Monthly Fav. Surprise RR - Feb. 25

 Look how beautiful these cards are!!

 

© Schöning Verlag

Located in the middle of Saxon Switzerland and not far from (...) Dresden, the fortress Königstein is enthroned. The mountain fortress, first mentioned in 1241, already housed a monastery, a fortress, a pleasure palace, a state prison, a prisoner of war camp and a youth workshop. Today, the fortress offers a breathtaking panoramic view and a variety of exhibitions. Visitors can also admire the first Saxon garrison church (1676), the deepest fountain in Saxony at 152. 5 metres and the oldest preserved barracks in Germany at 433 years. But also the 1. 7 kilometre long panoramic trail with a view over the Elbe valley and the Elbe sandstone mountains guarantee a unique experience. - in: https://visitsaxony.com

Card sent by Moni.

Marianne checked my favs wall and was so kind to send me the wonderful card. I'd love to see this lovely snowy landscape. 

Seefeld in Tyrol is a former farming village, now a large tourist resort, in the Innsbruck-Land District in the Austrian state of Tyrol.
The Seekirchl - also Heiligkreuzkirche - is probably Seefeld's most famous landmark. Under the regency of Archduke Leopold V, construction was underway in 1629, but the elaborate sacred edifice was not completed until 1666, a full 37 years later. Originally, the baroque Seekirchl stood in the middle of the artificially created cross lake created by Duke Sigismund the Coin Rich in the 15th century, which, however, was drained about 300 years ago after 1808. To this day, the picturesque Votivkirche in Kirchwald is a historic place of pilgrimage (a miraculous late Gothic crucifix) and probably the most popular postcard and photo motif in the region. - in: https://www.seefeld.com

 

 Photo: Jonathan Mortenson

Looking at this card, sent by Nan, it is easy to understand why Nubble Light is one of the most popular and photographed lighthouses in Maine. 

 Also known as the Cape Neddick Light Station, this iconic lighthouse stands as a testament to Maine’s rich maritime history and continues to shine as a symbol of resilience and beauty against the rugged backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean.
Nubble Light was first illuminated on July 1, 1879, with a fourth-order Fresnel lens guiding ships along the rocky coast. Its location on Nubble Island, just a few hundred feet from the mainland, made it a crucial navigational aid for ships approaching the York Harbor. Over the years, the lighthouse underwent several upgrades, including the installation of a more powerful light and fog signal, ensuring the safety of vessels navigating the treacherous waters.
Its classic New England design, with its white clapboard tower and red roof, against the backdrop of the deep blue sea, evokes a sense of timeless beauty and charm. The lighthouse is still active, operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, and its light continues to guide mariners along the coast. - in: https://newenglandecoadventures.com

I've recently added traditional houses to my postcard wishlist. Tomoko sent me this one with a traditional Japanese tea house.

Sekka-tei is a traditional tea house situated within the serene grounds of Kinkaku-ji, the iconic Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan. This tea house is a fine example of Japanese architecture and is used for traditional tea ceremonies. It offers visitors a glimpse into the cultural heritage of Japan, with its simple yet elegant design that complements the surrounding natural beauty. The tea house is part of the larger temple complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, attracting visitors from around the world. - in: https://mindtrip.ai

Sado Gold Mine - Japan

 This may not be a typical postcard but, as I've said many times, one can not be too picky when it comes to UNESCO sites. It was sent by Rachelle. 

Sado Gold Mine is the newest Japan's site, added to the WHS list a few months ago. 

Sado Island is a remote island on the Sea of Japan, 45 kilometers west of Niigata City. The island has long been called The Island of Gold due to the existence of many mines. The gold dust began to be mined around the 12th century. A total of 78 tons of gold and upwards of 2,330 tons of silver were produced.

 

Sado Gold and Silver Mines is a general term for the gold and silver mines on Sado Island, one of which is the Aikawa Gold and Silver Mine. Full scale development began in 1601, and a large amount of gold and silver was produced for nearly 400 years until mining stopped in 1989. Here, everything from mining to koban coin manufacturing was carried out. Today, the site has been developed as a tourist facility, Historic Site Sado Gold Mine, where you can learn about the changes in mining technology and production methods while observing heritage sites such as the remains of mine shafts and ore dressing facilities. - in: https://www.japan.travel

Monthly Fav. Surprise RR * August '24

Lets go back to summer with these MFS RR cards that I've received in August. They're from Finland, Russia, Japan and South Korea.

