A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 27 Octiber 2026 - T for The Big Apple, Ronnie and some book reviews

 Hello lovely peeps,

Here I am with a beautiful postcard:

It was not sent in the post but given to me by my friends K & A who have just come back from a trip to New York. Lucky so-and-sos! 

I think it features Brooklyn Bridge.

Their son works there and he lives in Brooklyn. They had the time of their life as said son had taken time off to show his parents around. (mostly on foot as the son lives fairly central). My friends admitted that they had never really wanted to visit NY but now that they've been, they think it's amazing. They say the people were so nice and all the places they've seen were really impressive.

They gave me two postcards. The other one I will show on Friday.

What have I been up to here in Spain? Well, apart from my usual things, I have started my make-up group, where we learn how to make ourselves up. (sorry, no photos)

On Saturday I went out for a drink with my friends from Intercambio (our language conversation group):

Here in the province of Granada, we get a free tapa with every drink. Here is our first tapa:

Baked potatoes with aioli sauce. 

(There is a drink in the background: my friend's shandy)

Then on Sunday, after church, I met friends at a restaurant to have a drink (and a tapa):

The tapa in this case was meatballs. I'm having an alcohol free beer as I was driving.

There is a drink in the above photo and the photo below shows Ronnie drinking, so that qualifies me for the T-Party, hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard.

Here is a photo of Ronnie, my cat:

He is drinking from his new stainless steel drinking fountain. We had a plastic one before but I thought this one would be more hygienic and washable in the dishwasher. He likes it. Phew!

As nothing much has happened this week, so I  thought I'd review a few more books I read over the summer.

First of all: Fall of Giants - Ken Follett

Fall of Giants is a 2010 historical novel by Welsh author Ken Follett. It is the first part of the Century Trilogy which follows five interrelated families throughout the course of the 20th century. The first book covers notable events such as World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage. Wikipedia

I had this as an audio book and absolutely loved it. It's about five families during the run-up to the first world war. Some of them are involved in politics, so I learned about the political situation leading up to the war and also one of the protagonists is involved in women's suffrage, which I enjoyed reading about. 

It's one of those un-put-downable books as you want to know what happens to those families you have invested in.

Needless to say I immediately bought the sequel (More about that at a later date).

It's quite a tome, but I do like that.

 I gave it five stars (the maximum).

Next up: Adriana Trigiani's View from Lake Como:

Wikipedia writes: The story follows Giuseppina (Jess) Capodimonte Baratta, an Italian American divorcee from Lake Como, New Jersey, as she loses her uncle, inherits the family marble business, gets investigated by the FBI, unearths family secrets, and moves to Carrara, Italy. Tired of conforming to social and domestic roles that make her feel anxious and unfulfilled, Jess wants to find what makes her—not her parents, ex-husband, or tight-knit community—happy.

I like books about Italy as I lived there for many years, but this was set in Lake Come, New Jersey. Eventually Jess moves to Italy and there she meets a man.... You can imagine what happens. At first they don't get on and then they fall in love. Typical romance story. The kind that I don't like at all. Then the whole FBI story line was not very credible. So, to be honest, I didn't like this at all. I gave it two stars. (I read this on my Kindle.)

Then there was Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. 

Oh my golly gosh! What a journey that was! 

Wikipedia writes: Sue Trinder, an orphan raised in "a Fagin-like den of thieves" by her adoptive mother, Mrs Sucksby, is sent to help Richard "Gentleman" Rivers seduce a wealthy heiress. Posing as a maid, Sue is to gain the trust of the lady, Maud Lilly, and eventually persuade her to elope with Gentleman. Once they are married, Gentleman plans to commit Maud to a madhouse and claim her fortune for himself. 

It's quite a con and everything goes to plan but there is a twist in the tail. Then when you think the story has finished, it starts again from Maud's point of view. And then the mind boggles! I'm not going to give anything away. 

I listened to this on Audible so I didn't realise the book hadn't finished when the story came to an end. Then the fun began!

I must warn you, it is quite a long read/listen, but well worth it. The author is lesbian and there is a much publicised explicit episode where the two ladies are in bed caressing each other, having fallen in love. It's only one scene and it didn't bother me. But there is definitely an illicit undertow through the whole book.

Conclusion: I loved it and it surprised me. I like to be surprised. If it's too predictable I probably find it boring. This was anything but.

I gave it five stars!

That is all from me.

I will leave you with a funny:

Happy T-Day all!

Lisca

 

A Postcard A Day - Friday 23 October 2026 - Friday Smiles and Face Off (photo heavy again)

 Hello lovely peeps,

Here I am again ready to share my postcard of the day and the smiles of this week.  Among them them are several faces for DVArtist's Face Off.

