#66: Broadstairs to the Russian Federation

Postcard number: 66
Bought in: Broadstairs, UK
Sent to: Ksenia in the Russian Federation
Written: 30 August 2013
Sent: 30 August 2013

Text says:

30 August 2013, London UK

Dear Ksenia,

Hope this postcard finds you well. I’m writing it in my lunch-break as the working week heads towards a close here in London. It’s been a short week at work, as Monday was a Bank holiday. We had an extra long Long Weekend too because last Friday my husband and I both took some leave to attend the wedding of two friends at a lovely rural venue near St. Albans. We stayed the night there, and then drove all the way up to Warwick Castle on the Saturday. On Sunday, we went to Box Hill, south-west of London, and on Monday we drove east to Broadstairs. We haven’t owned a car since we moved to the UK, but when we hire one we try to put it to good use!

Our intended destination for Monday was Botany Bay, but we were following the satellite navigation instructions, so ended up in Broadstairs town centre and at Louisa Bay (which is next to the one shown on this postcard). My husband and daughter played in the water for a while and then we walked around the cliff path, ate icecreams, and saw the giant inflatable giraffe and other beachside attractions – quite different to what you’d see on a beach back in New Zealand!

Tash

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#56: Land’s End to Russia

Postcard number: 56
Bought in: Cornwall, UK
Sent to: Anastasia in Russia
Written: 16 August 2013
Sent: 16 August 2013

Text says:

16 August 2013, London UK

Dear Anastasia,

Greetings from the UK, home of ‘Doctor Who’. My husband’s a big fan of the show, and we’ve definitely watched plenty of it while we’ve lived in this country: the weekly episodes, the Christmas specials, even the recent live announcement of Peter Capaldi as the 12th doctor. We’ve been to Cardiff where the show is filmed, to a Dr Who exhibition and to the blue TARDIS phone box at Earl’s Court.

However, we haven’t actually seen the Land’s End signpost shown on this postcard. We set off to walk around the cliffs to it, back in September 2010, but I was about seven months pregnant and only made it up a couple of hills and around a couple of cliff faces before we headed back – thinking we’d visit Land’s End again soon enough. Almost three years later, we haven’t been back yet…

If only time travel was a possibility!

Best wishes
Tash

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#31: London Eye to Russia

Postcard number: 031
Bought in: London, UK
Sent to: Natasha in Russia
Written: 31 March 2010
Sent: 1 April 2010

Text says:

31 March 2010, London UK

Dear Natasha,

Greetings from London! This postcard shows one of the best known/most photographed modern landmarks of this city: the London Eye. On normal nights the Eye is usually lit up by various coloured lights, but on New Year’s Eve it’s lit up by a fireworks display. I remember, in 2000, watching the London millennium fireworks from a TV in New Zealand – it was already half a day into the new century for us.

At the end of 2007, we wanted to see the London fireworks for ourselves. We got into the city early on New Year’s Eve, slowly walked down The Strand amongst the crowd of thousands and eventually found a spot on the Embankment with a good view of the London Eye. Or at least it was a good view until midnight, when they let the first fireworks off. It was so cold that the smoke from the fireworks mixed with the fog over the river and soon we couldn’t see anything at all! We probably would’ve got a better view on TV, but I was glad to be out, with so many people, celebrating the potential of the coming year.

I hope this year’s been good to you so far. It’s hard to believe three months are gone already!
Tash

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#22: Edinburgh to Russia

Postcard number: 022
Bought in: Edinburgh, Scotland
Sent to: Nadia in Russia
Written: 9 March 2010
Sent: 10 March 2010

Text says:

9 March 2010, London UK

Dear Nadia,

This postcard shows Edinburgh Castle, shrouded in morning mist. In my experience, mist seems to be very common in Scotland – and not just in the morning. In fat, when we did a bus tour of the Scottish Highlands over the Christmas holidays in 2008, we missed out on seeing some of the the key sights because they were covered in mist. Because of the mist, for example, we could only vaguely make out the outline of a couple of the lochs – and we couldn’t see Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest mountain at all despite being told we were right next to it! However we did get to see quite a few castles on our trip (Edinburgh, Stirling, Eileen Donan, Urquart, etc) and lots of hairy highland ‘coos’ (but not the Loch Ness Monster). We visited the Culloden battle fields, and tried eating haggis and, on Christmas day we participated in a Scottish ceilidh, dancing around the room until we were exhausted. Scotland’s an absolutely beautiful place, and so different from London. I hope that one day we can spend more time up there, amongst the lochs, the mist and the mountains.

Best wishes,
Tash

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