Loch Ness

Nessie and the Urquhart Castle on the right

The iconic sight of Scotland is indeed a beautiful place.

'Loch' means lake in Gaelic, the native language of Scotland. The surface area of the stupendous Loch Ness is 56 km² it stretches narrowly from northeast to southwest. The water of the lake flows out at it's northern tip forming the River Ness. 

Though there are several things to see by the lake, for example the ruins of the medieval Urquhart Castle and the village of Durmnadrochit yet the lake is most famous for the legend of the Loch Ness monster a.k.a. 'Nessie'. The earliest stories of the legendary monster date back to the 6th century. She is imagined most commonly as a plesiosaur, an aquatic dinosaur that is thought to be extinct for many millions of years... That idea comes from a 1934 photograph which is claimed to be taken of the Loch Ness monster. What you can see on the photo is a large, long-necked animal that emerges from the water resembling to an ancient plesiosaur. Many people question the reliability of the photo whether it's a hoax or not... Anyways, tourism at the Loch Ness centers around the legend, you can visit the Loch Ness Center & Exhibition. There's even a Nessie sculpture in the lake in front of the visitors center :)

Date: March 2002

Livestock of the Highlands

Flocks of sheep and herds of cattle are essential components of the Scottish landscape. These are the most common Scottish breeds:

Scottish Blackface Sheep with her lamb.

Highland cattle cow and calf. There are black coloured variants as well.

More super cute highlander calves :)

Date: March 2002

Scotland

Scotland is a far memory that shines in the corner of my mind every time when I think of it. I was there during a 6th grade school trip back in 2002 and I want to return since. Why? Because I have been to some places (only in Europe), but I consider Scotland as one of my dearest travel memories.

It was a 10-day-long trip at the end of March and the weather was still chilly, we were freezing every night. The trip from Budapest to Scotland takes two days by bus, unbelievable how we could endure such a long time of boredom. But it was worth it anyway, 'cause Scotland is an adventure.

Fascinating and untouched nature: mountains, lakes. river and flocks of sheep as far as eye can see. Many historically important castles and fortesses rule these amazing landscapes, sometimes the only signs of human presence in the vast lands. The northernmost point I've been so far was in the Isle of Skye which belongs to the Inner Hebrides. So enjoy my beautiful postcards, the souvenirs of an unforgetable trip :)

Date: March 2002

Barcelona

Clockwise from left to right: L'Hotel Arts and Torre Mapfre, Caixaforum, the interior of Sagrada Família, the Barcelona Cathedral, a lizard from Park Güell, Magic Fountain of Mont Juïc, Casa Battlò, Torre Agbar, the rooftop of Casa Milá, the Sagrada Família

Barcelona is a truly amazing city – that's my personal opinion, but I think many agree with me. The capital of Catalonia region and the second-largest city of Spain among the Mediterranean coast. I visited Barcelona in February 2015 and I purchased nice postcards so I'm going to write more about my memories when I upload those. Barcelona became one of my favourite places and the thing that certainly enchanted me was the architecture of Antoni Gaudí. So let's return to the subject later ;)

From: R. J.
Date: June 2012

Koh Samui

Koh Samui is a touristic paradise in Thailand, the second largest island (after Phuket) off the southeastern coast of the country. It is abundant in sandy beaches, coral reefs and, therefore, tourist resorts. The island basically makes it's living from tourism but it exports large amounts of rubber and coconut as well. The most populous place is the Chewang Beach.

The background story: my university friend and her boyfriend went on vacation to Koh Samui but it was a visit at the same time, 'cause her boyfriend's father lives there. I remember watching their photos of riding elephants and hand-feeding tigers... so cool, would love to do that! :))

I love the photos of this postcard so much, especially the purple sunset. :)

From: T. V.
Date: June 2012

Little Omiš in Dalmatia

Omiš is a small ancient town located at the Adriatic Sea in Dalmatia region, South Croatia. 

It was a Roman settlement called Oeneum during antiquity. In the Middle Ages it was famous for its pirates who used to sack the South Italian and crusader ships.

From: H. Á.
Date: August 2012

Nesebar

An old black and white photo of an old street of an old town Nesebar in Bulgaria :)

Nesebar is a seaside resort among the Black Sea Coast, due to its richness in historic buildings, among them many Byzantine Eastern Orthodox churches, ancient Nesebar became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

From: P. M.

Date: August 2012

Isztambul, óóóóó Isztambul

Galata Tower on the left, Ortaköy Mosque with the Bosphorus Bridge at the upper right, and the cityscape at the lower right

 Istanbul, the capital of Turkey has a long history which dates back to antiquity. It was first called Byzantium until Constantine the Great made it as the capital of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire in 330 BC, then it was called Constantinopolis. It received its present-day name gradually after the Ottoman conquest of the city in the 1453. It was referred concurrently Constantinopolis in the West, and the city was officially renamed Istanbul in 1928 by president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
About the monuments on the postcard: The Galata Tower is a Romanesque style structure constructed in 1348, it was built by the Genoese colony in the city. The tower is 66,9 m tall and it was the tallest building of Constantinopole at that time. For those who climb the tower can see a great panorama of the city from the top. The Ortaköy Mosque Neo-Baroque style building designed by Armenian architects (a father and his son) and was constructed between 1854-56. Behind the mosque, the First Bosphorus Bridge can be seen, which connects Europe and Asia. The suspension bridge is 1560 meters long and was opened in 1973.
Istanbul is a popular holiday destination in my country, it looks like a lovely place with a lot of things to discover.

