Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): WILHELM from GERMANY

This postcard was sent to us from Germany. It was sent by Wilhelm, who lives in Riepe, 1691 kilometers away!

On the card we can see what looks like a coat of arms. Willi's region in Germany is called Ostfriesland (Eastern Frissia?); the coat of arms is probably the same (or an adaptation) of the one that used to belong to the feudal ruler of the zone, the counts of East Frissia.

On the back, Willi tells us a few thing about his job and his family. It comes with a lovely, anthropomorphic signature and two stamps with flowers and animals.

Danke, Willi!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): KAROLINA from POLAND

This postcard was sent to us from Poland. It was sent by Karolina, who lives in Piekary Slaskie, near Katowice, 2274 kilometers away!

In the postcard we can see some sights from the municipality of Bobrowniki, were we can presume that Karolina lives: we can see park benches, a lake, some skaters, people in a beach and some lovely, snowy, winter views.

On the back we have a brief text, asking us if we have been to Poland (unfortunately, not yet, but we are hoping to do it in the future!), along with the stamp of a beautiful rose.

Dziękuję, Karolina!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): CHI HUI from TAIWAN

This postcard was sent to us from Taiwan. It was sent by Chi Hui, who lives in Kaohsiung, 11076 kilometers away!

On the card can be seen a lovely black and white picture with different Oriental motifs: two pagodas and what look like statues of a tiger and a dragon. Both animals are inbued with a lot of symbolism in the east: the dragon represents the east, the colours green and blue and Spring, and the tiger the west, the colour white and Autumn.

In the card, our writer informs us of her young age (only 18!), and that when she wrote to us, she was preparing her university entrance exams, and was planning later to go on holiday to Hong Kong. We hope you had good luck with those exams, Chi Hui!

谢谢, Chi Hui!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): TANYA from RUSSIA

This postcard was sent to us from Russia. It was sent by Tanya, who lives in Ulyanovsk, 4275 kilometers away!

On the card you can see the image of a moving tram; this made me think inmediately, and before looking at the back, that the card was coming from Lisbon, the city where such a form of public transport is most famous; but no, and the image wasn't taken in Russia either: it is described in a footnote as a 'Retro tram' in Istambul.

On the back we read that Tanya has just finished her university studies, and that she wants to become an English or German teacher. She will soon be studying Swedish, and asks about our preferences. Yes, I think we would like to learn Russian, Tanya, but it looks quite daunting...

Спасибо, Tanya!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): RUBY from CHINA

This postcard was sent to us from China. It was sent by Ruby Huang, who lives in Shanghai, 10353 kilometers away!

On the card we can see a mysterious black and white streetview, probably taken in Shanghai, China's busy and most internationally-orientated city. The sun seems to be rising on the right, and we have a wall on the left and a road going in a north-west direction.

On the back we can read that this is Ruby's first card to Spain. Well, we have already sent and received a few from China, and all of them (or almost, I think) have come and gone to Ruby's hometown or nearabouts.

谢谢, Ruby!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): KRISTYNA from THE CZECH REPUBLIC

This postcard was sent to us from the Czech Republic. It was sent by Kristyna, who lives in Prague, 1951 kilometers away!

On the card we can see a magnificent view of the 'Castle' (Hradcany), the heart of the Czech capital, the seat of its government and administration, and also of the Cathedral of Saint Vitus. Other famous sights inside the Castle include the Street of Alchemists, with small and colourful houses; Kafka lived in one of them, and inspired himself on the city's Castle to create a novel with the same title.

On the back, Kristýna describes us some of the customs and uses of the Castle, and informs us about the popularity of beer in her country (much cheaper than water!).

Děkuji, Kristýna!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): PIRKKO from FINLAND

This postcard was sent to us from Finland. It was sent by Pirkko, who lives in Espoo, near Helsinki, 2968 kilometers away!

On the postcard we can see a lovely and surprisingly familiar sight: this is the façade of a building that was designed by the Spanish artist Joan Miró! It is located not in Finland, but in the German city of Bonn (at the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum). Probably, Pirkko has been there in some previous trip, and chose it for us because of its author!

The text on the back that Pirkko wrote for us is quite brief; in it she tells us that she is a retired math teacher.

On the top right corner there is also a lovely stamp with a bird: the skylark (in Spanish, alondra), a common bird in Finland, it seems.

Kiitos, Pirkko!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): KLEE from CHINA

This postcard was sent to us from China. It was sent by Klee, who lives in Shanghai, 10353 kilometers away!

On the postcard we can see a lovely picture of a rabbit, dressed as a herald, with mutiple heart blazons and blowing a trumpet. It looks like a picture from some illustration of Alice in Wonderland, perhaps. 

On the back, Klee greets us and talks a bit about a Chinese celebration that was taking place when he wrote the card for us: the Dragon Boat Festival.This is a celebrated Summer festival in China, which includes boat races and special food. You can learn more about it here.

谢谢, Klee!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): TIMEA from HUNGARY

This postcard was sent to us from Hungary (the first from this country!). It was sent by Timea, who lives in Békés, 2395 kilometers away!

