Lukang, Taiwan

 Lukang: A Special Historic Spot

I realized that I've hardly posted any touristic cards of Taiwan, which is a pity, since I have many. Lukang is a township in northwestern Taiwan, which was a busy shipping town in the early 20th century. However, it began to decline when no railroads were built through the city, and that has allowed some of these historic spots to remain, instead of becoming victim to modernization. Lukang has more than 400 temples dedicated to folk deities. Perhaps this building is one of them – anyone want to translate the Chinese?

This card is from shui for the vacation RR. She always sends the best cards! :) And decorates them too...

 The middle stamp is familiar to us (here), and the stamp on the right is another issue of the same set, this time Calliandra marginata, or powderpuff plant, from 2009. The stamp on the left shows Aphrodisium faldermannii yuagii (long-horned beetle), from a 2010 set of four beetles.

Helsingør, Denmark

Kronborg Castle in Helsingør.

I recently returned from a long trip to Europe. I spent the most time in Denmark, visiting a dear friend. Denmark is a pretty small country, and I think I hit most of the major tourist destinations, so I'll be posting cards of more of them later on. Helsingør is about an hour north of Copenhagen by train, in the northeast part of the island of Zealand. At the narrowest point of the Øresund (channel between Denmark and Sweden), it guards the entrance to the Baltic Sea. In fact, this was the purpose of the castle: to collect sound dues from all ships entering or leaving the Baltic, and to open fire on any ship that refused. Sound dues were established by King Eric VII in 1429, at which time the castle was a military fortress. It wasn't until Frederick II came into power in the late 1500s that it took on the form of a "magnificent renaissance castle." Over the years, Kronborg was destroyed by fire, rebuilt, captured by Sweden (and most of the royal treasures stolen, although the Swedes have thoughtfully loaned Frederick II's royal canopy back to the Kronborg museum), a dungeon for convicts, and military barracks. Sound dues were abolished in 1857, and now the castle and its grounds, a UNESCO world heritage site, are open to the visiting public.

Helsingør is more famously known as Elsinore, the setting for Shakespeare's "Hamlet." My friend's roommate, upon my return, said "You know that Hamlet didn't actually live there, right?" Well, yes, being a fictional character and all... (however, there is an abbey in Helsingør which boasts "Hamlet's grave" -- apparently so many tourists wanted to visit Hamlet's grave that they decided to create one!) Every summer there's a Hamlet festival where they perform the play on the castle grounds. Unfortunately I was 2 days too late to see it.

 Two stamps of 2012 featuring illustrations of stories by Hans Christian Andersen. On top is "Hvad fatter gør, det er altid det rigtige" ("What The Old Man Does Is Always Right") and on the bottom is "De vilde svaner"("The Wild Swans").

Watercolor Watermelon

あしたはあしたの風がふくのだ。
Tomorrow, tomorrow's wind will blow.

I got this postcard from my dear friend Lara nearly a year ago. It seems like a good day for watermelon (summer weather!) and a good day to post this card. The artwork is by Miki Yuuseki.

The stamp is the great tit definitive seen here.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday, hosted by Beth. Click the logo to visit and join in.

Soft Greetings from Lithuania

This card is from Moominksy from the favorites tag. I love corgies. The text says "Soft Greetings!"

The stamp, from 2008, commemorates the 2008 Zaragoza world exhibition.

"The 13th Woman" by Lydia Davis

In a town of twelve women there was a thirteenth. No one admitted she lived there, no mail came for her, no one spoke of her, no one asked after her, no one sold bread to her, no one bought anything from her, no one returned her glance, no one knocked on her door; the rain did not fall on her, the sun never shone on her, the day never dawned on her, the night never fell for her; for her the weeks did not pass, the years did not roll by; her house was unnumbered, her garden untended, her path not trod upon, her bed not slept in, her food not eaten, her clothes not worn; and yet in spite of all this she continued to live in the town without resenting what it did to her.

This is an ad card for a reading by Lydia Davis, which I got when I did an internship at the place which sponsored the reading, in 2003.

North Sea, Germany

DE-601801 from Barbara.

I've decided to post a few of my favorite cards, since I'm not feeling too good today and I thought it might cheer me up. This card shows scenes from Germany's northern coast. The Wadden Sea National Parks along the coastline is a UNESCO world heritage site. (I'm not sure if the card actually shows that; there isn't any printed info.) Anyhow, this card is a perfect example of a beautiful multiview... artistic, with each view chosen and arranged with care.

Stamp here.

Santos, Brazil

This card came from the June Jubilee RR in 2010. It shows the tram of the coastal city of Santos. Among Santos' attractions are the Coffee Museum, the Football (soccer) Memorial, dedicated to Pélé and other players from the city, and the largest beachfront garden in the world. For far more details on the tram than I can stand to read, check out this page on the tramways of Brazil.

The stamp and its matching cancellation celebrate the Centenary of birth of President Tancredo de Almeida Neves. Issued in March 2010.