Postcrossing Blog

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

December is a sweet month in many countries, which got us thinking… what are some traditional desserts from your country? If we visited today, what would you serve us as a treat after lunch or perhaps mid-afternoon, with tea?

Portugal’s confectioneries are numerous and legendary… but sometimes the simplest pleasures are the nicest ones, is it not?

Traditionally made with just 3 ingredients, “Pão de ló” is a fluffy cake you’ll find mostly in the north of the country… but also in places like Japan where it was taken to in the 16th century by Portuguese merchants. Similar to sponge cake, it is most delicious when made “wet” by undercooking, so that it can be eaten with a spoon. And as with most cakes and sweets around here, it takes a ton of eggs to make, which is why all our sweets are very yellow. :)

What about your country? What are those special desserts everyone should try? Share them in the postcards you send this month… and in the comments as well, so that we can make a list of delicious stuff to try when we visit your country! 😋

December starts this coming weekend and if you’ve been around Postcrossing for a few years you should know what that means… It’s time to announce our yearly partnership with Deutsche Post on the Cards for Literacy campaign! 🎉 So without further ado:

So if you’re in Germany, all you have to do is to send postcards! If your December postcards are registered before the end of February 2020, you will be contributing to this cause and entering a draw to win some neat prizes! Seven lucky postcrossers (residents in Germany only) will be randomly selected to receive one of these:

• One voucher for the Marke Individuell Online Shop worth 100€.
• Three vouchers for the Marke Individuell Online Shop worth 40€ each.
• Three post-themed messenger bags from Deutsche Post.

So by sending postcards from Germany in December, you’re not only helping a good cause, but can also win some customizable stamps or maybe a messenger bag. Hurray! The more postcards you send, the more chances you have to win one of the prizes.

And although only postcards sent from Germany count, there’s always a receiver in every postcard exchange — so each time a card from Germany is registered, the recipient will be indirectly contributing to this donation too. So don’t forget to register your postcards promptly, so that more can be sent, ok?

As usual, Paulo will run his random number generator in March next year, and we’ll reveal the total amount of postcards sent (and money raised to Stiftung Lesen) here in the blog. Last year, a total of 8,977.70€ was raised for this good cause, which was a huge achievement and only a few postcards shy of the big 9K… will we be able to do even better this year? 🤔

Stiftung Lesen is a German non-profit organization, working to increase literacy in the population, especially among children and adolescents. Their activities include reading clubs, media literacy projects and initiatives to promote the learning of German language by refugee families in the country.

We hope you’re as excited as we are for this 7th edition of the Cards for Literacy campaign. If you’re in Germany, gather your stamps and postcards and get ready for sending lots of postcards in December to make them count for this good cause! Everyone else, keep an eye on your mailbox for those postcards!

P.S. – As always, we respect your personal information and will not share it with any company without your explicit permission. The full details of this campaign can be read here (German only).

Are advent calendars a thing where you live? They’re not very popular in Portugal, but when we lived in Germany they were everywhere this time of the year! The daily surprise is always exciting, whether it’s chocolate, toys or something else. Our favorites though, are the ones that are lovingly prepared by family or friends.

Around this time of the year, Carina (aka Caradeangel) from Germany is busy preparing an advent calendar for her son. Nicholas is 7 years old, and he used to get sad that he didn’t get much mail… so Carina decided to fix that, making him 24 days of special mail. Here she is to tell the story:

“Two years ago I decided to make an Advent Calendar out of postcards for my son. I chose 24 postcards that I thought he might like, decorated them and wrote something on them. To keep him in suspense, I put the postcards in envelopes which I decorated as well. I put them all on a string and hung that string on the door to his bedroom. And so from December 1st to the 24th, he got to open one envelope every day. Needless to say he loved it!”

We were intrigued and delighted by the idea, so we asked Carina what she usually wrote on the postcards. Writing 24 postcards to the same person isn’t easy to do!

“Some postcards held personal messages of love or encouragement, such as how proud we are of him for making good progress in school and how he will soon be able to actually read the postcards himself. On some postcards, I shared memories. For example, I used a postcard with the Berlin TV tower which we had visited earlier that year and on the postcard I wrote about that visit. On some animal postcards, I just wrote some information about the animal pictured. On other postcards, I gave a kind of outlook on things to come such as the next big vacation. Also, he LOVES the Minions so of course I had to have a Minions postcard and wrote in ”Minionish" (with a German translation) on it. With one postcard I included a little poem that fit the theme of the postcard."

Thank you for sharing, Carina!

This is a such a sweet idea to do for a loved one, and not that hard to put together… maybe something to do these coming weekends? 😊 Gather your stationery supplies and put them to good use!

The Little Mail Carriers did some island hopping earlier this year, from the Azores across the Atlantic Ocean to the Dominican Republic, where they were welcomed by the local community of enthusiastic postcrossers. Read on to learn about this sunny land and its many delights!

Hi everyone! That was a long ride in our envelope, and we’re really glad to finally be out to meet Stephanie, the friendly post officer that stamped our passport.

After the formalities were done, our first order of business was to meet the local Postcrossing community! Everyone was super friendly and they had lots of ideas of things they wanted to show us. While they discussed and made plans, we tasted the delicious “Pasteles en hoja”, a local savory speciality.

