Ancient Ash

This is a cinerary urn from the Etruscan Museum in Volterra, Italy. It is one of thousands of such urns in the museum, which is one of the oldest public museums in Europe.

Roberta lives well north of Volterra, in the province of Turin, where she is studying natural sciences, but she has visited Volterra and considers it quite a lovely place.

Volterra is also an important location in book series, Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, which makes me wonder if the town has see an upsurge in tourism, like parts of New Zealand did after it was featured in the movie version of Lord of the Rings.

Step Lightly, Please

Dora and her sister visited Peru last year. It was their first international travel and they had a wonderful time. Machu Picchu was the highlight and when they stepped off the bus, Dora's eyes teared at the sight of so magnificent a place.

Like so many of the World Heritage sites around the world, Machu Picchu is considered endangered because of the heavy tourism. Humans just can't seem to walk gently upon the earth.

The man featured on this postage is a Danish paleontologist Peter Lund. He spent much of his life in Brazil exploring the Minas Gerias region. I like the way the ink portrait is layered with the cave photography.

Cultural Exchange

Lisa visited the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan, in 1995, while visiting the family of an exchange student who lived with her family years earlier. The young man became like family to Lisa and her family, and he came back for visits many times. Lisa attended his graduation from university and while in Japan, even learned a bit of Japanese.

When my children were young, we hosted lots of exchange students, too. Many were Japanese, but we also hosted students from Slovakia and Spain. I got to travel to Slovakia to visit with the families of two of our students. My first trip was a gift from one of the students. His parents treated me to such a whirlwind trip around Slovakia and the surrounding countries. I learned a bit of Slovak, but some of it can't be used in polite company.

Of Food and Franklin

Melissa adopted this vintage postcard of the Benjamin Franklin museum in Philadelphia because she has fond memories of Philadelphia. She goes there every November to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends. She goes with friends because, as she notes, "my family doesn't like to cook!"

The building featured on this card is now called The Franklin Institute and would be one of my first stop should I get to visit Philadelphia someday. I'm quite fond of Ben Franklin. He was a wise, and funny man. And the first Postmaster General of the United States.

Melissa was also quite taken with the postage stamp I included on the card when I sent it out. It features Ben Franklin with the thirteen colonies and was one of many postage stamps issued in 1976 to commemorate the Bicentennial.

Climb, Not Ride

Laura's daughter made her Bat Mitzvah in Israel, and as part of the ceremony they climbed to the top of Masada rather than take the cable car. It is a strenuous hike in the best of circumstances, but Laura had been sick and weighed only 80 pounds (36 kilo)! It must have been quite a challenge, but I bet the wonder at being in so special a place for her daughter's ceremony made the challenge all the more attainable.

I couldn't resist including the Hanukkah postage Laura used on this card. The US Postal Service has issued a few Hanukkah postage stamps over the years. This is one of the plainer designs, but still very pretty. I'm happy Laura had some leftover to add to this card.

Lovely Ruins

This view of the Byzantine city of Mystras in Greece conjures up all sort of wonder. The city was abandoned in the mid 19th century and all that remains are ruins. But what lovely ruins!

Iris adopted this postcard and is inspired to organize a trip to Mystras to see the wonder for herself. She has heard friends speak of the site and decided that now is the time to see it for herself.

Show Me the Flowers

Every other August, on even numbered years, Brussels celebrates begonias with a magnificent flower carpet in Grand Place. This is a lovely view for a cold, gray day like today.

Ryanne's husband visits Brussels for work and she accompanied him on one of those trips. She writes that it is a lively international town. I thought so, too, when I visited years ago. But, I was there during a big football (soccer) event so there was even more activity than usual.