Hello lovely girls,
This evening, most Dutch families will be celebrating Sinterklaas. Traditionally children get their presents on this evening. How exciting. I will be celebrating with a Dutch friend (and his family) who live nearby. So I have been wrapping the presents and writing funny (often teasing) poems. I'm looking forward to it.
Let me show you my postcard for today:
It's another Maxicard. That is a card with a stamp with the same image. They are being sold (and stamped) as first editions and as such quite collectable. It features a pretty flower called Castilleja arctica. Below a photo from the Internet:
The Maxi-card was issued by the Society for Nature Protection in Russia.
The All-Russian Society for Nature Protection (VOOP) is one of the oldest working nature conservation organizations in the world. It was founded in 1924 on the initiative of A. Lunacharsky, N. Krupskaya and M. Pokrovsky as the All-Russian Order of the Red Banner of Labor Society for Nature Protection.
Here is a close-up:
One of the priority tasks of the organization is the protection of plants registered in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
Plants protected in Russia include such species as Castilleja arctica, Caucasian lily, thin-leaved peony, incised violet, yellow lady's slipper, Iris pseudacorus, golden root, and dolomite bellflower.
On he back of he card were he normal postage stamps:
The left hand stamp features a flower again. I've seen his rose a lot in our village, especially in the gipsy district.
The stamp on the right is a painting by M.A.Vrubel.
Wikipedia writes:
The Swan Princess is a 1900 oil painting (oil on canvas) by the Russian artist Mikhail Vrubel. It is based on the opera The Tale of Tsar Sultan by Rimsky-Korsakov (which was based on the fairytale of the same name by Pushkin). Vrubel designed the decor and costumes for this opera. The part of the Swan Princess was performed by his wife, Ukrainian opera singer Nadiya Zabela-Vrubel.
On Tuesday I promised I'd show some photos of our outing to Orce. The tourist office blurb goes like ths:
A series of discoveries revealed that Europe's first inhabitants settled in a remote and rugged corner of Granada, Orce, some 1.4 million years ago.
Thanks to its prehistoric significance and remarkable geological richness, the area of Orce was recognised in 2020 as a Unesco World Geopark. Additionally, the region boasts several museums dedicated to prehistory, including the Primeros Pobladores de Europa (First Settlers of Europe) museum in Orce. Here, visitors can marvel at the innovative stone tools used by our ancestors and the awe-inspiring bones of mammoths.
I've always wanted to visit Orce for that reason and sure enough, we visited the First Settlers Museum:
Afterwards we walked through the village and saw these impressive trees:
They are Platanus, or Plane trees. This is what they look like with leaves on:
The guide told us they are more that a century old.
At the end of that street we visited the Palace of the Segura family.
The main alter is quite a feature in the church and although some of it was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, much of the structure and decoration is original:
Inside the 'Keep' of the castle there was an exhibition of objects collected by I can't remember who, but it was very interesting. One of the things:
That's all from me. Yes, it's long enough, but now I'm going to make it even longer by posting some funnies at the end.
I love that Spanish houses are built around a patio and this one is spectacular.,It was the family's summer residence.
Then we walked to the church of Santa Maria:
This church, built in the baroque style, has one main aisle, opening on to side chapels. The stone façade is in a fairly plain classic style.
It has a beautiful pebbled floor outside:
The main alter is quite a feature in the church and although some of it was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, much of the structure and decoration is original:There is a new clock in the tower but the old one is on display in the church:
And there is also a bell:
The we walked to the citadel, which is right next door:
Here is a photo from the internet as we were standing too close to take a picture:
From one of 
the towers we could see the church we had just visited:
the towers we could see the church we had just visited:
Inside the 'Keep' of the castle there was an exhibition of objects collected by I can't remember who, but it was very interesting. One of the things:
Here is my friend Kim having a laugh:
That's all from me. Yes, it's long enough, but now I'm going to make it even longer by posting some funnies at the end.
Enjoy your weekend peeps,
Lisca
No comments:
Post a Comment