Our first host Ramón (aka ramonlora) showed us the old part of Santo Domingo, which is called the “Zona Colonial”. It is an area filled with monuments and landmarks that are often featured on postcards. We visited the impressive Basílica Catedral de Santa María de la Encarnación, the Alcázar de Colón, the Ovando Statue overlooking the Plaza España and the Ozama fortress.

We also checked out a curious landmark: the “Faro a Colón” (or, the Columbus lighthouse). It’s a peculiar lighthouse, as it was built quite inland, in the last decades of the XX century, when boats no longer relied so much on lighthouses for navigation. Why would they build it, then? Turns out, the cross-shaped lighthouse is more of a monument in honor of Columbus than a navigation tool. Its construction was quite controversial and took several decades until it was finished in 1992.

After that, we went to see the thing that is featured in most Dominican Republic postcards… the beach! Though many beaches here are private, Juan Dolio is still free to visit and just an hour drive from Santo Domingo.

And what feels good after a day at the beach? Paletas, of course! These fruity ice-popsicles were a delicious treat on a warm day. On every corner there’s a fruit stall, and they will offer you a kaleidoscope of juicy and tasty fresh fruits, all year around.

On the next days, we hitched a ride with Darío (aka dariomartinezb) and drove to Santiago de los Caballeros, a city located about 160 kms Northwest of Santo Domingo, in the center of the Cibao Valley. It was founded by Cristopher Columbus in 1495, it had to be rebuilt some miles farther in 1562 due to a devastating earthquake.

Here we visited the Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración (Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration), which is the most famous landmark in Santiago, and can be seen from almost every corner of the city. The Monumento is flanked by statues of the heroes that helped the still young Dominican Republic regain its independence in 1863, and it was an honor for us to stand by the feet of such brave men.

After that, it was time to pay a visit to the second-best place according to our host: the Cibao Stadium, home of the Cibao Eagles. Baseball is king in the Dominican Republic, and we imagined the crowd screaming "VUAL’ÁGUILA!” (that’s Go Eagles!) when there’s a home run.

Our next host Hanley was waiting for us to visit Salcedo, hometown of the Mirabal Sisters, to visit their home and gardens which are now a museum.

Ever heard about the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, commemorated worldwide on November 25th? The date has its roots on the Mirabal Sisters, three brave women that opposed Dominican ruthless ruler Rafael L. Trujillo and were killed by his orders on November 25, 1960. The three sisters and their husbands suffered countless horrors but endured them all and inspired the population to fight the dictator. Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal are called “Las Mariposas” (the butterflies) as they symbolize freedom and hope.

Driving southwest, we reached San Francisco de Macorís, a town known for being the epicenter of the Dominican rice industry, and also the birthplace of several national heroes. We had a look at the local parks and Victorian architecture houses that are featured in so many local postcards and also strolled around the Plaza de los Mártires (aka Martyrs Place) which honors the men that took part on the crucial expedition against Trujillo in 1959.

While the mission failed, it helped increase the discomfort of the people and it’s said that this expedition, along with the Mirabal Sisters assassination, marked the tipping point of the regime. Less than two years after the expedition, the Dominican Republic was freed from the dictator.

Hanley also took us to Tenares where his dad is from, and where we played a dominoes tournament! It’s said that there are three things you can find in almost any corner in the Dominican Republic: a Colmado (small grocery store), a radio-set playing bachata, and a game of Dominoes.

Our last host for the trip was Namir (aka rosanza), who took us to Puerto Plata, the city where she was born. Puerto Plata is called the Bride of the Atlantic, and for good reasons. While nowadays most tourists will know Punta Cana and Bávaro (in the East), the Dominican enchanting love story with beaches and golden sands started in Puerto Plata, many decades ago. It remains a very popular destination, especially among Europeans, some of which love it so much that they decide to settle there. Cabarete and Sosúa, a few miles East of Puerto Plata, may properly be called European refuges for retirees and surfers.

Namir’s parents keep a small museum at home, and just before we left, she showed us some curious artifacts, including this “iron made of iron” which was used to iron clothes before electricity was invented… can you guess how it worked?

Sadly, too soon it was time for us to go, but we treasure the memories we bring from this beautiful country! 💛

Our big thank you to everyone in the Dominican Republic who made this trip such a great adventure. Who knows where the Little Mail Carriers will pop up next? Stay tuned for their adventures!

The writing prompts invite postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!

Earlier this year, postcrosser Marg (aka MargLondon) sent BBC Radio 4 a really nice sound clip about her favorite sound, which was the sound of postcards being dropped through her mail slot. In the conversation we had with her afterwards, I discovered Marg had been collecting sounds for quite some time, all around the world. In her profile, she asks for members to write about what they hear in their city, home or room, and we thought this was a nice idea.

So stand very still for a minute and listen carefully to the sounds around you. What do you hear?

From where I sit, I hear mostly swallows and sparrows chirping away. Some distance buzz from traffic, the rustle from the palm trees swaying in the wind… and Paulo, quietly typing away on his keyboard.

If I had to pick one sound to represent this region though, it would be the sound of cicadas in the summer. Their loud buzzing is a permanent soundtrack on warm days around here, starting quietly and then quickly increasing in volume as more of them join in, like a wave of sound. They’re so omnipresent in the region that for us, the song of the cicadas sounds like being home.

What about you, which sounds are special to your place? What do you hear all around you? And what memories do they stir? Let’s listen carefully and write about it on the postcards we send out this month.