 

Ruotsinpyhtää is a town in southern Finland, near Anna's childhood home area. The local church was built in 1771 from wood. It was renovated in 1898 to its current gothic revival appearance.

When I posted July's card, I've said that Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is probably one of the places / monuments in Russia that I've the most cards from. In August, Inesa sent me another card. 

The monastery ensemble includes over 50 buildings of different significance.  The largest building of the monastery is the Assumption Cathedral constructed in 1559-1585 by the orders of Ivan the Terrible to celebrate the annexation of Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates to Russian lands. This majestic cathedral is very similar to the Assumption Cathedral of Moscow Kremlin. Its white stone facades harmoniously contrast with the four bright-blue domes, which sparkle with golden stars. The fifth dome of the Assumption Cathedral is gold-plated. - in: https://www.advantour.com

Hirosaki Saisho-in five-story pagoda is considered to be the most beautiful pagoda in Tōhoku region. Tomoko wrote that five-story pagodas represent the Buddhist view of universe, which consists of five elements, earth, water, fire, wind and sky. 

The construction of this pagoda began in 1656 and was completed in 1667.  It was built during the Edo Period using a construction method with no nails. The pagoda is designated as a national important cultural heritage site.

This is a detail of a traditional Korean roof with Japsang figures. Japsang is a group of small animal-shaped statues made of clay and placed on top of the roofs, lined up on the edge of vertical ridges at the eaves. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392 CE – 1910 CE), which was under the influence of the Chinese Ming Dynasty (1368 CE – 1644 CE), Koreans began to place Japsang on top of the roofs of royal palaces.

Japsang is always installed in odd numbers, ranging from 3 to 11, and comprises different animals – dragon, phoenix, lion, giraffe, sea horse, haetae (a mythical unicorn lion), and monkey – considered sacred and becoming guardians to the building.

Japsang figures were used as decorative symbols to represent the authority, dignity, and grandeur of a building and as shamanic symbols to protect from and chase away evil spirits, harmful energy, and misfortune. Like the Chinese, it is believed that Koreans’ greatest fear was a fire during that time since most of the buildings were made of wood. Japsang, therefore, was believed to prevent fire in a shamanistic way. - in: https://www.rubensdelacorte.com

Card sent by "hellow0rld".

Shirakawa-go - Japan

All of these cards are from the lovely Shirakawa-go village. Shirakawa-go together with Gokayama in Toyama, was registred as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. 

Back in 2009 Adriana sent me my 1st card from there and that was when I fell in love with this place.

 Located in a mountainous region that was cut off from the rest of the world for a long period of time, these villages with their Gassho-style houses subsisted on the cultivation of mulberry trees and the rearing of silkworms. 

 

JP-1792846, sent by Misa.

The large houses with their steeply pitched thatched roofs are the only examples of their kind in Japan. Despite economic upheavals, the villages of Ogimachi, Ainokura and Suganuma are outstanding examples of a traditional way of life perfectly adapted to the environment and people's social and economic circumstances. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/734

© Hiroyuki Yamaguchi

JP-329605, sent by Momoko. 

The village is located in the Shogawa river valley stretching across the border of Gifu and Toyama Prefectures in central Japan. Both villages, Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama, are famous for their traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old. 

Gassho-zukuri means "constructed like hands in prayer", as the farmhouses' steep thatched roofs resemble the hands of Buddhist monks pressed together in prayer. 

 

JP-2133180, sent by Miho.

The architectural style developed over many generations and is designed to withstand the large amounts of heavy snow that falls in the region during winter. The roofs, made without nails, provided a large attic space used for cultivating silkworms. - in: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5950.html

Monthly Fav. Surprise RR * April 24

A pause on the UNESCO sites to post April's cards of the Monthly Fav. RR. I'm only posting 3 cards but I actually received 4. Marei sent me a card of the Wies Church in Germany that she had already sent in November 22.

