Grigg Nanjing Friendship Chinese Garden

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Grigg Nanjing Friendship Chinese Garden at Missouri Botanical Garden

I was delighted to receive this postcard from my blog buddy Lynn. It's a view of the Grigg Nanjing Friendship Chinese Garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis. The Chinese Garden is modeled on the “scholar’s gardens” of the southern Chinese provinces near the city of Nanjing. It commemorates the exchanges between the Botanical Garden and Chinese botanical institutions, as well as the relationship between St Louis and its sister city Nanjing.

The Chinese Garden is said to be a showcase of craftsmanship. Among its special features are a pavilion built in traditional colors, a handcarved white marble bridge and marble balustrade. Among the plants are pines, bamboos, lotuses, willows, plum trees, forsythia, hibiscus, wisteria, rhododendrons and azaleas.

USPS stamps: adopt a shelter pet, Hawaiian rainforest

I think Lynn overstamped the card... lucky me :) The stamps on the left are two of the 10 from the USPS Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet issue, which was the postal service's social awareness stamp campaign of 2010. The stamp on the right is from the Hawaiian Rain Forest pane, a print of an acrylic painting by John Dawson. There are 10 stamps of flora and fauna in the pane. Very cool.

by liberal sprinkles

Cupcake Royale, Washington state

The content posted at postcrosses.blogspot.com may contain affiliate links. This means I may get a commission if you click on a link and make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. I currently participate in the Amazon Affiliate, Bookdepository Affiliate and ShareASale programmes. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I have not received payments for any content here.


Postcard from jenwaters in Seattle. Thanks, Jen!

postcard of Cupcake Royale, Postcrossing US-1115296

The postcard is a view of Cupcake Royale, a popular cafe that started operations in Bellevue, Washington, in 2003 and now has cafe/bakeries in four other locations. It bakes its cupcakes from scratch using mostly organic and local ingredients. Cupcake Royale also serves Stumptown Coffee.

St Basil's Cathedral, Vasilievsky Spusk (Slope)

A postcard from Russia.

postcard of St Basil's Cathedral and Vasilievsky Spusk, Postcrossing RU-405165

Ths postcard is of Vasilievsky Spusk (Slope) and St Basil's Cathedral, an Moscow landmark on Red Square, which is considered the central square in Moscow and Russia. Main roads lead from Red Square to other parts of the capital.  The walls of the Moscow Kremlin, which is a Unesco World Heritage site, can be seen on the left of the card.

St Basil's official name is the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin by the Moat. "St Basil" actually refers to Basil the Blessed, a Muscovite "holy fool" who was buried in the Trinity Cathedral that once stood at the site before the present cathedral was built. The construction of St Basil's was ordered by Ivan the Terrible (the Grand Prince of Moscow) to commemorate the capture of Kazan in 1552 and Astrakhan in 1556 from Mongol forces. The building was completed in 1560.

Here's a picture of a postcard of St Basil's from the early 20th century.

St Basil's Cathedral, postcard from early 20th century
(wikimedia commons, public domain)

These are the stamps on my postcard.

stamps of Russian kremlins

Russian stamps are so beautiful. I love these stamps, different ones of kremlins (fortified complexes) in Russia. My first Postcrossing card from Russia also had Kremlin stamps on it.


Related links
Kremlin stamps (wikimedia commons)

Boys playing on the beach (Albert Edelfelt)

The content posted at postcrosses.blogspot.com may contain affiliate links. This means I may get a commission if you click on a link and make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. I currently participate in the Amazon Affiliate, Bookdepository Affiliate and ShareASale programmes. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I have not received payments to write any content here.

I received this card last week from Saija in Finland. Thank you!

postcard of Boys playing on the beach by Albert Edelfelt, Postcrossing FI-1082078

The postcard is of an 1884 painting by 19th century Finnish artist Albert Edelfelt called Leikkiviä poikia rannalla (Boys Playing on the Beach). It's so realistic, looks nearly like a photo, doesn't it? Edelfelt is one of the first Finnish artists to achieve international fame, he lived in Paris for some time. About half his paintings are portraits.

Here's a link to some of Albert Edelfelt's paintings (at Google Images). Posters of his paintings are for sale at allposters.com. I like these

A boy crouching on a rockby Albert Edelfelt

A woman and child in a sunlit interior
by Albert Edelfelt

Finnish aurora borealis stamp

I like this stamp of the aurora borealis (one of the natural wonders of the world I hope to one day see); it even has coordinates on it! Aurora borealis (northern lights) was named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas, by French astronomer/philosopher/mathematician/scientist Pierre Gassendi in 1621.


