Tango en la noche by Sigfredo Pastor, ARGENTINA

Hola, I proudly present my very first card from ARGENTINA!!! I received this artistic postcard yesterday. It shows a lovely drawing called “Tango en la noche” or “Tango at night” by Sigfredo Pastor.

Sigfredo Pastor is an Argentinean painter who dedicated himself to draw a pictorial theme of deep tango root. There are plenty of his works that show people dancing tango complete with its unique elements.

Tango is a traditional dance forms that originated from Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay. In September 2009, UNESCO has granted both countries’ wishes to list Tango as part of the world's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. There are many variety styles of tango that developed in different regions. However, Tango is essentially walking with a partner and the music. That’s why people always say “It takes two to tango” :)

Thanks Melina for this gorgeous card!

Similar but not the same!!! Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo dei Vicari, ITALY

Guys, do you remember my previous post about receiving the same cards???

I just realized today that i've made a mistake for these cards....i thought both are showing the same object but when i took a closer look, they are NOT!!!

The first card is showing Palazzo Vecchio in Firenze, while the other one is Palazzo dei Vicari in Scarperia. Both located in the same country, Italy, and have some kind of similar architecture but with slightly different details.

Palazzo Vecchio was originally built as the seat of the Priors at 13th-14th centuries. Now, it is a town hall of Florence, with most of the part serve as a museum. Meanwhile, Palazzo dei Vicari was built around the 16th century, when it was restructured to become the base of the Vicariate's judicial administration. Both are having a cubical structure with a tower and a clock attached on the tower. No wonder i thought they both are the same objects, right??? (excuses :P)

So, the moral of the story is please take a close look on every single postcard that you received, so that you wouldn't make the same mistake as i did Thank you Franca and Martine for these palaces cards!

Castle of Lucens, SWITZERLAND

Yesterday, I received this beautiful postcard of Chateau de Lucens in Switzerland. It is a castle in the sender's home village. According to this site, the castle was rebuilt in the 12th century and sits on the hill right above the town. Owned by the Canton of Vaud until 1801, it was sold to private owners.

The most famous recent owner is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s son, Adrian. He lived there until his death in 1970. It is now owned by the Kohler family and they retain the castle for personal use. In 1965 Adrian Conan Doyle decided to create a museum to his father and his father’s greatest work, Sherlock Holmes. Originally set up in the castle, Sherlock Holmes Museum was moved in 2001 to the Maison Rouge Museum just below the Castle Lucens.

For more info of Lucens you can visit this official site. Thanks Sandro for this lovely card!

Amir Temur Museum, UZBEKISTAN

Last Friday, I just received my very first postcard written and stamped from Uzbekistan. It's a thank you card from one of my sent postcrossing postcards.

The postcard shows Amir Temur Museum, located in Toshkent, the capital city. According to this site, this museum was opened on 18 October, 1996 for the 660-year anniversary of Amir Temur. Inside there are exhibits showing Central Asia cultures especially in the Middle Ages such as jewelery, weaponry, military attire and regalia, musical instruments, manuscripts, and personal effects of Amir Temur.

Amir Temur himself was one of prominent figures in Uzbekistan. A great ruler of Samarkand, built a great army and expanded his empire that stretched from the Volga River and the Caucasian ridges in the west to India in the Southwest.

Thanks Vitaly for the great card!

Have you ever received the same cards?

Hello all!!
WOW, it feels like ages since the last time i wrote on this BLOG...really2 sorry about that :) Well, enough said. I promise i will write more often from now on *fingers crossed*

Okay, let's start with today's topic. Have you ever received the same postcard over and over again?

In my case, the event is quite rare but yesterday i just received 2 official postcrossing cards and both cards are already in my received collection. Well, not exactly...i admit that i'm exaggerating a bit. The truth is i only received one identical card (Beautiful Maiko Girls), and the other one is only showing similar object but not identical.

I believe that once we start seeing our collection grow, there will be higher possibility to receive similar cards along the way. But, personally i have NO problem with that, why? here's the thing:

1) If we received one of the cards unwritten (in an envelope) we can always send the extra card for someone else or even exchange it with others.

2) If we received both cards written and/or even stamped, it doesn't really matter since the one that important is the personal message at the back. I personally view that what makes my collection special is the personal history attached to the every single postcards that i received. That's why i always prefer to have my postcards written and stamped :)

How about you guys?