Postcards

Ok here is was fascinates me about these three post cards. Look at the similarities between the buildings. You can obviously see that these three different cultures have some of the same influences.
This first one is from Russia and the sender informs me that the building is a church and is very typical of the Russian North.

This next one is a monastery in China and was a favorite place of the ancient emperor as a summer resort.

The last one comes from Korea. Unfortunately I can not tell you what this building is as the sender did not include that information and I do not read Korean but it is beautiful. If I had to guess I would say it is a temple of some kind. Making all of these buildings religious in some way.

I am fascinated by everything these buildings have in common. Can you even imagine what else they might have in common if you could tour them all?




And Now...
Tip Today - Do not pack your expensive jewelery or items of great value if you don't absolutely have to, they are safer at home.
Quote Today - “People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” - Dagobert D. Runes
Dreaming Of - The details of upcoming giveaways.

Postcards

This first card came to me from Germany. The title of the artwork on the card is Where Goes The Music and was painted by Michael Ferner. These guys are fuzzy at first I thought it was just their clothes but then I realized everything was fuzzy.
This card is from Hungary and is the first card I have ever received from that country. It is an illustration from a very famous Hungarian illustrator called Reich Karoly. I would love to read one of his storybooks some day.
Some handmade cards just aren't very good, the people sending them try but they just don't fit together very well at all. This one however is great, there are pictures of the city, art and pictures of real live people they look like they are clipped from a newspaper and that is great, I love seeing the real people.



And Now...
Tip Today - Bring a glue stick w/ you while traveling so you can paste all tix stubs, mementos, etc. into your journal. - this tip from @travelmile
Quote Today - “He who does not travel does not know the value of men.” - Moorish proverb
Dreaming Of - Our upcoming trip to San Antonio and not coming home afterward.

Postcards 2

Here is the great thing about these first two. I received them both on the same day from two different people with two different postcrossing ID's and as you can see they are both from Suomi, Finland. How weird is that? It's never happened to me before but I have to say that although the system of how address' are picked for you over at postcrossing is supposed to be random I get a LOT of address' in Finland and I get a LOT of postcards from Finland. Now I like Finland as much as the next guy (you do like Finland, don't you?) but unless the amount of users from Finland way out number that from the rest of the world there is something up with the randomness of the system. No matter, I still love the postcrossing project.

Both cards make it look like a nice place to visit. I don't really love the cards where they take two or three perfectly nice pictures and put them next to each other or on top of each other. Like the red house with the stream in the second postcard, that is a beautiful picture that could carry a card on it's own but they have thrown form flowers on top of it and a weird boarder around it and that is not attractive.


This one came to me from China actually from Susie in Shanghai to be more specific. It looks like such beautiful country. So much of it looks completely untouched or at least not paved over like so much of America and other places for that matter. China is definitely on my list of places to visit.


This one I have misplaced and so can't give you any information on it but it is cool looking and a little weird.


Oh Italy how I long to visit your...your...your everything! I copied this from the official orta website :
The area around Lake Orta has long been a favorite tourists, thanks to the quiet beauty of the landscape, its fascinating history and its wealth of artistic treasures - principally Romanesque and Baroque architecture.

Lake Orta lies to the west of Lake Maggiore, in the northern Italy. It is a minor star in the costellation of the subalpine lakes, but all the fascination and the history of the larger lakes seem to be concentrated in this short space.



And Now...
Tip Today - FYI In Europe they don' usually give away free water at restaurants and a lot of the time they drink sparkling water not regular water.
Quote Today - “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” - Jack Kerouac
Dreaming Of - Taking the Little Guy somewhere exotic not just to Grandma's house

Trailhead Park on Veronica Shoemaker

I am convinced that one of the best ways to experience any place that I visit is to stop by a neighborhood park. Even though I was born and raised in Fort Myers, Florida the area is constantly changing and my 3 years in New Orleans have been long enough for me to find new places to visit when I come back to Florida to visit family. One of the new things I noticed on this visit is a new park on Veronica Shoemaker Blvd, I believe the address was 3600.

The park was hot on the day we visited and there isn't a lot of shade for the playground area but there are three covered pavilions that are available on a first come first served basis. Which is where I parked my bag while the little guy was playing.

Adjacent to the two playgrounds, each recommended for different age groups, there is a section with exercise equipment. This is not one of those old circuits with a wooden bench and three poles of varying heights sticking out of the ground, this new and improved circuit course has a manual treadmill, skier and row type machines. I was really impressed with how smoothing everything ran considering it is out in the elements and Florida is a pretty harsh environment. I picture this park as the perfect place to meet with a group of parent friends a few times per week. The little ones could play as a few parents watched and the other parents could run through the circuits nearby then switch off, I wish New Orleans had a park like this one, I would definitely exercise more often.

We weren't out every long since it was a really hot day, but while we were at this park there was a group of people in the largest pavilion, they seemed to be having a debate, it was organized and I wondered if it was some type of group therapy session. It was interesting hearing little bits of conversation about why people dumped old boyfriends and what someone would do with a million dollars. A few minutes before we decided to pack it up for the day a couple of people on their lunch break sat down at a table with their sandwiches, which looked really good by the way, they were friendly and said 'hi' to my son as we walked by. These are the types of people you see at neighborhood parks, real local people enjoying the area, just like you.


