Wednesday 30 April 2014

Bye bye April!

Hi dear friends,
how is going?

Today I can't comprehend the fact that another month is over, but why time goes so fast?
It seems like yesterday when at my house, as every year, me and my boyfriend with the help of my sisters, prepare dinner for new year's eve. What a ritual! We enjoy it a lot and every year we prepare something different and original! :P You're all welcome on december 31st around 7pm :D

Today I'm not going to show you cards about countries or cities but I wanna show you this so cute card that I got through postcrossing.com from Germany:


Cute, isn't it? I enjoy myself thinking about what he has seen so appetizing. Maybe a nice little mouse in the flesh :D 

I really like cats, they are so refined, shrewd, independent. I love their eyes, especially at night when they look like two giant balls. 
But, I have a weakness for dogs. I see them more outgoing and playful, they are more cuddly and wants to be filled with care. 
Not that a cat is not all that, but it is more difficult to find cats with these characteristics.

I have a dog, he isn't a breed one, my dad brought me because a dog in the yard where he works had many puppies :D

These are two pics of him, when he arrived and one of last year:



I love him, his name is Willy ;)  Look in the second photo as he obeys and fixes the cookie I have in my hand :D That astute!


Have a nice day guys!

Best,
Giuly


Saturday 19 April 2014

Happy Easter from Salerno

Ciao!

How are you guys? Are you ready for Easter?

I'm going to have a very yummy lunch with my family :P

These days at home have flown, I'm coming back in Milan on monday morning!

Well, my posts have always concerned about places far away from me but today I want to talk about Salerno, my hometown, that I left about 4 and a half years ago to go to study in Milan.

It is a very lovely city located in the south-western of Italy. It is quite close to the Amalfi Coast and is an important tourist destination in the Campania region. It's famous for being the first location in the world to have a Medicine University, "Schola Medica Salernitana".
Do you know that it was the capital city for 6 months? :D Lots of people are proud of this fact!
There is a wonderful seafront promenade, you can walk there, relax and/or just enjoy the so beautiful landscape.

Yesterday I was there and I took this shoot:


Love it!

I wanna show you also a postcard:


So cute, isn't it?


For food lovers there is also lots of delicious food: the real buffalo mozzarella, good pizza and ice cream, the famous "limoncello" that, for who doesn't know, is a lemon liqueur mainly produced in the Amalfi coast and also in Naples area, and many other yummy plates.

Wishing you a great Easter day!

Best,
Giuliana





Wednesday 16 April 2014

7 postcards from ... Russia :)

Ciao guys :)
How is going?

Easter is in the air, yesterday I came back home. My house is full of Easter eggs, chocolate and "colombe" (typical italian cakes that we eat during Easter time). I'm gaining weight just looking at them!

I really love white chocolate so my mum bought for me this one:
I'm happy like a child :D 


Well, today it's the turn of RUSSIA. 

When I think about Russia, it always comes to my mind the cold but, on the other hand, I always think of the high degree of charm that has this country.

The postcards that I got are very different from each other.

1st:


A classical touristic card from Moscow that represents the Saint basil's Cathedral. It is located in Red Square in Moscow and now it is a museum. There are some legends about this cathedral. One of them says that the architects who built this cathedral were blinded by the Zar so that it can never reproduce a similar work. Well probably it's true, it's amazing, I guess that a live view is breathtaking!

2nd:


The first one is an old pic of the Red Square and the second one is the main building of Moscow State University. It was founded in 1755 and it is the largest and the oldest university in Russia.

3rd:


I laughed a lot when I received this postcard. I requested a postcard from Sochi for the Olympics and Kseniya sent me this wonderful postcard that she made by herself. Funny, isn't it? :D

4th:


These are very particular and really nice cards so different from touristic cards. When I will get a card from each country of the world I will start to collect these kind of postcards! The second one was made buy a 11 yo guy, so cute! 


Do you know which is one of the traditional russian Easter sweet? The Kulic that is prepared by mixing the butter and sugar or cottage cheese. Carefully drying the cake for a few days in a crock pot, the Russians decorate with candied fruit or dried fruit and serve it at the party. 
They also use hitting each other with colored eggs. The winner is the one whose egg is not broken. He takes all the eggs :D

So do you have some particular tradition in your country?

Wishing you a great time :-*

See you,
Giuliana ^_^





Wednesday 9 April 2014

Traveling to ... Portugal :)

Ciaooo!

I'm back again :P I had very busy days and now I'm ready to relax few days ;)

Although I've not written, the postcards these days are arrived, all are very nice but some of them are just wonderful :D

It's like summer today in Milan, currently (6pm) there are 22°C, blue sky and no clouds!


It's time to show you the postcards, are you ready? :D

Here they are, 4 beautiful postcards from Portugal:





The first three are from Lisbon and the other one, as you can read, is from Setubal.

This is a special post because, two of these cards (the first of Lisboa and the one of Setubal) were mailed from a special girl, her name is Andreia, we talk a lot and I feel I have a new friend even if we have never met in person. She is lovely and we are a lot of things in common. Thanks you sweet :*
A special thanks also to Luis and Ana that sent me the other two ones!

LISBON:

The first card show a viewpoint that is called São Pedro de Alcântara and from this place you can see the Lisboa downtown. Andreia said that is a very romantic view and you can also see the St.Jorge castle.

In the second one there are 4 different pictures: the 25th of April Bridge that is suspension bridge connecting the city of Lisbon to the municipality of Almada, the "elevadore" which is a typical transport, the Belem Tower that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the significant role it played in the Portuguese maritime discoveries of the era of the Age of Discoveries and eventually the Santa Justa lift.

