Etna Eruption

I am aptly posting this as my friend is getting a volcano tattoo later today :) I have visited the Silvestri Crater twice but the very top (which is a WHS) was not on the schedule. And here is yet another 'special stamp'! GPS (Global Postal Service) puts 'no Italy' on the stamp, which probably means it is international postage but still, looks funny. If you try googling it, there are tons of advice not to use it, and again because it's too darn slow to arrive. I really have no idea as I wasn't home to receive them...and again sadly no cancellation. But there is always an up-side, and in this case its the matching theme :) I have posted about Etna before so here is just a photo in addition.

Le Charme à la Française

I am curious about myself right now, and the reasons why I've chosen to send this postcard from Monaco...my guess is (as my memory does the usual fail) that the view cards were similar to what I already have. I do remember the little cute shop though, and other sweet things they were selling - I ended up with a lavender soap souvenir in a kitty box :) 

I was in Monaco once before but suuuch a long time ago, it was the high-school excursion and we stopped there on our way to Barcelona. Needless to say it was all new to me...It is possible we didn't venture to the old town back then as we were in the Casino Monte Carlo area; this time I only walked around the old town. Let me see if I have any interesting photos to show...Oh yes this place was positively surprising, the sea side of the Oceanographic Museum:

(Puffin) Iceland Flag

Iceland (and Scotland) were definitely the highlights of the 2nd contract. First stop Reykjavik - a puffin tour! Boating around nearby islands, we didn't come too near the coast but you could spot them in the air flying around with fish in their beaks. Again I didn't have a zoom lens...I do own a decent pocket camera but...I left it on board?! I am so silly sometimes. Nevermind, here are the superfriendly cats of Iceland (told ya!). (One for each port: Reykjavik, Ísafjörður and Akureyri)

Isle Of Lewis

The full name of the island is actually Lewis and Harris; the northern part of the island is called Lewis, the southern is Harris, but both are frequently referred to as if they were separate islands. It is part of the Outer Hebrides, and is the largest and the most populous of the Scottish Isles. Stornoway is the main town, and the civil parish, including the town and various nearby villages, has a population of about 12 000.

The ship was docked in Stornoway, but first I had a nice little tour to go through, encompassing a few important sites. The Callanish Stones were erected in the late Neolithic era, and were a focus for ritual activity during the Bronze Age. They are standing stones placed in a cruciform pattern with a central stone circle. The Gearrannan Black House Village  consists of nine restored traditional thatched cottages, which were lived in till 1974 and were the last group of blackhouses to be inhabited in the Western Isles. The buildings were generally built with double wall dry-stone walls packed with earth, and were roofed with wooden rafters covered with a thatch of turf with cereal straw or reed. There was a tweed-weaving demonstration - Harris Tweed is a tweed cloth handwoven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides. Well why not throw in a photo while at it :) (oh and later on I had the most delicious sandwich in Stornoway, in a small tucked-away deli. I regret not buying the caviar crisps! Never found any anywhere else.)

Isle Of Skye

Skye is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillins, the rocky slopes of which provide some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the country. The island's largest settlement is Portree (bottom right), known for its picturesque harbour.

Having gangway photo shoot that day I stayed in Portree; just a short walk away lots of green and picturesque nature. This was one of the ports where one reaches it with tender boats from anchored ship.

La Rochelle II, France

I was in La Rochelle twice, both times for a stroll around town as tours were not to be had. It is one of those ports that require shuttlebuses as means to get to the town/city centre. It was the 2nd time around that I realised we were so close to Île de Ré, home to these adorable donkeys in trousers! Alas still not enough time to organise myself for a visit, if indeed a visit is possible - perhaps another time? I surely wouldn't mind coming to the north French coast again, La Rochelle is a lovely town, and I had one of the more memorable cat encounters there heehe ;) 

UNESCO - Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, Saint Kitts And Nevis

Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a remarkable example of European military engineering dating from the 17th and 18th centuries in a Caribbean context. Located on the Island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) the country’s largest island, the fortress was built to African slave labour to the exacting standards of the British military to protect the coastline from a sea attack and to provide a safe refuge for the island’s citizens.

