A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 8 September 2026 - T for Germany, rosé and 3 book reviews

 Hello lovely girls,

I have a map card for you this Tuesday and as Elizabeth and Bluebeard are having a T-Party, I want to secure my invite with a few drinks. And if I feel like it, I will do some book reviews. I have read 16 books this summer, (19 if May counts as 'summer') so I will probably do just two or three at a time.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I will begin:

I received this map card recently. It was sent to me through Postcrossing by Andreas who is a biologist in Chemnitz in Germany.

Wikipedia writes:

Chemnitz, known as Karl-Marx-Stadt from 1953 to 1990, is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of the former East Germany after (East) Berlin, Leipzig, and Dresden. 

Below the statue of Karl Marx:

Chemnitz had an opera theatre and was the European Capital of Culture of 2025.

Below the old and the new town hall:

The stamps are colourful. 

The middle stamp is from a series of popular holiday destinations.

It features mountains and marmots.

The other two are from the series 'World of Letters'. The series which began December 2021, replaced definitive series “Flowers” after a 16-year run.

Folded paper is the theme that runs through the series. On the left there is a paper fish and on the right a 'message in a bottle'.

What can I tell you about me? When I was traveling home on the bus not long ago, my rucksack fell off the luggage rack and my tablet  now  has a cracked screen. Thank goodness it still works, but I will take it to a repair shop to see if I can get a new screen.

(My face is just about visible in the screen as I take the picture.)

As today Elizabeth and Bluebeard are hosting the T-Party, I need some drinks:

Here I'm enjoying some salmon with wild rice and peas. My drink is a lovely rosé called Peñascal.

This is last night's salad, with air fried chicken breast and fresh lettuce, cucumber and tomato. Very simple really. All that washed down with the same  rosé. (Peñascal)

These are air fried cod fillets with roasted tomatoes and brown rice. Again with some Peñascal. I'm using a can as I forgot to put a new bottle in the fridge. Rosé needs to be cold.

Let me tell you what I have been reading this summer. I have counted 19 books (if May counts as summer).

I will mention three books today. Two of these I picked up reluctantly because the subject matter didn't quite 'float my boat'. But I'm so glad I did read them!

First one:

Robert Goddard is my favourite author and I have read nearly all his books, but I hadn't read this one as it is about WWI which didn't attract me. But it came up as a special offer on Audible, so I got it.

The book starts with this sentence: ’This is the day and this the place where a dream turns a corner and a secret is told.’ Well, I couldn't resist that and I had to read it.

Goodreads describes it like this:

Six months after her husband's sudden death, Leonora Galloway sets off for a holiday in Paris with her daughter Penelope. At last the time has come when secrets can be shared and explanations begin... Their journey starts with an unscheduled stop at the imposing Thiepval Memorial to the dead of the Battle of the Somme near Amiens. Amongst those commemorated is Leonora's father. The date of his death is recorded as April, 30th, 1916. But Leonora wasn't born until March 14th, 1917. Penelope at once supposes a simple wartime illegitimacy as the clue to her mother's unhappy childhood and the family's sundered connections with her aristocratic heritage, about which she has always known so little. But nothing could have prepared her, or the reader, for the extraordinary story that is about to unfold.

It is indeed a beautifully told, tragic story set in WWI. It's a love story (in the broadest sense) and a murder mystery, about the battle on the Somme and about PTSD. It spans four generations so it keeps you on your toes. And towards the end of the story, I wasn't quite sure which was courage and which was cowardice, or indeed the difference between right and wrong which in a war is often so vague. It really made me think.

It was one of those stories that drew you in and kept you there, feeling almost part of the family  and like Penelope, made you desperately wanting to know the truth.

 In spite of my reservations, I loved it and gave it my (maximum) of 5 stars.

Isaac and the Egg was the most beautiful and surprising book I have read in a very long time. It's about grief and loss and that doesn't sound like an attractive subject for a book. I have spent the last 20 years of my working life professionally dealing with death and dying so I was hesitant to pick this up. 

Well, I'm glad I did, as it was delightful! Isaac the protagonist has lost his wife and is not coping at all. At the start of the book he is about to jump off a bridge. He has had enough. Then he sees something shimmering in the grass. Upon inspection it seems to be a large pulsating egg. Eventually he takes this egg home.

The egg turns out to be 'salient' and as Isaac descends into mental desperation and in the end has a breakdown, the egg is a comfort to him somehow. He talks to the egg and can get suff off his mind.

Slowly the reader discovers what has happened .

It is a feel-good book that at times is laugh-out-loud funny but there are moments you need a tissue.  It is sad but at the same time filled with hope and love. 

I listened to this book on Audible and the narrator is excellent (Johnny Flynn). I believe he brought the book to life. I don't think I would have enjoyed it so much if I had just read it as a book.

