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

 

A Postcard A Day - Friday 14 February 2025 - Friday Smiles

Hello lovely girls! How are you all? Happy Valentine's Day!

Any smiles this week? Of course! There is always a silver lining.

I have had lots to smile about this week. But more of that later. Let me show you my postcard for this week:

 It came to me from Germany. It was sent by Teresa, who is Czech but lives in Germany. The quote "Do I dare disturb the universe?" is from a poem by T.S.Eliot.

Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.

The poem is called:

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Here is an excerpt:

And indeed there will be time

To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”

Time to turn back and descend the stair,

With a bald spot in the middle of my hair —

(They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”)

My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,

My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin —

(They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”)

Do I dare

Disturb the universe?

In a minute there is time

For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

Wikipedia writes: 

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is the first professionally published poem by the American-born British poet T. S. Eliot (1888–1965). The poem relates the varying thoughts of its title character in a stream of consciousness. Eliot began writing the poem in February 1910, and it was first published in the June 1915 issue of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse at the instigation of fellow American expatriate Ezra Pound.

More from Wikipedia on T.S.Eliot: 

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a prominent Boston Brahmin family, T.S.Eliot moved to England in 1914 at the age of 25 and went on to settle, work, and marry there. He became a British subject in 1927 at the age of 39 and renounced his American citizenship.

The stamp is the usual Europe stamp with the baby goats:

So much for my card. What have I been up to here in southern Spain?

As you might have read on my Tuesday blog, I have been to Almería for the day on Sunday.

A group of us from the Photo club went to see an exhibition of photographer Louis Stettner:

Here we are outside the photo museum (where the exhibition was):

We enjoyed long walks along the boulevard (in the sun) and had drinks and later a meal.

There is a fun shop called Ale Hop in Almería. It sells funky accessories. My grandson in Italy asked me to buy a certain type of headphones there. Unfortunately what he wanted had sold out. So I photographed the entire selection and let him choose. This is what he chose:

I will put it in my suitcase and he will get it when I go to Italy in April.

That is all from me today. Of course I will share some funnies at the end and now I shall link up with Annie at A Stitch In Time for more smiles. See you there!

Enjoy your weekend,

Lisca

 

A Postcard A Day -Tuesday 11 February 2025 - T for

 Hello lovely peeps, How are you all? Here we are again meeting at the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. 

I will show you a drink which is my 'ticket' to the T-Party and a postcard and stamp, which is what my blog is about really.

So first the postcard:

It was sent to me by my friend Maggie who is fortunate enough to be able to travel the world and she and her husband were in Oman recently and sent me this card. The place is called Nizwa. Below is a map of Oman:

Oman I thought, was one of the Emirates. Not true. It is a sultanate. Wikipedia writes:  Qaboos bin Said was the Sultan from 1970 until his death on 10 January 2020. Qaboos, who died childless, had named his cousin, Haitham bin Tariq, as his successor in a letter, and the ruling family confirmed him as the new Sultan of Oman:

The stamp is very pretty:

I think the ruler in the picture is in fact the current sultan.

Now let me tell you what I have been up to. On Sunday I spent the whole day in Almería, on the south coast, with my friends from the photo club. We traveled in several cars and arranged to meet at a little  bar near the harbour, where we had coffee and breakfast:

This was my coffee, but my toast hadn't arrived yet. 

And this was what I was looking at (from my seat):

You can just see the edge of the parasol in the top left corner. I didn't really want to sit in the shade. I would have loved to sit in the sun as it wasn't too warm yet.

We went to the photographic museum to see an exhibition:

This is outside the building. The object is a giant version of an old camera.

The exhibition was about American photographer Luis Stettner:

After seeing the exhibition, we walked around town a bit. Almería is a really nice town.

Pretty flowers on balconies and wall art galore:

Below is the cathedral, which dates from the time when Christian cathedrals had to be fortresses as Andalusia was a muslim country until the christian kings conquered it in 1492.

We had lunch in a seafood restaurant on the seafront I ordered tuna:

As you can see it is quite 'rare'. That's how I like it. It was so tender it literally melted in my mouth! I could have eaten it without teeth! Definitely the highlight of my day.

Oh yes, there is also my glass of white wine (I didn't have to drive as we were car sharing and I went in someone else's car.)

I think this is all for today.

Wishing you all a very happy T-Day,

Hugs,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 7 February 2025 - Friday Smiles

 Hello lovely peeps,

This week has flown by and it is already Friday again. Another Friday, another postcard:

It comes to me from the Ukraine and was sent by someone called Veronika. She writes that she loves Spain and has a Spanish godmother.

She has used some lovely stamps:

They are both from 2024, so quite recent. The left one says (according to Google translate) 'Shirt fragment, Kharkiv region' and the one on the right: Crimean Tatar embroidery.

What have I been up to? I've been on a lovely long walk on Sunday but I have already mentioned that in my Tuesday blogpost:

Yesterday, (Thursday) I accompanied an English friend to the hospital. As it happens (Sod's law) her car was out of action so I went to collect her from home, then to the hospital and then we decided to have lunch somewhere as the weather was sunny and we could sit outside:

As you can see I had a salad, but it was huge!

Anyway, we had a lovely day together.

My cat Ronnie is fine, apart from an occasional furball vomit. I have bought special dry food to help with that, so he has that as extra beside his wet food sachets. The dry food means that he has to drink more water. The funny thing is that he only drinks water from the tap. (The previous owner warned me about that). It is a strange thing to see:

I have some funnies lined up for you at the end. After all this is Friday Smiles and I do hope they will make you smile. (A smile a day keeps the doctor away).

Enjoy your weekend,

Hugs,

Lisca