PHILIPPINES



Penafrancia Festival in Naga City, Bicol is held every 3rd Sunday in September in honor of the Virigin of Penafrancia, the Miraculous patron saint of the Bicol Region.  A nine-day novena is done in honor of the Virgin.  On the ninth day, the impage of the Virgin is paraded in a colorful fluvia procession on the river in downtown Naga.  When it reaches its destination, the devotees shout "Viva la Virgen!".

Thanks ginay for the card (PH-21367).

FINLAND

This is a view of Rauma, Finland.  The person this card is from said that the temperature typically gets down to about -27 oC.  Because it's near the sea, it's always windy and cold.  Rauma is known of its high quality lace (since the 18th century), and of the old wooden architecture of its centre (Old Rauma, Vanha Rauma), which is a Unesco world heritage site.

Thanks simppa for the great card (FI-977297).

GERMANY

This is a view of a village in Germany, Kirchhundem.  It is part of the Sauerland, a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited.  I think this postcard is beautiful.  One of my favorites.  The stamps are great also.
Thanks Micha78 for the card (DE-788306).

TAIWAN

This postcard is actually hand drawn by the woman who sent it.  It's of Taiwanese food -- tofu, rice & meat dumplings, oyster omelet, oyster thin noodles, bubble tea, etc.  Iteresting card and well done drawings.

Thanks AprilPao for the card (TW-229502)

RUSSIA

I love the colors of the lights in this postcard and the great stamps.  This is a view of Vladivostok in Russia which is the largets port city on the Pacific Ocean in Russia.  Here is a link for some photos.
Thanks soulmate for the great card (RU-274184)

GERMANY

This is a beautiful view of a snow covered area in Germany.  The specifics of where it is not stated but the sender is from Bavaria.  It looks like a beautiful area, one I'd want to visit.
Thanks for the card funkastic (DE-779034)

GREAT BRITAIN

This looks like a very quaint place to visit.  This is a historic area of Brigton which has a lot of boutiques, anitque shops and pavement cafes.  Looks like a place I would enjoy having tea at.
Thanks butler for the great card (GB-187997)

SPAIN

This card has a lot photos of great things in Barcelona.  The card doesn't say what they are but given my previous travels to Barcelona (another great city!), I think the photos consist of, from left to right: Park Guell (Antonio Gaudi architecture), Casa Mila (Antonio Gaudi architecture), Columbus Monument, Las Ramblas, the port, La Familia Sagrada, another church that I don't recall the name of, the top of Casa Batllo, I think the next one is Camp Nou, the coast, and another view of the La Familia Sagrada.

Barcelona is a beautiful city with great people.  Worth visiting!

Thanks bolet for the great card (ES-96329).

CHINA

This is the Gate of Chinese (Zhonghuamen) during the early years of the Republic of China.  Once standing in the center of Tiananmen Square, it was one of three middle gates of Imperial City during the Ming and Qing dynasties and called Daming (Great Ming) and Daqing (Great Qing) respectively.  After the Revolution of 1911, it was renamed Zhonghuamen.  The gate has been demolished.  I have been to the site of this previous Gate in Tiananmen Square.  Beijing is a wonderful city and definitely somewhere I would recommend visiting.
Thanks tooxia for the card (CN-291856)

BELGIUM

This was a homemade card -- a photo he took that is laminated.  I'm not sure what it's a photo of as he didn't state.

Thanks for the card jeanmarie (BE-80512)

GERMANY

FINLAND

POLAND

This is one of my favorite cards!  I love the colors from the night views.  This card shows, clockwise from the upper left, 1) the Nowy Swiat Street, which is one of the main thoroughfares through Warsaw; 2) the Palace of Culture and Science, which is the tallest building in Poland and a gift of Stalinist Russia (and disliked according to the postcard writer); 3) The Great Theatre, the opera house of Warsaw; and 4) the Royal Castle, the official residence of the Polish monarchy.  Great postcard!

