Wine Country, Bavaria

This could have been aptly posted more than a month ago, when new wine was being tested and tried..! Still, being one of my favourite liquids of life, wine is pretty much always a subject to talk about, no? :)

As the sender wrote: in any town in Lower Franconia you can find a wine store, purchase a glass of local wine and enjoy sipping on it while overlooking the river Main. Now doesn't that just sound marvellous? Vielen Dank Svenja :)

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 :)

Mr SnowFox

Amid the newest heat wave, a bit of refreshment coming from the north - well actually I sent this to myself this winter before the job fiasco lol and was very pleased that I have found new stamps in a tiny post office on the island. Foxes are the cutest, aren't they?! 

Wanderer Above The Fog

This painting from ca 1817, painted by Caspar David Friedrich, was spotted in Kunsthalle in Hamburg on a rainy day. I really enjoy visiting museums and galleries, especially when I unexpectedly come across a familiar work of art 💓 It is also familiar in a way that it's atmosphere often matches the one in my mind...

Tea Postcard

 

Every now and then I like to send myself/my family a bit of a different postcard, be it in shape, size, material or content. As I was visiting a museum in Hamburg last month I stumbled upon this tea postcard - there is actual tea inside. It says: There is much Love in here! And the typical blue-on-white design of the German (and Dutch) north, especially for tea sets. There is always extra contentment when such postcards arrive as they also cost extra to send.

Grüß von Amrum

My first Tausendschön postcard - sent from Amrum, but with a Briefzentrum cancellation.

Föhr, North Frisia

I have worked on the North Frisian island of Föhr for six months, and only towards the end have I realised that I haven´t sent but a few postcards from there - and when I came home, that I haven´t sent a single view card..! Oh how silly, honestly.

Föhr is the second largest of the North Frisian Islands on the German coast of the North Sea - which are all popular tourist destinations for Germans. Being settled already in neolithic times, Föhr had been a part of mainland North Frisia until 1362, when the coastline got destroyed by a heavy storm flood known as Saint Marcellus´s flood, and several islands were formed. The northern part of the island consists mainly of marshes, and the southern part of sandy geest (gravelly soil with heathland vegetation).

A dialect of the North Frisian language called Fering is still spoken there; there are still many Uthland-Frisian type of farmhouses to be seen or even visited; and the traditional costumes can still be seen worn for special occasions - like confirmation, which I rushed to see because of it. It is really an enjoyable and surprisingly unique corner of the earth. However it takes getting used to being dependant on the hourly ferries, which then dock in a minor harbour and you need to take a further train, and usually yet another train to get to a place of interest. On some days off I spent more time on the public transport than at the visiting point 😅 still managed a postcard or two, as will be seen in my future posts.

Hamburg Map

 

Hamburg was my starting point - I wanted to see the city for a few days before moving further north. And it is an amazing city! I could totally see myself living there - if only it wasn't so far away from home...it wouldn't have mattered years ago, but now as my parents are rather old I prefer staying somewhere closer, at least that is the plan...

My favourite thing about Hamburg must be the great coffee culture; as a major European harbour it is the entry point for coffee beans from around the world, and specialist roasters and shops are ample throughout the city. Also the UNESCO Speicherstadt is a splendid site, with its powerful red-brick architecture and numerous canals and bridges - it is the world's largest complex of warehouses (I thought I have posted about it some years back upon receiving a Speicherstadt postcard, but no...it must be in one of the old folders still waiting, sniff). While checking my received cards I was surprised that I have sent only one Hamburg postcard 🤷

Donkey Love

Happy Sunday everyone! I have finally a) swapped a bit throughout the year b) scanned the cards. Now I am trying to le-learn the process of blogging...as automatic as it did go years ago, I have become rusty, but also don't deal best with the changes - and I can see that there are some...anyways!

I have lived and worked in the very north of Germany for six months - start of april to end of september. So there will be many cards from that area 😅 And a lovely area it is! But these donkeys were sent by my sister. I thought it would be a good starting comeback point as I am still very much a donkeys fan :))

City Of Münster, Germany

Münster is an independent city and a cultural centre of the Westphalia region, northwestern Germany. Its origins go back to the 8th century when a church and a cloister were built on the right bank of the Aa river; by the Middle Ages the city became an important member of the Hanseatic League. Today it is thriving with students from all over Germany and the world.

