China

This card is cool for a couple of reasons. First, I always love to get cards from China! Second, I LOVE the Olympics, and getting an Olympics postcard is exciting. And finally, even though it's a card about the Beijing Olympics, Xinwen lives in Guangzhou, the city where we will eventually end our adoption journey (as that is where the U.S. Consulate is located)!

Hong Kong

I don't know what this play in Hong Kong is about, but it certainly looks interesting! :)

Zurich, Switzerland

Zurich is the biggest city in Switzerland, with about 400,000 inhabitants. According to Sonja, they have a river, a lake, and by clear weather you can see the Alps. It's 1 1/2 hours by car to Germany or Austria, and 3 1/2 hours to France or Italy!

Kernave, Lithuania

Religious scenes from Kernave in Lithuania!

Lithuania

This pretty postcard is from Leva, whose favorite is black and white photography, so she picked out this one for me!

Finland

Such a pretty picture, but I really love the note that Anni wrote on the card...Warm greetings from Finland! And welcome to the beach with me. The sun is setting. But its still nice and warm. You can put your toes in to the warm sea water. Nice, right? Here, have a lovely fresh strawberry and some whipped cream with that. Oh, look! There goes a swan with its baby! How cute are they! I have to go to work now, but you can stay! Have a lovely day! - Anni :)

Schones Elbsandsteingebirge, Germany

This scene in Germany is of mountains and a bridge that are made of a special stone. The area is in East Germany, and is a popular vacation spot!

St. Gall, Switzerland

St. Gall in Switzerland, the countryside near the mountains where Rila lives!

St. Petersburg, Russia

This beautiful card from Anya is of the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Holland

Monique sent me this card with, as she put it, all the cliches of Holland. :) She says that they actually don't wear those clothes and wooden shoes, live in windmills, or just eat cheese. But in the springtime the tulips really are that lovely! :)

Berlin, Germany

Bianca sent me this pretty postcard with lots of scenes from her hometown of Berlin, Germany!

Tallinn, Estonia

This pretty card is from Marion in Estonia. She says that the upper picture is a view of Tallinn from the seaside, and the lower one is with great meaning to Estonia, as it is the place where their singing festivals are held. She also said that they made a movie about it!

Tavira, Portugal

This pretty card is from Tavira in Portugal. Jo actually lives in Lisbon, but had just traveled to Tavira on vacation. Looking at the pictures, I think I want to go on vacation there too! :)

Trakai, Lithuania

This is from Trakai, in Lithuania, about 15 minutes from where Evelina lives. She says that it's especially beautiful in the summer (though I think it's pretty all the time!). :)

Piazza di Spagna, Rome, Italy

This one isn't a postcrossing card - it's from my cousin Amanda, who was in Italy on her senior trip! She had a great time in Rome, and discovered that "the pizza and gelato is wicked good" :)

Switzerland

A thank you card from Vanessa in Switzerland, who noticed that I didn't have any virtual travels to Switzerland yet! She lives in Zurich, and sent me a card with some typical Swiss scenes!

Finland

A pretty scene of the south coast of Finland in the winter.

Hannover, Germany

Man, did I get behind in posting my cool postcrossing postcards! But I'm watching baseball and catching up now! :) This pretty postcard is of Hannover an der Leine in Germany. I've lived in suburbia my whole life, so I can't even imagine living somewhere so pretty!

Japan

This card is from Euita, a Taiwanese mother of 2 daughters in Japan. She says that this card is of a typical Japanese castle and cherry blossoms, a favorite of the Japanese people.

Canoa Quebrada, Brazil

This beautiful beach is in Brazil. Cassandra says it's not in her state, but she has been to and it's impressively beautiful!

Netherlands

These funny penguins were a thank you card from Tineke in the Netherlands. She says that the card is made by a Dutch illustrator of children's books!

Finland

Salla decorated this postcard from Finland with a favorite poem by Jane Yolen. She is a writer, and also gave me information to read poems in Finnish!

Helsinki, Finland

This postcard is from Bunny in Helsinki. She says that this church is one of the most beautiful and famous sights in Helsinki. Every year on December 13th the Lucia-Maiden walks down the steps of it to greet the people with light in the winter. Every year a girl is chosen to be Lucia and she wears white clothes and a crown of lingon-berry plants with candles in it.

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

This postcard from Elisa is from Frankfurt am Main in Germany. She actually lives in Bad Hersleld, but works in Frankfurt am Main. She said that it has a big shopping area that is a shopper's paradise! :)

Finland

This is my second postcard in a few days from Finland! It's really quite pretty, but I don't think I could handle that much snow!

Finland

This beautiful forest is in Finland. Maija lives in Launonen, about 70km outside of Helsinki.

Istanbul, Turkey

Wow! Istanbul is so pretty! Chris really liked this card, as he spent some time in Istanbul and recognized all of the landmarks in the picture! :) Upper left - The Blue Mosque, Upper right - The Haghia Sophia Museum, bottom - The Bosphorus Bridge.

Brussels, Belgium

This postcard is of one of the symbols of Pierre's town of Brussles, all dressed up for the holidays!

Saaremaa, Estonia

This pretty scene is of Saaremaa in Estonia. Yanna writes that it is the biggest island in Estonia, and you can only visit by airplane or boat or ship!

Finland

A pretty horse postcard from Finland.

Belgium

The neat part of this pretty card from Belgium isn't the artwork. It's that it arrived at my house with no postmarks 83 days after Tom sent it to me!

United Kingdom

Another funky card - this one from the UK. The card is called "Car Stickers," and the note was really sweet - "I hope you and your daughter get to do it [travel] for real in the future.

Japan

This pretty little card was a thank you card from Nazuki in Japan!

Taiwan

This neat postcard was a thank you card from Ariel in Taiwan. It is a picture of Taitung Little Yeliou. According to the card, Little Yeliou is located on the northern banks of the Beinan stream and about 10 km from Taitung City. It is dubbed "Little Yeliou" as there are oddly shaped rocks in this scenic area, whose views are similar to those of Yeliou of the North Coast. Thanks Ariel!