Again I gave it 5 stars.

Last but not least:

This book was recommended to me by my friend Keren. We have the same taste in books so I immediately got this (on Audible as well) and enjoyed it very much.

The story is set in two time lines. One in 'today' and one in WWII Paris. 

Paris was becoming a dangerous place and the bookshop owner sends his wife away to relatives in the country for her own safety. He stays in Nazi-occupied Paris and keeps the book shop, now also frequented by Germans. He tries to help local people where he can. I'm not saying anymore as I don't want to spoil it.

The story line in modern times involves a young American woman, Juliette, who is visiting Paris where her grandmother was born. She has inherited a painting from her grandma which shows a little square in an old part of Paris. Of course she finds where this square is and the story unfolds.

The book is very moving at times and sometimes sad. 

I know from my parents what suffering the Nazis caused, so what happened to the bookshop owner comes as no surprise. 

There is a quote in the book which could also refer to our present times:

“What havoc could be inflicted on the world by one man with a lust for power!”

I gave it 4,5 stars.

That is all from me today.

Happy T-Day all,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 4 September 2026 - Friday Smiles and Friday Faces

 Hello lovely peeps,

Happy Friday to you! I have a lovely postcard to share with a special stamp. And it has a face on it so I will also joining Face Off. 

I have just come back from a trip to Italy, so I will show you some more some photos from my trip. Then last but not least there will be ten funnies at the end.

Let me show you this postcard:

It's a so-called Maxi-card and comes all the way from Australia. It is a First Day Issue of the stamp and it is sold with a postcard of the same theme. The stamp is stuck on the front of the card for the occasion. Many countries issue them (but not the USA for some reason). 

The picture on the card (and on the stamp) features the produce sold at Adelaide Central Market.

Looking on the Internet, this is what the market looks like on the outside:

And on the inside:

I personally would prefer an outdoor market with stalls, but I suppose it depends on the climate. What is the climate like in Adelaide? I have no idea.

The card was sent to me (via Postcrossing) by Sharon. She put a sticker on the card telling me about where she lives:

Well, what have I been up to?

I have been staying with my son in Italy (in Abruzzo). 

In his little town there is a Sunday market.

It snakes around all the little streets. I bought some nice outfits although I only went to look for a cardigan!

 But this part is the vegetable market, next to the church.

My son and daughter-in-law are buying yellow peaches.

We also went to the beach a few times at a beach near Ortona:

We went early as it is so hot. The 'free' part of the beach is cleaned and raked by a guy on a tractor. He always makes a heart shape when he's finished. I like that.

My son and family rent a parasol and recliners for a whole season. They have done this for years. Theirs is in the fourth row from the water (the last row with the large parasols).

On the right (not visible in the above photo) are the rocks:

Me and my grandson on the rocks. I'm sorry, but I don't look very good in a bathing suit. This one has a little skirt but I still look awful.

On another day we went for a stroll in the mountains:

The village is called Pennapiedimonte and it is a 5 minute drive from my son's house.

I love the mountains more than the coast.

Below me and my boy:

Their house has a lovely large terrace:

Where we have our meals and generally spend a lot of time. It wraps around the side of the house too.

The views are beautiful:

The mountain is called the Maiella and has two ski areas, which are more visible in winter.

I will finish with a lovely sunset from the terrace:

The mountain in the far background is called the Gran Sasso (The big stone).

That is all for now. I think there are several faces for the Friday Face Off and for Friday Smiles, there will be some funnies at the end.

Have a lovely weekend,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Wednesday 2 September 2026 - Second on the 2nd.

 Hello lovely girls,

Today I want to share an old blog post from August 2025 and join Elizabeth and Bluebeard for "Second on the 2nd" . 

Today I am traveling back from Italy to Spain, so I am scheduling this. I won't be home until late evening so I probably won't be able to do many comments. (No wifi on the bus).

I hope you enjoy this extra little glance at the beautiful region of Abruzzo in Italy.

Happy Second on the 2nd!

Lisca

A postcard a day - 16 August 2015 Abruzzo, Italy

Good morning and good Sunday!

As it’s Sunday I usually show you something church related. Today it’s a card of Abruzzo. The part of Italy where I spent many years of my life. The words under the photo translate: Beautiful Abruzzo “places of the spirit”.

Top left is the convent of Saint Angelo of Ocre (province of Aquila)

Top right is the hermitage of the Holy Spirit on the Maiella. The Maiella was our local mountain, it has ski pistes and lots of paths to walk and ramble. It’s not so visible on the photo but the buildings are ‘stuck’ to the side of the mountain. Sadly they are no longer permanently inhabited, but the monks go there in the summer and hold retreats.