 

Michelle says that Postcrossing brings everyone from arould the world together and it's like sending a smile though the mailbox. I coudn't agree more.

www.postcardsmarket.com

 

I really like these FOTW cards but not all the information written on them is correct, as Beatrice pointed out. On this card is said that Singapore gained independence from the British Empire on August 9 of 1965 but it was actually from Malaysia. 

Singapore has an area of 719.1 km², a population of 5.610.000 and its capital is Singapore.
Unique:
* Sarong Kebaya - Uniform for all flight stweardess of Singapore Airlines;  
* Singlish - Singapore has a colloquial form of English, known as Singlish. Words such as "kiasu", "sabo" and "shick", are added to the Oxford English Dictionary;  
Famous:  
* Changi Airport - The airport has won over 500 awars since 1981, including 28 "Best Airport" awars in just 2015 alone;
* The Merlion - A mythical creature with a lion's head and the body of a fish;
History:

* Established - In 1299 as the Kingdom of Singapura (according to the Malay Annals).

 Hotokegaura is a natural rock formation on the west coast of the Shimokita Peninsula in Aomori Prefecture. Facing the Tsugaru Straits, it has been carved out by the rough waves and harsh weather conditions associated with the body of water. The site consists of a series of green and white volcanic tuff spanning some two kilometers and includes bluffs up to 90 meters in height.
Surrounded by green trees and the deep blue sea, the scene brings to mind a gathering of the Rakan, the Buddha’s disciples. Many of the gigantic rocks have been named for aspects of Buddhism and the formation as a whole has come to be called Hotokegaura, or “Buddha inlet.” - in: https://www.nippon.com

Card sent by Tomoko. 

Monthly Fav. Surprise RR - October '23

Cards sent from China, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.

Shaoxing, in eastern China, is one of the country's historical and cultural cities.
The area is rich in relics of the past, with innumerable burial sites and with many other sites connected with famous figures from the city’s past. It also has a museum devoted to the writer Lu Xun (1881–1936), who was a native of the city. Baicao Garden is a vegetable garden behind Lu Xun's former residence. 

The card was sent by Mandy.

 

 LOOK-foto: Heinz Wohner

Not my 1st card of this lighthouse on Sylt, the largest of Germany’s North Frisian islands. List-Ost is one of the five lighthouses on the island. 

Card sent by Nicole.

www.papersisters.de

New Happy Postcrossing card sent by Grace. 

The negative temperatures of the last few days certainly make many people miss summer but that's not my case. I love the cold, love winter and I definitely don't miss summer. I like the card, I just don't like the season that much.

 

 Full Colour Black

Banksy Squares Vs. Rat sent by Tomoko.

Monthly Fav. Surprise RR - June '23

 It also took a few more months to get all the June's cards. One of them had to be resent.

 

Amami-Ōshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island is a Japanese UNESCO site added to the WHS list in 2021. I already had a card of the Okinawa Island and now Tomoko sent me this one with Amami-Ōshima and Tokunoshima Islands.

The islands have been separated from the continent and other landmasses for millions of years, and therefore harbor a significant number of endemic and rare animals and plants, including the Iriomote leopard cat, the Amami rabbit and the Okinawa rail.
Amami Oshima attracts with its beautiful beaches dotted along its coastline with white sand and clear, warm waters, as well as for its mangrove forest and several unique animals and plants.
Located south of Amami Oshima, Tokunoshima is visited for its relatively uncrowded beaches and its style of bullfighting, as well as the annual Tokunoshima Triathlon. - in: https://www.japan-guide.com

 

This is not my 1st card of this castle in Malaysia but this card, sent by Jessie, shows a much better view of the castle. 

Kellie’s Castle is perched on top of a hill in Batu Gajah, Perak. Built in 1915 by Scottish planter, William Kellie-Smith,  who arrived in Malaysia in 1890. Smith married his Scottish sweetheart, Agnes, and brought her to Malaysiaa in 1903, and they were blessed with a daughter named Helen and a son, Anthony. 

