Hygge

Hygge is a word describing the Danish way of life, or rather a concept of escaping the daily rush to relax and enjoy life's quieter pleasures. Various definitions of the word exist, and can be traced even to the Middle Ages, where a similar Old Norse word meant 'protected from the outside world'. The term hygge was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2017.

I particularly like the image at the bottom left :) The stamps, which I have found at the local 7/11-type-of corner shop, seem to depict familiar sayings; the 2nd and the 3rd one I think are international - when the cats are away, the mice play :) - burnt children shun the fire. The first one seems to say: every bird sings with it's beak? It should mean that different people express themselves in different ways i.e. to the best of their abilities. It's interesting, and I am now trying to think of a Croatian saying with a similar meaning...

Nyhavn In Copenhagen

Nyhavn in Copenhagen is the city's most recognisable feature - ok, perhaps together with the Little Mermaid..! On my way back from Oslo (going to Hamburg and then further to the Frisian island of Amrum) I have (finally!) spent a day in this beautiful place, in between night buses. Nyhavn is a waterfront district lined with brightly coloured town houses from the 17th/18th centuries, as well as with historical wooden ships. It is the entertainment heart of the city with its many bars, cafes and restaurants. Now it would be nice to experience that next time around..!

Two Giants By Ivar Rodningen

'I am sitting at Evita's Espresso Bar, across the road is the Oslo Spektrum, where I have seen, and listened to, and MET Röyksopp last night...' This happened in February; and a few weeks ago, in October, I have seen them in Amsterdam and London as well...I am still a bit on a high, so I am posting this postcard/image from Rodningen's popular Norwegian Trolls series that I have sent from Oslo. While there, I met some other fellow Röyksoppians, and discovered new parts of the city that somehow eluded me during my two-month Xmas market stint the previous year. It was a great weekend overall! I will be living off such memories for a while now, I think.

Linz An Der Donau, Austria

As I have been applying for winter season jobs in Austria (so far no luck) (and the best jobs are probably taken by now) here is a card of a pretty town of Linz - the capital of Upper Austria and the third largest in the country. I have to say this is one of my favourite official postcards received this year, as it is complete with a lovely stamp and cancellation, and an interesting message on the back - vielen Dank Alexandra :)

Winter Bunny

As I will be away for a few weeks I thought I'd better do a quick post, something striking and which doesn't need an introduction (as I really should be packing!), so here is a supercute bunny which travelled all the way from a Postcrossing meeting in Moscow - thank you Svetlana, and everyone who 'signed' the card (I just love all the different stamp designs; still haven't come around to making my own) 🐰🐾

Happy World Postcard Day!

So did you write any postcards today?

It wasn't in any plans for me, as I am still hating the new postage prices...but still decided to ´jump on the wagon´in the last minute, and arranged a few nice swaps for WPD postcards :) I didn't think any of the cards will arrive on time for me to post them on my blog, but this one took mere three days to reach me! So I am happy to include it here to celebrate this day; vielen Dank Monika :)

Alderney

Alderney is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands - it is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. The island's  area is 3 square miles, and the population close to 2150; which are similar numbers to my island, in fact we might be bigger on both accounts..! Makes it that much more special to receive postcards from there, thank you Petr :)

Stargazing At Arizona Desert

Anyone had any luck with the Perseids? Traditionally I see hardly any when I set out to do it - this year I even saw a few when not planned, just not when I actually expected to see them because of a later hour and less light pollution lol. Weird. 

This postcard comes from a tag with possibly the longest name in the history of tags (or not?) - Tag the latest sender from a country other than the last five posts.!. Its goal is to avoid repeated countries at the end of the tag. So I received this great desert night sky view from Michael, thank you :)