A Postcard A Day - Friday 28 February 2025 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely peeps, Here I am again. Time to share our smiles. (I have much to smile about).

Again I have a postcard for you and again there will be some funnies at the end.

This is postcard from Germany of the church on the Königssee. 

Wikipedia writes: The Königssee is a natural lake in the southeast Berchtesgadener Land district of the German state of Bavaria, near the Austrian border. Most of the lake is within the Berchtesgaden National Park.

The church is called St. Bartholomew's and according to Wikipedia it is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage church in the Berchtesgadener Land district of Bavaria in Germany. It is named after Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, patron of alpine farmers and dairymen. The church is located at the western shore of the Königssee lake, on the Hirschau peninsula. It can only be reached by ship or after a long hike across the surrounding mountains.

It was sent by someone who lives in Staufen in the SW of Germany. He showed on a little stamped map where both places are.

The most famous inhabitant of Staufen was Johann Georg Faust, who was the model for Goethe's masterpiece.

I'm on holiday in a resort called Matalascañas, near Huelva on the Atlantic coast of south west Spain. The hotel looks magnificent on the outside, 

but inside it is tired and a bit dated. 

The outside spaces are lovely though. Typical Ansalusian:

And there is a nice ceramic fountain outside the dining room:

I'm sharing a room with an older lady who has a bit of dementia so I would say it was not a good match really. She spends the day in our room watching telly. Fortunately the weather has been good until now and I have been out all the time.

The resort is deserted (Being out of season):

But the beach is spectacular and will be quite an attraction in the summer:

Apparently it's 8 km of beach.

I've made some new friends, one of whom took this picture.

Tomorrow is a national holiday: it's Andalucia Day. .Our Intercambio group has won an award, but I can't come to the gala to receive it. Instead I have been interviewed on the radio via the phone. That was slightly nerve racking, but the presenter was really nice and it went really well.

That is all from me tonight.

Of course there are funnies at the end for an extra giggle.

Have a lovely weekend,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 25 February 2025 - T for Bavaria, orange nails and blue eggs

 Hello lovely ladies,

How are you all? I am traveling and I'm writing this from my hotel room. (More later)

First of all I have a postcard for you:

Wikipedia writes: The town was first mentioned in a document (now considered to be a fake) in 1137, when Hallgraf Engelbert moved his residence from the nearby castle Limburg to his "Wasserburg" (Water Castle). It is one of the most historic towns of Old Bavaria – somewhat older than Munich, continually fought over by the Bavarian nobility and, up to the 16th century, on an equal footing with larger cities. The privileges afforded by this enabled the salt trade to flourish right into the 19th century. At the junction of the main overland route with the main water route, Wasserburg became the most important trade centre with the Balkans, Austria and Italy, a means of attaining power and wealth for the shipping owners and merchants.

In the early days, Wasserburg was an important hub in the salt trade. Its bridge was the only possibility to cross the river Inn for 30 km in both directions. On its shore the salt, mined in Berchtesgaden or produced in the Saline (saltern) at Bad Reichenhall and shipped from there by cart, could be loaded on ships travelling on the Inn River. Up to the 17th century Wasserburg was used as the port of the capital Munich.

The stamps are beautiful:

Best German stamp of 2019: This view on Spitalviertel in Rothenburg was voted best image of last year by the philatelist society.

Rothenburg ob den Tauber, according to Google,

 is a German town in northern Bavaria known for its medieval architecture. Half-timbered houses line the cobblestone lanes of its old town. The town walls include many preserved gate houses and towers, plus a covered walkway on top. St. Jakob’s Church houses an intricate, late Gothic altarpiece by woodcarver Tilman Riemenschneider. The medieval Town Hall has a tower with panoramic views. ― Google

So what has been happening back at the ranch... eh, I mean back in Caniles, Granada? I've had my nails done just before going on holiday:

I wanted a burnt orange with a pearlescent finish, but something didn't quite work. The nail technician got frustrated, her colleague finished the job and I ended up with something different to what I originally wanted, but it's OK. I like it too.

Caniles is, amongst other things, famous for its blue eggs. I don't have chickens anymore but buy them from a friend who has and I ended up with a few blue eggs!

Here placed next to a white egg for comparison. The colour is created by a pigment called oocyanin and only certain chickens lay blue eggs.

I am now officially on holiday. This morning I have traveled from my house (Caniles) to Granada by bus.

There is still snow on the mountains although the ski season might be over (I'm guessing, but I don't know):

My bus arrived at 2 pm, perfect dinner time here in Spain. I went to a restaurant where I had been before and I knew the food was good:

The weather was good enough to sit outside: Perfect!

This is also my ticket to the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard, as there is a glass of white wine.

