Netherlands

NL-2746113

Paru Paru (also known as Whispered Words, II) - Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

This card came with the following awesome stamps (and Piglet sticker)

China

CN-1454204

Nanming, China

This card shows the above city on the south of china.  It includes these series of four stamps.

Taiwan

TW-1458008

No other pen travels in Smart company.  No other pen writes like a Waterman's.

This vintage card seems to be a sort of advertisement for Waterman fountain pens.  It shows a group of people looking at a man holding up his pen while they're on a train.  It came with the below pretty stamps as well.  

Germany

DE-3643401

This black and white photo postcard of a tuxedo cat sitting on a tree came with the below stamps.

USA - Florida

US-3172491

Konigsschlosser - Royal Castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau

This card is another of those cards where the country where the card was mailed from doe not at all match the picture.  This card was mailed from Jacksonville, Florida in the US, but picture the famous Neuschwanstein castle in Germany.  In the distance one can also make out a bit of Hohenschwangau Castle as well.

Ukraine

Welcome!  Sochi 2014

This rather odd political card comes from Ukraine around the beginning of the Russian take over of Crimea and eventual trouble in the rest of eastern Ukraine and the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic games.  

The figure in the card is Cheburashka a character from Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky's 1966 story and later a series of Soviet stop-motion films.  The character offers bread in a Slavic welcoming gesture, but the character's face is covered in a leather-like zipped mask.  The sender calls this card "black humor" and is "dedicated to Russia's aggression [to] my country."

This card features the following four stamps of a lighthouse, a train-car, a windmill, and a dance.

USA - California

US -3115688

Antibes, Cote D' Azur

Antibes, c. 1910 by David Dellephiane (1866-1925)

I love these old poster cards!  The card came with these awesome old stamps.  The stamps celebrate, from left to right, the Fifth World Forestry Congress, White Pine, and Indian art/ Heiltsuk, Bela Bella

Poland

 

Zielon Gora

This direct swap card comes from Zielona Gora, Poland.  The card shows the town hall, an old city building, grapes, and the annual procession which ends the city's celebration.  Included is this 5 PLN Zloty stamp and this excellent cancellation.

Finland

FI-2230920

En itse pääse juhliisi, mutta lähetin hänet seuraksesi!

This card of a series of women (circa 1940s or 1950s ?) laying on a beach came with a very unusual and beautiful stamp as shown below.  I believe that the card translate to something such as "I'm sorry I cannot make your party but I sent them to accompany you."

Russia

RU-3140890

Robert Doisneau's Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville (Kiss by the Town Hall)

This is one of my favorite pictures .  This "postcard" is actually just a photograph of the photo and the sender put stamps on it as if it was a postcard.  It arrived well and safe and contained some cool stamps, including one for the Sochi 2014 Olympics.

United Kingdom

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge

This direct swap card with my friend Bryony from Wales is of Catherine, Duchess of Camrbdige, also/previously known as Catherine Middleton.  I think this is technically my first card from Wales as well!  

Mexico via USA - Georgia

Hello From Progreso Yucatan

This is technically my first postcard from both Mexico and the US state of Georgia.  My friend Whitney got it for me on a trip to Mexico, but mailed it when she got home.  How awesome!  

China

CN-1502155

Chinese Loong

This card, incidentally, was mailed on my birthday!

USA - Missouri

US-3213093

Hall of the Mountain King , ca. 1908-1909 by Marsden Hartley (January 4, 1877 – September 2, 1943)

The card comes from the Crystal Bridges museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Russia

RU-3233748

Leningrad Region 

This folded card of what appears to be a church says it is from the Leningrad region.  

Germany

DE-3855124

Gutacher Tracht aus dem Schwarzwald

This card is of a women wearing a traditional outfit from the Schwarzwald or Black Forrest region of Germany.

350th Postcard! Russia and Taiwan!

TW-1636745

RU-3787159

The 349th & 350th Postcard(s)  

My 349th and 350th received cards came together, arriving on June 26, 2015!  

The top card is of The Door-God, seen in many temples in Taiwan.  They are believed to protect the temple.  This card traveled 7,648 miles in 13 days from Tainan City, Taiwan sent by user anchi1997.

The second card is of Grand Duchess Marie Nikolaevna Romonov in a photo from 1910.  She was one of the daughters of the Tsar Nicholas II the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.  She was murdered at the age of 19 years old on July 18, 1918 in Yakatrinburg, Russia by Communist forces.  She was murdered along with the the the rest of her family.  

Notably, these cards arrived on June 26, 2015 and Marie Romonov was born on June 26, 1899 (old style, June 27th, new style).  Considering that by the time I got the mail that day it was after midnight (and thus June 27th), I received this postcard of Grand Duchess Marie on what would have been her 116th birthday.