Bottom left is another of my fav places on the side of a mountain (different mountain though). It’s called the hermitage of Saint Bartholomew (near Legio in province of Pescara). San Bartolomeo short video It can only be reached on foot and when I was younger a group of us did the walk every year. One of the popes of bygone years was exiled there.

The bottom middle is in a church Santa Maria dell’Assunta in Bominaco (province of Aquila) and bottom right is the abbey of St Clement in Casauria, province of Pescara.

The stamps are nothing special as this is a card that I sent to my mother the last time I was in Italy.

Have a lovely Sunday all of you and bare a though for those who have to work today (nurses, doctors, fire fighters, police etc)

See you tomorrow with Monday map card,

Blessings,

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 1 September 2026 - T for Mesa Verde, a birthday and nostalgia

 Hello lovely girls,

Happy September! How time flies! I can't believe it's September. It does mean that days will get cooler thank goodness and the summer season is winding down. Here in Andalusia,  children will be going back to school on the 10th, and most of my clubs and groups will start up again towards the end of the month.

My postcard for today comes from Colorado, USA:

It was sent to me via Postcrossing, by Deirdre. She actually lives in South Carolina. She sent me the card on the 31st of July and mentioned that where she lives, schools would be starting in two weeks (ie 14th of August). I'm in Italy now and my grandson doesn't start school until the 14th of September.

The card itself features Mesa Verde National Park.

Wikipedia writes: Mesa Verde National Park is a national park of the United States and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, and the only World Heritage Site in Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan ancestral sites in the United States.

With more than 5,000 sites, including 600 cliff dwellings, it is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States. Mesa Verde (Spanish for "green table", or more specifically "green table mountain") is best known for structures such as Cliff Palace, one of the largest cliff dwellings in North America.

Starting c. 7500 BCE Mesa Verde was seasonally inhabited by a group of nomadic Paleo-Indians known as the Foothills Mountain Complex. The variety of projectile points found in the region indicates they were influenced by surrounding areas, including the Great Basin, the San Juan Basin, and the Rio Grande Valley. Later, Archaic people established semi-permanent rock shelters in and around the mesa. By 1000 BCE, the Basketmaker culture emerged from the local Archaic population, and by 750 CE the Ancestral Puebloans had developed from the Basketmaker culture.

The Pueblo people survived using a combination of hunting, gathering, and subsistence farming of crops such as corn, beans, and squash (the "Three Sisters"). They built the mesa's first pueblos sometime after 650, and by the end of the 12th century, they began to construct the massive cliff dwellings for which the park is best known. By 1285, following a period of social and environmental instability driven by a series of severe and prolonged droughts, they migrated south to locations in Arizona and New Mexico, including the Rio Chama, the Albuquerque Basin, the Pajarito Plateau, and the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Isn't that interesting. I visited this site briefly (I would have liked to spend more time but we were on a tour bus) in the year 2000 and have always wanted to go back.

As for me now, I'm in Italy visiting my son who has celebrated his 50th birthday a few days ago.

(Yes, my grandson has very long hair, but he likes it that way)

We had a dinner at the restaurant for the extended family. There will be many drink references for Elizabeth and Bluebeard and this bottle of Spumante is the first.

The weather is extremely hot. The other night we were walking back at midnight and the temperature was 38 degrees C (100,4F):

My son lives in the old historic centre of a small town in Abruzzo, Italy. It's called Guardiagrele and I lived there from 1977 to 1988. This visit is full of nostalgia as I always loved living there. (Unfortunately my marriage failed and I had to leave)

Wikipedia writes:

Guardiagrele is the seat of the Maiella National Park, and is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). It is a member of Cittaslow.

This is the Santa Maria Maggiore church in the center of town.

It has a portico on the side where people sit in the shade.

There are frescos on the wall in the portico. I took this picture the other night:

My daughter in law (in blue top) and her friends having a drink (Second drink reference). I'm not in it as I took the photo:

The famous pastry is called 'Le sise delle monache', which translates as 'nun's tits':

So for old times' sake, we bought some.

Nowadays the name is not considered politically correct and they call it Tre Monti (Three Mountains).

The other thing I wanted to eat for old times' sake were 'arrosticini  Abruzzesi'. Little pieces of meat (lamb in the old days) on a stick which are roasted on the coals.(Photo from Internet)

Last night we went to a restaurant at the bottom of the street to eat some.

On the left the old tower (Torre Orsini) which dates from the 13th century.

Our arrosticini were presented like this:

My drink was an Aperol Spritz (Photo taken before the arrosticini arrived).

On the (short) walk home I had my photo taken at the fountain:

The town is also known for its wrought iron artists, so there are examples here and there in the town, like this fountain. 

The pots are made by the copper smiths who work at the entrance to the old town.

That is all my friends. I'm going to link up with Elizabeth and Bluebeard for the T-Party with all my drink references.

Happy T-Day all!

Lisca