A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 13 Octoiber 2026 - T for pagodas, the Ark Church, and chilli chocolate

 Hello lovely peeps,

I have a postcard with some gorgeous stamps for you and I would also like to show you a little more of my trip to Krakow. 

But let's start with a postcard. It's from Quanzhou in China:

It came to me via Postcrossing:

It is one of Quanzhou's most famous historic towers, the East and West Pagodas located inside Kaiyuan Temple.

Wikipedia writes:

Kaiyuan Temple is a Buddhist temple located in West Street, Quanzhou, China, and is considered as the largest Buddhist temple in Fujian province with an area of 78,000 square metres (840,000 ft²).

In 2021, the temple was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with other sites near Quanzhou because of its importance during the medieval global maritime trade based in Quanzhou and its testimony to the global exchange of ideas and cultures. The temple is also one of few in China to contain Hindu monuments, left there by traders from Southern India.

(Above photo from the Internet)

To me these two pagodas look alike but they were built in different eras. 

One of them is the Zhengou pagoda and the other one the Renshou pagoda. I don't know which one is featured on the card.

But one of the stamps on the card also features a pagoda:

And with Google translate I have been able to establish that this is the Zhengou pagoda.

Zhenguo Pagoda (镇国塔) or the Tower of Safeguarding the Nation, is a five-storey wooden pagoda first built in 865 in the Tang dynasty (618–907). It is the East pagoda to its West twin pagoda Renshou. But it was destroyed and rebuilt into stone pagoda in 1238 in the Song dynasty (960–1276). The 48.24-metre (158.3 ft) pagoda was octagonal with five storeys. Every storey is carved with sixteen reliefs with a total of 80 vivid human figures. (also from Wikipedia).

The card was sent to me by Chen Jianrong and he used lots of beautiful stamps:

I have been able to find out more about these stamps.

The top one shows monkeys, created  using cloned somatic cells (don't ask! I don't understand things like that).

The bottom one features a 500 metre aperture spherical radio telescope.

At the top you can see the Chang'e 4 probe and below that, the first quantum science experimental satellite.

Now for things that I liked in Krakow. We visited many museums and Wawel Castle. The Castle museum has so much to offer that we did one floor at a time. We saw beautiful works of art and artefacts with explanations of Poland's complicated history.(We were given an audio guide).

What I particularly liked, and want to show you, are the heating stoves in every room. They are covered with beautiful ceramic tiles:

Below, a detail:

They were all different but equally stunning.

One day when my friend's husband was not feeling very well, my friend and I went to visit the Ark Church.

It was something we had heard about and were keen to visit (although neither of us is Roman Catholic).

From the photo you can see it looks a bit like a boat (ark). The official name is the Church of Our Lady Queen of Poland but is generally known as the Ark of the Lord Church. It is located at 1 Obronców Krzyza Street in Nowa Huta, which seemed to me a pleasant suburb of Krakow.

Built between 1967 and 1977, it was the first new church to be built in Nowa Huta. The history is fascinating. Wikipedia writes:

As early as 1952 local residents formed a parish and started lobbying for permission to build a church but the Communist government would not grant building permits or allocate any land for the building. In 1956 residents delivered two petitions advocating for the building to local authorities and permission was granted. In 1957 they placed a wooden cross near Plac Teatralny (Theater Square) to mark the location of the future church. In October 1959 authorities withdrew the building permission and the land was taken back. This led to community protest by the residents of Nowa Huta and on April 27, 1960 when authorities came to remove the wooden cross, the 1960 Nowa Huta protests  broke out that were met with violence from the militia.

I love the  the 8-metre (26 ft) tall crucifix: a work of Bronisław Chromy.

