gardens

This isn't a favourite card, but it came in a lot from someone who may have been clearing out a loved one's collection of postcards from a trip to Worthing.  Featuring two views of Beach House Park, Denton Park with its sunken garden, and Marine Gardens.  I like this one below as much for the architecture and the colourful cars as for the garden view from the windows (Steyne Garden)

hello

CATURDAY 

Tours, Chambord, Chinon, Villandry, Ambroise, Loches

town squares

This Estonian Town Hall Square has been a marketplace since the middle ages.  It looks like it might just be setting up, or closing down, in this image.  The building on the far left is the town hall and on top of the spire is a weather vane that has been there since 1530.

Below is another town square, this time in Lithuania.  Kaunas is the second largest city in that country and was a temporary capital during the interwar period.  The building in the centre is the town hall. The rivers are the Nemunis and Neris.

and, to round out the Baltic states,  Riga. With another public square in the middle left.  The buildings of the Town Hall Square were all rebuilt as everything was destroyed during WWII.

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia with northern European cities for Thursday Postcard Hunt

samara

Samara, in this case, is a city in Russia that used to be known as Kuybyshev, at the confluence of the Volga and Samara rivers.  I can't quite figure out if this is a view of the Volga or Samara.

nature

 natural Finland

as we head into winter and December's theme of Christmas

day 27 of NaBloPoMo

snow

sometimes, the snows falls before all the leaves

sometimes, it doesn't fall on mountains in November, as has happened in Japan this year. snow fell on the 6th, but almost immediately melted away, unlike in this vintage postcard of Mt Fuji in winter.

 

 

But, maybe for more consistent views of snow in winter, you need to head over to Finland.
 

two town views

 

Sent in 1900 to South Shields (an almost 5 hour drive from Cheltenham) in England.

On this card we have 'the Promenade' (top right) which dates back to 1818 in the height of the Regency period, with 'the fountain' (top left).  'Pitville Gardens' is on the bottom, which seems to be a misspelling of Pittville Gardens, part of a large estate created by Joseph Pittville in 1825 for the "rich & famous who came to live in Cheltenham".  The estate includes a large ornamental lake and a pump room (as would befit a spa town).  By 1894, the park was open to the general public.  In the centre is the Cheltenham Ladies College (founded in 1854) a private boarding and day school for girls aged 11-18.

I know a bit less about this town in West Pomerania - not to be confused with Szczecin, the capital of West Pomerania. (including how to properly pronounce it!).  Szczecinek was given town status in 1310.

The building in the top row middle, is the town hall with quite a large fountain.  Most of the city was spared in WWII and the entire old town (middle row far right) is a national heritage monument to Poland.  The image below that shows the Church of St Mary's.  The statue may be of Adam Giedrys, an astronomer and tailor.  The others seem to show various ways you can enjoy yourself in the town.

valencia

the region has been declared a disaster zone after devastating floods, the deadliest in decades

two names, three countries

 

also known as Lake Constance, the Bodensee is where Germany, Switzerland and Austria meet.  The actual borders within the lake are in dispute.

souvenirs

 

semi finals part deux

thing three

 

 

 

England v Netherlands

thing four

Colombia v Uruguay

windmills

 

the Old Mill in Whitstable

below, somewhere in Netherlands

Zaanse Schans holds a special place for me as I lived near there and used to ride my bike through the area.

some windmills from Kent and North Holland for Thursday Postcard Hunt

summer

Summer has never been my favourite season. The heat and humidity exhausts me. And, after so looking forward to patio season, the cool, air conditioned interior of any restaurant or cafe draws me inside. And, it seems to be fraught with disasters - fires, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes... But the gardens are beautiful and lush.

as is the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake

which is festooned with flowers along Queen Street

which is also where you can find several ice cream shops, including this one (which conveniently also sells postcards)

Niagara-on-the-Lake is a tourist town, with its flowers and the Shaw Festival (with three theatres)

Some tourist towns are really quiet beyond the summer, like Tobermory, which is located at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula which divides Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. The little town, with about 1,400 permanent residents, wraps around this harbour.

It has lots of restaurants, art galleries and craft stores, book shops and clothing shops, a well stocked grocery store filled with all your camping needs, and places where you can buy tickets for the several boat tours. But, as a local once remarked, there are no hair salons.

for Thursday Postcard Hunt

principality

 

Vaduz Castle, Townhall,  aerial view of Vaduz, Gutenberg Castle, Government Building

good luck

 

CATURDAY

glens, braes, and lochs

Loch Finglas,          Falls of Dochart,          Callendar

QE 2 Forest Park,          Loch Ard,          Inchmahome Priory

Lake of Monteith,          SS Sir Walter Scott,          Duke's Pass

Leicester

Granby Street            Abbey Park Pavillion

Clock Tower

De Montfort Hall            Midland Station

off broadway

built in the 1920s, it outlived its heyday and was demolished in the 1960s

city sights

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum                           University of Glasgow

Glasgow Cathedral                                       City Chambers George Square

People's Palace Glasgow Green

99 cats

from Hong Kong

Can you find the one dog?