Lithuania

LT-419171

Portrait of the Grand Duke of Lithuania and the King of Poland Jogaila (1377-1381,1392/1386-1434, by the artist Michael Godlewski, 1863

This card was sent knowing that I tend to be a fan of Poland and Polish history.  This is an image of Władysław II Jagiełło, first monarch of the Jagiellon Dynasty.  Under his rule Poland-Lithuania was one of the largest countries in the world.  He was also the supreme commander of the forces at the infamous Battle of Grunwald on July 15, 1410 which decimated the Teutonic Order of knights.

This card in particular appears to be for a July-October, 2012 exhibit in Vilnius called Portraits of the Rules and Magnates of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from Museums in Ukraine.  The painting depicted above is listed on the card as being held by the Lviv History Museum in Ukraine.

USA - Ohio

Lockheed F-117A

This was the first operational radar evading or "stealth" aircraft.  This specific aircraft, on display in Dayton, Ohio at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, was the second ever built.

Norway

NO-100239

Polish Folklore

I've posted these cards before and they remain among my favorite.  They're cards from Poland of in a style similar to  Wycinanki art form of papercutting.  I don't think I've seen a totally square card in this style before though!  

This card, however was mailed from Norway and not from Poland.  The sender picked it up in Krakow a few years earlier and mailed it to me when she realized I liked this kind of card!    

Czech Republic

CZ-549937

Festive Greetings from Most

This card shows sights around the Czech city of Most, near the German/Czech border. 

USA - Indiana

A photo postcard of Meredith Hall.  Meredith is a residence hall at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.  The hall, at least originally a women's residence hall, is often known as "X Hall" due to the fact that the building is in the shape of a letter X.  

Meredith Hall, built in the early 1950s, is named after Virginia Claypool Meredith as the first female trustee of Purdue University.

Finland

FI-2095385

Turku Castle

The castles was begun in the 13th century.  The stamp on the card also shows the same castle.

Special Post: 350th Card Sent!

The 350th Postcard: 

US-3429417

My 350th postcard sent via the official Postcrossing website has been registered!  

The card was registered by Postcrossing member seisi2 on  June 23, 2015 and traveled a distance of 4,343 miles to travel to Germany in 14 days.  The card had been sent on June 9, 2015.

This postcard features Air Force One, specifically the Air Force One that was being used in the 1960s. This is that same plane that President Kennedy took on his fateful trip to Dallas, Texas in 1963 when he was assassinated and that Nixon took on his famous trip to China.  The plane is now housed at the National Museum of the US Air Force located in Dayton, Ohio.

For the first 350 official Postcrossing postcards I've so far received, they've been sent from the following 46 countries which combine for a total distance sent of 1,645,890 miles!:

Germany (46)

USA (43)

Netherlands (32)

Russia (26)

Finland (220

Taiwan (20)

Japan (15)

Ukraine (15)

Belarus (15)

China (12)

Poland (9)

France (8)

Czech Republic (8)

United Kingdom (7)

Canada (6)

Hong Kong (6)

New Zealand (4)

Italy (4)

Turkey (4)

Three Cards

Malaysia

Latvia

Portugal

South Africa

Spain

India

Two Cards

Hungary

Singapore

Slovenia

Indonesia

Thailand

Norway

Brazil

Australia

Lithuania

One Card 

Chile

Croatia

Ecuador

Iceland

South Korea

Philippines

Puerto Rico

Austria

Slovakia

Sweden

Bulgaria

Belgium

Russia

RU-2751432

This card is of cookies and a candle with coffee beans.  It came with the below two stamps.

Ukraine

UA-1174047

Kiev

This card appears to be a reproduction of an old-type card.  I love cards like these.  This card is of Kiev, Ukraine, spotlighting the sender's favorite district of the city.

Russia

RU-3118813

Alfred Sisley, Villeneuve-la-Garenne (Villiage on the Seine), 1872

This card was mailed from Moscow and is of the above listed painting housed at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.  

If this card looks a bit familiar, you wouldn't be too far off.  I received another postcard of this same painting a while back and posted it back in April on this post for card number RU-2933361 as shown below:

I have to say, the card does seem to be missing something without the monocled, top hat and cane wearing dinosaur.  

Lithuania

LT-380877

This card is of the Folk Museum Rumšiškės.  It is an open air ethnographic museum, as the card says located in the town of Rumšiškės, Lithuania.

Austria

A card of various scenes of Salzburg, Austria.  I was there years ago and it is a beautiful city.  Shown in the card is the main older city with the castle overlooking it (this is the largest of the images), the Cathedral, and the birthplace of Mozart.

This card was sent to me by my friend Hanna on her latest trip back to her homeland.