The postcard shows some of the sights of Timea's hometown (whose name, in Hungarian, means 'Peaceful'): we can see the Roman Catholic church on the bottom right.

On the card, Timea tells us that she has difficulty with English (don't worry! We are learning it too!) and that she likes Spanish football. The card comes with a pair of huge stamps representing the famous Hungarian actress Zita Szeleczky.

Köszi, Timea!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): YANA from RUSSIA

This postcard was sent to us from Russia. It was sent by Yana, who lives in Chelyabinsk, 5079 kilometers away!

On the card we can see a beautiful view of the nature that surrounds Yana's region, the Altai Krai: we have a meandering, sinuous river (it turns out to be the Katun river, from what the back of the card says) and the Aya lake. We have a lovely conbination of land and water, greens and blues that delights and refreshes the eye!

On the back we also learn a few things about Yana: she's an economist and likes reading books a lot, swimming and yoga. She is 26 years old.

Спасибо, Yana!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): JUDITH from THE NETHERLANDS

This postcard was sent to us from The Netherlands. It was sent by Judith, who lives in Nijmegen, 1494 kilometers away!

On the card we can see a very bright painting by a local Dutch artist, called Ronald Tolman. The painting is titled "De Muze" which might mean, I guess, the horse-rider, the artist or the stunt-performer. In it we can see a framed picture of someone on top of a horse and holding an umbrella (perhaps a circus performer?), all coloured in fauvist red. 

On the back we learn about Judith's job (she is a librarian), where she lives, the local "Four Day's marches' and the things she likes.

Dank je, Judith!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): HIMEHIME from JAPAN

This postcard was sent to us from Japan. It was sent by Himehime (I think this is her postcrossing nickname, not her real name, as it means 'princess-princess' in Japanese), who lives in Tokio, 10725 kilometers away!

On the postcard we can see a spectacular view of one of Japan's feudal castles; as you can appreciate, their architecture is quite different from their European counterparts, with slanted roofs, a lot of wood and plaster and not so much stone. They are also from a later period than our castles (16th century onwards) and take into account gunpowder weapons in their design. The one we see in the picture is Kōchi castle, in the island of Shikoku.

On the card, Himehime tells us a few things about herself and some words in Japanese! One of the stamps also includes a picture of ramen, a very popular soup / stew with meat, noodles and spices that is adored by Westerners and Japanese alike.

ありがとう, Himehime!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): OLGA from RUSSIA

This postcard was sent to us from Russia. It was sent by Olga, who lives in Rostov-on-Don, 3790 kilometers away!

On the card we can see a map of the inmense Russia, along with the location of all the lighthouses in the Russian Federation. It is quite common ammong postcrossers to find fans of lighthouses. In fact, we have some previous cards with colourful examples.

In the text, Olga tells us a few things about her hometown, the 'Gate of the Caucasus'. She employs for this a beautiful handwriting (you should give me classes!).

Спасибо, Olga!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): SOLÈNE from FRANCE

This postcard was sent to us from France. It was sent by Solène, a journalist who lives in Nice, 1310 kilometers away!

On the card we can see a beautil view of Nice harbour, in the Côte d'Azur. This in one of France's main tourist and Summer destinations. The picture shows a big group of colourful fishermen's boats, very similar to the ones we could find in Galicia.

On the back, Solène tells us a bit about herself: she lives very near the image in the picture (nice views!) and has come to visit us in Spain and Portugal this summer. Maybe she was near us!

Merci, Solène!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): MANDY from GERMANY

This postcard was sent to us from Germany (our most prolific country yet). It was sent by Mandy, who lives in the village of Lübbecke, in Westfalen, 1679 kilometers away!

On the card we can see the photo of a typical, North-european rural landscape: a windmill amidst the snow. From what the card says, it might be from the region of Holstein, near the Danish-German border.

This is quite a refreshing and cooling postcard for this time of the year, when in Galicia we are experiencing one of the hottest Summers (and Septembers) ever recorded!

Danke, Mandy!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards): ZALA from SLOVENIA

This postcard was sent to us from Slovenia. It was sent by Zala, who lives in Mengeš, 15 kilometers from the country's capital and 1891 kilometers away from us!

On the card we can see a nice street view of Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia: some buildings of a decidedly centre-European style seem to surround a small hillock with a castle of some sort on the top; the buildings seem to be girdled by a river and some bridges as well.

On the card, Zala tells us that she is also learning English (I think she is quite young!) and explains the photo that appears on the other side.

Hvala, Zala!

Postcrossing Meetup (Received Cards):DOROTHEE from GERMANY

This postcard was sent to us from Germany. It was sent by Dorothee, who lives in Zülpich, 1470 kilometers away!

The images in the card, though, are not from her hometown: they belong to the Northern German sea coastal region of Greetsiel, on the Baltic coast. One of its most distinguishing features (and a much liked one by Dorothee) is the yellow-and-red striped lighthouse of the place, visible amongst sheep on the top right corner of the card.

The text of the card, besides some nice handwriting and information, comes with a big stamp conmemorating something between Germany and Poland.

Danke, Dorothee!