I have booked into a hotel next to the bus station as tomorrow morning (Tuesday) I will get on the bus to Huelva to spend ten days on the coast. More about that on my Friday blog and also next Tuesday.

That is all from me today. 

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 21 February 2025 - Friday Smiles

 

Hello lovely peeps,

It's Friday again, the end of the week, and I'm thinking back over the week and remembering the smiles. There have been many. Problem is, I just forget to take pictures.

Let me show you my postcard:

Sent by Diana from Washington state in the USA. She tells me Germany is her home country and that visiting Wartburg is like a trip back in time.

Wikipedia writes: The Wartburg is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of 410 metres (1,350 ft) to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany.

Wartburg is the most visited tourist attraction in Thuringia after Weimar. Although the castle today still contains substantial original structures from the 12th through 15th centuries, much of the interior dates back only to the 19th century. In 1999, Wartburg Castle was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List because of its quintessential medieval architecture and its historical and religious significance.

The Luther Room

From May 1521 to March 1522, Martin Luther stayed at the castle under the name of Junker Jörg (the Knight George), after he had been taken there for his safety at the request of Frederick the Wise following his excommunication by Pope Leo X and his refusal to recant at the Diet of Worms. It was during this period that Luther translated the New Testament from ancient Greek into German in just ten weeks. Luther's was not the first German translation of the Bible but it quickly became the most well known and most widely circulated.

The stamp is a dahlia (I think). I love those round stamps.

Nothing much has been happening here.  Friday was a lovely day. I call it an I-Love-Lisca-Day! Must have one of those every now and then.

I went to Pilates in the morning, then I had a lovely upper body/lower back massage. Bliss! After that a short walk to the Japanese take-away to get a poke bowl for my lunch.

The weather was nice and in the afternoon I sat out on the terrace in the sunshine and read my book.

All in all a super day (but no photos).

On MondayS I go to the local gym. This time I remembered to take a picture:

We are about 20 ladies over 65. For these ladies the gym is a great social occasion and there is much chatting and laughter. I was on the treadmill taking the photo. There are 5 treadmills, four crosswalkers and several bicycles and a few other things. We do a few minutes on each machine. The teacher calls out the changes so that we all get to do each machine.

Yesterday I was in the local book shop as that is where I collect my Amazon deliveries. I saw an interesting book . It's about world history. 

I'm a bit of a history buff and this book was a cartoon version of world history. 

Really well done. I bought it there and then. (couldn't resist it). Above is about China (post WWII) and below one of the pages about the French Revolution:

I'm not taking it with me on holiday, so I will have that to look forward when I come back.

That is all for today. 

Enjoy your weekend, and keep smiling!

Lisca

As per usual I'm sharing some funnies below:

BTW, the other languages are not French and German, but something funny that sounds like it.

My new Apple watch

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 18 February 2025 - T for lots of books and an underground shopping centre in Moiscow

Hello lovely peeps,

Wow, that week went fast. And although it was a fairly routine week, it flew by.

And here we are on Tuesday. The T-Party. I will feature a drink later, but first a postcard:

It shows Manege Square in Moscow. Wikipedia writes: The Manezhka (as it is familiarly known) had its origins in Moiseyevskaya Square, which was formed in 1798 in consequence of the demolition of the medieval Moiseyevsky Monastery which had stood on the banks of the muddy Neglinnaya River since the times of Ivan the Terrible. Although the river was later culverted, the neighbourhood remained crammed with public houses and taverns, which gave the area its infamous nickname of "Moscow's belly".

A decision was reached in 1932 to pull down these "ugly relics of the bourgeois lifestyle" in order to make room for Communist meetings and demonstrations. As a result, the 19th-century Grand Hotel and several Neoclassical mansions by Osip Bove were dismantled, whereupon the Moiseyevskaya Square was expanded to its present size and renamed Manezhnaya after the Moscow Manege it now abutted upon.

Notwithstanding its new name, the eastern side of the square came to be dominated by another building, the newly built Hotel Moskva, a hybrid of several styles, most notable for its huge proportions and uptight look.

In August 1991, Manezhnaya Square (its name by then restored) became a venue for great demonstrations celebrating the fall of Communism after the abortive Soviet coup attempt of 1991. More recently, it made the news in connection with riots following the Russia national football team's defeat at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The place became a stage of rioting again in December 2010, when thousands of youth representing football fans and/or those who support nationalist slogans held a rally at Manezhnaya which turned violent. It made the square's name common in media when it comes to growth of nationalist sentiments in modern Russia.

During the 1990s Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov had the square closed to traffic and substantially renovated. The centrepiece of the refurbished square is a four-story underground shopping mall and parking lot, surmounted by a rotating glass cupola, which forms a world clock of the Northern hemisphere with major cities marked and a scheme of lights below each panel to show the progression of the hour. On the top of the cupola is an equestrian statue of Saint George and the Dragon, the symbol of Moscow.

