Wrong Dome

This postcard, adopted by Rona in Ireland, is of St. Isaac's Square in St. Petersburg, Russia. When it came back, I noted it as "St. Paul (UK)" in my "pending" (that means pending blog post) file. I must have been a bit distracted by the dome and columns. They are similar.

When I came time to write this blog post, I went a bit crazy looking for a St Paul postcard. It took me a very long time and a lot of sorting of received postcards to figure out the postcard meant for today is St. Isaac. St Paul doesn't have a gold dome. I should know that. And a huge statue of Nicholas I of Russia would be very odd in London.

Rona adopted this postcard precisely because of Nicholas I. Well, because of her desire to visit the residences of the Romanov family. She has yet to visit Russia, but it is something she would like to do in the future.

A Postsecret of Sorts

This aerial view of University of Nijmegen in Netherlands shows off its beautiful green campus. When Iiri was 16 years old, she spent a year abroad in Nijmegen as an exchange student. It was quite a bit of freedom and she experienced some things for the first time in her life that year. She smiles when she writes "don't tell anyone" so I'm smiling back and not telling :-)

Isle Idles

Isle of Purbeck is not an island. It is a peninsula on the Dorset coast. And it has one of the most romantic castle ruins ... Corfe Castle. I spent a lovely, though wet, afternoon there about ten years ago.

Andy also spent a lovely afternoon on the Isle of Purbeck. He and his wife took a double-deck bus (eek! those things scare me!) to Swanage down in the southeast corner and enjoyed all manner of seaside activities. But the activity that most attracted my eye was the mention of "many" postcard shops.

I got more than a bit caught up in the William and Katherine wedding in April. It surprised me that I was glued to the wedding coverage because that is not something that usually captures my attention. If I had been in London, I would have been out on the streets that day, for sure. And this postage is so very sweet. I hope they are always this happy.

Grand Canyon In Your Hand

When we were at Grand Canyon National Park last year, I couldn't quite wrap my head around our exact location. The official park map is overwhelming. I wish I had had this postcard with me at the time because it brings it all down to a nice palm size view.

We we on the North Rim, which you can find by following the red road from under the Y in canyon. The Colorado River is not as prominent from that side of the canyon, so someday I would like to actually go down and perhaps even take a rafting trip. First I have to get over my fear of edges.

When Carol visited last April, there was a bit of snow on the ground. The South Rim does stay open all winter and it would be wonderful to visit in January when there are few tourists. In the warmer months the South Rim is crazy busy.

This postage stamp was issued in 1990.  It features an artistic rendition of the Grand Canyon as it may have appeared to the Francisco Vazquez de Coronado expedition (1540-1542), the first European explorers believed to have seen the canyon.

Matchy Matchy

When Sarah wrote this card, on 14 April, 2011, the snow had just stopped falling and the sun was shining. I would hazard a guess that seven months later, the snow is falling again.

Sarah also writes that the mountains "never get old." I understand exactly what she means. We don't have mountains where I live in southwestern Pennsylvania, but we do have big, beautiful rolling hills, and no matter how many times I ride along the ridge on one of those big hills that leads to my home, I am always fascinated by the view. It never gets to be ordinary.

Sarah likes that the postage stamp matches the card exactly. I wish I had bought many, many more of these postage stamps when they were issued. But, postage "burns a hole" in my pocket. I can't ever save it. I would make a terrible philatelist.

The Essence of OPP

Rila Monastery was founded in the 10th century. It is situated in a deep valley with Bulgaria's magnificent Rila Mountains surrounding it. When I first started collecting UNESCO World Heritage sites, this postcard was one of my dearest treasures. I think it was one of my first cards from Bulgaria, a country I considered exotic and mysterious.

Many years later I've come to realize it isn't really the picture on the postcard that is important ... after all, if I just wanted postcards from faraway places I could buy them. It is the connection to the sender which is why I started Orphaned Postcard Project (OPP).

This card had no message, and I only vaguely remember the sender. However, now that Katerina, who lives in Greece, has adopted it, not only do I have her recollection of having visited Rila Monastery 30 years ago, I have the delight of it being postmarked in Turkey since that is where Katerina was when she sent it back to me.

A Treat For the Eyes

Pavlovsk Palace

Pavlovsk Palace is in Pavkosk, near St. Petersburg, Russia and was built in 1782. Ksenia writes that the picture on the postcard only shows about 1/3 of the palace and its grounds. And Ksenia feels the gardens are the most magnificent feature. They are man-made, but so beautifully designed that they seem natural. It is, as Ksenia puts it, a "treat for the eyes."

The palace was burned during World War II, but because the caretakers had been so very careful to either send what they could away, or bury when was too heavy to ship, the building was restored to look just as it had when the last matriarch died in 1828 and stipulated in her will that nothing be changed.