25 November 2010

The beautiful view of The Federal Territory Mosque, sent by Anne from Malaysia.  

Wiki says:
The Federal Territory Mosque or Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan is a major mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is located near MATRADE complex and the Federal Government Complex off Jalan Duta.
The Kuala Lumpur Mosque was constructed between 1998 and 2000. It is situated on a five hectare site near the Government Office Complex along Jalan Duta. The Wilayah Persekutuan (Federal Territory) Mosque was opened to the public on October 25, 2000 and was officiated by the 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin ibni Almarhum Syed Putra Jamalulail. It is the 44th mosque built by the Government within the city limits. The mosque can accommodate 17,000 devotees at one time.
The mosque's design is a blend of Ottoman and Malay architectural styles, heavily influenced by the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. It has 22 domes made from a composite material of glass fibre fabric mixed with epoxy resin to make it durable and light.

19 November 2010

I'm starting to jump, when I find in my mailbox an envelope from Felice. She always writes me inspirational letters, not to mention the cards that she sends.

Frida in a white dress. One of my favorite photos of her. Bought in Kansas City.
Hat, Paris 1952. A photograph by Fred Brommet.
Gorgeous card showing Sant Antoni marketplace in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) in 1915.

Wiki says:
Sant Antoni is a neighborhood in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). Its non-official centre, the marketplace of the same name, designed by Antoni Rovira i Trias and built between 1872 and 1882, is one of the oldest and most popular in the city, with second-hand book stalls on Sunday mornings. I
The streets of Sant Antoni follow the grid pattern prevalent in all of Eixample, except for a central throughfare, Avinguda de Mistral, built on the site of an important medieval road which lead out of Barcelona. Another well-known landmark of Sant Antoni is the bar called Els Tres Tombs, right next to the market.

History
Although its origins are tied to the (no longer in place) Saint Anthony church of Raval, the urbanisation of the neighbourhood dates from the 1880s onwards: very few houses stood around the market when it was built, and most buildings visible nowadays in Sant Antoni date of the 1920s and 1930s, when major urban changes occurred in the city on the occasion of the 1929 International Exposition. A working class area during most of the 20th century, it has undergone important changes in the last decades.
As of 2009, the Mercat de Sant Antoni is currently being refurbished, and a temporary market site along Ronda de Sant Antoni has been set in the middle of the road. In the meantime, this major road has become pedestrianised.

On the stamps: * Julia de Burgos - a poet from Puerto Rico, who is considered as one of the greatest poets of Latin America. * Katharine Hepburn - an American actress of film, stage, and television. 

16 November 2010

Beach at Bentota, a beautiful cost line of Sri Lanka. Thank you so much Thenuka, I dreamed about the postcard from your island! 
Gemini, Cancer & Capricornus stamps.
A vintage postcard sent by Jacqueline, a writer and photographer, now living in rural Pennsylvania (USA). 

11 November 2010

Postcard from Joyce. She lives in a small town near Arnhem and Nijmegen, which is actually the middle of Netherlands. On this card Joyce wrote me a good quote, said by John Lennon: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans". So true..

7 November 2010

Elke from Germany sent me this beautiful postcard from her last weekend trip. It shows the morning view of  Monschau, a town in the western portion of Germany, district Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the hills of the Eifel, within the Hohes Venn – Eifel Nature Park in the narrow valley of the Rur river. This card inspires me so much!

2 November 2010

A frosty postcard sent by "Kuroi Sakura" from Kokkola (Finland).
Monument to Peter the Great on the Decembrists Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Arrived from Olga.
Stamps with Pskov Kremlin.