UKRAINE - MAPS

How to get to the Ukraine?

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It lies at the northwest end of the Black Sea, with Russia to the east, Belarus to the north, Poland to the northwest, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, and Romania to the south west and south, with Moldova in between. 

 

 

 

Beautiful EUROPA stamps.

Received from: littlesquirrel

CHRISTMAS

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, celebrated generally on December 25 as a religious and cultural holiday by billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it closes the Advent season and initiates the twelve days of Christmastide. The exchanging of gifts is one of the core aspects of the modern Christmas celebration, making the Christmas season the most profitable time of year for retailers and businesses throughout the world. Gift giving was common in the Roman celebration of Saturnalia, an ancient festival which took place in late December and may have influenced Christmas customs. On Christmas, Christians exchange gifts on the basis that the tradition is associated St. Nicholas with Christmas, and that gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were given to the infant Jesus by the Biblical Magi.

 A nice stamp.

Received from: maaike_at_home

The Ukrainian Christmas festive days according to the Julian calendar, start on 6 January, Christmas Eve, and end on 19 January, "Jordan" or Epiphany. Sviata Vecherya or "Holy Supper" is the central tradition of the Christmas Eve celebrations in Ukrainian homes. The dinner table sometimes has a few wisps of hay on the embroidered table cloth as a reminder of the manger in Bethlehem. At the end of the Sviata Vechera the family often sings Ukrainian Christmas carols. The image of Svyatyi Mykolai as a person who brings the Christmas gifts for children, the feast of which is marked on December 19th. It is supposed, that children should find their Christmas gifts under their pillow on that morning. Shopka is a traditional portable nativity scene used to represent nativity and other figures in a puppet form.

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: STarcards

Christmas Day is celebrated in the United Kingdom on December 25. It traditionally celebrates Jesus Christ's birth but many aspects of this holiday have pagan origins. Many people spend Christmas Day with family members, with whom they exchange gifts and cards. Many children wake up to find a sock or stocking filled with small gifts on their bed or somewhere else in the house. These have supposedly been brought by a mythical figure called 'Father Christmas' or 'Santa Claus', who lives for most of the year at the North Pole. He travels in a sleigh pulled by reindeer and enters houses by climbing down the chimney. He hopes to enjoy a small snack of mince pies and brandy at each house. He supposedly travels so fast that he can deliver presents to all children in one night, although some in some stories elves help him with his work. Later in the day, people may attend special church services, even if they do not usually go to church. Nearly everyone prepares and eats a special meal. This often includes roast turkey, potatoes and parsnips, and other vegetables. After the main course, Christmas pudding is often eaten. This is a heavy steamed, dense, cake-like pudding filled with dried fruit and nuts. Burning brandy is often poured over it as it is served, giving a spectacular effect. Mince pies are also popular on Christmas Day. They are sweet pastry cases filled with a mixture of dried fruit, fat and alcohol.

 

A nice Christmas stamp.

Received from: EuniceProbert

UKRAINE - CITIES

Odessa

Odessa is the third largest city in Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast.Most of the city's 19th century houses were built of limestone mined nearby. Abandoned mines were later used and broadened by local smugglers. This created a gigantic complicated labyrinth of underground tunnels beneath Odessa, known as "catacombs". Odessa is a popular tourist destination, with many therapeutic resorts in and around the city.

 

 

 

 

Beautiful stamps.

Received from: Nata_Le

The Odessa National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet is the oldest theater in Odessa, Ukraine. The first opera house was opened in 1810 and destroyed by fire in 1873. The modern building was constructed by Fellner & Helmer in neo-baroque (Vienna Baroque) style and opened in 1887. The architecture of the luxurious audience hall follows the late French rococo style. The unique acoustics of the horseshoe-designed hall allows to deliver even a whisper-low tone of voice from the stage to any part of the hall.

A nice stamp.

Received from: ElySte

 
 
 

Lviv

Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center. Lviv's historic churches, buildings and relics date from the 13th century. Its architecture reflects various European styles and periods. The buildings have many stone sculptures and carvings, particularly on large doors,which are hundreds of years old. On the postcard there is Rynok Square with the fountain of the Greek God Neptune.

A nice stamp.

Received from: Marynya

This postcard shows St Andrew's Church.

Beautiful stamps.

Received from: fuegoazul

A vingage postard of Lviv.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: Helen_Kovalyshyn

Kharkiv

Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city of Ukraine. Located in the north-east of the country. The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire.

"Dull day in Kharkiv or" ... passing through the synagogue in melancholy.

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful stamps.  

