30 March 2016

Old columns, old dances

postcard, greece, columns
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These are the ruins of once mighty Corinth, a city in Ancient Greece. There's also a new Corinth, but they've come up with new buildings and basically it's a lot less cool than the old one.

The stamps show Greek dances. In the top left corner it says Κοτσαρι Ποντιακος / Kotsari Pontiakos, which can also be found on youtube. I can't tell you much about the dresses but the colors remind me of the colorful papers in which confection used to be wrapped. Very pretty!

stamps, greece, hellas, kotsari pontiakos
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Maiden Tower

baku, Qız Qalası, Giz Galasi, postcard
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The Maiden Tower in Baku served to imprison all the naughty maidens that would not behave. Rumors say that it was once part of the city fortification, but that's highly debated among historians, so you better stick to the maiden story.

If you're into cute animals then these stamps are just the thing for you, but be aware that one of them is not an animal, but the commemoration of 130 years of telephone communication in Azerbaijan. I'm not gonna tell you which one though.


stamp, azerbaijan, cat, horse
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07 January 2016

Vast steppes

postcard, mongolia, ger, grass
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These are my first postcards from Mongolia. You can see the typical steppes and traditional housing, called yurt in English, but "ger" in Mongolian. To enable nomads to follow their herds to different grazing grounds, these tent-like buildings can be disassembled and reconstructed easily.


postcard, mongolia, ger, yurt, family
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The stamp shows a drop of water. I could link the wiki article but I you've probably heard of it before.


stamp, mongolia, water, liquid gold

25 February 2015

More beaches of the Adriatic Sea

postcard, albania
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This pretty beach is in Dhërmi, a village at the coast of Albania. Coincidentally, there is a picture on wikipedia that was shot from the exact opposite side of that rock in the middle: Link.

On the stamp you can see the Adriatic Sea and all the countries bordering it: Italy on the left, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece on the right.

forumi i qyteteve adriatik, shqipëria

04 February 2015

Namdaemun

postcard, south korea, 63 building
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View over the Hangang River. In the background: 63 Building, once the tallest buildings in Asia.


postcard, south korea, seoul
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Namdaemun, also known as Sungnyemun, is one of the eight gates in the Seoul city wall. Unfortunately, it was set on fire in 2008, but reconstructed shortly after.

02 February 2015

More sheep!

postcard, kaldbak
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Picture taken near the village of Kaldbak.

The stamp depicts shepherds who see the Star of Bethlehem.

hirðarnir, shepherds, christmas star, bethlehem

14 January 2015

The Kingdom in the Sky

I've received a bunch of cards from Lesotho, and they're all beautiful!

postcard, lesotho
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Moteng Village.


postcard, lesotho
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The cave dwellings at Ha Kome are a National Heritage Site. They've been carved out in the 19th century and people are still living there today.


postcard, lesotho
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The highlands of Lesotho can get pretty cold, with temperatures of up to -20°C.


postcard, lesotho
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Harvest Time.


postcard, lesotho
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Makhaleng Valley.


postcard, lesotho
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The Basotho are an ethnic group in southern Africa. Lesotho is named after them.

Top left: "The Wanderer" (Bematistes aganice), a butterfly from south and south-eastern Africa.
Top right: The Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) is a woodpecker that lives in North America. Not sure what he's doing on a Lesotho stamp.
Bottom: Turbina oblongata doesn't seem to have a wiki article yet.

the wanderer, the northern flicker, turbina oblongata