zwaanendael

The Zwaanendael Museum was built in 1931 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the first Dutch settlement in Delaware. The building models the city hall in Hoorn.  On the top is a David Pieterson de Vries, the founder of Swanendael.  The name changed over time (it means valley of the swans) and was again changed to Lewes when the English took control 1664.

 

day 19 of NaBloPoMo 

lost in translation

 

I'm not really sure what kind of fruit this is (mango?), though I suspect the Chinese script in the corner gives a clue (if I could read Chinese)

 

This one from Belarus was also tricky.  Turns out it is a 'common raccoon dog' which is not at all a raccoon.  Or a dog.  It is a canid that is closely related to a fox. They are widespread in eastern Europe and Asia.

 

The Moravian Museum is easily translatable.  Okay, I had to google translate 'zemske' (regional)

and, this is obviously the Bavarian Forest, in full winter  splendour

 

some foreign languages for Sunday Stamps

adoration

 

By the time these Magi arrived, the Baby Jesus could hold up his head! As well as the expensive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, a onesie might have been useful.

 back to Finland for some snow, or lumi

fun for kids

 how about a whole museum dedicated to play (Vagos, Portugal)

and what kid doesn't love chocolate?

and at the end of the day - a swim in the hotel pool!

they've been entertained, fed, and exercised

some fun for kids for Thursday Postcard Hunt

altamira palace

The Palmeral de Elche is the largest palm grove in Europe. Today, there are over 200,000 palm trees around the historic centre. This card shows the Altamira Palace which is currently an Archaeological Museum.

louvre

received from France

once a house

The only residential villa built by architect Alexander "Greek" Thompson that is open to the public. Built in the late 1850's

dizzy

look up, way up

smilodon

A skeleton of a sabre toothed cat

La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles

CATURDAY

art

It is the second largest art museum in the world. In 2002 it celebrated its 150th year of being open to the public, but was actually founded in 1764 by Catherine The Great. It is, of course, the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. An exterior and interior view of the Hermitage Theatre is on the souvenir sheet  and a view of the Winter Palace from the Neva River.

For Sunday Stamps - eastern hemisphere

blue

In 2014, tragically, nine blue whales died in the Gulf of St Lawrence. This exhibit from 2017 tells their story with an unprecedented chance to see the skeleton of one of them.

future

cowboy

I picked up this card because of the architecture but it's special now because I've been following the fun museum twitter account being run during lockdown by "Tim" #HashtagTheCowboy (yes, he was so new at it that he thought he had to write out the word 'hashtag'!)

sticks and blades

Melbourne Museum, opened in 2000 a natural and cultural history museum
The sweeping 'blade' canopy is a signature of the architectural firm Denton Corker Marshall.

in the palm of your hand

Designed by architect Raymond Moriyama and opened in September 1969 as one of the world's first interactive science museums

Spadina House

"The magnificent 1866 mansion of Toronto financier James Austin contains elegant Canadian furnishings and fine art, spanning the lifetime of three generations. Landscaped grounds. 

Open daily year round."

drawing rooms

Dundurn Castle, Hamilton (home of Sir Alan McNab)

Spadina House Toronto (home of James Austin)

The Austin family's Drawing Room contains matching walnut upholstered furniture in the Renaissance Revival Style. Original gasoliers, oriental carpets, and a Steinway grand piano exemplify the elegance of this prominent Toronto family.

country manor

'Zdravnevo', near Vitebsk Belarus, belonged to Russian and Ukrainian artist Ilya Repin (1844-1930 )and is now a museum. The original house was almost destroyed during WWII and much of the wood was used for firewood by the residents of Vitebsk. In 1988 it was rebuilt using Repin's original drawings and with help from some people who remembered it during his lifetime.

Dundurn Castle

Still looks the same as it ever was

Dundurn Castle

Dundurn Castle is now a National Historic Site but when it was built in 1835, the 40 rooms featured the latest designs of the era including gas lighting and running water. The museum has been restored to the year 1855 when owner Sir Alan MacNab, the first premier of the Canadas was in his prime. The portico and pillars were added in 1855 for his daughter Sophia's wedding.