Three sweet muffins

In my first swap with Helga, from the Netherlands (FB swap), I got theese three beautiful muffin postcards.
(Received on: 19.07.2012)

Interesting fact from the muffins' history: Recipes for muffins, in their yeast-free "American" form, are common in 19th century American cookbooks. Recipes for yeast-based muffins, which were sometimes called "common muffins" or "wheat muffins" in 19th century American cookbooks, can be found in much older cookbooks.

Schloss Lustheim und Sandmännchen

In my second swap with Hanna (Germany), I swapped two cards, one with the beautiful Schloss Lustheim and one with Sandmännchen. I love the both, thank you very much!! :)
(Received on: 18.07.2012)

Lustheim Palace
Enrico Zuccalli built Lustheim Palace as a garden villa in Italian style in 1684-1688 for Maximilian II Emanuel and his first wife, the Austrian princess Maria Antonia.
The interior is dominated by the large banqueting hall in the middle of the building. The frescoes were done by Johann Anton Gumpp, Francesco Rosa and Johann Andreas Trubillio.
Since 1968 the palace has housed a grand collection of Meissen porcelain, only outranged by the Porzellansammlung in the Zwinger, Dresden.
The palace once formed the centre point of a semicircle of round buildings. Two pavillons still exist: To the south of Lustheim Place the Renatus Chapel was erected in 1686 by Zuccalli in a pavillon. The northern pavillon houses the decorated stable which was built for the favourite horses of Elector Max Emanuel.

I ♥ Chocolate

This is my third postcard from Svenja (Germany), got through FB-swap.
(Received on : 16.07.2012)

Chocolate has become one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays: chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular on Easter, chocolate coins on Hanukkah, Santa Claus and other holiday symbols on Christmas, and chocolate hearts or chocolate in heart-shaped boxes on Valentine's Day. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to produce chocolate milk and hot chocolate.
Cocoa mass was used originally in Mesoamerica both as a beverage and as an ingredient in foods. Chocolate played a special role in both Maya and Aztec royal and religious events. Priests presented cacao seeds as offerings to the gods and served chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies. All of the areas that were conquered by the Aztecs that grew cacao beans were ordered to pay them as a tax, or as the Aztecs called it, a "tribute".
The Europeans sweetened and fattened it by adding refined sugar and milk, two ingredients unknown to the Mexicans. By contrast, the Europeans never infused it into their general diet, but have compartmentalized its use to sweets and desserts. In the 19th century, Briton John Cadbury developed an emulsification process to make solid chocolate, creating the modern chocolate bar. Although cocoa is originally from the Americas, today Western Africa produces almost two-thirds of the world's cocoa, with Côte d'Ivoire growing almost half of it.

Morsum-Kliff an der Ostspitze

Another postcard what I got from Lisa, (Germany) through snail-mail.
(Received on : 13.07.2012)

The Ostspitze (4,632 m) is a peak of the Monte Rosa Massif in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. It is the second highest peak of the massif, after the Dufourspitze (4,634 m), and the second highest (minor) summit in Switzerland.

Friesenhaus bei Rantum

This postcard was sent by Lisa, my penpal from Germany.
(Received on : 13.07.2012)

Rantum (friesisch: Raantem) ist ein Ortsteil der Gemeinde Sylt auf der Insel Sylt, südlich von Westerland im Kreis Nordfriesland.

Der Name des Ortes wird gern mit dem Namen der Meeresgöttin Ran in Verbindung gebracht; Rantum als Ort der Ran. Wahrscheinlicher ist jedoch die Ableitung aus der alten Schreibweise des Ortsnamens Raanteem als Ort am Rande.

Supetar

My family went on holiday last week to Croatia, but unfortunately my older brother and I couldn't go there with them, so they have sent us this postcard.
(Received on: 09.07.2012)

Supetar (Italian: San Pietro della Brazza) is a town and a city on the northern side of the Dalmatian island of Brač, in the Split-Dalmatia County, in Croatia. It became the island's official centre in 1827. The City of Supetar includes the town Supetar and the three villages Splitska, Škrip and Mirca.
With a population of 3,326, it is the island's largest and fastest-expanding town with dozens of apartments being built every year. It is accessible via 45 minute ferry via Jadrolinija from the mainland city of Split.
The present settlement of Supetar was founded in the 16th century when people living in Nerežišča, about 8 km inland, began to use it as their harbour. The town's main period of development occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries when Supetar took over from Nerežišča as the administrative centre of the island of Brač.