Russia

RU-2801972

"On the Lake"

This card, from Russia, is of a painting called On the Lake by the artist Arkady Alexandrovich Rylov (1870-1939).  The back features an old Polish stamp from before the fall of Communism.

Russia

RU-2787197

Views of Baikal, Russia

USA - Indiana

This undated card is of an aerial view of Purdue University.  The photo likely was taken in the late 1980s or early 1990s.  The center of the card shows the Stewart Center and the Memorial Union.  The parking lot in the center upper part of the photo is no longer there and was turned into a park in the 1990s.  

The tall, white building in the lower center of the card is Krannert School for Management.  The small tan-roofed building that you can just see a bit of across the street from Krannert was a set of shops including a copy store; however, that was torn down and a new university building built in the late 1990s or early 2000s. 

Latvia

LV-171248

Latvian National Dolls

This card, mailed from Riga, showcases features different national dresses of Latvia.  From right to left, the dresses are from the areas of Zemgale, Abrene, Nica, Riga, and Augszeme.

USA - Ohio

Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji: "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa", Katsushika Hokusai

This card was purchased at the Dayton Art Institute.  Curiously, the artwork dipicted is housed at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in Hawaii and was a gift by James A. Michener (presumably the author) in 1955.

China

CN-1441885

This card is done in a traditional Chinese painting style, but according to the writer, it is a view of Boston.

France

FR-424060

The Grandfather with his Grandson, 1952

This card comes from Paris and is one of the cards which took the longest to get to me (60 days!)  The sender works at the Louve museum and has a cat with a black cat with a very French name, Voltaire.  

Finland

FI-2272941

Pears Soap

I love old advertising cards.  This card is from a series called Glamour Ladies Series (A) from the Museum of Advertising and Packaging.  From the image, it looks like it date from 1920s or 1930s.

Taiwan

TW-1432105

This card of a train traveling along a field of plants is lovely, but doesn't tell where it was taken.

USA - Ohio

Japan: Japanese Government Railways

This card, dating from 1934 is by Pieter Irwin Brown (Netherlands, 1903-???)

The card was purchased at the Dayton Art Institute.

I love cards and posters in this style, as frequent viewers of this blog may have noticed.

USA - Illinois

Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier

This ad card features actor Larry Yando, who in 2014 preformed William Shakespeare's King Lear at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.  The postcard is an advertisement card for people to donate a tax-deductible gift to the Theater.  

Russia

RU-3211258

This air of lavender boots with flowers and lavender-colored books comes from Russia.  The subject of the card is not mentioned on the back of the postcard, but the card from from the city of Krasnodar, founded in 1793 as Ekaterinodar and in December of 1920 had the name changed by the Soviets to mean "Gift of the Reds" rather than to honor Empress Catherine the Great.  The user mentions that now the city is "one of the largest industrial, transport, scientific, cultural, and tourist centers of the Southern Russian region."  

Spain

ES-318197

Taragona

This card features sights you can see in Tarragona, Spain including Roman ruins.

Germany

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

The city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber (literally translated apparently as "red fortress about the Tauber (River)").  This is my second card of this fairly small tourist town.

USA - California

US-3044964

Starry Night

This card is of Vincent van Gogh's famous painting Starry Night.  The card may look a bit odd because this was not a standard postcard, but a postcard which changes and seems to move when you look at it.  

Germany

DE-3592160

This card came from Regensburg in the Bavarian part of Germany.  The card features a cat looking at a fishbowl with three goldfish with one of the fish and cat staring at each other.  

This card mentions a fun fact: in Bavaria, beer is officially considered a food!  

Russia

RU-3230020

"Metallurg" Clinical Resort Center

This card was one made for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.  I love all things Olympics and this is my second or third card from this series that I have received.  

Special Posts: 30,000,000th Postcrossing Postcard!

Postcrossing, the wonderful websites where most of the cards listed on this site come from, celebrated the arrival of it the site's 30 millionth postcard registered!  

DE-4221494

Sadly, the card wasn't one of mine, but was postcard DE-4221494 which was mailed by Postcrossing user Postkartensammler from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany to Postcrossing user blooaum from Porto, Portugal!  The card traveled 18 days, being mailed on May 14th and arriving June 2, 2015 at 12:27 AM (UTC)!  

And, yes, that is a card of the Empire State Building in New York being sent from Germany!  

Congratulations to the users!  How exciting!  Even Postcrossing's favorite traveling toys/unofficial mascots The Little Mail Carriers are getting in on the celebration.

USA - Alaska

Alaska

Featuring an Alaskan Igloo amid mountains, this card comes from my friend Nicole, aka postcrossing user Alaskanpoptart.  She writes on the card:

My house....nah, just kidding!  :)