January 31, 2020

3409 THAILAND (Bangkok) - Bangkok National Museum

3409 Phra Buddha Sihing image in Buddhaisawan Chapel

Established and opened in 1874 by King Rama V to exhibit relics from the rule of King Rama IV's rule, the Bangkok National Museum features exhibits of Thai art and history. It occupies the former palace of the vice king, set between Thammasat University and the National Theater. Other than preserving and displaying Thai artifacts dating from the Dvaravati, Srivijaya, to Sukhothai and Ayutthaya periods, the museum also displays extensive collections of regional Asian Buddhist Arts such as Indian Gandhara, Chinese Tang, Vietnamese Cham, Indonesian Java, and Cambodian Khmer arts.

January 30, 2020

3407 ROMANIA - Puzzle map of Romania - series of postcards

3407 The summary of the series
"100 years since the Great Union of Romania"

At the initiative of Mihnea Răducu, between 1st December 2017 and 1st December 2018, so in the year in which the Romanians celebrated the centenary of the Great Union, took place every month a meeting of the Romanian postcrossers, and at each meeting has been edited a postcard to recall this exceptional event for the Romanians. 
  
The all 12 postcards of the series
"100 years since the Great Union of Romania"

Moreover, each postcard contains a fragment from the outline of the borders of Romania and a letter, such that if you put together all the 12, you make on one side the map of Romania and on the other side the word "Postcrossing". Finally, Mihnea edited a postcard to solve this puzzle (3407). The 12 postcards can be seen here: 

P - Second Train Postcrossing Meetup, 24 February 2018
O - Postcrossing Meetup, Cornu, 15 September 2018
S - Postcrossing Meetup, Iaşi, 24 March 2018
T - Postcrossing Meetup, Chișinău, 23 June 2018
C - Postcrossing Meetup, Bucharest, 20 January 2018
R - Postcrossing Meetup, Bucharest, 2 December 2017
O - Postcrossing Meetup, Bucharest, 14 July 2018
S - Postcrossing Meetup, Bucharest, 17 June 2018
S - Postcrossing Meetup, Curtea de Argeş, 11 November 2018
I - Postcrossing Meetup, Bucharest, 1 December 2018
N - Postcrossing Meetup, Bucharest, 5 May 2018
G - Postcrossing Meetup, Bucharest, 7 October 2018 


3406 SLOVENIA (Slovene Littoral) - Preparations for Easter in Piran


The Palm Sunday is a christian feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter, and commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In most liturgical churches it is celebrated by the blessing and distribution of palm branches or the branches of other native trees representing the palm branches the crowd scattered in front of Christ as he rode into Jerusalem. In Istria the traditional palm weaving become a popular festive decoration. Painting Easter eggs is also also a tradition spread in many European country and not only.

3405 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - Royal Palace of Amsterdam


Situated on the west side of Dam Square, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam in Amsterdam is one of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarch by Act of Parliament. The sandstone of yellowish hue has darkened considerably in the course of time. In the rear of the building is a 6-metre-tall statue of Atlas carrying the Globe, symbolising the worldwide extent of 17th-century Dutch commerce and interests. The large domed cupola is topped by a weather vane in the form of a cog ship, a symbol of Amsterdam. Just underneath the dome, there are a few windows, from where one could see the ships arrive and leave the harbour.

January 29, 2020

3404 FANTASTIC CREATURES - The skeleton of a dragon


Associate professor of natural sciences and doctor of biological oceanography, Jean-Baptiste de Panafieu (fr) wrote scientific documentary books for the general public and for children, made documentaries for television, participated in expeditions as a scientific advisor and designed exhibitions on scientific themes. He has published more than 80 books, as an author or co-author, about environment and ecology, life in the oceans, food, evolution of animal forms and paleoanthropology. Among these is the volume Créatures fantastiques Deyrolle (Fantastic creatures Deyrolle), issued on the publishing house Editions Plume de Carotte Hardcover in 2014.

3403 MALAYSIA (Kuala Lumpur) - Old Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur


This building located along Jalan Istana in Kuala Lumpur was the former residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Supreme King) of Malaysia. It was replaced by the new national palace as the official residence of the King in 2011, and in 2013 was converted into The Royal Museum and referred as Old Istana Negara. The palace was originally a double-storey mansion called The Big House built in 1928 by a local Chinese millionaire, Chan Wing. During the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, it was used as the residence of the Japanese Governor.

January 28, 2020

3402 HAITI - National Palace


The National Palace was the official residence of the President of Haiti, located in Port-au-Prince, facing Place L'Ouverture near the Champs de Mars. Designed in 1912 by the Haitian architect Georges Baussan (1874-1958), it was severely damaged during a devastating earthquake in 2010, the ruins being demolished in 2012. In 2017 President Jovenel Moise announced that they will be commencing the rehabilitation of the national palace. Moise stated that the palace's exterior will look the same, but the interior will be modernized to fit the needs of a head of state in the coming years.

