Algarve, Portugal

The Algarve is the southernmost region of mainland Portugal. It has an area of 4,997 square kilometres (1,929 sq mi) with 451,006 permanent inhabitants, and incorporates 16 municipalities. The region has as its administrative centre the city of Faro, where both the region's international airport (FAO) and public university (the University of the Algarve) are located. Tourism and related activities are extensive and make up the bulk of the Algarve's summer economy. Production of food, which includes fish and other seafood, fruit, oranges, carob beans, figs and almonds, is also economically important in the region. The Algarve is the most popular tourist destination in Portugal, and one of the most popular in Europe. Its population triples to nearly 1.5 million people in the peak holiday season thanks to seasonal residents, and receives an average of 7 million foreign tourists each year. In total, including national visitors, almost 10 million people visit the Algarve annually.
Source: Wikipedia

Thanks to Lina via Postcrossing for this beautiful boat view and the

amazing stamp!

Sent: 10 August 2015   Received: 11 September 2015   Travelled: 31 days

Bohuslän, Sweden

Bohuslän  is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the west, and the county of Østfold, in Norway, to the north.

Bohuslän is named after the Norwegian medieval castle of Båhus. Båhuslen was a Norwegian county from around 1050 until the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, when the kingdom of Denmark-Norway lost this area as well as Skåneland to Sweden.
Source: Wikipedia

Thanks to Pei04 via swap bot for this beautiful sunset view!

Sent: 11 August 2015    Received: 21 August 2015   Travelled: 10 days

San Diego

San Diego /ˌsæn diːˈeɪɡoʊ/ is a major city in California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles (190 km) south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico.

With an estimated population of 1,381,069 as of July 1, 2014,San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. San Diego is the birthplace of California and is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, long association with the U.S. Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.

Thanks to JaneinSD via swap-bot for this great view

Sent: 7 August 2015   Received: 21 August 2015   Travelled: 14 days

Doulos

The ship currently known as the MV Doulos Phos held the record of being the world's oldest active ocean-faring passenger ship until December 2009, having plied the world's oceans from the time of her building in 1914 until being retired from cruising service at the end of 2009. She is now owned by Mr. Eric Saw, Director and Chief Executive of BizNaz Resources International Pte Ltd in Singapore.She was previously owned by the German charity Gute Bücher für Alle (English: Good Books for All), and was used as a floating bookshop. The ship has previously been known as the SS Medina, the SS Roma, the MV Franca C, and the MV Doulos. The Doulos ended her final cruise in late 2009 at Singapore, with the ship being handed over to her new owners on March 18, 2010.

Sent by Cikgu Dale via PostcardUnited. I have visitied Doulos a few times whenever

it made Kota Kinabalu its port of call. I love the idea of a ship full of books sailing

the seas,it must have been a fanciful experience to be a volunteer on this sailing library.

Sent: 12 June 2015   Received: 15 June 2015   Travelled: 3 days

Port St Mary,Isle of Man

Port St Mary is located on the south-western part of the island with Port Erin located nearby.

A railway station lies just north of the main part of the village, one of the stops on the surviving section of the Isle of Man Railway between Douglas and Port Erin. Steam trains operate on the line several times a day during the summer season, and stop at Port St Mary.

Thanks to James for this lovely port view from Isle of Man.

Sent: 12 May 2015   Received: 22 May 2015   Travelled: 10 May 2015

Ships

Lovely Ship art postcard sent by Gizem from Turkey

Sent: 24 April 2015   Received: 18 May 2015   Travelled: 24 days

Patriot's Point

Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum is located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, at the mouth of the Cooper River on the Charleston Harbor, across from Charleston.

Thanks to a friend for this beautiful postcard of Patriots Point!

Received: 2 April 2015 

Käsmu Maritime museum

I enjoyed looking at this card very much and imagining

what an explorer would have needed for his next voyage

Thank you Alma for this card from the Maritime museum :)

Sent: 14 February 2014,   Received: 28 February 2014,   Travelled: 14 days!