The third one is a multipicture of the city.


But, did you know that Lisbon is older than Rome? Unbelievable :D

SETUBAL:

It is a fishing (particularly sardines) city located on the Sado River estuary approximately 40 kilometres south of Lisbon. There are a lots of beautiful beaches as you can see from the pic. 
For soccer fans, it is the hometown of José Mourinho, the current coach of Chelsea team. He was also in Italy few years ago. 


Hope you liked this post!

All the best,
Giuliana










Monday 24 March 2014

L - O - N - D - O - N

Hi there,
how is going?

Hope you had a very nice and relaxing weekend.

Another week is started, today I got 2 postcards: one from Japan and the other one from Oklahoma :)

Well, I want to talk about a city that I would definitely visit but, I know that I'm really very counterflow, it doesn't inspire me much. I don't know why, maybe the weather, maybe because my favourite number is 13 and they hate it :D

So, this city is London, not so hard to imagine due to the title of the post :) and a quote says: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford!"





That's a very nice card from Lilach! 
There are represented all the particularities of London in one card: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, London bus, London phone box, Tower bridge,...

My friend is doing an internship in London and I really want to go there but I need to figure out with all of my schedules. She will be there till June.

You know that when I think of London I always think of the Disney cartoon "101 Dalmatians"? :D Love that cartoon, it's one of my favourite :)
Instead, a normal thing that comes to mind is tea, I love it! 
Sting, in his song "Englishman in New York" says: "I don't drink coffee, I take tea, my dear." How can it be otherwise for a nation that drinks 48 billion cups of tea every year? :)

Well, these are just some curiosities about London:
  • The typical dish of London is not the roast beef, much less the classic breakfast with bacon and eggs. It is not the hot dog, more German than English, much less curry, that it is indian but also nominated pure english. The English dish is the "Fish & Chips", all strictly fried.
  • The subway, taken every day by millions of people, has more than 140 years and its extensive range has found itself in the path of ancient sites and historic parts of the city, perhaps disturbing the sleep of many. Inside it, a series of mysterious phenomena sometimes and the British media have repeatedly stated that each station has at least one ghost. In Farringdon Tube, for example, there is the gost of a 13 year old girl who was working as an hatter and who apparently was murdered by his superior close this station where, under the influence of strong currents, it seems you still feel the tears of this girl. 
  • Do you know the mystery of the stone of London? It is a mystery still unsolved and tied to a large stone locked in a small cage at the edge of the sidewalk of Cannon Street. The stone has ancient origins and researchers and scientists still don't know the exact age and origin of this large stone. A legend says that at the fate of the stone is tied the fate of London.

Hope you will enjoy this post.


Take care,
Giuly :)


Thursday 20 March 2014

Spring is in the air!

Hello there,

how is going?

First day of Spring, finally we can say goodbye to Winter even if in lots of country is still snowing.
Very sunny day in Milan, pleasant and enjoyable temperature, about 18-20 °C. The weekend will be not so good, it will rain again for couple of days. Need to be patient!
If there's one thing I hate, it's just the rain, I much prefer a cold and rigid day rather than a rainy and wet one.

So, today to celebrate Spring the postcard represents flowers :D


Isn't very nice? I think they are white cherry blossoms but I'm not 100% sure!
I really love this kind of flowers, they can be also pink.

Rita sent me this card from Lithuania, through postcrossing.com

This flower is a sign of good luck, a message of good wishes, but also a sign of brevity, because of his very short life: about two weeks.
In Japan it become one of the traditional plants of the state. There is a strong relationship between this tree and the flowers and the samurai. 
One of the many legends says that the color of the petals (for those light pink of course) is so because it was impregnated with the blood of warriors who died at the roots. For this reason, only for the samurai was reserved the honor of the cherry blossom tattoo on the body. 

Did you know about these stories? Did you like?

Have you seen the doodle of today in the Google website? It's so nice :) 




Have a great time!

See you,
Giuliana



Wednesday 19 March 2014

Next stop: New Zealand

Ciao :)

how are you?

Days go really fast, it seems like yesterday that I started this great collection and it has already passed two months! I will start to study seriously, in less than one month I will have the mid term exams, but the positive thing is that I will also come back home for the Easter holidays.

Today in Italy we celebrate the Father's day. Well, I wanna say thank you to my dad, I learned a lot from him, he is the best! It also the "name-day" of my mom. Probably, most of you, won't understand which is the "name-day"; it is a tradition in many countries in Europe and Latin America that consists of celebrating the day of the year associated with one's given name. So, best wishes to my dad and my mom <3

Are you ready for the postcards? :D Well, Jason sent me these two nice postcard from New Zealand and exactly from the capital city, Wellington that is the southernmost capital city in the world.


The first one represents the Beehive Parliament Building, it is so called because of its shape is reminiscent of that of a traditional woven form of beehive known as a "skep". It was built between 1969 and 1979.
The other card shows a cable car in the snow. Isn't a very beautiful shoot? Love it!

Do you know that the NZ is the home of the kiwi? I mean not the fruit but a curious bird that is unusual in at least two aspects. First, it is the only bird in the world that has its nostrils at the end of its beak. Second, the female kiwi has the largest egg, in proportion to its body size, of any bird in the world (except possibly for the hummingbird).

Here a picture of this bird:


It's cute :D

Jason told me about kiwi, I thought was the fruit but I discovered a new animal!

Time to start a new day: class in less than an hour, need to study and to work in the afternoon.

I wanna leave you with this fact:
"Did you know that the names of all continents both start and end with the same letter?" :D

Have a great day,
Giuliana