 

Received from: ima

 

Alupka - Vorontsov Palace

The Vorontsov Palace or the Alupka Palace is a historic palace situated at the foot of the Crimean Mountains near the town of Alupka in Crimea, southern Ukraine. The Vorontsov Palace is one of the oldest and largest residential palaces in all of Crimea, and is one of the most popular tourist attractions on Crimea's southern coast. The palace was built from 1828 through 1848 for Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov for use as his personal summer residence. It was designed in the Tudor style by English architect Edward Blore and his assistant William Hunt. The building incorporates elements of Scottish Baronial, Moorish Revival, and Gothic Revival architecture. Blore had designed many buildings in the United Kingdom, and was particularly well known there for completing the design of the Buckingham Palace in London. An important feature of the Vorontsov Palace is the adjoining park ensemble, which features 40 hectares (99 acres) of greenery and forestry arranged by German landscape gardener Carolus Keebach. Today, the Vorontsov Palace is a part of the "Alupka Palace-Park Complex," a national historical preserve including the Massandra Palace in neighboring Massandra.

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: Novalena

FLOWERS AND BERRIES

Tulips

Tulips are spring-blooming perennials that grow from bulbs. Depending on the species, tulip plants can grow as short as 4 inches (10 cm) or as high as 28 inches (71 cm). The tulip's large flowers usually bloom on scapes or subscapose stems that lack bracts. Most tulips produce only one flower per stem, but a few species bear multiple flowers on their scapes. Tulip flowers come in a wide variety of colors, except pure blue. Although tulips are often associated with the Netherlands, commercial cultivation of the flower began in the Ottoman Empire.

A nice stamp.

Received from: rispa

 

Lily

Lilies form an important group of flowering garden plants and are important in culture and literature in much of the world. A few species are sometimes grown or harvested for the edible bulbs. The species in genus Lilium are true lilies. Many other plants have "lily" in their common names, some of which are quite unrelated to true lilies. Lilies are leafy stemmed herbs. They form naked or tunic-less scaly underground bulbs which are their overwintering organs. Mostspecies are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics.

A nice stamp.

Received from: pooh12411

Comparing with each other's height

Beautiful stamps.

Received from: mii00017

The Butchart Gardens

The Butchart Gardens is a group of floral display gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada, located near Victoria on Vancouver Island. The gardens receive more than a million visitors each year. The gardens have been designated a National Historic Site of Canada due to their international renown. Each year over 50,000 additional bulbs are imported from Holland to add to the spectacular spring display. All 50 acres of gardens are open year-round, and night illuminated early May through September.

Beautiful stamps.

Received from: linny4570

Poppy

A poppy is one of a group of a flowering plants in the poppy family, many of which are grown in gardens for their colorful flowers. Poppies are sometimes used for symbolic reasons, such as in remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime. Poppies have long been used as a symbol of sleep, peace, and death: sleep because of the opium extracted from them, and death because of the common blood-red color of the red poppy in particular. A second interpretation of poppies in Classical mythology is that the bright scarlet colour signifies a promise of resurrection after death. Ancient Egyptian doctors would have their patients eat seeds from a poppy to relieve pain. Modern science tells us why this worked: poppy seeds contain both morphine and codeine, excellent pain-relieving drugs that are still used today. The girl's given name Poppy is taken from the flower.

Beautiful stamps.

Received from: Ponamka

 

 

Cloudberries

The ripe fruits are golden-yellow, soft and juicy, and are rich in vitamin C. When eaten fresh, cloudberries have a distinctive tart taste. When over-ripe, they have a creamy texture somewhat like yogurt and a sweetened flavour. They are often made into jams, juices, tarts, and liqueurs. In Finland, the berries are eaten with "leipäjuusto" (a local cheese; the name translates to "bread-cheese"), and lots of cream and sugar. In Sweden, cloudberries or cloudberry jam, are used as topping for ice cream, pancakes and waffles. In Norway, they are often mixed with whipped cream and sugar to be served as a dessert called "multekrem" (Cloudberry cream), as a jam or even as an ingredient on home made ice cream. They may also be added to cakes that often contain marzipan.

In Canada, cloudberries are used to flavour a special beer. Canadians also use them for jam, but not on the same scale as Scandinavians. In Alaska, the berries are mixed with seal oil, reindeer or caribou fat (which is diced up and made fluffy with the seal oil) and sugar to make "Eskimo Ice Cream" or Agutak. The recipes vary by region. Along the Yukon and Kuskokwim river areas, white fish (pike, whitefish) along with shortening and sugar is used. Due to its high vitamin C content, the berry is valued both by Nordic seafarers and by the Inuit as protection against scurvy. Its benzoic acid content acts as a natural preservative. Tea made from cloudberry leaves was used in ancient Scandinavian herbal medicine to cure urinary tract infections.

A nice stamp.

Received from: onneli78

Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of over 1000 species of woody plants in the heath family. Most species have showy flowers. Rhododendron is a genus characterized by shrubs and small to (rarely) large trees. They may be either evergreen or deciduous. In some species, the undersides of the leaves are covered with scales (lepidote) or hairs (indumentum). Some of the best known species are noted for their many clusters of large flowers. There are alpine species with small flowers and small leaves, and tropical species such as section Vireya that often grow as epiphytes. Species in this genus may be part of the heath complex in oak-heath forests in eastern North America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: smoggyfrog