Useful resources
Google translate
northern lights info at fairbanks site

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Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

The content posted at postcrosses.blogspot.com may contain affiliate links. This means I may get a commission if you click on a link and make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. I currently participate in the Amazon Affiliate, Bookdepository Affiliate and ShareASale programmes. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I have not received payments to write any content here.

postcard of Brandenburg Tor, Berlin. Postcrossing DE-905693

This postcard was sent to me by Sonja in Leverkusen. The Brandenburg Gate is of course one of the most famous landmarks in Germany. It is a familiar sight to me. I stayed in two hotels just off the gate at different times and I once spent two months in Berlin, during which one of my favorite activities was walking down Unter den Linden, a linden tree-lined boulevard, visiting the landmarks and the fabulous museums in the area. If you had only one day to spend in Berlin, I would recommend this as your destination. There's a lot of iconic architecture in a grandiose setting.

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1917 Russian Revolution 40th anniversary postcard

The content posted at postcrosses.blogspot.com may contain affiliate links. This means I may get a commission if you click on a link and make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. I currently participate in the Amazon Affiliate, Bookdepository Affiliate and ShareASale programmes. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I have not received payments to write any content here.

I received this about two weeks ago from China. Thanks, Doris.

40th anniversary of 1917 revolution postcard, Postcrossing CN-350707

The card commemorates the 40th anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which was actually a series of revolutions that took place in Russia that year. Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in March and the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin took over power after the October revolution. The Soviet Union was eventually created in 1922.

I'm not quite sure what the significance is of the 40th anniversary of the 1917 revolution. There are photos of some posters or stamps (?) on the card.

Chinese stamps, Postcrossing CN-350707

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Thomas M. Easterly daguerreotype and Louis Daguerre

Missouri Historical Society postcard of Thomas M. Easterly work

I received this Missouri Historical Society from my blog buddy Lynn. The card shows a daguerreotype of still life with flag, lamp and daguerreotype equipment by Thomas M. Easterly, a 19th century Vermont-born daguerreotypist and photographer who is known for his works of the Midwest. His studio in St Louis was one of the first permanent art galleries in Missouri. The Missouri Historical Society operates the Missouri History Museum, which has a nice Flickr page with of a collection of Thomas Easterly's works.

postcards of Minnesota, lady slipper, Eckankar

I received these two cards on the same day from my blog buddy Lynn. Thanks!

Minnesota postcard

postcard of Eckankar Temple

I've never been to Minnesota, in fact I've never seen the US Mid-West. I imagine lots of nature, wildlife and manufacturing (cars?) when I think of the Midwest. I don't know if that's a right picture of what the region is like, but the top postcard does show off some wonderful nature spots. I like how the middle photo is cropped in the shape of the state. I think the flowers at the bottom of that frame are lady slippers, which is the Minnesota state flower (I found this at the 50states.com site - nice information there!). The lady slipper (cypripedioideae) is a type of orchid. Here's a close-up photo of one.

lady slipper (from Wikipedia, public domain)

This little photo is on the back of the postcard. I'm not sure what animal it is...

back of Minnesota postcard

Minnesota is the headquarters of the Eckankar religious movement, which was founded in the US in 1965. The second postcard is a photo of the Eckankar Temple.


Related links
Explore Minnesota
Eckankar (wikipedia)
photos of lady slipper (google images)

Brooklyn Bridge by Tom Baril

I got this card last week, it was sent from North Carolina.

Brooklyn bridge postcard, Postcrossing US-1083333

Nice shot of the Brookly Bridge in New York. The 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m)-bridge took 13 years to build;  construction was completed in 1883. At the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. It was also the first steel-wire suspension bridge. I walked the bridge from the Brookyln side to Manhatten three years ago. You get a great view of the Manhatten skyline. The Brooklyn Bridge is a National Historic Landmark.

The photo was taken by photographer Tom Baril in 1993.

Related links
postcards of the Brooklyn Bridge
NYC images by Tom Baril
Brooklyn Bridge (nycroads.com)

Missouri map postcard

I got two map postcards in the mail last week via swaps. The first was a a map card of Texas; this is the second. It came from my blog friend Lynn from Missouri.

map postcard of Missouri

Do you recognize any of the pictures on the map? I flunked the test pretty badly! You can read about the card and the other postal goodies Lynn sent me in my post at my main blog liberal sprinkles. The post went up there and not here because I went on to talk about my blogging experience. I'd be happy if you visited me there too. Have a great week!


by liberal sprinkles