Owl look at you!

Thanks to Lando for this beautiful owl palindrome card!

Sent: 5-10-15   Received: 2-11-15

Travelled: 28 days

Greetings from Mexico

Previously I got a Chihuahua card from him (which never occured to me that it
is a native breed of Mexico) and on this card it mentions the Chihuahua haha
Stamps show Mercado 20 de noviembre (the Farmer's Market) and
the Joint Mexican-Indonesia issue (Clouded Leopard [Indonesia] and
Mexican Jaguar [Mexico]. I thought it was a tiger at first.
Thanks to Lando for this cool card!
Sent: 3 Sept 2015   Received: 30 Sept 2015   Travelled: 27 days

Popocatépetl Volcano

Popocatépetl  is an active volcano, located in the states of Puebla, Mexico, and Morelos, in Central Mexico, and lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. At 5,426 m it is the second highest peak in Mexico, after the Pico de Orizaba at 5,636 m.

Popocatépetl is 70 km southeast of Mexico City, from where it can be seen regularly, depending on atmospheric conditions. Until recently, the volcano was one of three tall peaks in Mexico to contain glaciers,[6] the others being Iztaccihuatl and Pico de Orizaba. In the 1990s, the glaciers such as Glaciar Norte (North Glacier) greatly decreased in size, partly due to warmer temperatures but largely due to increased volcanic activity. By early 2001, Popocatépetl's glaciers were gone; ice remained on the volcano, but no longer displayed the characteristic features of glaciers such as crevasses.

The name Popocatépetl comes from the Nahuatl words popōca  'it smokes' and tepētl  'mountain', meaning Smoking Mountain. The volcano is also referred to by Mexicans as El Popo. The alternate nickname Don Goyo comes from the mountain's association in the lore of the region with San Gregorio (St. Gregory), "Goyo" being a nickname-like short form of Gregorio.

Thank you Lando for this great volcano card and beautiful stamps!

Sent: 27 July 2015   Received: 25 August 2015   Travelled: 29 days

Chihuahua

The Chihuahua’s history is puzzling and there are many theories surrounding the origin of the breed. Both folklore and archaeological finds show that the breed originated in Mexico. The most common and most likely theory is that Chihuahuas are descended from the Techichi, a companion dog favored by the Toltec civilization in Mexico.No records of the Techichi are available prior to the 9th century, although dog pots from Colima, Mexico, buried as part of the western Mexico shaft tomb tradition which date back to 300 BC are thought to depict Techichis. It is probable that earlier ancestors were present prior to the Mayans as dogs approximating the Chihuahua are found in materials from the Great Pyramid of Cholula, predating 1530 and in the ruins of Chichen Itza on the Yucatán Peninsula.

Source: Wikipedia

I never realised that Chihuahuas came from Mexico.

I feel rather stupid now haha thanks so much to Lando

for this great symbol of Mexico, and a card for my

Native Animals collection. Muchas Gracias amiga!

Sent: 22 July 2015   Received: 11 August 2015   Travelled: 20 days

Great Horned Owl

Excerpt: The Great Horned Owl is the largest "eared" and best known common owl. It hunts

during the day,watching for prey from a low perch. Its diet consists of rabbits,rodents and small

birds. It can measure from 18 to 25 inches in length and has an approximate wingspan of 55 inches.

"Cuando el tecolote canta, el indio muere" 

When the owl sings the Indian dies.

According to my Mexican friend, Lando, who explains that some people are

afraid of owls. In my language the owl is called "Burung Hantu" which translates to

"Ghost Bird". I suppose with the owls binocular vision and the ability to turn their head

270 degrees, they can be rather intimidating birds. Thanks Lando !

Sent: 22 July 2015   Received: 11 August 2015   Travelled: 20 days

Teotihuacan,Mexico

Scholars had thought that invaders attacked the city in the 7th or 8th century, sacking and burning it. More recent evidence, however, seems to indicate that the burning was limited to the structures and dwellings associated primarily with the ruling class. Some think this suggests that the burning was from an internal uprising. They say the invasion theory is flawed because early archaeological work on the city was focused exclusively on the palaces and temples, places used by the upper classes. Because all of these sites showed burning, archaeologists concluded that the whole city was burned. Instead, it is now known that the destruction was centered on major civic structures along the Avenue of the Dead. Some statues seem to have been destroyed in a methodical way, with their fragments dispersed.

Teotihuacan, Mexico

The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC, with major monuments continuously under construction until about AD 250.The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, but its major monuments were sacked and systematically burned around 550 AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more,making it at minimum the sixth largest city in the world during its epoch.Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population.The term Teotihuacan (or Teotihuacano) is also used for the whole civilization and cultural complex associated with the site.

Thanks to Martha for this postcard of Teotihuacan! I love historical places :)

Hope someday to be able to visit this place.

Sent: 25 April 2015   Received: 13 May 2015   Travelled: 18 days

Beautiful Jacob Sheep

The Jacob is an ancient breed from the Middle East. It has been imported to North America in small numbers since the 1900s. In the UK,ewes are included in the commercial flock because of their hardiness, ease of lambing and strong mothering insticnts.

