DE-13592178

When I saw this card I thought I already had it. No, I didn't have it, I had two other versions of it. This is the 5th version and there's already a 7th version.

 www.papersisters.de

DE-13592178, sent by Amarena.

On this 5th edition of "Happy Postcrossing from Germany", we are introduced to the Holstentor Gate in Lübeck; one of the Bauhaus buildings in Dessau; the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany; the Zollverein coal mine in Essen and much more!

DE-13389121

 Look how beautiful this is. Towns covered in snow look prettier. 

Gelnhausen is a town in Hesse, Germany, founded by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1170.

DE-13389121, sent by Astrid.

In the center of and towering over Gelnhausen’s old town is the Marienkirche, or St. Mary’s Church. Built between 1170 and 1250, it shows both Romanesque (like the six-storey west tower) and Gothic architecture (the octagonal crossing tower and the east towers) elements. 

It was once, as the name might suggest, a Catholic church, but since the Reformation it’s been Protestant. 

San Marino

When my friend Susana and I decided to go to Bologna, we immediately started to see what other places we could visit nearby. As soon as we realized that San Marino wasn't that far away, we added this small country to our list of places to visit. 

It was a two-hour journey from Bologna to San Marino, first by train to Rimini and then by bus from Rimini to San Marino. Was it worth it? Yes it was. It would have been worth just for this view but there were more things to see.

 

If you google San Marino, most of the images that will appear will be of this tower. There are three towers there but this is the most famous. This is the most famous but they are all very important, so important that they are even on the country's flag and coat of arms.  

The Guaita Tower is the oldest of the three, it was built in the 11th century. To get this view you have to go and climb the second tower, the Cesta. These two towers can be visited, however it is not possible to enter the third, Montale.

Bologna - Italy

 The 1st time I've been to Bologna I hardly saw postcards and the only ones that I saw were not that special. This last visit I didn't see many either but those that I saw were absolutely beautiful. I bought a few and decided to mail this one with the Finistrella di Via Piella, famous window on the Canale delle Moline.

 

 www.alessandrocanova.com

This corner of the city is known as "little Venice". Looking out among the buildings, you can see one of the few stretches of running water, which was not covered with asphalt between the beginning of the twentieth century and the postwar period. Canale delle Moline is the extension of Canale di Reno. For the most part of its route the channel is locked between the houses and for this reason in the past it has long been hidden from view. Now it is possible to see it through small windows in via Oberdan, via Malcontenti in addition to via Piella. - in: https://www.bolognawelcome.com

Santa Croce - Florence

 Last month I've been to Italy for the 6th time and I finally visited Florence. I had many cards to choose from but I decided to send myself this one of the Santa Croce Basilica, the largest Franciscan church in Florence, situated in one of the most fascinating squares of the city.

Photo: Luciano Mugnaini 

The original structure dates back to 1212, when Saint Francis of Assisi visited the city. The current construction began in 1294 or 1295 following a project by Arnolfo Di Cambio, and ended in 1443 with the Gothic facade.

Impressive dimension and great mastepieces inside, as the cenotaph of Dante, the beautiful Annunciation by Donatello and the Crucifix by Cimabue, made Santa Croce become the grave of famous people like Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Niccolò Machiavelli (author of The Prince), the composer Rossini, the poet Ugo Foscolo and the tomb of Vittorio Alfieri made by Canova. It's worth visiting also the numerous chapels, the Bardi Chapel, the Pazzi Chapel, designed by Brunelleschi, the Baroncelli Chapel and many others, all painted by Giotto. - in: https://www.virtualuffizi.com

Ivrea - Italy

Ivrea is a town in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. The city has its share of historical landmarks but it was industry that put it on the UNESCO list. Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century was added to this list in 2021. 

Founded in 1908 by Camillo Olivetti, the Industrial City of Ivrea is an industrial and socio-cultural project of the 20th century.

The Olivetti Company manufactured typewriters, mechanical calculators and desktop computers. Ivrea represents a model of the modern industrial city and a response to the challenges posed by rapid industrial change. It is therefore able to exhibit a response and a contribution to 20th century theories of urbanism and industrialisation. Ivrea’s urban form and buildings were designed by some of the best-known Italian architects and town-planners of the period from the 1930s to the 1960s, under the direction of Adriano Olivetti. 

The city is comprised of buildings for manufacturing, administration, social services and residential uses, reflecting the ideas of the Movimento Comunità (Community Movement) which was founded in Ivrea in 1947 based on Adriano Olivetti’s 1945 book l’Ordine politico delle Comunità (The Political Order of Communities). The industrial city of Ivrea therefore represents a significant example of 20th century theories of urban development and architecture in response to industrial and social transformations, including the transition from mechanical to digital industries. - in: https://whc.unesco.org

The building on the card is the Olivetti Study and Research Centre, which originally hosted training courses for Olivetti mechanical designers, a fundamental item of this company’s industrial and social policies. The architectural design was by architect Eduardo Vittoria (1951-1954). 

Empreita de Palma - Portugal

It happened before, it happened again. Tiago was the winner of the month, October, and I was the false winner. He sent me a perfect postcard that didn't deserve to be treated this way. It got an ugly scratch right in the lady's face.

“Empreita de palma” is a traditional basket weaving craft that makes use of the palm, the foliage of the dwarf palm tree, the only native palm tree of the Algarve region.
Using ancestral techniques, this raw material is transformed into objects and products used in daily life. As a productive art it offers unique advantages, namely economic, educational, ecological and social. - in: https://www.ipleiria.pt