Comino, Malta

Comino is an island of the Maltese archipelago between the islands of Malta and Gozo in the Mediterranean Sea, measuring 3.5 square kilometres (1.4 sq mi) in area. Named after the cumin seed that once flourished in the Maltese islands, Comino is noted for its tranquility and isolation. It has a permanent population of only four residents. One priest and one policeman commute from the nearby island of Gozo, to render their services to the local population and summertime visitors. Today, Comino is a bird sanctuary and nature reserve. Administratively it is part of the municipality of Għajnsielem, in southeastern Gozo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comino

I've never seen a lagoon so blue! It looks like a scene straight out of a movie, 

with a sailing ship, one can imagine Perseus out to save Andromeda from the Kraken,

thank you Silvan for this beautiful card!  

Sent: 2 January 2014,   Received: 18 February 2014,   Travelled: 47 days

Cork!

 

It's Saturday and I have no mail so I thought to feature an unusual postcard from Portugal, a cork card featuring the Portugese Azulejos tiles of Portugese ships. 

Why do I like ships and hot air balloons?

If I was to say what I could remember from my elementary days in school it would be the subject on Portugese Explorers and Greek Myths,coupled with watching a lot of Indiana Jones with my father that fed my wonder on how people travelled long distances with the old fashioned method of sea travel.  Ever since then I always dreamt of being an adventurer, sailing on ships to discover new land,or flying in a hot air balloon into the unknown (blame 'Around the world in 80 days' for that one)

The odd thing was I never thought to visit Portugal ,especially when you're in some small corner in South East Asia, it seems like a place one only can dream about from the encyclopedia. Having set foot in Lisbon, sitting by the Monument of Discovery, and looking out over the Targus River, I wondered what those explorers thought about when they set sail  on the expedition to go beyond Africa.

 

Thank you Filipa for this amazing postcard!

 

and here's something for you to listen, a beautiful song I heard in Porto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSIGWEcR5Dc Dulce Pontes "Song of the Sea"

 

Sent: 8 January 2013,   Received: 16 January 2013, Travelled: 8 days

Polish Destroyer

ORP Błyskawica is a Grom-class destroyer which served in the Polish Navy during World War II and is the only ship of the Polish Navy awarded the Virtuti Militari medal. It is preserved as a museum ship in Gdynia, the oldest preserved destroyer in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORP_B%C5%82yskawica

 

Thank you Julia for this card of the historical destroyer, reminds me of one of my favourite action films, Battleship :D

Sent: 20 January 2014
Received: 5 February 2014
Travelled: 16 days

Crete #2

 

Agios Nikolaos is a coastal town on the Greek islands of Crete, lying eas of the island's capital Heraklion, north of the town of Ierapetra and west of the town of Sitia.

 

Postcrossing card sent by Lindsey, thank you for the postcard from your vacation!

 

Sent:??

Received: 31 December 2013

Glasgow

Glenlee and Riverside Museum, River Clyde

 

Thank you Doyel for the beautiful ship card!

Sent: 25 April 2013



Titanic news

20 April 1912

 

Thank you Richard for the newsprint card.

Sailing at dawn

 

Ou Ping, 1960s

A tiny region in eastern Asia, Macau is a harbor city

and fishery was very important in the old days. Today's

Macau relies on tourism and the gambling industry.

Thank Kuan Long for the this swap, I love the nostalgia this card evokes with

the black and white photography of the Chinese junks

Sent: 2 April 2013,   Received: 12 April 2013,   Travelled: 10 April 2013

How Columbus discovered America

 

Thank you Pei Shan Wu for this lovely illustrated card of Columbus' ship!

 Sent:18 March 2013,   Received: 3 April 2013,   Travelled: 15 days

Titanic

  

News of the Titanic sinking hit Southampton the hardest. 4 out of 5 crew members came from this town.

 Thank you Ed for this postcard and matching stamp!

Sent: 8 March 2013    Received: 25 March 2013    Travelled: 17 days

Toy ship

What the inside of a container ship looks like, did you know that it's still possible to travel by ship, not a cruise liner,but in a container ship, it costs roughly $110 Euros per day for a voyage from Malaysia's port to Europe, a journey that takes roughly 18 days :)

Thank you Anna for this illustrated ship!

Sent: 24 February 2013
Received: 21 March 2013
Travelled: 25 days

Ship at harbour

 

A painting of a harbour

Thank you Dasha for this card from Ukraine

 

Sent: 7 December 2012

Received: 21 December 2012

Travelled: 14 days