My True Love Has My Heart

A card from Lithuania by the illustrator Brigita Budryté.  I can discover nothing about her apart from the the fact she illustrates books. I find the painting both amusing and spooky, and open to many interpretations. Are the fairy folk the couple of love, their hearts joined and playful or have they taken someone's heart and are about to play with it?

The card came with

  a stamp of 2008, one of two celebrating the Olympic Games in Beijing. This is the Yacht 'Laser Radial' class. Small one person dingies, part of the women's single-handed discipline. The silver medal in the 2008 Olympics was won by the only sailor in the Lithuanian team, Gintaré Volungevičiūté. 

Thank you Gabija for this fascinating card

Vilnius

Cathedral Square in the heart of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. New year celebrations and other events take place here. The cathedral seems to be mix of architectural styles and has a separate bell tower just like the campanile of Italy.  The statue to be seen to the right is a modern one (1996) of the first ruler of Lithuania, Gediminas. The postcard had a silhouette of this on the back.  The sender says she enjoys going for long walks around the Old Town and it does look like lovely centre with all the green spaces mixed in with the buildings.  The legendary violin virtuoso Jascha Heifetz was born in Vilnius.

The capital city location in the south east of the country is as a consequence of changing national borders over the centuries.  The card came with one of the February 2010

Coats of Arms of Lithuanian Towns series stamps. 

These arms are the town of Varena, also located in the south of the country.  The area has a tradition of wild hive bee-keeping so I presume this is the origin of the design.  There is a mushroom festival every September in this area of forests and their development priorities are "unconventional rural businesses to preserve natural heritage and nature".  Isn't that an intriguing statement.

The card travelled 1,141 miles (1837k) and took 20 days. An Ejyafjallajokull volcano delay. Thank you Kristina for showing me your world.