and off we went... What a disappointment.. Due to the volcano, there was only black sand and in addition in every beach there were thousands of people. We were pretty bumped but managed to have a good time.

When we returned to Greece, summer was not over yet, so we went at Crete island. And then, there was paradise. Beautiful, not crowded beaches and we even saw some palm trees. As you can see on the card, Vai is a golden sand beach with a palm forest!

I didn't know paradise was so close at home =]

Castle in Malbork | Poland

This is another postcrossing card, sent by Sulwia from Poland. Unfortunately, she forgot to write the postcard ID, so I cannot register it. :(

The Castle in Malbork was built in Prussia by the Teutonic Order, a German Roman Catholic religious order, as an Ordensburg (fortified castle of the order). The Order named it Marienburg (Mary's Castle). The town which grew around it was also named Marienburg. Since 1945, when it became part of the nation of Poland after World War II, it has been called Malbork.
The castle is a classic example of a medieval fortress, and is the world’s largest brick Gothic castle. UNESCO designated the "Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork" and its museum as World Heritage Sites in December 1997. It is one of two World Heritage Sites in the region with origins in the Teutonic Order. The other is the "Medieval Town of Toruń", founded in 1231 as the site of the castle Thorn (Toruń). [by wikipedia]

Taipei 101

This is Taipei city in Taiwan, sent by Pin Yu. The tallest building in the card is Taipei 101, where you can dine on 85th floor, as Pin Yu tells me.

Taipei 101, also known as the Taipei Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010.

My wishlists

Apart of my goal to receive one postcard from each country and one of each Unesco World Heritage Sites, I have a few more lists in mind... For example, I am trying to have one postcard from each greek island and it may seem easy, but -as I recently found out- there are 1400 islands in our little country!
Some other collections I would like to have are:

Seven Wonders of the World

• Great Pyramid of Giza (Egypt)
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Iraq)
• Statue of Zeus at Olympia (Greece)
• Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (Turkey)
• Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus (Turkey)
• Colossus of Rhodes (Greece)
• Lighthouse of Alexandria (Egypt)

Seven Wonders of the Medieval World

• Stonehenge (United Kingdom)
• Colosseum (Italy)
• Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (Egypt)
• Great Wall (China)
• Porcelain Tower of Nanjing (China)
• Hagia Sophia (Turkey)
• Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy)

Seven Natural Wonders of the World

• Grand Canyon (USA - Arizona)
• Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
• Harbor of Rio de Janeiro 
• Mount Everest (Nepal, China)
• Aurora 
• Parícutin volcano (Mexico)
• Victoria Falls (Zambia)

Seven Natural Wonders of the Underwater World

• Palau
• Belize Barrier Reef
• Great Barrier Reef (Austarlia)
• Deep-Sea Vents
• Galápagos Islands (Ecuador)
• Lake Baikal (Russia)
• Northern Red Sea 

Seven Wonders of the Industrial World

• SS Great Eastern
• Bell Rock Lighthouse (Scotland)
• Brooklyn Bridge (USA)
• London sewerage system (England)
• First Transcontinental Railroad 
• Panama Canal
• Hoover Dam (USA - Arizona)

I know that many of them do not exist, but I guess there are some representation of them! So, those are my lists.. Hope I will complete them soon!! :)

Rua de Malaca

A private swap with Dianna from Macau! This is a night view at Rua de Malaca. In the left it's the Casa Real Casino and in the background the Golden Dragon Hotel and Casino.

Buffalo River

Another postcrossing postcard [US-840603]! This time from Anita, who writes that many people enjoy floating down Buffalo River, including her :)