The Little Mole bakes cookies

It's my second postcard from Karolína (Czech Republic), got through FB-swap.
(Received in June, 2012)

Karolína and I, we both don't know which Krtek-episode is showing by this postcard, so if somebody knows, please let me know and send me an e-mail! :)

Muffins

These yummy muffins were sent by Moniek (Netherlands), I got this card through FB-swap.
(Received in July, 2012)

A muffin is an American English name for a type of quick bread that is baked in small portions. Many forms are somewhat like small cakes or cupcakes in shape, although they usually are not as sweet as cupcakes and generally lack frosting. They may be filled with sweet fillings, such as chocolate, toffee, lemons or blueberries. Savory varieties, such as cornbread muffins or cheese muffins or sometimes just plain muffins, also exist. They generally fit in the palm of an adult hand, and are intended to be consumed by an individual in a single sitting.

Outside the United States of America, muffin can also refer to a disk-shaped muffin, usually called an English muffin outside the United Kingdom. As American-style muffins are also sold in Commonwealth countries, the term muffin can refer to either product, with the context usually making clear which is meant.

There are many varieties and flavors of muffins made with a specific ingredient such as blueberries, chocolate chips, cucumbers, raspberry, cinnamon, pumpkin, date, nut, lemon, banana, orange, peach, strawberry, boysenberry, almond, and carrot, baked into the muffin. Muffins are often eaten for breakfast; alternatively, they may be served for tea or at other meals.

Bitterfeld-Wolfen

It's also an official Postcrossing postcard, sent by Peter (Germany).
Postcard ID: DE-1444289
Received on: 5 Jul, 2012

Bitterfeld-Wolfen is a town in the district Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated in south-eastern Saxony-Anhalt, west of the river Mulde, in an area that is dominated by heavy industry and lignite mining. The town was formed by merger of the towns Bitterfeld and Wolfen and the municipalities Greppin, Holzweißig and Thalheim on 1 July 2007.

Bitterfeld-Wolfen is 25 kilometres (16 mi) northeast of Halle (Saale) and about 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Leipzig. Eastward lies the lake Muldestausee, southward the Goitzsche lake with docks, westwards the lido of Sandersdorf. The town lies in a nature preserve Bitterfelder Bergbaurevier.

Baby in the flower

The sleeping baby in the flower (Anne Geddes) postcard was sent by Angelika (Poland), as an official Postcrossing card.

Postcard ID: PL-473694

Received on: 5 Jul, 2012

He/She is sleeping so sweet, thank you Angelika so much! :)

Moi, ça va! - Et toi?

This very cute Diddl postcard is an official Postcrossing card, sent by Monique (Netherlands).
Postcard ID: NL-1301206
Received on : 5 Jul, 2012

("Moi, ça va! - Et toi?" = "I'm okay! - And you?" )

The Great Wall of China

The third postcard from Katharin (FB-swap) shows the the Great Wall of China .
(Received in July, 2012)

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC; these, later joined together and made bigger, stronger, and unified are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.

Shanghai Metro's map

This card is also from Katharin, sent through FB-swap.
(Receive in July, 2012)

The Shanghai Metro is the urban rapid transit system of China's largest city, Shanghai. The system incorporates both subway (地铁) and light rail (轻轨) lines. It opened in 1995, making Shanghai the third city in Mainland China, after Beijing and Tianjin, to have a rapid transit system. Since then, the Shanghai Metro has become one of the fastest-growing rapid transit systems in the world.

Titanic

My very first Titanic-postcard was sent by Katharin (German girl living in China), via FB-swap.
(Received in July, 2012)

RMS Titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City, US. The sinking of Titanic caused the deaths of 1,514 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. The second of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, she was built between 1909–11 by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. She carried 2,224 people.

Two Miffy cards from Moniek

I got these two adorable Miffy postcards from Moniek (Netherlands), through FB-swap.
(Received in July, 2012)

Mount Batok

This postcard was sent by Rika from Surabaya, Indonesia. We have a common penpal, Hannah, but it was a surprise card from her. :) How nice!! ;)
(Received in July, 2012)

Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is located in East Java, Indonesia, to the east of Malang and to the southeast of Surabaya, the capital of East Java. It is the only conservation area in Indonesia that has a sand sea, the Tengger Sand Sea (Laut Pasir Tengger), across which is the caldera of an ancient volcano (Tengger) from which four new volcanic cones have emerged. This unique feature covers a total area of 5,250 hectares at an altitude of about 2,100 m. 

The volcanic complex of Tengger forms a condition where a new caldera of volcano forms inside a larger and more ancient caldera. There are five volcanoes inside the Tengger Caldera: Mount Bromo (2,329 m), Mount Batok (2,470 m), Mount Kursi (2,581 m), Mount Watangan (2,661 m), and Mount Widodaren (2,650 m). Mount Batok is the only peak that is no longer active, and is covered in casuarina (cemara) trees. Mount Widodaren, located beside Mount Batok, contains the cave Widodaren, which is considered sacred by local people.

Body Worlds

This special-shaped Body Worlds postcard is from Amy, USA.
I got it today, on the second July, 2012.

Body Worlds is a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner anatomical structures. The exhibition's developer and promoter is German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, who invented the plastination technique in the late 1970s at the University of Heidelberg.