I was really lucky on this cruise with the tours, to see three WHS sites. My theory is, all those youngsters working on board weren't really in the race for cultural stuff,  having all those beaches around. Visit to this site was nice and easy, among other things I'll remember asking some Canadians from another ship if they'd like a photo lol, didn't dare asking anyone else after that. This tour also encompassed a visit to the 17th-century Romney Manor, home of Caribelle Batik, which has acquired an international reputation for fine batik products made of quality fabrics. There was a display of the manufacturing process, and of course a lovely colourful shop with somewhat out-of-reach prices. I also remember there being a fascinating 400-y-o Saman tree. Here is one photo of the drying batik fabrics:

Let's Move To Stavanger

First I thought I want to move to Tromsø, but then we came to Stavanger. It is the third largest city and metropolitan area in Norway, and the administrative centre of Rogaland county (southwest). Its official founding year is 1125, the year the Stavanger Cathedral was completed. Stavangers core is to a large degree 18th- and 19th-century wooden houses that are protected and considered part of the city's cultural heritage. 

Those  houses are the first thing I saw from the ship and immediately fell in love with that sight - I was so sure it is a WHS site and was sending this for my collection lol. Because you can't really grasp it by looking at this postcard (its still the most representative I could find) I will again post a photo of my own, taken from the ship's deck.

Aurora Borealis - The Northern Lights In Norway

During the 1st Norway cruise we saw the Northern Lights peeking through the clouds, and only on one of the two nights; the rest was just enjoying the snow and anticipation. The second time around (phew!) it was the real deal, on the 12th of Feb I saw them sprawling across the sky; once they made a continuous streak all the way across the sky, and that's when you do the unstoppable exhilarated 'Woooow' :)

The place where we went for the search of the lights (where all the tours went) was pretty amazing too, there were open fires, tents, delicious home-made cakes and hot cocoa, plus a huge friendly and superfluffy samoyed :D They were actually two different spots but I am unable to retrogradely work out where exactly. In any case Alta is situated at 69°N, which is north of the Arctic Circle so yea 
pretty cool - in more ways than one :)!

And here is one of my photos...

Through The Amazon And Back To Europe Is (Again) Postcard-less

This is another leg of the long cruise that is postcard-less, but I will in short go through all the stops. I did (finally) get my pay card in Barbados, but it took a little while to activate it, as the wi-fi on board wasn't the best. I feel extremely sad about not sending any postcards from the Amazon. I do remember finding some, but also trouble to get to an ATM or exchange office.

Last stop in the Caribbean was Scarborough in Tobago, though I didn't go to town due to a longish tour. It was a nice one again, visiting the Adventure Farm And Nature Reserve, watching the humming birds feeding and trying to capture it on camera (once again wide lens didn't help), also feeding on some fruits in the garden, even the cocoa beans directly from their fruit case. Everyone was happy to have a group photo from there, one time I managed that :)

And off we go to the Amazon. After four sea (or should I say river) days, first stop on the 6th of Feb (and overnight) is at Manaus. I shot gangway that day, which was less of a trial than usual because there were two superfriendly welcome dancers in flash costumes who didn't mind posing - even the Captain came out for a snapshot :) For the next day I managed to get a tour; I really wanted to see the Teatro Amazonas (for which, up to this point, I believed to be a WHS). There was a group of musicians playing so we could properly admire the acoustics. Afterwards we went to a local market and that was awesome for taking photos; I wasn't even sure I'd pull it off as I was basically still practicing on manual, and I had no flash, but some of my best photos are from that afternoon. Afterwards I lost the group lol because I was so immersed in watching the people around the docks across the road.

Next stop was Parintins, the ship was on anchor and tender boats were going ashore. There were only a few tours and there was no crew shore leave otherwise (which sometimes happens when the ship is anchoring) so nothing to add here.

On the 9th we reached Santarém, where I had a tour into the rainforest. It was a calm walk among the big trees, some birds chirping away, but the only animal I actually saw was a centipede. Sadly that was a bit disappointing to me...that said, how can you experience the jungle if you don't stay overnight? If you set aside the expectations, being among trees for a while is a very welcome antithesis to ship life. Now this is how far we were from anywhere:

Five sea days follow. Next stop: Mindelo on São Vicente island in Cabo Verde. The tour was encompassing some really interesting historical lessons, as well as a visit to a cultural centre, where we tried some local spirits, watched a Capoeira performance, and some really steamy dancing :)  There was also a visit to what was presented as African Market, where one of the passengers had her camera stolen right from her hands, so there was a big commotion. Afterwards I had some free time to have a drink (with someone from the ship, now thats a rarity!) and walk along the sandy beach.

One day later on the 16th there was a tug-of-war competition among the ship's crew departments, purely for passengers' entertainment. One of those things I probably never would have done in 'real life' lol, same as being Mrs Claus during the Xmas cruise. Yeah, I really went through that.

