Dudutki Museum - Belarus

A card from my favorites sent by Olena. 

The museum complex of Dudutki dedicated to ancient folk crafts and technologies. 

The museum of Dudutki is located 40 km far from Minsk, in Pukhovichi district, in a picturesque place near the Ptich River, a kilometer and a half far from the village of Dudichi.

Photo by A. Kliashchuk

Dudutki windmill was constructed in 1903-05 by brothers Michael and Ivan Polyakov. in the village of Berezovka which is located in Kormyansk district of Gomel province. It is a sample of towel windmills. Its height is 14 m and there are five floors inside. During the times of collectivization the mill was taken from the brothers who were exiled to Siberia and given to a local communal farm.

The mill functioned till the 70s of the 20th c. and then it was abandoned and started to decay. ; upon the initiative of Eugene Budinas, a museum founder, in June 1992 it was brought to the museum of Dudutki and restored by carpenters of Victor Karachun supervised by architect Sergey Sergachev and artist Boris Tsitovich. On the right of the windmill there is a miller’s house for guests where countrymen who came to the miller but didn’t manage to grind their grain could have dinner and stay at night. - in: http://dudutki.by/en/

Latvian National Costumes

In exactly 4 months I'll be flying to Lithuania. Once there I'll go on a day trip to Latvia's capital city, Riga. According to the Baltic Travel Group (2012 information), in Riga tourists can take pictures with girls dressed in national costumes. Ok, if I see them, I'll take a picture with them or at least, take a picture of them.

Thanks Katy for the card. 

Foto: Ieva Dãbolina

The girls will be dressed in bright Liv, Nīca, Lielvarde and Northern Vidzeme national costumes. 

Latvia is rich with Song and Dance Festival traditions, however, those visiting Riga have little opportunities to really see traditional Latvian culture. For the development of the local tourism industry, it is important to bring in this Latvian culture to the city environment, where persons can enjoy this culture without going out to look for it. - in: http://www.baltic.travel/company/press-centre/news/date/2012/08/02/tourists-can-take-pictures-with-girls-dressed-in-national-costume

Raili's cards

These 3 finnish cards are a result of a trade with Raili. 

This a beautiful painting of Espoo church. 

Some animals enjoying the finnish winter. 

This girls is wearing a feresi, the everyday dress of Karelian women, worn in the kitchen and cowshed. 

FI-2375688 & FI-1687947

 Officials from Helsinki with the Uspenski Cathedral.

Photo: Ismo Männisto © Copyright Funky Banana O

FI-2375688, sent by Marjanna.

Uspenski Cathedral was built between 1862 and 1868. It was designed by Aleksei Gornostajev and based on a 16th-century church near Moscow. The bricks came from the Bomarsund fortress in Aland, which had been destroyed during the Crimean War in 1854.

Photographed and Published by Janne harala Tmi, Lahti

FI-1687947, sent by Eva

Today, the cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Helsinki in the Finnish Orthodox Church. The Finnish Orthodox Church has about 60,000 members and is part of the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate based in Constantinople. - in:  http://www.sacred-destinations.com/finland/uspenski-orthodox-cathedral.htm

My dutch trip cards

My trip to the Netherlands was more than a month ago. I really like the country and I'm sure I'll visit again in the future, not only to visit again 2 or 3 places that I've been to on this trip but also to visit other places and meet some friends too. I've been to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Kinderdijk, Den Haag, Delft, Gouda, Marken, Volendam and Zaanse Schans. 

These cards were sent by me and also signed by my penpal Tessa with whom I've sent a lovely day at Kinderdijk and Rotterdam, and Gouda, where I met 4 postcrossing friends, Leonie, Astrid, Jetske and Tjitske. 

 © Foto + Art work: Arthur van Loo

I wrote on my last post about Kinderdijk that this place was on my must visit list, now it's on my visited list :) Besides cards, I also like to write letters and Tessa is one of my pals. When I started to think about this trip I asked her if she'd like to meet me, she said yes and we met in Rotterdam. Her dad gave us a ride to Kinderdijk and we spent a lovely morning there. The place is really beautiful, the weather was great and the company was perfect. 

© Fotopersbureau Herman Van Os

Because of postcrossing I've a few friends in the Netherlands and once there of course we had to met. We met in Gouda. The weather was not so great that day but we spend a nice day visiting the city. 

Gouda, the historic city in the province of South Holland, is known world-wide for its Gouda cheese, its candles and its delicious stroopwafels. 

This is the Markt Square on a market day (we were day on a market day) with the Old City Hall in the middle of the square. The Town Hall was built between 1448 and 1450 and is one of the oldest Gothic city halls in the Netherlands. 

DE-4131160 & DE-4135322

An affcial from Oberellenbach and another one from Berlin. 

DE-4131160, sent by Anke.
This church is 800 years old and that's all I can say about it.

DE-4135322, sent by Thomas.

The Berlin City Palace (German: Berliner Stadtschloss, Berliner Schloss or simply Stadtschloss) was a royal and imperial palace in the centre of Berlin, the historical capital of Prussia, and subsequently Germany. It was located on the Museum Island at Schlossplatz, opposite the Lustgarten park. It was the winter residence of the Kings of Prussia and the German Emperors.

The palace was originally built in the 15th century and changed throughout the next few centuries.

 Heavily damaged by Allied bombing in World War II, although possible to repair at great expense, the palace was demolished in 1950 by the German Democratic Republic authorities, despite West German protests.

In 2013 work started on reconstruction and a part of the exterior of the palace has been rebuilt. The completion is expected in 2019. - in: wikipedia

Argèles-sur-Mer - France

 After all the drama of João's last holidays, the stress is finally over, now he's travelling again with is family. That's really good news after all they had been through.

Photos: Willy's - Estel

Argelès-sur-Mer is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.

Argelès-sur-Mer is located in the coast sector of the Côte Vermeille at the foot of the Albères mountain range, just a short drive away from the Spanish border. Argelès-sur-Mer is the longest beach of Pyrenées Orientales. - in: wikipedia