3401 SLOVENIA (Slovene Littoral) - The repairing of the wooden boats in the škver of Seča

 

In Seča (former Sveti Jernej - the Slovene name of Saint Bartholomew), a settlement not far from Piran,  at the end of Jernej's channel, the wooden boats are still renovated in škver. A škver (from Italian squero) is a small craft workshop or shipyard for the production, renovation and maintenance of exclusively small wooden vessels (up to 25 meters), in the traditional, manual manner. Škver was also named the most important accessory in the construction of each new wooden boat, a strong, flat beam rigidly fixed to the floor, which served as the base for the keel on which the entire boat was then built.

January 27, 2020

3400 GERMANY (Rhineland-Palatinate) - Postcrossing Meetup, Konz & Trier, 31 May - 3 June 2018


Between 31 May and 3 June 2018 took place at Konz and Trier a 4th International Postcrossing Meetup, occasion with which was published this postcard. The two city are only 8 km from each other, on the Moselle river. The meeting point, was at the front of Porta Nigra (UNESCO WHS), and the program was varied and interesting. Excursions took place, inside and outside Trier (for exemple to Orscholz, to the canopy pathway), BBQ, a raffle and others. Furthermore, it was offered a special 70-cent-stamp of German Post to the 200th birthday of Karl Marx (on the postcard).

3399 FRANCE (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) - The Bread of the Earth


This postcard depict the cover of the book The Bread of the Earth - The Mountain People Tell, by Anne-Marie Prodon, published by Cabédita Publishing House on December 22, 1998. In 25 chapters, 35 peasants and mountain people recount their lives in the first half of the 20th century, in their villages of the Franco-Swiss Jura. Men and women of the earth, attached to their living environment and their heritage, they conducted the same struggle to find the basic necessities for their existence in this arid county subject to the strong winds from the north. Through both funny and tragic anecdotes, they bear witness to a harsh and healthy life that made them robust, tenacious, determined and ingenious to face everyday realities.

3333, 3339, 3372, 3398 JAPAN (Kansai) - Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji in Kyoto

3333

Founded in Kyoto by the monk Shinshō (797-873), a pupil of Kūkai, as part part of the Shingon sect, Eikan-dō (View of Eternity Hall) is the head temple for the Seizan branch of Japan's Jōdo-shū Buddhist sect. Formally known as Zenrin-ji (Temple in a Calm Grove), it is famous for its fall foliage and for its prominence in the past as a center of learning. Its buildings, most of them connected by covered walkways and staircases, are scattered among a range of heights. It also has two other names: Shōju-raigō-san (Mountain where the saints welcome you), while Muryōsu-in (Temple of Immeasurable Fortune).

3339

In the 11th century, it had a popular head priest named Eikan, who is credited with acquiring the temple's main object of worship, an unusual statue of the Amida Buddha with his head turned sidewards. According to legend, Eikan was walking through the temple one day, when the statue, which was originally facing forward, turned its head towards the priest and talked to him. In the 13th century, a later head priest converted the temple to the Jodo sect.

3372

Eikando's main buildings are built alongside the base of the hillside and are connected by wooden corridors. The first building that visitors enter is the Shakado (Hall of the historical Buddha) with a small rock garden and beautifully painted sliding doors (fusuma). Walking through the corridors, visitors also pass by the Miedo which enshrines the Jodo sect's founder Honen and the Amidado (Amida Hall) which houses the Amida statue.

3398

The temple most recognizable building is its Tahōtō Pagoda, which is nestled in the trees on the hillside above the temple's other buildings. Its style pagoda are two story structures, whose first stories are square and second stories are round. Visitors can walk up to the pagoda, from where the rest of the temple grounds and the city of Kyoto can be seen. The view from the pagoda is particularly attractive in autumn, when the maple trees of the temple grounds are changing colors.

January 26, 2020

0214, 3397 THAILAND - Tuk-tuk (putt-putt, brum-brum and so on)

0214 Different tuk-tuk models

Posted on 21.05.2012, 26.01.2020
I know this type of means of transport from two sources: of Indian movies and from communist Romania during 1960-1970 (when they were used by the confectioneries and by the company - yes, it was only one - which deliver food at home). I note with surprise that this three-wheeled cabin cycle, in fact a motorized version of the traditional pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw, was or is used on almost every continents, except Australia. Those who invented it were Italians, namely company Piaggio, which made in 1948 Piaggio Ape (Italian for bee), based on the Vespa (Italian for wasp) scooter. Clever play on words, that perfectly reflects the change of purpose, going on the same line.

3397 Tuk-tuks at Wat Pho, Bangkok

In Thailand (because about it is about in the sentence) this auto rickshaw, called tuk-tuk, is a widely used form of urban transport, particularly where traffic congestion is a major problem. About 20,000 tuk-tuks are registered as taxis in Thailand. Bangkok alone is reported to have 9,000 tuk-tuks. The name is onomatopoeic, mimicking the sound of a small engine, often two-cycle (an equivalent English term would be "putt-putt"). Drivers may also use their tuk-tuks to transport fresh produce or other goods around the city in absence of passengers.