In 1965 a new location was finally secured which is credited to the intervention of then metropolitan bishop, Karol Wojtyła (who would later become Pope John Paul II). The church was designed by architect Wojciech Pietrzyk in 1965, who used Le Corbusier’s chapel in Ronchamp for his model.  Construction began on the new building in 1967. Due to political restrictions construction was primarily carried out by volunteers, with no assistance from the government over 9 years.  The cornerstone (a fragment of St Peter’s tomb sent from Vatican) of the new church was laid by the then Bishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła. On May 15, 1977, Karol Wojtyła, by now a cardinal, consecrated the church, giving it the name of Our Lady Queen of Poland.

During the 1980s martial law period, the church became a focal point for anti-communist resistance. Monthly masses held there often turned into protests, and the site saw events like the death of Bogdan Włosik, a young protester shot by security forces in 1982. In 1992 a monument was erected on the site commemorating his death.

These are just my photos, but if you are interested in the architecture, look it up on the Internet.

Near the church there was a little street market going on. Many stalls had mushrooms:

Today I will link up with Elizabeth and Bluebeard for T stands for Tuesday. And I need a drink of course. Well, today it's not tea, but hot chocolate. Within the Wawel Castle grounds in Krakow there is a little place that serves hot chocolate (and ice cream and other chocolate products as Wawel chocolate is quite popular.) 

The building houses a tourist office and other admin offices. There are a few tables and chairs (plus parasols) outside.

My friend and I chose chilli chocolate:

Best hot chocolate I ever had! My friend and I liked it so much we returned there on the last day to have another chilli chocolate!

One last drink for the T-Party: 

One afternoon we decided to take advantage of 'happy hour' and have a cocktail. Cocktails are getting more popular in Europe especially among young people. But I am old so no experience at all. The day before I had asked a girl, what she was drinking as I was fascinated by what looked like a coffee in a stemmed glass. I was told it was an espresso martini. So that is what I ordered. And I loved it!

That is all from me today.

Happy T-Day!

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Friday 9 October 2026 - Friday Smiles and Friday Face Off (photo heavy)

Hello lovely peeps,

I would like to show you things that made me smile this week as it's Friday Smiles. But in the midst of these smiles there is also a serious note (sorry).

The thing that made me smile only the other day was a postcard from my friend Maggie. Yes, she is traveling again and she sent me a card:

As you can see it's from Georgia. My first ever postcard from this country. (Now you are all humming Midnight Train To Georgia. I'm old enough to remember Gladys Night and the Pips but my favorite version is Neil Diamond.)

 I digress. This is not the state Georgia but the country..

 The country is wedged between the North east of Turkey and the south of  Russia.

The postcard features the Gergeti Trinity Church, which is a popular name for the Holy Trinity Church. 

This architectural complex from the XIV century is located in the village of Gergeti, 6 km from the town of Stepantsminda, at a height of 2200 m. The complex includes Holy Trinity Cathedral, constructed in the XIV century, the bell tower built in the XIV century, and clergy houses from the XV century. You can hike up to the complex in about two hours (TourHQ)

The stamps are stunning:

The stamp on the left says in English (and in Georgian of course) 'Red Book of Georgia'.

The Red Book of Georgia (alongside the official Red List of Georgia) is the country's legal and scientific register cataloging endangered and rare species of wild flora and fauna, as well as protected resources.

I also read: Ursus Arctos Linnaeus: The Eurasian brown bear is one of the most common subspecies of the brown bear, and is found in much of Eurasia. It is also called the European brown bear, common brown bear, common bear, European bear, and colloquially by many other names. Wikipedia

The right hand stamp features and celebrates 100 years since the birth of Nana Mchedlidze.

Nana Mchedlidze (20 March 1926 – 29 March 2016) was a Soviet and Georgian actress, film director and screenwriter. From 1950 to 1954 she was an actress with the Tbilisi Rustaveli Theatre. After 1957 she was the director of the film studio Georgia-Film. She became a People's Artist of the Georgian SSR in 1983. Wikipedia.