And so we come to the 'biggie's' end, last stop Santa Cruz de Tenerife. On the first go I can remember absolutely nothing about this place. Except getting a proper pizza with my manager. I'd guess chilled day, or chores back on board. (When I say 'chores' I mainly mean the washing - it takes up hours of your time esp if you have to wait for an available dryer, and that is often the case. Sometimes the washing machine or the dryer decide to stop working in the middle of the process, which makes you curse out loud and steam through the nostrils.)

So third cruise done, quite an experience :))

UNESCO - Syracuse, Italy

The full name of this UNESCO site would be Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalica which therefore consists of two separate elements, but I have only a postcard showing one of them.

Ancient Syracuse includes the nucleus of the city’s foundation as Ortygia by Greeks from Corinth in the 8th century BC. The site of the city, which Cicero described as ‘the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of all’. Many remains bear witness to the troubled history of Sicily, from the Byzantines to the Bourbons, interspersed with the Arabo-Muslims, the Normans, Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty (1197–1250), the Aragons and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Historic Syracuse offers a unique testimony to the development of Mediterranean civilization over three millennia.

Even though this postcard was swapped for, I have been lucky enough to visit Syracuse while we were in port in Catania (this was a turbulent cruise due to bad weather conditions, the route pretty much changed as we went - we had to skip Venice, Kotor and Ravenna (three UNESCO spots right there!) and got an overnight in Catania instead) as I had enough free time to catch a train and have a walk around town - though I could have easily spent many more hours roaming the streets of this lovely place. In the end I was still in a sort of a rush...here is the cathedral square, so spacious and neat :)

Valldemossa, Mallorca, Spain

One absolutely adorable place, this is...Valldemossa is a village and municipality on the island of Majorca, part of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. With a population of around 2,000, it is a quiet and traditional town with narrow streets and lanes constructed with blonde stone, as are the houses. Many doorways of houses feature a religious symbol of Mallorca's patron saint, Saint Catalina Thomàs to protect their houses from harm, a tradition set many years ago.

In the 1830s the Spanish government confiscated monasteries, and the historic estate was sold to private owners, who have since hosted some prominent guests. These have included the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin and his lover the pioneering French writer George Sand, who wrote a notable account of A Winter in Majorca, describing their 1838–39 visit. 

Valldemossa is surrounded by fertile land where olive and almond trees are grown and it has changed very little since it was first inhabited, despite the increase in tourism trade - it is part of Cultural Landscape Of The Serra De Tramuntana unesco whs, with the terraces also visible on these postcards. But I have covered that in a separate post :) And here is a photo of me posing smugly heh :)

German Xmas Markets

A tiny bit late with this one...though some of the markets last well into the new year. I have missed these two examples of the well-known 'Adventmarkt' by days last year in November...this year I was near Munich when the season started and have visited a nice example in a lovely Bavarian town of Landshut. A curious info: this years top-destination for a xmas market in Europe is Zagreb, so I went, and had a great few days :)

Café Cat, Paris 1975

One of the favourite cards I've received lately, also because it is kind of personal...Kiitos Marko ;) You see, I dream of owning my own cafe, and lately the thought has been visiting my mind more frequently, so much so I am looking at the legal predispositions. Exactly this kind of cafe, though you can't see much of it, but can imagine the quaint parisienne air about it...The cat of course is a bonus, and cat cafes are quite a craze these days :) I have stumbled upon one in Bangkok quite accidentally..! Hmm why not add a photo? This lady is taking a good care of the little ones :)

Street Taxi In Trinidad, Cuba

Of course I was thrilled to find a donkey postcard in Trinidad! This is a prepaid card and is one of the first to arrive, sadly another one for my UNESCO collection and one for a friend sent with real stamps didn't make it...I didn't see this fellow on the streets - but lots of horse carts, as this street sign would suggest :)

UNESCO - Castles And Town Walls Of King Edward In Gwynedd, Wales

 

 

These extremely well-preserved monuments are examples of colonization and defense works carried out throughout the reign of Edward I - the four castles of Beaumaris, Conwy, Caernarfon and Harlech, as well as Conwy and Caernarfon fortified towns from the late 13th and early 14th century.

Caernarfon Castle and the town served as the administrative centre of North Wales, while the Harlech Castle was built near the Irish Sea during Edward's invasion of Wales. I also have a postcard of Conwy, and ah yes my scattered brain was sure I have blogged about it but is nowhere to be found...so it will be added at some later point :) Conwy and Harlech were sent to me by Anu, already a regular here on my blog ;) I have visited Caernarfon some years ago and loved it! Here I can add a few of my photos...