3395 SLOVENIA (Slovene Littoral) - The preparation of healing plants in Piran


The use of herbal medicine is widespread in Slovenia, and on visits to rural areas you’ll often encounter drying rooms or tables covered with leaves and flowers, the specimens gathered from gardens or the wild, to be later stored in jars and turned into teas for various ailments or left to soak in alcohol for a certain pick-me-up. Information on the use of medicinal plants in Istria isn't available in the literature, but collection of plants is still an important and widespread practice in this region. "There is a healing flower for every illness", say the people, and who has had in the family elders from the country side knows this.

January 25, 2020

1773, 3394 UNITED STATES (Hawaii) - Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park

1773 Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau

Posted on 24.07.2015, 25.01.2020
Located on the west coast of the island of Hawaii, Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park preserves the site where, up until the early 19th century, Hawaiians who violated the kapu (sacred laws) could avoid certain death by fleeing to this place of refuge. The offender would be absolved by a priest and freed to leave. Defeated warriors and non-combatants could also find refuge here during times of battle. The complex includes also temple platforms, royal fishponds, sledding tracks, and some coastal village sites. For several centuries, the pu'uhonua and adjacent areas formed one of the primary religious and political centers within the traditional district of Kona.

3394 Ki'is which protect Hale o Keawe

The park contains a reconstruction of the Hale O Keawe heiau, which was originally built by a Kona chief named Kanuha in honor of his father King Keawe'īkekahiali'iokamoku. After the death of the king, his bones were entombed within the heiau, which once held the consecrated bones of 23 great chiefs. It was believed that the mana (spiritual power) of the chiefly bones would offer additional protection to an already powerful place. Situated on a point of land near the sea and surrounded by dramatic ki'i (carved images), Hale o Keawe is still considered very sacred ground. The Hawaiian word ki'i may be heard in other parts of Polynesia as tiki.

3393 SPAIN (Castile and León) - The Millenium Dome in Valladolid


The Millennium Dome is a space in Valladolid next to the river Pisuerga, with multiple options in regard to the activities that can be held in its interior, such as concerts, conferences, exhibitions, shows and advertising and sports events. It was built by the Barcelona-based architect  Enric Ruiz Geli for Expo Zaragoza 2008, and subsequently acquired by the city of Valladolid as a multipurpose building. This dome covers the pavilion with a surface of almost 1,700 m² and has underground parking for 402 vehicles, a cycle lane and a restaurant.

3392 NETHERLANDS (Netherlands / North Holland) - The Bulldog Coffeeshop in Amsterdam


The story of The Bulldog starts in 1975, when Henk de Vries, who had started selling marijuana in 1970 at the Kralingen Music Festival, converted his father's sex shop in Amsterdam's red-light district into a coffeeshop, the first in the way we know nowadays. Henk asked ex-pat Australian artist Harold Thornton to paint some signage on the front of the 1st Bulldog Coffeeshop Nr. 90 but Harold turned this exercise into a mural that goes across the front of the whole shop. The mural helped the coffeeshop become a magnet for backpackers and tourists and its reputation grew. The company logo was inspired by Henk's dog at that time, a bulldog named Joris.

2699, 3391 UNITED KINGDOM - Elizabeth II

2699 Queen Elizabeth II addresses politicians and
members of the House of Lords during the
State Opening of Parliament in Westminster.

Posted on 21.08.2016, 25.01.2020
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is, and has been since her accession in 1952, Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and Head of the Commonwealth. She is also Queen of 12 countries that have become independent since her accession: Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

3391 Queen Elizabeth II travelling in Queen Victoria's 1842 ivory-mounted
phaeton drawn by two Windsor Grey horses. The driver is dressed in full state
postillion livery.

Elizabeth was born in London to the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and was the elder of their two daughters. She was educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936. She began to undertake public duties during the WWII, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In 1947, she married Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with whom she has four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.

January 24, 2020

3390 CZECH REPUBLIC (Vysočina) - Jewish Quarter and St. Procopius' Basilica in Třebíč (UNESCO WHS)


The historical treasury of Třebíč, a town located in western Moravia, on the Jihlava River, includes the old Jewish Quarter (former ghetto) the Jewish Cemetery and the large Romanesque St Procopius' Basilica, which incorporates some later Gothic features, including a rare example of a ten-part (also known as 'botanical') rose window. The ensemble provides an exceptional testimony to the peaceful coexistence of Jewish and Christian communities and cultures from the Middle Ages up to WWII.

3389 ROMANIA (Argeş) - Traveling around the world... with Mihnea Raducu


In 2018, at the end of April, Mihnea Răducu exhibited in the Great Hall of the Curtea de Argeș Municipal Museum a small part of his collection, more than 100 original Coca-Cola bottles from 40 countries and over 1500 postcards from 150 countries. I don't know exactly how many postcards Mihnea has, but surely many, many thousands. Voracious collector and zealous postcrosser (proud postcrossing ambassador), energetic organizer and tireless postcard publisher, he doesn't spare any effort to make things move sporty.