Another innovation is the former river-bed of the Neglinnaya River, which has become a popular attraction for Muscovites and tourists alike, especially on sultry summer days. The course of the river (which now really flows underground) is imitated by a rivulet dotted with fountains and statues of Russian fairy-tale characters, as sculpted by Zurab Tsereteli. In 1995, Vyacheslav Klykov's equestrian statue of Marshal Zhukov was unveiled in front of the State Historical Museum to mark the 50th anniversary of the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945, when the Soviet commander had spectacularly ridden a white stallion through Red Square and Manege Square.

Have any of you been to Russia? I haven't. It doesn't attract me much.My son and daughter in law wanted to go to St Petersburg on their honeymoon, but they didn't get their visas in time and afterwards they never went.

The stamps are spectacular:

The one on the right is a painting by S.V.Monashov called 'Firebird'. On the left is the locomotive of the Ruskeala Express.

On the Internet I found this: This unique retro train, the only one in Russia powered by a steam locomotive, takes you back to the late 19th century. Luxurious carriages with imperial interiors immerse you in an atmosphere of history and elegance.

▫️The route winds through picturesque Karelia, ending at the famous Ruskeala Mountain Park, where breathtaking marble canyons and nature’s magic await.
▫️For a special experience, don’t miss the retro-style photo compartment! Capture moments that will be the highlight of your gallery.

Well, nothing much has happened here in southern Spain. I've been reading in the sun. It's really nice when the sun is out and it is cold inside but warm outside in the sun. So every afternoon I allow myself to read.

The last book I finished a couple of days ago was really good. It was a thriller called Postcard Killers by James Patterson (together with Lisa Marklund). 

It's about a serial killer killing young couples and then sending a postcard to a newspaper. Right from the start we know that the killers are actually a couple, seemingly husband snd wife, who travel all over Europe, befriend other couples and then kill them. Then there is an American detective who travels to Sweden and a Swedish female journalist who gets involved.

I enjoyed it very much and found it difficult to put down.

The other book I am reading (I read more than one at a time as I have one book on Kindle and another one lying about the house) is Never by Ken Follett. It is a 'fat' tome and when I saw the word 'political thriller' I decided that was not my thing. But Ken Fllett always spins a good yarn so I started it and got hooked as it is not terribly political. 

This is what I found online about it: "Set in a version of the present day, Never charts several different major events with the power to cause a global upheaval: a pair of agents trailing terrorists in the Sahara; a Chinese spymaster with political ambitions; a woman being trafficked by people smugglers; the United States' first female president navigates a minefield while dueling her blustering political opponent. Eventually, events spiral that could lead to conflict that could cause the end of the world." I have nearly finished it (One more chapter to go) snd I have loved every exciting bit of it. 

Then last month I read The Bookshop Ladies:

Joy Blackwood has no idea why her French art dealer husband has left a valuable painting to a woman called Robyn Tessier in Ballycove, a small town on the west coast of Ireland, but she is determined to find out.

She arrives in Ballycove to find that Robyn runs a rather chaotic and unprofitable bookshop. She is shy, suffering from unrequited love for dashing Kian, and badly in need of advice on how to make the bookshop successful.

It's very much a woman's book. Not really my cup of tea but it was a feel-good story with loveable characters set in Ireland.

Another book about friendship is this one I read recently:

Jo Sorsby is hiding from her past when she agrees to run her uncle’s beloved stationery shop. Glimpsing the lives of her customers between the warm wooden shelves, as they scribble little notes and browse colourful notebooks, distracts her from her bruised heart.

When she meets Ruth, a vicar running from a secret, and Malcolm, a septuagenarian still finding himself, she suddenly realizes she isn’t alone.

I liked this one better although it's another women's book. It was quite moving in places and the characters were really well drawn. I could visualise them and I felt like I knew them.

Then there was The Swimmer:

Socially awkward Chloe Cooper divides her time between dog walking, bartending, caring for her ailing mother, and at a safe distance, watching people and inventing the stories of their lives. Like Chloe's new neighbors: glamorous influencer Jemma Spengler and Jemma's husband, Adam, a renowned surgeon. They're attractive, wealthy, and in a house of open windows, so exposed.

A move to the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be a fresh start for Jemma and Adam. It's a renewed commitment to a marriage fractured by secrets. A chance to work through the tragic losses in their past. For Jemma, however, this new beginning also comes with an unnerving sensation that she's being watched.

I started reading this but I have set it aside and haven't finished it. I found it weird. Well, the protagonist is weird.Has anyone read this? What is your opinion?

Now as today I'll be joining the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard, I need something drink related.

This looks like me in the morning....

I'm going to leave you with another photo of my cat Ronnie:

Sorry this blog post was rather long. 

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca