Via Airmail

Dutch Open Air Museum

These farmhouses are only a few that make up the nearly one hundred historic buildings found at the Dutch Open Air Museum in Arnhem.  This is a living musuem where people can  see the actual buildings and how they were used.  Many of the structures were built hundreds of years ago.  In 1912 the museum was founded as a way to preserve the architecture and cultural heritage surrounding a fading way of life.  Unfortunately the card does not give details of the buildings.  I would love to know what they were used for, but I am pleased to be introduced to this sort of museum.  Who knows, maybe someday I'll get to visit it.

The card was mailed with a Postcrossing stamp as shown here.

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Postcrossing card #93

Jaipur Museum, India

I've completely fallen behind in sharin my postcrossing cards, so I think I'm going to have to try an step things up and scan more quickly!  I've only been sharing Postcrossing cards of late (hoping to get them all scanned first), but I've also been receiving lots of great postcards through personal swaps as well.  I may have to share several of those at once as soon as I get around to them.  In the interim I'm going to try and catch up on my official postcrossing cards.

This came from Jaipur, India and shows the Jaipur Museum.

"Famous also as Albert Hall is situated in the Ram Niswas garden.  Contains colourful huge portraits of Maharajas of Jaipur, many other miniatures of art, costumes and wood work and many articles of old armoury & curious, etc."

The stamps include one in honor of Children's Day and one showing C.V. Raman (Novel Prize winner for physics).

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Postcrossing card #89

An Post Museum, Ireland

This postcard is from the An Post Museum which is located in Dublin's historic GPO.  The exhibit, "Letters, Lives & Liberty" is an interactive exhibit which tells the history of the Post Office in Ireland.  The cool thing about this postcard is that it was signed by several Postcrossers in Ireland who had a 'Postcrossing Meet-up" on May 26.  I'm envious!

Probably not chosen on purpose, but I like how the stamp is color coordinated with the card.  It shows a common frog and is one in a series of Irish Animals and Marine Life.

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Postcrossing card #55

Tianjin, China

Another museum card to add to  my collection.  This time it comes from the city of Tianjin, the sixty largest city of China.  The card shows the Tianjin West Bank Art Museum.  The collection contains rare jade pieces as well as porcelain, as well as folk art pieces including paper cutting (which I am very interested in).  Pity there is no view of the intererior, but the building is lovely and not what I typically think of as Chinese architecture.

The stamps include these two exotic fish, and

a flower stamp that was preprinted on the card.  Prestamped cards from China seem to be the norm in my experience.  It's kind of nice when the card comes pre-stamped.  Maybe people would be more inclined to send them if it was made so easy to send them.

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Postcrossing card #54

Museums of Odessa, Ukraine

This postcard from Odessa, Ukraine shows the interiors of three different museums.  Museums are one of my very favorite places to visit, so I am always pleased to get a peek at an international museum.  Clockwise from top left: Literature Museum (top two photos), Private Collections Museum and the Navy Museum.  I'd be particularly interested in seeing the Literary Museum.  It is located in a 19th century palace using 24 halls.  A few of the writers I recognize who are represented there: Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, and Maxim Gorky.

There were a variety of stamps on this card.  I especially like the stamp of the metro train.

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Postcrossing card #53

Picasso Museum in Barcelona

Although not my first Spanish postcard, this is my first official postcard I've received from Spain.  In this case it came from Barcelona.  As I collect museum cards, the Postcrosser who sent this kindly chose a card of the Museu Picasso.  I love the card for its uniqueness.  What a beautiful courtyard.  The architecture alone is stunning and just imagine what the artwork inside must look like.  Perhaps one day I'll get to see it in person?   

I'm guessing the stamp on the left is another in the series on Civic Values and I've received another Todos con Lorca stamp (by chance I have both stamps on another envelope I received a while back). 

I know it is a little bit silly but I have to admit that it makes me inordinately happy to see another country flag show up on  my stats in Postcrossing!

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Postcrossing card #29

Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden

Although I've visited Washington DC several times and have visited most of the Smithsonian Museums, I have somehow managed to miss exploring the Hirshhorn Museum each and every time.  I suspect it has always been a matter of sensory overload--so much to see and do and not enough time to do it all in.  The Smithsonian Museums are also free and I have a number of favorite collections I like to visit when I do go, but now I must make an effort to see the Hirshhorn next time I have an opportunity to do so. 

Something about this particular view:

"The cylindrical building, almost a sculpture itself, captures the Hirshhorn Museum's and Sculpture Garden's essential character.  The nucleus of the collection was donated to the people of the United States in 1966 by the enthusiastic collector of art, Joseph H. Hirshhorn.  The emphasis is on European and American art from the late 19th century to the present day and includes an exceptional sculpture collection."

You can read more about Joseph Hirshhorn here.  And a few highlights from the collection can be seen here. 

I'm a great fan of interesting architecture and love the curved shape of the building.

And the stamp on the back is the gold old Aloha stamp issued in January of this year, which I've used many times myself.

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Postcrossing card #15