Thanks to Lando for this beautiful sheep from the Postcard book of Beautiful Sheep :D

and the great doodle and stamp!

Sent: 8 February 2015   Received: 6 May 2015   Travelled: 87 days

Palenque Archeological Site

Palenque  was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date back to 226 BC to around 799 AD. After its decline, it was absorbed into the jungle, which is made up of cedar, mahogany, and sapodilla trees,but has been excavated and restored and is now a famous archaeological site attracting thousands of visitors. It is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas, located about 130 km south of Ciudad del Carmen about 150 m above sea level. It stays at a humid 26°C with roughly 2160 mm of rain a year.

Palenque is a medium-sized site, much smaller than such huge sites as Tikal, Chichen Itza, or Copán, but it contains some of the finest architecture, sculpture, roof comb and bas-relief carvings that the Mayas produced. Much of the history of Palenque has been reconstructed from reading the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the many monuments; historians now have a long sequence of the ruling dynasty of Palenque in the 5th century and extensive knowledge of the city-state's rivalry with other states such as Calakmul and Toniná. The most famous ruler of Palenque was Pacal the Great whose tomb has been found and excavated in the Temple of the Inscriptions.

By 2005, the discovered area covered up to 2.5 km² (1 sq mi), but it is estimated that less than 10% of the total area of the city is explored, leaving more than a thousand structures still covered by jungle.

Wow! Nothing beats the surprise of getting a historical site to drop into my mailbox!

Thanks to lovely Ale for thinking of me on her visit to Mexico.

Sent: 26 December 2014   Received: 2 February 2015   Travelled: 38 days

Day of the Dead #3

 

Thanks to Eduardo for the Day of the Dead illustration card,

really enjoy this funny Skull man who definitely looks happy

to be out loose into our world :D

Received: 13 June 2014

Chihen Itza

 

Chichen Itza, one f the 7 Wonders with the Kukulkan Pyramid and the Chac Mool.

Chichen Itza was a major focal point in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic (c. AD 600–900) through the Terminal Classic (c.AD 800–900) and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period (c. AD 900–1200). The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico and of the Puuc and Chenes styles of the northern Maya lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.
Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature.The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to the variety of architectural styles at the site.

Thank you Lando for this great historical card! Love the card and stamps :D

Sent: 21 April 2014   Received: 20 May2014   Travelled: 29 days

Día de Muertos

 

Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico where the day is a bank holiday. The celebration takes place on October 31, November 1 and November 2, in connection with the Christian triduum of Hallowmas: All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas, honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased.

Thank you Lando for the great card and most amazing stamps!

Sent: 21 February 2014   Receievd: 21 March 2014   Travelled: 28 days

Feathered serpent

Temple of Quetzalcoatl, Teotihuacan

Oooh what an interesting temple relief! Thank you Lando for the

awesome serpent poking his head out to bask in the sun :D

Sent: 10 January 2014,   Received: 4 March 2014,   Travelled: 53 days

Mexico City

 

The Metropolitan Cathedral whose construction lasted three centuries of the Spaniard domain, presents the most predominant styles of that ages in the Peninsula. Its construction began in 1572 and finished in the year 1821.

 

Thank you Stefan from Mexico for the beautiful view of the historical center.

Sent: 15 November 2013   Received: 13 December 2013   Travelled: 29 days

Mexico map

So my phone isn't able to do this justice, a most intricately illustrated map of Mexico. A wonderful gem in my map collection, thank you Maggie!

No stamp :)

Ciudad de Mexico

 

 The castle was built in 1785 and became the imperial Palace of Emperor Maximillian of Habsburg. Later it became the residence of the Mexican President and now houses the National Museum of History.

 Big thank you to Laura Ramos!

 Sent: 27 March 2013   Arrived: 25 April 2013   Travelled: 29 days

Oaxaca, Mexico

 

Atrio de la Iglesia de Tlacochaguaya, Oaxaca.

The Atrium of the Church at Tlacochaguaya.

 

Postcrossing card from Zack. Many thanks for sharing an old card from Mexico.

Card sent from Canada

 Sent: 8 April 2013

Tula, Mexico

 

If I were o ever go to Mexico, this would be top of my list to visit! I love archeological sites.

Tula is a Mesoamerican archeological site, which was an important regional center which reached its height between the fall of Teotihuacan and the rise of Tenochtitlan. Located in Tula valley, in the southwest of the Mexican state of Hidalgo, northwest of Mexico City.

Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tula_(Mesoamerican_site)

Sent by Maggie from Mexico.

No stamp :)

Guadalajara

San Juan de Dios market
The San Juan de Dios market is a very important commercial center in Guadalajara. It was designed by Arq. Alejandro Zohn and construted during the early 1950s.

Second card from Adriana, much thanks!

Sent: 23 April 2013,   Received: May 2013

Mexico stairs

Once again Wikipedia has taught me something new, from this picture alone I thought it was a ladder art installation in a museum but it turns out to be a Monument to the Revolution , with a ladder that goes to the roof, so that explains the rubbery legs hehe thank you Marte!

 Sent: 6 February 2013   Received: 26 March 2013   Travelled:48 days