First off, my postcard:

Perfect for Friday Smiles! It was sent to me by my friend, with whom I visited Krakow. She bought it and secretly sent it to me. I suppose it represents Gene Kelly Singing In The Rain, and the words 'I'm happy again' are from that song.

That piece of street art can be found in Krakow on the corner of Meiselsa and Ul Bozego Ciala (I apologise to any Poles amongst you as I can't find those Polish characters on my keyboard.) 

From a website called SheWandersMiles I quote:

The Gene Kelly Singing in the Rain mural shows the infamous performance as he swings around a street lamp with the quote “I’m happy again”. The stencil art appeared in spring 2014 to portray a message about a city recovering from the horrors of the world war.

I did some digging online to figure out who created it. Originally, it was believed it was a Banksy giving it some notoriety although it is still shrouded in a similar mystery. Many believe Singing in the Rain was painted by Kuba, and a few thought it was Mr. Trololo. Some think it was inspired by Eduard Khil, Soviet-era singer, who replaced censored words in his “I Am Glad Because I Am Finally Returning Back Home” song with the “Trololo” sounds. His song re-surfaced in 2010 on the internet and became an viral meme.

No matter who the artist is, it’s become a well-known piece of street art in Kraków. On my recent visit in spring 2025 (see photo below), I noticed it had faded quite a bit since I first saw it in 2018. So go and look for it before it totally disappears!

The stamps on this card are the same as the stamps I featured Tuesday:

I wrote about it then.

What have I been doing here in Spain you might ask? Not much time has passed between now and Tuesday, but I went out on Wednesday with my firends from Intercambio (language chat group).

We decided to explore the area to the east of us and drove forty minute to Olula del Rio to visit the Ibañez Museum:

The museum's own website writes: Officially inaugurated on November 24, 2004, the Casa Ibáñez Museum is one of the largest collections of contemporary art in Andalusia. Created between 1996 and 2004 by Andrés García Ibáñez (Olula del Río, 1971),

a painter with a promising young career in contemporary realism, it opened its doors to the public on March 4, 2005. Since then, it has established itself as the most significant cultural institution in the Almanzora region and one of the most representative in southeastern Spain. It is managed by the Ibáñez Cosentino Art Foundation, an institution created in June 2005 and jointly owned by the museum's founder, Andrés García Ibáñez, and the Almería-based multinational Cosentino. 

The museum's holdings currently comprise over 1,200 cataloged works, more than 95% of which were donated to the Foundation by Andrés García Ibáñez. This is, therefore, the artist's private collection, encompassing both his own work and pieces by other artists, which he has amassed in just over a decade. 

Here we are in front of 'The Woman of Almanzora'. (I'm second from the right).

The sculpture The Woman of Almanzora, a work by Antonio López , is striking for its dimensions, eight meters high and 230 tons of marble, and welcomes visitors to this art complex that includes the Pérez Siquier Center and the Ibáñez Museum .

From there we went to a town called Albox, another 20 minutes to the east. There we had fish and chips. Well known among the English but the Spanish have never tasted it. There were a Spanish couple and a Catalan couple in our party and they all enjoyed it:

There was a lot of wind and the parasols were in danger of being blown away, so we had to sit inside. Believe me, in Southern Spain you don't want to sit in the sun.

I had a glass of cider:

After lunch we drove to Macael (5436 inhabitants), another 22 minutes by road.

Macael is known for its white marble. 

We found this pestle and mortar on a roundabout entering the village:

It has been made of white marble, with a gray base and a yellow pestle, the three types of marble characteristic of the Macael mountain range.

Wikipedia writes: The history of the municipality of Macael is linked to that of its main natural resource, Macael white marble.

Today, Macael marble is used for important constructions such as the Burj Al Arab hotel , one of the most luxurious in the world, rated (7 stars). This is thanks to the brilliance and purity of the white Macael marble.

The streets are literally paved with marble:

We found this street  and square among a housing estate.

In the middle there was a mosaic:

We left Macael and drove out of town to see one of the quarries. We saw part of the Cosentino quarry:

We had fun playing around on the blocks that were lying about:

As you can see, we have had a lovely day.

I will leave it at that. There are many faces for the Friday Face Off and at the end I will show you some funnies for you to smile at.

Take care and

Keep Smiling!

Lisca

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 20 October 2026 - T for ermine, iced coffee and Ronnie

Hello lovely girls,

I have a beautiful postcard to show you today:

It's a world famous work by Leonardo da Vinci called The Lady with the Ermine. It is found in the Czartoryski Museum in Krakow. I didn't see it personally but my friend Keren visited the museum on the day that we flew back  (Their flight was much later than mine so they had time). She obviously bought a postcard and sent it to me. Thank you Keren.