The postcrosser wrote in Polish:  "Wszystkiego Najlepszego" which I think means "All the Best" if I've looked up the translation correctly. :)

Thanks adamwidur for the great card! (PL-150361)

TAIWAN

This card is actually a paper model of the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.  As the late President Chiang Kai-Shek passed away on April 5, 1975, all the people of Taiwan were mournful with grief.  Accepting the suggestions of various circles and resolved by the funeral committee of that time, Executive Yuan decided to establish Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei City for all the Taiwan people to cherish the memory of the leader forever.  It looks beautiful!  Apparently I can cut it out to build the model, although I'd rather keep the card!

Thanks chenhaoan for the card! (TW-221838)

SPAIN

This card is from Barcelona, Spain (somewhere I've actually visited).  This is the Bridge of the Enamored Ones (Puente de los enamorados) in the Park Guell.  This is one of my favorite cities around the world and the Park Guell is excellent.  It has some very interesting art work in it by Antonio Gaudi -- a lot of colorful mosaics and architecture.

Thanks amapola11 for the card (ES-94400).

TAIWAN

My second postcard from Taiwan.  The view is of Sun Moon Lake.  From Wikipedia, Sun Moon Lake is the largest body of water in Taiwan as well as a tourist attraction. Situated in Yuchih, Nantou, the area around the Sun Moon Lake is home to the Thao tribe, one of the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan. Sun Moon Lake surrounds a tiny island called Lalu. The east side of the lake resembles a sun while the west side resembles a moon, hence the name.  This photo link will take you to some other photos I found on-line; it looks spectacular.

Thanks poet for the card (TW-214198).

FINLAND

This is a beautiful scenic card.  Simo stated on his card that there are over two million saunas in Finland -- interesting factoid.  He is from Turku, in the southwest corner of Finland.  It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland.

Thanks track08 for the postcard (FI-942056).

POLAND

I received this great card today from Poland.  Agnes even wrote in Polish on the back of the card for me.  I love seeing the different languages.  Of course I couldn't read it but it was neat to see anyways.  She's from Nowy Sącz.  I think the large photo in the postcard is the Town Hall.

Thanks aga24088 for the postcard (PL-141281).

MALAYSIA

This postcard is from Terengganu, Malaysia.  The photos of the area look beautiful.  Terengganu is well-known for its wood carving crafts and yacht-making.  Malay is the main language; English the second.  Lynn included these Malay translations for me:

Apa khabar - How are you?
Khabar baik - I'm fine.
Terima kasih - Thank you
Sama Sama - You're welcome
Jumpa lagi - See you again.

Thanks Rozlinda for the card (MY-50387)

PORTUGAL

I received this beautiful postcard from Portugal yesterday.  I love all the colors in this one.  The card shows the historical centre of Porto, an UNESCO's World Heritage site.  These typical boats are called "Rabelo" and were used to transport the Port wine pipe barrels down the river. 

Thanks LusoBoy for the great card (PT-147300)

NETHERLANDS

I got my first postcard from the Netherlands!  For those who don't know me, my husband's parents are from the Netherlands.  Ellen wrote her message in Dutch which was great to put my limited Dutch language skills to use.

Dank je wel Ellebelle voor de kaart! (NL-467464)

TAIWAN

This is a homemade postcard view of a beautiful beach in Taiwan, near Taipei.  It looks like a very serene place to visit.

Thanks yilisu (TW-206442)

ROMANIA

Maria from Bucharest, Romania writes that this is Peles Castle.  It is a Neo-Renaissance castle in the Carpathian Mountains, near Sinaia, Romania on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia, built between 1873 and 1914.  Of the 168 rooms, only 35 are accessible to the public.  This is one reason I love my new postcrossing hobby -- all the new world information I gain.  This castle is beautiful!  I've added Romania to the top of my list of places to visit.

Thanks for the great card baypkee (RO-18924)

GREECE

Elefsis is a small town about 24 km west of Athens, an industrial area with a great ancient history.  This small railway station looks like a great example!

Thanks for the postcard miss_unterhill (GR-14434)

BELARUS

This is a beautiful view of Minsk, Belarus.  I love the Fall colors.  Given World War II, most of their buildings destroyed and thus, these are all very new buildings.

Thanks for the card anuta_by (BY-94086)