Message in a Bottle

A few weeks ago I got a comment letting me know the Orphaned Postcard Project had won an award for promoting letter writing. The award is called Message in a Bottle, and is awarded by Wendy at A Passion for Letters. I was happy to be noticed, but also reluctant to add the award to the site because at that point I wasn't posting regularly.

Well, I seem to have worked out a system, with help from my significant other, of getting cards scanned and posts written in advance so that all they need is some editing, which can be done using my iPhone. So, with thanks to Wendy, here is the lovely award...

Some times feels like I'm sending my postcards off like a message in a bottle, never sure if they will hit their mark or I'll hear from them again. It isn't a bad feeling, rather romantic actually.

Ah, the Romance!

Imagine, if you will, living in an apartment in this town, with a romantic castle in your backyard. That was the life Kara lived for a year, in Heidelburg, Germany. She writes that the castle was burned 300 years ago and to commemorate that event, several times a year torches are lit to turn the castle walls fiery red and orange, like in this picture. The castle is half in ruins, but that only adds to the magic.

This area is where the earliest evidence of human life in Europe was discovered. It was just a jawbone, discovered in 1907, but more evidence Homo heidelbergensis has been found since.

Heidelburg is also one of few major German cities not significantly damaged by bombing during World War II.

UK mapcards

I have tons of UK mapcards like this one in the Orphaned Postcard Project. I got most of them in trade from a British man who collected mapcards and lighthouses. He had the most amazing collection. I often wonder if Brian is still collecting.

So, this is my plan for all my UK mapcards. Once I have them all adopted, I will arrange them in a logical order in a large blank journal. Then I will fly to UK, and travel the country, with my mapcards as my guidebook, keeping a narrative all the way. And then, when I'm done, I'll come back to the States, publich my narrative and be as famous as Bill Bryson.

Of course, now that I've put my idea out there, someone is bound to steal it.

Hannah, who also returned the Portobello Market postcard, lives in Essex and she noted some of the places she frequents. I love some the names of the towns...Leigh-On-Sea...Walton-on-the-Naze... Thaxted, birthplace of composer Gustav Holst (I love The Planets) and author Diana Wynne Jones (Howl's Moving Castle is a wonderful kid's fantasy with very strong female lead).

Greetings From the Twentieth Century

This card was returned by Aet in Estonia. It is one of three postcards from this series that I have in my project. I don't remember how I came upon them, but I wish I had more. They are published by Boomerang, the company that does all the freecards you find in washrooms around the world, except I've never seen them in any restaurant or bar in Pittsburgh. There were 20 in the series.

Aet writes that her great aunt was a kitchen-maid in St. Petersburg during the 1917 Revolution. She saw Lenin in one such parade, and his words, "yelled and screamed," were not understandable.

Knowing someone who witnessed history....I know my grandmother could have told me lots about life in the early 20th century, and my mother could still. Every once in a while my mother does tell me a bit about her life, but not in a historic setting. I can't ask my grandmother because she is gone. I should ask my mother. She would be able to tell me about the 40s and 50s. I have read about it, but I would like to hear it from someone who was there.

Been Here, Want To Go Back

I spent a week in the Great Smoky Mountains in May 2008. We rented a mountain chalet high above Gaitlinburg, Tennessee, and every morning I had coffee on the deck, watching the sunrise. It was one of the most relaxing vacations ever.

The postcard on the left commemorates the park's 50th anniversary, and Erin, who adopted this card, notes she was only a year old when the card was published.

We did explore the park, too, though no strenuous hiking. Just short walks, like up to Clingman's Dome. The mountain top is called Clingman's Dome, not the observation tower pictured in the postcard to the right. And the walk was only a half hour from a parking lot. The drive up to the parking lot is mighty nerve wracking though with the drops on either side of the road. I spent a good deal of time nervous that the car would fall off.

The park is also UNESCO World Heritage, though I could never find the official UNESCO plaque to photograph. I did find the plaque for its designation as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve at the Clingman Dome lower parking area, but no one in the park seemed to know where, or even if, the World Heritage plaque exists. Most of the park personnel didn't know what UNESCO World Heritage signifies, which doesn't surprise me much as the honor is not one much promoted in the US.

The Clingman's Dome postcard was adopted by Kara, who actually hiked through the Smoky Mountains on her Appalachian Trail hike. That trail goes from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, a distance of about 2160 miles. My boyfriend's mom hiked it last year. I'm amazed by people who take on such ventures. When I was a teen, I wanted to hike the trail, but now.... I don't think I could rough it for the many months it takes to hike it.

I Know Where You Are Right Now, Pittsburghers

Pittsburghers love fireworks. There is a famous firework manufacturer, Zambellini, located a bit north of the city and I think they get a kick out of showing off for the locals.

The image on the postcard to the left was taken on Light Up Night, an annual event that celebrates the beginning of the holiday season. It is always the Friday before Thanksgiving. I've only been once, but it was a blast.

There is always a gingerbread house display at Light Up Night. I like the idea of gingerbread houses, but the actual construction...only fun when there is alcohol involved.

And the postcard to the right is a vintage view, featuring a railroad bridge that isn't there anymore, which means it is certainly used as a point of reference when a Pittsburgher gives directions..."yeah, we are right across from where the rail bridge that used to cross the Monongahela used to be."

The caption on the back of this card (I don't know how old it is) notes, "Pittsburgh's new two level boulevard fronting the Monongahela River will have ten traffic lines [sic] wide, three lanes westbound, a depressed express highway of four lanes, and three elevated lanes eastbound, to rest on piers. The cost is three million dollars." Now, there is some sort of something that cars travel along, or at least try to travel along, unless it is raining and the road is flooded, or there are three snowflakes, or the sun is shining and drivers are too busy gawking at that odd yellow orb in the sky because we don't see much sun in Pittsburgh. I don't know if that was what the postcard caption meant, but I bet it cost more than 3 million.

And though it is still early morning when this post gets published, I know where Pittsburghers are. They are preparing for the Six Pack Win. The Steelers, the city's beloved football team, and I mean beloved...this city is nuts about the Steelers.... are in the Super Bowl.

The stadium in the image to the left is Three Rivers Stadium, which was brought down in 2001 to make room for Heinz Field, the new home of the Steelers. I didn't live in Pittsburgh when Three Rivers was still in use, but I have been to a footbal game in Heinz Field. The Steelers played the New York Giants, last year's Super Bowl winners. The Giants beat my team, the New England Patriots, in that game. I so wanted the Steelers to beat the Giants, but I didn't get my wish.

All of the postcards in this batch were returned by folk currently living in Pittsburgh, one a newcomer, like me. Thank you Dana, Katie and Megan!