The football imagery on the stamp is a direct nod to Nana Mchedlidze's most celebrated masterpiece as a film director: the 1975 classic sports comedy The First Swallow (Pirveli mertskhali). (IMDb)

The film tells a beloved story about the very birth of football in Georgia. It follows a passionate sportsman named Jason who starts the first amateur Georgian football club in the port city of Poti, overcoming a total lack of equipment and money to eventually challenge a famous British team. (Metrograph)

 The First Swallow is deeply ingrained in Georgian pop culture and is viewed as a lighthearted tribute to the predecessors of the country's legendary team, Dinamo Tbilisi. The film won the Grand Prize at the 1976 Georgian Film Festival. (Wikipedia)

Because football is an integral part of Georgia's national identity, the stamp designers chose to frame her portrait with imagery from this iconic movie to honor how she captured the country's love for the sport on the silver screen. (Metrograph)

Below a photo when Nana was younger.

Now I would like to show you a bit more of Krakow (Poland) where I spent a week recently.

We saw a bench with a sculpture and of course I had to cuddle up to the gent who was sitting there.

He didn't introduce himself but there was a plaque explaining who he was.

He was Jan Karski (1914-2000)

1940-43 Emissary of the Polish people in German-occupied Poland to the Polish government in exile and to the governments of France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

A man who tried to stop the holocaust of Polish Jews, righteous among the nations, honorary citizen of Israel.

Awarded the Polish Order of the White Eagle and the American Presidential medal of Freedom.

One of the highlights of our time in Krakow was the visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. That was a half hour train ride outside the city, but well worth the trip.

 

Wikipedia writes:
From Neolithic times, sodium chloride (table salt) was produced there from the upwelling brine. The Wieliczka salt mine, excavated from the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 1996, as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines. 

The Wieliczka Salt Mine is now an official Polish Historic Monument (Pomnik Historii) and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its attractions include the shafts and labyrinthine passageways, displays of historic salt-mining technology, an underground lake, four chapels and numerous statues carved by miners out of the rock salt, and more recent sculptures by contemporary artists.

Below a statue of Pope John Paul II, who was bishop of Krakow and later arch bishop and of course pope.

And now for the bit that is not funny at all. I visited Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps. I really wanted to see that. I was brought up with much talk of that and one of my aunties was a camp survivor (although from a different camp).

Below the famous gate that says: Arbeit Macht Frei (Work makes you free).

And this was the entrance to Birkenau, where the train arrives.

I had booked tickets while I was still at home. (All the other things we visited, we decided a day in advance and booked tickets there and then) I must say that it was all very well organised with small groups with guides and timed entry slots. Our guide was very knowledgable. I'll spare you the gruesome details but it was very interesting and I am glad I went.

Now on to happier things. In the tourist shops I saw dragons everywhere. I thought what has that got to do with Krakow? Well, turns out there is a huge bronze dragon below the castle which spews fire every 15 minutes (I think). I just saw it once. Here is my friend posing with the dragon:

There is a large market place, but also a small market place. And there was the St. Michael's market. A very lovely (sort of Christmas) market with wooden booths and quality articles for sale as well as food and souvenirs. There was a stage with different performers every day. We saw a folk dance group:

The other thing we visited was the Photographic museum, which was interesting. We saw the history of photography, the history of the camera, and of the developing process. And there was a section about famous Polish photographers. On the first floor was an display of hundreds of cameras (through the ages):

Outside was a little park where we had a drink sitting in a deckchair. Then we discovered a miniature dragon with a camera! Of course I had to photograph it

Below just one of the beautiful buildings we walked passed:

I loved what they do with red brick.

On the way to the station we came across this bicycle stand:

And have you ever seen pigeons sunbathing?

There were no pigeons in the shade. All in the sun on the ground.

And the most remarkable street name we found is this: 

I think I'll leave it for now. And find some funnies to put at the end. The stamp was meant to be my face for the FaceOff but there are plenty of other faces today too.

Keep smiling,

Lisca