The card traveled for 4,991 miles from Moscow, Russia to the US in 19 days and was sent by Vodolej.

For the first 350 postcard received, those cards have traveled a total of  1,667,279 miles for an average of 4,763.65 miles-per-card with the cards coming from a total of 43 nations!  The national breakdown of cards looks something like this:

Germany (56)

Russia (46)

Netherlands (35)

USA (29)

China (19

Taiwan (19)

Finland (19)

Belarus (14)

Czech Republic (12)

United Kingdom (11)

Ukraine (9)

Turkey (6)

France (6)

Poland (6)

Belgium (5)

Australia (5)

Lithuania (5)

India (4)

Hong Kong (4)

Three Cards From Each of These Countries

Brazil

Canada

Japan

Two Cards From Each of These Countries

Denmark

Estonia

Switzerland

Bulgaria

Norway

Latvia

Portugal

South Africa

Spain

Italy

And One Card from Each of These Countries

Algeria

Azerbaijan

Romania

Venezuela

Austria

Ireland

Slovakia

Sweden

Indonesia

Thailand

Malaysia

France

The Eiffel Tower

This card was sent a number of years ago to our office by one of the attorneys in the office while he was on trip to Paris.  He is also a fan of this blog and kindly suggested putting this card on Par Avion.  

I figured this would be a wonderful card to show for Bastille Day.  

Germany and What Happens If Your Card Doesn't Have A Postcard ID!

DE-3929283

This panoramic card of a small light house was a bit of a mystery as the Postcrossing sender forgot to include the above postcard ID code.  

The postcard ID code is the code I put near the top of each and every official Postcrossing card blog post.  In this case, the code is "DE-2929283".  When you get a card via Postcrossing, you go to the website and register the card using that specific card ID.  

If someone forgets to put the ID on the card, puts the incorrect ID on the card, or the card ID is damaged and unreadable, you can go to this website for unknown postcards.  On the website, you can enter in all sorts of information about the ID-less card and the good people at Postcrossing will try to figure out which card you received.  

In this case, I had the sender's name (Thomas), the date marked on the card (January 29, 2015), the country (Germany, from the stamp), and that the stamp cancel markings mentioned the German city of Koln (Colonge, in English), and of course a description of what the card looked like..  

Within probably less than an hour, I received an email telling me what the correct postcard ID was for the card and I was able to register it.

Germany

DE-3929283

Young Sacred Cat of Burma

This postcard of a young cat is of a Birman cat or, as the card calls them, the Sacred Cat of Burma.  

The card further comes with some awesome stamps, including one stamp of two cats!

Taiwan

TW-1440442

This card of a drawing of a girl is made by Japanese illustrated Yoshitomo Nara.  

Poland

Będzin

This card was sent from my friend and penpal Asia who lives in Będzin, Poland.  The city is in the south of Poland.  

Netherlands

NL-2799508

Ze Leefden Nog Lang en Gelukkig?

This Dutch advertisement card features a likeness of Disney's Princess Jasmine with a black eye and bruised (and possibly slightly bloody lip and nose).  The Dutch says:"They lived happily ever after?"

The card is an anti-domestic violence card.  It came in an envelop with a few other cards and these awesome cards.  

USA - Texas

The Alamo, San Antonio

This card of the historic Alamo in San Antonio, Texas was sent to me by my friend Chanele, who helped me get involved with Postcrossing to begin with!  

Netherlands

NL-2799508

"Ik Kan Blijven Kijken Naar Jou"

This unusual postcard is an advertisement card for the Dutch tv show A'dam - E.V.A.  The card is actually in the shape of the thought bubble.  The Dutch words say "I can keep looking at you" (via googletranslate.)  

This card was sent with a few others in an envelope.  

Germany

DE-3642665

Chalk Coast of Ruegen

This postcard comes from Germany, but the most interesting aspect is of what the sender wrote.  The sender is a librarian who also is in the Guinness Book of World Records for her collection of mice and rats!

Russia

RU-3352959

This card of a small rodent coming out of a tiny house is pretty cute.  It also came with some awesome Sochi Winter Olympics stamps, as seen below.

USA - Virginia

US-3032893

Abraham Lincoln Memorial

This card of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC came to me from nearby Alexandria,Virginia.  It includes a very apt stamp of the Battle of Gettysburg. 

USA - Texas

US-3172459

Texas Rush Hour Traffic!

This card, from Texas, is of a "traffic jam" of Texas Longhorns.

USA - Alaska

Largest Kodiak Bear Ever Caught (vintage postcard circa 1940s reprint)

This vintage postcard comes to me via my friend Nicole who lives in Kodiak, Alaska.

Canada

CA-496338

This card of ducks in a small, red lake (most likely red from the sunset, is quite striking.