From: R. J.
Date: July 2012

Il Cenacolo

Leonardo da Vinci: The Last Supper (ca. 1495-1497)

One of the most well-recognized artworks of the world, like many other pieces of the Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci. It appeared numerous times in popular culture, lately in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code giving a new iconographic explanation of the mural. The famous fresco in the refectory of the Santa Maria delle Grazie church in Milan, Italy. It was commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan of that time, whose court Leonardo worked in.
Leonardo's Last Supper depicts the moment when Jesus announces to his Disciples that one of them would betray him. The scene becomes dynamic by the fervent reactions of the Twelve Disciples to the announcement. According to records, Leonardo was eagerly looking for the best models to study various expressions, not only on the face, but the hands too. The picture plane is designed with linear perspective to provide the sense of a three-dimensional space. Space-designing with linear perspective is a novelty appeared exactly in Renaissance painting. The converging lines meet in a vanishing point which, in the case of this picture, is in the right-eye of Jesus. This leads the eye of the viewer to the head of Jesus, the protagonist of the scene. Leonardo divided the Disciples into four groups and it is the first time that Judas is on the same side of the table with the others (in Medieval times, he is usually depicted on the opposite side to lay emphasis on his betrayal). He appeares on the left of Jesus in green and blue, clutching the bag of the thirty silver coins. In the three lunettes there are the heraldic symbols of the members of the Sforza family: Ludovico's combined coat of arms with his wife's Beatrice d'Este's in the middle, his first son's Massimiliano's on the right and his second son's Franceso's on the left.
I was lucky to see the painting during my Erasmus year in Milan and it remains a remarkable memory. Visitors are let inside the refectory in every 15 minutes and you have these 15 minutes to study the mural as much as you can. I remember I was surprised how dead are the colours of the painting (even though I knew about it's bad conditions) and it was lighted by a strange blue light which gave the feeling of a Power-point presentation projected on the wall. Anyways, it is a great work of art indeed.

From: T. A.

Date: July 2012

Summer in Italy

Three totally different style of postcards from three different places of North Italy: souvenirs of a vacation. 

A commercial postcard of the Villa dei Cedri Thermal Park at Lake Garda.

A very fancy twinkling postcard from Savona, a town in Liguria region, off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

This one is my favourite: A vintage style postcard from Trasquera, a small town in Piedmont, right next to the Swiss border.

From: T. A.

Date: July 2012

Chicago

Clockwise from left to right: Chicago by night, Chicago Theatre, the skyline, the Buckingham Fountain, the skyline again, Sears Tower, the Navy Pier and the Cloud Gate sculpture

Everyone who watched the movie Chicago has an impression of the Windy City. Chicago is the third biggest city of the US. and the biggest city of Illinois.

A few words of the landmarkes shown in this postcard: at right the Sears Tower is the skyscraper which owned the title of the tallest building of the world from 1973 to 1998, it was surpassed by the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Now it is the second tallest building in the US.

In the middle: the Cloud Gate (2006) contemporary public sculpture at the center of the Millenium Park. It was designed by the Indian-British artist Anish Kapoor, known for his biomorph public sculptures all around the world. The bean form sculpture's surface was inspired by liquid mercury and it reflects the city's skyline.

From: T. A.

Date: July 2012

Mount Rushmore

The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is my personal favourite. I was saying many times that this or that place is unique or distinctive, but the Mount Rushmore truly is. 

This mountain sculpture was purposely designed to promote tourism in the Black Hills mountain range in South Dakota. I'm a bit sad, 'cause it wasn't mentioned during my history of art studies, though it is an important sculptural artwork of it's kind.

The original idea of carving famous people of American history into the mountains belongs to a historian named Doane Robinson. Gutzon Borglum Danish-American sculptor was commissioned to carry out the project. Mount Rushmore was chosen for it's fine granite rock and the construction began in 1927. Borglum originally wanted to depict the four presidents from head to waist (there are archive photos showing original design carved out in a model) but due to the lack of funding, the figures remained only heads. Gutzon Borglum died in 1941, hence his son Lincoln took over the construction which ended eventually in October 1941.

There is another mountain sculpture in the region which doesn't have the same fame as th Mount Rushmore memorial. It's the Crazy Horse depicting a Lakota Indian warrior riding a horse and pointing with one hand into the distance.

From: T. A.

Date: July 2012

A Resident of the Yellowstone Park

No, this time it's not Yogi Bear :) 

Yellowstone National Park, the most well-known natural reserve in the US. and was the first to be established in the country in 1872. The park spans through three states, the major part is in Wyoming but it extends into Montana and Idaho as well.

Among it's vast number of natural formations, from mountains to canyons, from rivers to lakes, one is the Old Faithful geyser. It is rated as "the most predictable geothermal feature on Earth" 'cause it erupts in every 92nd minute. Wow, that's news to me! The eruptions can be 40-50 meters high and the temprature of the thermal water is so hot that people used to take their laundry into the geyser to wash... But it was a long time ago :)

From: T. A.

Date: July 2012

Grand Canyon

The next few postcards from the US. are definitely favourites of my collection. Thanks to my friend who was on a family trip in the US. visiting a Hungarian friend who has family in Chicago.

Besides the nice photo of this remarkable natural landscape, the style of the postcard is also cool :)
The Grand Canyon is a quite well-known landmark of the States, located in Arizona, so I don't want to make an expansive description, only the basic infos.
The 446 km long geologic formation is distinctive for the many hues of red which enhances it's grandeur. The canyon was carved by the Colorado River and it became a national park in 1919.

From: T. A.

Date: July 2012