Workers were brought in from India to build the opulent mansion, and bricks and marbles were imported from the country as well. However, things began to take a tragic turn when Smith died of pneumonia in 1926, during a short trip to Lisbon, Portugal. Following his sudden death, the construction of the castle was suspended. Agnes eventually sold the castle to a British company, Harrisons and Crosfield. It was then abandoned and became a historical site years later. - in: https://www.malaysia.travel  

 

 Immagine de Giancarlo Gasponi

I've recently realized how slow Italian mail service can be. The cards that I've sent from Italy in the beginning of this month, took about 3 weeks to arrive to their destinations in Europe but for Susanna things were a bit worse. Some of the cards she sent in June got lost and she resent a few, including this one. I only noticed a few days after getting the card that she used a matching stamp. 

The ‘Spanish steps’ in Rome, built in Rococo style between 1723 and 1726, are the steps that lead from the Piazza di Spagna square to the French monastery church Trinita dei Monti (built between 1502–1587). There are 135 steps and three different terraces, referring to the Holy Trinity (the Trinità). The top of the stairs near the Egyptian obelisk offers a beautiful view. - in: https://romesite.com

www.papersisters.de

In June Lara visited the small country of Liechtenstein and sent this card that was still missing in my HP collection.

The Principality of Liechtenstein is a micro state in Europe, just covering 160 square kilometers. It is the smallest country in the world with two borders - in the East with Austria, in the West with Switzerland. Situated between the Rhine and the Alps, it is with its capital Vaduz well worth a visit! - in: https://www.papersisters.de

Monthly Fav. Surprise RR * July 22

Last year I've joined this monthly RR 10 times. I always skip December and I forgot to register one of the months. Of those 10 months, only 2 remained incomplete, meaning that I didn't get all the cards I was supposed to get. I always join with 4 cards but in April I've only received 2 and in July 3.

The three missing cards were resent and all have been received now.

 

 Mt. Aso in Aso-Kuju National Park, central Kyushu, is Japan's most active volcano and it's huge caldera is one of the world's largest calderas, which stretches 18km east-west, 25km north-south. Even though the crater is accessible to tourists, the area is often partially and sometimes completely closed off to visitors due to poisonous volcanic gases, bad weather or the risk of volcanic activity. 

This card was sent by Tomoko.

The Presidential Office Building in Taipei was built during Japanese colonization period. It was the governor's mansion at that time. During the ending period of World War II, the building was seriously damaged due to bombing. After Taiwan was reclaimed by R.O.C., the building was re-constructed in 1946. The building was re-named as "Jieshou Building" in celebration of the 60th birthday of former president Mr. Chiang Kai-shek. The building has been used as the presidential mansion after the central government of R.O.C. was re-instated in Taiwan. - in: https://eng.taiwan.net.tw

Card sent by Angel.

 

Pavilion of Prince Teng, aka Tengwang Pavilion is located on the shore of the Kan, in Nanchang City, in the Chinese Province of Jiangxi. The building is one of the three most notable pavilions on south side of the Yangtze River. 

The original three storied, thirty meters high building dates back the Tang Dynasty (618-907). During  its 1,300 year long history, the building was reconstructed a few times as a consequence of unfortunate events. However, probably the worst tragedy occurred in 1926, when it was destroyed by fire during the conflicts between the Northern Warlords. The current building is the result of rebuilding that was carried out between 1983 and 1989. 

This last card was sent by Cyan. 

Foto: G. Van Rafelghem

After months of waiting, I've received this card from Kortrijk, resent by Lara.

The Belfry of Kortrijk is a medieval bell tower in the historical centre of Kortrijk, Belgium. One of the city's most prominent symbols, the belfry formerly housed a treasury and the municipal archives, and served as an observation post for spotting fires and other danger.
 In 1999, the belfry was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site, in recognition of the civil, not religious, importance and architecture of the belfries in the region.
The belfry was added to the main market square around 1307, when Courtray was prospering as an important centre of the Flemish cloth industry. The oldest part (the base) of the tower still dates back to this date. The tower, which nowadays is a free-standing tower in the middle of the Grote Mark (Main Market Square), used to be the main tower of the ‘‘Cloth hall’’, built in 1410.
During the Second World War, the Belfry was only partly damaged, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that the bell tower was properly restored to its original glory. - in: wikipedia