Beijing, China

A beautiful view of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. This is definitely on my list of "must-sees" when we finally get to go to China!

Nirchheim, Germany

Christina sent me this card of her town of Nirchheim in Germany. She says that it is a very nice town with very old houses in the south of Germany. To me, it looks just like the ones they recreate in Busch Gardens and Disney World!

Frankfurt, Germany

A view of Frankfurt, Germany! Frankfurt is the biggest city in the state Hesse, and is a multi-cultural city known for its airport (which is the 3rd biggest in Europe and where Ute works!).

Chania, Crete, Greece

This postcard is from Ria and Aris in Athens, Greece. Even though they live in Athens, the postcard is from Ria's hometown of Chania on the west part of the island of Crete. The picture is of an old Venetian port; there are also many great beaches, nice villages, and quite high mountains in Chania.

Oborniki, Poland

I received two postcards from Kevin from Oborniki, Poland. Kevin is a 11 year old boy who likes motorbikes and skating, and hopes to be a fireman in the future.

Brussels, Belgium

Francoise sent me this beautiful view of Brussels. It is a view of their famous Grand Place - the Grand'Place-Maison des Ducs de Brabant. Very cool!

Russia

A beautiful postcard from Tatiana in the south of Russia!

Helsinki, Finland

This postcard from Suvi in Helsinki really made me laugh. Why? Because she says that her boyfriend looks like a Hobbit (and we all know that Chris has Hobbit feet!!) :) The postcard is of a cathedral in Helsinki where in the summer people sit on the steps and eat lunch!

Sweden

This fun postcard is from Elin, a 13 year old boy from Sweeden. He lives about one hour by train from the capital Stockholm, and he is a huge Harry Potter fan (like me!)

Virolahti, Finland

Another neat art postcard! This one is from Katja from Finland. She wrote to me about how her town got its first snow of the season that day!

Berlin, Germany

Not a picture of Berlin, but a card from Fine in Berlin, Germany!

London, Ontario, Canada

This view is of London in Ontario, Canada. Jen sent me this pretty card. There is a hockey arena (the John Labatt Centre) on the other side of the castle-like building!

Uusikaupunki, Finland

Paivi sent me this postcard from her town in Finland. She lives in the countryside with her husband and two cats.

Tiamjin, China

Another card from China - I love it! This one is from Yao, who lives in Tiamjin, a big city in the north of China. It's near the capital of Beijing. The picture is of Beihai Park - hopefully we will get to visit it when we are in China (which will hopefully be soon!!).

Turkey

Aylin from Turkey sent me this postcard from Turkey. It's of St. Sophia-Istanbul, a place that Chris has been into when he lived in Turkey. He says there were some very big stray cats in there - I just think it's beautiful!

Germany

This postcard is from Christoph in Germany. It's a picture of the Russian windjammer Sedov during the biggest sailing event in the world. Christoph is studying medicine in the northeast regional capital of Germany. Very cool!

Netherlands

This pretty postcard is from Albert from the Netherlands. The card says Bruges - Close of the Vineyard.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This postcard from Azlan in Malaysia. The picture is of the National Monument in Kuala Lumpur's Lake Gardens. I had to look up where Malaysia was on a map, but I recognized the monument from an episode of The Amazing Race!

Beijing, China

Of course, I was really excited to get my first postcard from China! This is from infanta from Beijing, and is a card of one of the Olympic mascots (I was also excited because I actually have a collection of Olympic postcards from years past!)

Paris, France

I was so excited to get this postcard from Sebjarod in Paris, since we got to visit Sacre-Couer when we were in Paris last fall (my one actual trip out of the US!!) It was so beautiful, and reminded me of the wonderful trip we had!

Barcelona, Spain

This neat postcard from Spain is from Jose. It's of Parc Guell by Gaudi, his favorite place in his town of Barcelona. I SO want to visit!

Orivesi, Finland

This neat postcard is from Eelis and Pieti from Finland. They are 4 and 6 years old, and the card was a thank you for the card I sent them from Virginia! It's a Finnish ABC learning card with some words for me! They live in a small town in middle of Finland, near Tampere, though their house is in the countryside surrounded by fields and forests. Very cool!

Germany

This funky postcard is from Bianca from Karlsruhe in the south of Germany. Her town has a big castle...how cool!

Tampere, Finland

Greetings from Eveliina, her husband, and two dogs (Rocky & Rambo) from Tampere, Finland. This is a view from the heart of her city!

Finland

Not a picture from Finland, but a sweet card from Sanna in Finland.

Gold Reef City, South Africa

Sawubona = Greetings from South Africa! This neat postcard from Sandy in South Africa is of Gold Reef City, a tourist attraction and entertainment centre.

Wilnsdorf, Germany

A beautiful view of Wilnsdorf/Sigerland in West Germany.

Kromeriz, Czech Republic

Chris spent some time after college in the Czech Republic - it looks so beautiful! This postcard is from Milar in Kromeriz in the Czech Republic. It's a UNESCO town with a rich history. So beautiful!

Kent, United Kingdom

This neat postcard is from Frankie in Lydd, Kent, in Great Britain. The card (and the stamps used to send it!) are a special release by the Post Office!

Finland

How cute is this bear?? :) This postcard is from Sangbathory from Finland. She says that this is a typical Finnish forest (though she has only seen a wild bear once!) She lives in the countryside with lots of forests around.

Germany

This beautiful postcard is from Maren. She lives in the western part of Germany, and this card shows one of the three castles in her hometown. It's a fashion school now! Oh, how I wish I had castles in my town!!!

Helsinki, Finland

My first postcard! From Jonnanan is Finland, this is an old picture from Helsinki.

Welcome!

Welcome to my virtual adventures blog! I'm using my time that I'm waiting sort-of wisely, and trying to see some of the world. Since I'm not such a good traveler, I'm doing it virtually. I've been doing postcrossing since September, and have received postcards from all over the world. It's so amazing to see places that I'll never get to actually visit, and learn about people everywhere. (I love the pictures, but the notes from people around the world are so amazing!) I am also just now starting to participate in toy voyagers as well. I'm planning on using my blog to share my "adventures" with all of you!

Oh yes...for those that are new to postcrossing...postcrossing is an online community where you send a postcard to someone (they randomly generate a name/address of a user). When your postcard arrives, your name goes on the list to receive a postcard from a random user. You can have up to 5 postcards traveling at any time. It's SO much fun - you can read more and sign up at www.postcrossing.com.