To Monsieur Narischkine from Nice

Yesterday's post on trams in Nice, France made me want to post another non-tram postcard of Nice. There are so many wonderful details on this card, some of them undiscovered since I do not speak Russian. If there are any Russian speakers out there who can provide a translation, I would be very grateful, because the back of this card seems to have just as much going for it as the front.

The front of the card shows the fairly typical scene of Nice, with well-dressed people out for a stroll.

 It would be easy to overlook some of the added elements, such as the man with the balloon.

There's also the woman (?) on the left-hand side of the card with the umbrella.

And then there's the kiosk, selling magazines and newspapers from all over the world.

 

And finally, there's the back of the card. The message is written in Russian, so I can't begin to decipher it, but it is addressed to Mr. Narischkine at Palazzo Galitzine in Rome. Who is this Mr. Narischkine and what is Palazzo Galitzine?

I found a reference in the New York Times, February, 1918 referring to a Prince Cyril Narischkine  and his marriage to opera star Genevieve Vix. This doesn't guarantee that our postcard recipient is Cyril Narishkine, but the address of the card at Palazzo Galitzine in Rome is another clue. The Galitzine (Golitsyn) family was also a noble family of Russia with hereditary connections to the Narishkine family. It's also possible that our recipient was M.B. Narischkine, who liquidated an extensive art collection in 1883. That's where that Russian translation might help.

Tram Tuesday - TNL

Tramways de Nice et du Littoral (TNL) operated the tram lines in Nice, France as well as those connecting Nice to other places along like the Côte d'Azur. Back in January of last year, I put up a post on trams in Nice, including an overview of the history and a look at the sleek new system. I won't repeat the information from the previous post, but I do have a number of additional views to show you. Each Tuesday for the next four weeks I will post cards that feature views from different areas of the Côte d'Azur tram lines. Today’s card show you some views in the city of Nice itself as you might have seen them while riding the trams at the turn of the century.

Avenue de la Victoire:

Avenue de la Gare:

Le Casino Municipal:

Williamsburg Bridge - New York City

The Williamsburg Bridge crosses the East River, connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan with the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn. When it was built in 1903, it was the longest suspension bridge on earth.

There was great fanfare when the bridge opened and it was all caught on film.


Here's the back of the card.