Wikipedia writes:

The Lady with an Ermine is a portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. Dated to c. 1489–1491, the work is painted in oils on a panel of walnut wood. Its subject is Cecilia Gallerani, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza ("Il Moro"), Duke of Milan; Leonardo was painter to the Sforza court in Milan at the time of its execution. It is the second of only four surviving portraits of women painted by Leonardo, the others being Ginevra de' Benci, La Belle Ferronnière and the Mona Lisa.

Cecilia was born in early 1473 into a large family from Siena. Her father's name was Fazio Gallerani. He was not a member of the nobility, but he occupied several important posts at the Milanese court, including the position of ambassador to Republic of Florence and Republic of Lucca. Her mother was Margherita Busti, the daughter of a noted doctor of law.

She was educated alongside her six brothers in Latin and literature. In 1483 at the age of ten, Cecilia was betrothed to Stefano Visconti, but the betrothal was broken off in 1487 for unknown reasons. In May 1489, she left home for the Monastero Nuovo, and it was possibly there that she met Ludovico.

It has always been known that Leonardo painted a portrait of Ludovico Sforza's mistress, Cecilia Gallerani, but the Lady with an Ermine remained largely unknown to scholars until nearly the 20th century. The painting was acquired in Italy in 1798 by Prince Adam George Czartoryski,  and incorporated into the Czartoryski family collections at Puławy in 1800. The inscription on the top-left corner of the painting, LA BELE FERONIERE. LEONARD DAWINCI., was probably added by a restorer shortly after its arrival in Poland, and before the background was overpainted. Czartoryski was clearly aware it was a Leonardo, although the painting had never been discussed in print; no record exists of any previous owner. The Belle Ferronière is the Leonardo portrait in the Louvre,(see photo above) whose sitter bears such a close resemblance; the Czartoryskis considered this sitter to be the same.

"Monuments Men" – Frank P. Albright, Everett Parker Lesley, Joe D. Espinosa – and Polish liaison officer Karol Estreicher pose with the painting upon its return to Poland in April 1946. 

In 1939, anticipating the German occupation of Poland, it was again moved to Sieniawa, but it was discovered and seized by the Nazis and sent to the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin. In 1940, Hans Frank, the Governor General of Poland, saw the painting there and requested it be returned to Kraków, where it hung in his suite of offices in the Wawel Castle. In 1941, it was transferred to a warehouse of other plundered art in Breslau. In 1943 it was brought back to Kraków and exhibited at the Wawel Castle. At the end of the Second World War it was discovered by Allied troops in Frank's country home in Schliersee, Bavaria, and was returned to Poland in 1946. (See photo above) It was again placed on exhibit at the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków.

The stamps are beautiful. The orchid is exquisite and the stamp on the right features

Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz (1911–1943) He was a Polish-Greek champion athlete turned World War II secret agent who led a high-impact sabotage campaign against Axis forces in occupied Greece

The Legendary Saboteur of WWII

A champion swimmer for Iraklis Thessaloniki, Iwanow-Szajnowicz earned a degree in Agriculture from the University of Leuven in Belgium and was fluent in six languages. He was trained as an agent and saboteur by the secret services of Poland and Great Britain and operated in Greece under the codename Bolby, inflicting significant damage on Axis forces.

Captured by the Germans in December 1941, he managed to escape but was later placed on their wanted list. On September 8, 1942, he was apprehended by the Italians. In both instances, Iwanow-Szajnowicz fell into enemy hands due to betrayal. A hero until the end, he had to be shackled at the execution site as he attempted to flee even then. He was executed on January 4, 1943, in Kaisariani, proclaiming, “Long live Poland, long live Greece.” (CultureisAthens.com). 

Read more about him here.

What have I been doing here in Spain? Not much really. All my clubs and associations are starting up again this month. On Friday I will be going to make-up classes. I have also signed up for castañets but nothing has been organised yet. I'm going to the gym twice a week and do Pilates twice a week, and I'm learning the piano:

I've subscribed to Simply Piano and am now figuring out how to get some speakers or how to connect my keyboard to my tablet or phone. In the meantime I'm learning chords and the program that I purchased also features drawing lessons so I have started those too:

Today I am going to link with the T-Party, hosted by Elizabeth and Bluebeard. I need a drink. I have been out with my friends a few times but I have forgotten to take any pictures, so here is one from my stay in Krakow:

We were having breakfast and I asked for iced coffee. This is what I got. It was delicious!

I chose a fruit waffle for my breakfast and look at it! Very nice indeed.

I will finish with some photos of my (photogenic) cat Ronnie:

That's all folks! 

Thank you in advance for your comments. I always love it when people let me know they've visited and commented on what I wrote.

Happy T-Day all!

Lisca