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

The traditional dance of Betawi

Ciao a tutti :)

How are you?

It is already Thursady, time flies so fast!
I'm preparing to go to Rome, I will have the train in a couple of hours. Rome is a very beautiful city!
I'm going to meet also my cousin but I won't have time to visit nothing since I'm going there for work!

Very nice and sunny day in Milan, in Rome I will find the same weather! ;) Spring is in the air!

Well today I'm flying to Indonesia :D Sun, amazing beaches, hot weather, relax are the words that make me think of this beautiful country so far away from me.

This postcard isn't a place but a part of the local culture: a traditional dance called Betawi. This name is also the name of the local people and it derived from the name "Batavia", the old colonial name of Jakarta.

In my opinion these costumes are very unique and colorful!

Erika is the girl that sent me this card :) 

Here is a video if you wanna watch a bit of this dance: 

Short post to show you this piece of Indonesia :)

Have a great day guys!

Best,

Giuliana

A special post for Ukraine

Ciao guys,

just came back in Milan.

My weekend was very nice with my family :) How was yours?

Well, these are two postcards that I got from Ukraine:

The first one is from the capital city Kiev (or Kyiv) and, in particular, the postcard represents the Monument of Independence.
Independence Square is one of three squares located along Khreshchatyk close to the northeastern end of the street. It is situated close to European Square, which is the terminal end of Khreshchatyk.
Maria, the girl that sent me this postcard, said me that Ukrainians used to unite there for their country to be free, prosperous and with european values of democracy, the rule of law, freedom of speech and movement. She truly believe in that! The statue represents a woman in Ukrainian national costume on a 40 meter column.

The second one represents little shots from many different cities:
Mukacheve, Kerch, Sebastopol, Kyiv, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Sambir.

* Mukacheve is located in southwestern of the country. The city is now a rail terminus and highway junction, and has beer, wine, tobacco, food, textile, timber and furniture industries. On the postcard there is the Palanok Castle located on a former 68 metre high volcanic hill. It has of 130 different rooms with a complex system of underground passages connecting them together. Upper left there is also represented The Town Hall considered the splendid ensemble's gem of the city.

* Kerch is considered to be one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine. On the picture there is the Yenikale fortress, that was built by Ottoman Turks in 1699–1706. The fortress occupied area of 25,000 m² and had two powder-magazines, arsenal, water reservoir, living houses, bath-house and mosque.

* Sebastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine. The Inkerman Monastery of St.Clement represented on the postcard, is a cave monastery in a cliff rising. It was founded in 1850 on the where the relics of St. Clement were kept.

* Kyiv the capital city. The Saint Andrew's Church is a major baroque church located in the city. It was constructed in 1747–1754, to a design by the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Isn't nice? :)

* Kamianets-Podilskyi is a city on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine. This city has a big castle and its foundations were built using limestone. That's not strange? It seems so majestic!

* Sambir is a city of wester Ukraine. In 1668, a town hall was built here, and in the early 18th century, the local church was remodelled.

Thanks to Oksana for this postcard!
All seems very nice places. What do you think?

Before concluding, I would show you this video about the really sad situation that the country is experiencing.

Share it!


It's time to go bed here!

Have a great week,
Giuliana

Sibiu, a little town in the heart of Romania

Good morning guys,

how is going?

It's cloudy again in Milan but in two hours I'm coming back in my lovely hometown: Salerno :) The weather will be so good, sunny and around 20°C :D

Today I want to show you this nice postcard from Romania:

That's Sibiu, a lovely town in the heart of Romania. It's one of the most important cultural centres of Romania and along with the city of Luxembourg, it was designated a European Capital of Culture for the year 2007.
The old city of Sibiu was also ranked as "Europe's 8th most idyllic place to live" by Forbes.
On the postcard there are 3 shots:

• Piata Mica: as it's name says (small square) is divided into two parts separated by Ocnei Street, which slopes under the Bridge of Lies towards the Lower Town. The square preserves with very few changes the aspect of the XV and XVI centuries, all the buildings are historic monuments;

• Podul Minciunilor: in english "Bridge of Lies", it is a metal bridge built in 1859 over Ocnei street which connects the lower city and the upper city. It's a pedestrian walkway and it's the oldest iron bridge in service on the territory of Romania. I like it, it's so particular. There are a lots of legends about this bridge. One of them says that on this bridge used to walk around couples in love. Young people there swore eternal love, and the girls say they are virgins. But after the wedding night, it is discovered that some girls were lying. They were dragged off the bridge, being thrown over the railing. :O

• Palatul Brukenthal: is one of the most important Baroque monuments in Romania. This building was built between 1777 and 1787 to serve as the official residence of Baron and head of its collections. 

Well, I knew a new city and I learned more about it thanks to Simona, the girl that sent me this nice postcard!

Have a great weekend! 

See you,

Giuliana

First one from Europe: Trnava

Hey there,
how was your weekend?

My last semester of study started this morning, first class Advertising Management.
First impression, not bad! I liked it, it was a funny lesson full of advertising campaigns.

I'd like to share one with you, maybe you have already seen it!

That's not funny? :D


Well, the postcard of today is from Slovakia. This is the first postcard that I received from Europe!
Do you know how to say HI in slovak? :) Martin, the guy that sent me this card, told me that it says AHOJ!
I learned something new ;)

The city is Trnava, a small city in western Slovakia, about 50 km to the north-east of Bratislava. It is also one of Slovakia's oldest cities (13th century). Because of the many churches within its city walls, Trnava has often been called the "Slovak Rome". On the picture are represented some important monuments of the city like the Cathedral of St.John (upper left), the Tower in the historical center (upper middle), the Gothic church of St.Nicolas (upper right).

That's not another nice place?
Thank you so much to Martin, he also got mine from Milan, it was a pleasure exchange with him.

I feel tired, tomorrow I will have another new class starting at 8.45am.

So, have a good night in you're reading from Italy and Europe and enjoy the rest of the day for other people!

S pozdravom (best regards in slovak ;)),
Giuliana

Two B for you: Borneo & Brunei!

Heyyy :D
how is going?

Guess what? No rain, finally today it was a very sunny day :) A small break since it tomorrow it will rain again!

Today, I had a very long day! I went to Padova, a nice city close to the famous Venice, for a presentation of my university. This little trip took me back a few years. I had been in Padova during my secondary school trip :) Mmm, about ten years ago!! Omg, I feel a bit old! :D

And, I have more to tell you, I made a "discovery": I tried the McDonald cappuccino and I really liked it :P Hahaha

I also had a UNICEF video conference for a kind of a new project and I met two lovely polish girls, we went to a nice live music pub here in Milan, had a great cocktail and shared experiences! A very nice evening!

Anyway, the postcards of today are from Borneo and Brunei :)

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and the largest island of Asia. It is close to Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. The card represents the Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in south east of Asia. This is one of the most important biological sites in the world.
That's not amazing?
I wanna say thank you to Fiona, the girl that sent me this nice postcard! :) She also got mine from Milan!

  

Brunei is a sovereign state also located in the south east of Asia. This city, Kampong Ayer also called Water Village, has a very particular characteristic: all buildings are constructed on stilts above the Brunei River.

That's not cool?
Thank you so much Yani :)

I "googled" the distance from Milan to Brunei, well, more than 16000km :O That's a lot!!

I really appreciated these two postcards! Did you like them? :)

It's time to go bed, I feel a bit tired and tomorrow I will have another long day!

See you,

Giuliana