A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 25 March 2025 - T for postcards, birthdays, and good friends

 Hello lovely peeps,

What a lovely week this has been! I have lots to show you so let me crack on with my postcard:

A beautiful picture of the north side of the  Aachen cathedral (called the Dom), Germany, near the Dutch border.

Wikipedia writes about the cathedral: One of the oldest cathedral buildings in Europe, it was constructed as the royal chapel of the Palace of Aachen of Emperor Charlemagne, who was buried there in 814. From 936 to 1531, the original Palatine Chapel saw the coronation of thirty-one German kings and twelve queens. Later, much expanded, it was a minster and collegiate church, becoming a cathedral briefly from 1803 to 1825, and again in 1930 when the Diocese of Aachen was revived. 

In 1978, Aachen Cathedral was one of the first 12 sites to be listed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, because of its exceptional artistry, architecture, and central importance in the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

Seen from above:

The Palatine chapel reminds me of some mosques I've visited:

I grew up in the Netherlands, and I've been to Aachen, but I have never visited the cathedral, regrettably.

The stamps are colourful:

The stamp with the bear is about the annual film festival. 

The 75th annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place between 13 and 23 February 2025 in Berlin, Germany. American filmmaker Todd Haynes was named the Jury President for the main competition. Wikipedia

The other two are from the new definitive stamps (replacing the flower stamps). The series is called World of Letters and features images of things made from paper:

Quite fun don't you think?

Now, what have I been up to? My friend Antonia's daughter who lives here in the village, is married to a Dutch man (Arris). His parents from the Netherlands have been my friends ever since their son got married. They were visiting last week and of course Antonia and I incorporated a visit to the farm in one of our walks:

The fist decent day after 5 weeks of rain. My friends enjoying the evening sunshine. Their son Arris in relaxing in his hammock.

After saying goodbye to the Dutch (they were leaving the next morning) Antonia and I stopped at the bar for a drink:

She treated me to a Baileys!

Then on Saturday I celebrated my birthday:

I had loads of friends come and I felt very blessed.

My friend Dian bought me a Sachertorte to put the candles on:

The cake was delicious. We had a lovely party. Here I am with my Dutch friend Arris:

What else? Yesterday I had to get up early to take my car for its yearly technical inspection (The Spanish equivalent to the British MOT or the Dutch APK). It was cold (4 degrees):

And when I came out (yes, my car passed with flying colours) I looked at the mountains and it had snowed again:

Today is the T-Party hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. For that I need a drink. Well, I think there are plenty of drinks in the above photos for me to qualify. But here's another one:

Just to finish, a photo of my cat Ronnie while asleep on the couch:

That's all from me today.

Happy T-Day all,

(Ronnie sends his love to Bluebeard and Squiggles)

Lisca