Postcrossing Meeting Belgrade

My first, and so far the biggest postcrossing meeting, was all the way back in 2011 in Belgrade - we had the quite active forum group for the ex-yugoslavian countries, and 7 of us  met internationally - well it seemed like a big group at the time! lol. And now I receive this postcard from dear Ana, whom I also met in Belgrade, and am surprised at how many people gathered there..! Of course I am aware some international postcrossing meetings count dozens of postcrossers :) Hvala Anchi!

Nature Views Of Serbia

Nope, the cruise ship didn't go up the Danube for this one :D Rather I got a bit tired of posting about my ship life, as some others possibly are too, so a break is needed (and the 2nd contract postcards will be posted at some later point) - and what better break than a nature break, and from two very dear fellow postcrossers! Two Anas met in Belgrade last autumn (as some of you will know it is already a sort of a tradition, cheesecake included ;)) and sent me this beautiful card. You are right girls, the cat on this stamp IS a bit psycho, but it had to be sent, and I love you for it :))

UNESCO - Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace Of Galerius

 

The Late Roman fortified palace compound and memorial complex of Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius, in the east of Serbia, was commissioned by Emperor Caius Valerius Galerius Maximianus, in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. It was known as Felix Romuliana, named after the emperor’s mother. The site consists of fortifications, the palace in the north-western part of the complex, basilicas, temples, hot baths, memorial complex, and a tetrapylon.

Thank you Judit for this addition to my collection - hvala ti puno! :)

Churches Of Belgrade

Today's Sunday Stamps' theme has inspired me to post these two fantastic postcards which I've sent from Belgrade - they are huge and have a beautiful design, the only problem was filling up the space for writing..!

The Temple of Saint Sava is a Serbian Orthodox church located in Vračar, Belgrade;  it is the largest Orthodox church in the world and ranks amongst the ten largest church buildings in the world. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and an important figure in medieval Serbia. The interior yet remains to be finished.

St. Mark's Church is located in the Belgrade's Tašmajdan park near the Parliament of Serbia.  It was built in the Serbian architectural style by the Krstić brothers, completed in 1940, on the site of a previous church dating to 1835. It is one of the largest churches in the country.

The stamps are co-issue with Russian Post - only needed to use one but I used both for the esthetic value :))

The date is cool too..!

Sneaky Kotovasiya

 

Super-cute card, a lottery win from dear Ana, great surprise hvala! :))

Only Fools And Horses

I never thought I'd find a postcard of one of my favourite TV shows, let alone I'd find it in Belgrade! We were browsing the bookshops on the main street, many didnt have any postcards but this one had an odd selection, to my utter joy :)))

Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan, with seven series originally broadcasted on BBC One in the UK between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003. It is set in Peckham in south London, with unforgettable characters Derek "Del Boy" Trotter and his younger brother Rodney, who constantly  go through futile attempts to become millionaires through questionable schemes. One of my favourite reccuring characters is Trigger, not the smartest but (or because) a constant source of giggles.

Happy Agi! :))

Che Guevara Meets Tito

Argentine revolutionary and Yugoslavian statesman met in 1959 at Tito's residence on Brijuni Islands.

An amazing surprise from dear Ana! Che on the front and lizard on the back :) Hvala Anchi!

Kirdiy - Happiness Is Like A Butterfly...

...the more you try to catch it, the more it slips away. But if you give your attention to other things, it will come and quietly sit on your shoulder.

A surprise card from dear Ana, who is also a big Kirdiy fan, and happened to have a double :) Lovely waterfall stamps - hvala Anči! <3

Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia

Vrnjačka Banja is a town and spa resort in south Serbia - there is the world's only hot spring with the exact temperature as that of  a human body (36.5° celsius). Also it is a great cultural centre with many happenings in the realm of art and sports.

Renato was there with his son who is a little chess champ :)) Lovely card and great stamp, hvala Renato!

YOTD - Serbia

The last - but by no means the least! - of the dragon cards+stamps is this gem of a maxi-card from Serbia. Thank you so much Achi! Ana told me she bought only a few of these, and after a few days she went back to get more - and they were all gone! I feel a bit guilty cos she didnt even manage to get the set for herself :/ there are two maxi-cards in the set and the other one is equally gorgeous <3

Još jednom, hvala Anchi!!

Diamond-Back Rattlesnake

This amazing creature arrived from Serbia although its not native there; rattlesnakes populate the Americas.

There are 32 known species of this group of venomous snakes - the picture shows the Diamond-Back Rattlesnake, which can be the eastern or the western kind (the eastern seems to have darker patterns though).

I am very thankful for this card as it seems harder than imagined to get hold of snake cards..!

Hvala Renato :))

Monasteries In Serbia

Ahh I struggle once more to keep everything up to date...its been the busiest period at work, so when am at work (i.e. at the pc) what i do most is trying to correspond with the Italians..!

I've received so many lovely cards lately that i refuse to miss posting any of them here - one of them is this great postcard showing Serbian monasteries, from Ana of course..! I love monasteries, and i really hope that i can visit an orthodox one some time soon. The one down left is the most famous Serbian monastery called Studenica, dating from the 12th century, and listed on the whs unesco list :) I've seen (online) an aerial view of the whole complex, its looks absolutely stunning! It is situated in central Serbia, 39 km from the town of Kraljevo. Its perhaps most renowned for the frescoes dating from the 13th and 14th centuries.

Hvala Ana, da znaš kako mi dođe da ih sve posjetin! A o markicama da i ne pričan, stvarno su prekrasne :)))

Maxi-Cards - Giants of Patagonia, Serbia

This weekend i was blown away with this brilliant surprise from dear Ana - my thanks run to the heavens and back! heh :)))

Two years ago there was an exhibition in Beograd's Natural History Museum called 'Dinosaurs of Argentina - Giants of Patagonia',  that presented 40 complete skeletons of 15 different dinosaur species, some eggs, nests with youngs, and footprints. These maxi-cards show Gigantosaurus Carolinii and Herrerasaurus Ischigualastensis.

Gigantosaurus Carolinii lived around 97 million years ago during the early Cenomanian stage of the late Cretaceous Period (i wish i knew more about the earth's history...then this would make more sense :S). It is one of the largest known terrestrial carnivores - even slightly larger than the famous Tyrranosaurus! The first remains were found in 1993 in deposits of Patagonia, in southern Argentina. It could grow up to the length of 13m  and weighed probably between 7-13 tons. massive.

First remains of Herrerasaurus Ischigualastensis were found in NW Argentina in 1959 by an andean goatherd Herrera - hence the name! They belong to the late Ladinian Age/Middle Triassic (some 230 million years ago). This carnivore was smaller (3 to 6 meters) but surely just as scary..!

Well one learns something new every day :-D