And Now...
Tip Today - Always leave a flashlight in your car, you never know when you are going to need it, flat tire at night anyone? Show of hands.
Dreaming Of - A souvenir giveaway series from all the places I visit.

Signs

There are plenty of sites out there on the Internet that collect weird and interesting signs from around the world which I find lots of fun to look at so here I am going to share one with you that I ran into today while at the new trailhead park on Veronica Shoemaker Blvd in Fort Myers.

Regalo Travel Cot - Travel Product Review

Kids Love It! That is what it says on the side of the box, actually that is what it says on four sides of the box. I ordered the Regalo Travel Cot from walmart.com before what was supposed to be a trip to San Antonio and turned out to be a trip to Florida. My son is 2 and a half years old, he outgrew the pack-n-play a few months ago, in fact when we came to Florida in March his head and feet were touching the ends of the pack-n-play so it was definitely time for something new.

I searched the Internet for something safe, comfortable and inexpensive what I found was the Regalo Travel Cot. When it first arrived at the house we took it out of the box set it up and without any prompting my son went to his bed picked out his blankets and pillow and brought them all to his new travel cot. He set up the cot the way he wanted it with stuffed animals and all then climbed on and laid down.

It really is true, kids love it. I didn't really believe what I was seeing, I did not expect him to hate it but to recognize it as a bed without being told and then to climb in so readily? I wasn't ready for that. After a good play sleep we packed up the Travel cot in it's handy carrying bag (included) in preparation for our road trip to Florida. It is lightweight but sturdy making it easy to carry around but safe and secure once it is set up for the little guy's bedtime. It folds up long about 2 1/2 feet but not very wide about 6 inches which makes it really easy to fit in the car. In my Mini Cooper it fits perfectly in the floor of the storage area and in the RX8 it fits easily in the trunk with lots of positioning options.

Once at your destination it fits perfectly in any size room. We have it between the bed and the closet in the bedroom that my son and I share while visiting Grandma in Florida. It fits with no trouble at all and there is still room to get around in the room, if you were staying in a very small room, the cot is so easy to fold up that you could just fold it and store it when it wasn't in use during the day. I plan to use this cot many more times in the coming months and maybe even years. The listing on the box says it can be used for 2 - 7 year olds but if my guy keeps growing at his current rate he will be too talk for it before he is 7 but I am guessing we will be able to use it till he is around 5 years old and that is still 2 1/2 years away so I will have many more traveling adventures to share with you and keep you informed on how the Regalo Travel Cot holds up.

Domestic Postcards

In addition to the lot of postcards I receive from international destinations I also receive a few from right here in the United States of America. Each one reminds me time and again how many wonderful things we have right here in our own country. These are a few of those cards.

This one was sent to me through postcrossing from Maine (in case you haven't figured that out already). A little house that just screams out to tell it's story surrounded by Lupine flowers that bloom throughout Maine in the late Spring and Early Fall. If I were in Maine during this time of year I would probably drive right by this spot never even slowing down but that would be a shame. A good photo should show us these little things that we would otherwise miss and a good postcard is no different. This one succeeds for sure.

When I here "Santa Barbara" I think big city, traffic and crowds. In my mind Santa Barbara gets lumped in with L.A. but this postcard makes me think a little differently. One day I will have to visit Santa Barbara to set the record straight.

Southern Summer Rainstorms

One of the great things about traveling is seeing all the different things, experiencing new and different things or the opportunity to rediscover those little things that you love. (one of the bad things is dailup internet connection, notice the lack of pictures?).
In Louisiana we have thunderstorms but they are just not as sweeping as the ones here in Florida. It seems with the changes in the weather that there are fewer and fewer of these storms both in Louisiana and in Florida. Being here on the "farm" in Florida you really get a sense of the power behind the storms that I think is lost in the buildings of the big city.

Leave me a comment telling me something you have enjoyed discovering or rediscovering while on vacation.


And Now...
Tip Today - Never pack a bottle filling with liquid loose in your checked bag. Always wrap it in a plastic bag or ziplock bag. you never know when there will be a leak (or worse, a break) and you don't want shampoo all over your clothes.
Dreaming Of - high speed internet.

Driving to Fl

The little one and I are on our way to Fort Myers, Florida to visit my family.
One of the things I really love about road trips is all the little things I have the opportunity to see. Like this old house that I saw today, just West of Live Oak, FL off I-75. It was abandoned in a field next to a gas station where we stopped to fill up the needsomgas. Everytime I see a building like this I ache to know it's story.

Weird Postcards

Recently I joined a weird/odd/strange round robin for postcards on postcrossing and I finally received all the cards from all the other participants and wanted to share them with you here.

This first one was sent to me from France and it smells fishy to me. LOL, OMG, knee slapper that one.
Sorry, I really am sorry about that stinker. I did it again, somebody stop me!

This next one comes to me from Dallas, Texas. There are reasons why I don't see myself ever living in Texas and although I don't have a clue what this postcard means I think this might be one of the reasons.

This card comes to me from Russia and although I don't think it is as weird as the other two it is definitely cute. The postcrosser who sent it to me informs me that the statement on the front translates to "Dreaming is not Harmful"

And Now...
Tip Today - List, list, list. make lists of everything from clothes to toiletries to electronics and accessories. Then mark them off the lsit as you put them in your suitcase.

Quote Today - “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” - Lao Tzu

Dreaming Of - Sleep lots of wonderful sleep