These are more recent cards I've received, and you know how? I won a lottery, and yes for both cards! On top of that, amazing mini-sheets were used as postage. Many thanks go to Frank :)

The Whole World Can...

It's probably something naughty that is supposed to finish this sentence heh, but this donkey seems sooo pleased, it's quite a nice place he lives at from the look of it; this Austrian donkey arrived from Berlin via official postcrossing, so he's traveled a bit too. But is here to stay!

Bergische Kaffeetafel

Bergisches Land is a low mountain range region within the state of North-Rhine Westphalia in Germany, east of Rhine river and south of Ruhr. This coffee table is traditional for the area since the 18th century. Looks yum doesn't it? Rye bread with black corinth raisins, milk rice, honey, butter, quark, waffles, cinnamon, pretzel, zwieback, marmelade, sausages and ham...and and...wow and I thought English breakfast is rich! Thank you Michele :)

Swans In The Reeds At Dawn

This is an oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich, perhaps the most important German artist of his generation; the year is anything from 1819 to 1932 (different sources different data, even for the title of the painting). You can find it in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, and is actually rather small, 33x44 cm.

As I love visiting museums I was surprised on quite a few occassions with the actual size of the paintings, be it awesomely large (Rubens) or small (Mona Lisa). Thank you Gesa for this beautiful atmospheric image :)

Dress Me Up!

I always wanted to be a fashion designer (even though I am not that fashionable myself heh). My mum has always been good at sewing, there were editions of Burda (German magazine with sewing patterns) lying around and I started drawing designs at the age of 9 or 10 (I remember having a notebook full of sketches, but unfortunately my mum is also a 'terminator' - she throws away stuff easily, and I hardly own anything of sentimental value from the pre- and early-school era because I wasn't quick enough to hide stuff from her). Anyways...I had a very nostalgic flashback when I saw this postcard in a shop in Germany - this is also the kind of stuff I used to do, because during my childhood in Yugoslavia magazines for kids used to have this 'cut-out fashion'; you'd first cut out a paper 'mannequin' and then all these different clothes that you'd 'dress' her with. Soon enough I started to make my own models and clothes. I do wish I managed to keep at least some of it!

I wonder if anyone else remembers or has done this..?

Official - Frankfurt, Germany

I've always thought of Frankfurt as one of the 'citiest cities', with nothing but skyscrapers and rectangular buildings (a bit of exaggeration of course), but here it looks attractive and pretty diverse. Danke Andrea :)

Purr

These days are all about cats...There were three, and then there were five, but presumably even more...There are a lot of unwanted kittens this time of year, trying to find their forever home. Here's hoping they all find good hoomans to look after them, so they can be rewarded with lots and lots of purrs...

This Postallove card was in my favourites, thank you Marion :)

Dotty Caravan

Being 'plagued' with constant thoughts of possible getaways (what will it be? or will it be?) this comes forward as a most desirable image. As it happens there IS a caravan named Dotty lol though more in the 'eccentric', rather than 'covered in dots' sense. The Porsche on the stamp is also not an ignorable sight. Thanks to Claudia :)

Also, this is a 100th German card posted! As Germany is most represented country here on my blog, I thought it would be nice to mention this :)

Official - NI - Olives

A quintessential olive postcard heh; I actually bought one of these some time ago, but am much happier having one sent to me by Daniela (who had this postcard for a while and wondered who'd ever want an olive card, and here I am!). 

Funny how both 'good' cards received officially are about olives or olive trees. 

Wooden Angel

One of those unusual postcards worth having in one's collection, and I haven't even swapped for it - it was a surprise lottery card :D Danke Flo!

P.S. Of course I will keep the card intact as nice words are written on the back

Mainau Island, Germany

Mainau is an island in Lake Constance, on the south shore of the Überlinger See. It is called a Blumeninsel (Flower Island) because of its parks and gardens - the Italian Rose Garden is laid out geometrically with pergolas, sculptures, and fountains, and includes some 500 rose varieties; the Mediterranean terraces contain exotic pot plants, including palm trees, agaves, cacti, and bougainvillea; Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden, created the island's arboretum, which now contains 500 species of deciduous and coniferous trees, many exotic and valuable. There is also a Butterfly House, which can be visited all-year-round to enjoy the site of nearly 80 different species of butterflies.

My sister visited this island, I believe her family enjoyed it very much :)