Catching Up- 6 New Postcards , 2 New Countries # 164 & 165

Hello again, I'm just catching up after 4 or 5 days , busy with house painting and decorating the house outside for Christmas. Well , on to more important things like Postcards. I have a number of new postcards to write about. The first is a card sent from Rome, Italy but actually posted at a special Post Office in Rome. The card doesn't have an Italian stamp on it , but a stamp from The Sovereign Military Order Of Malta. The postmark reads Sovrano Militare Ordine Di Malta. It was posted at The Magistral Post Office on the Via Bocca di Leone , Rome. Mail stamped with Order of Malta stamps can only be sent to a total of 52 countries of the world. Thankfully Canada is included on this list. The order of Malta has issued its own stamps since November 1966. Thanks to Ilaria for this postcard.

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The next 2 cards are both from new countries as related to my collection. First , a card from The Solomon Islands, new country #164. The picture shows Sigana Village, a traditional village. As the writer says, life is pretty simple here, nice and relaxed. The stamp on the card a $3.00 value is just a beautiful stamp, showing 2 Bottlenose Dolphins. Thanks John.

The other new country , is FIji, # 165. The card shows a multi view of Birds of Fiji. The stamp used is 1 of a set of 4 from 2005, featuring Fiji plants. The 41cent stamp shows Tavioka or Cassava, a starch made by leaching the root , the source of Tapioca.

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The final card I want to highlight today is from Austria. It has preprinted postage on it, showing an Austrian Airlines Jet and the words, Austrian Air Mail. It is a postcard given out by Austrian airlines flight attendants, which passengers can have sent to anyone, anywhere. After a passenger addresses the card, the flight attendants will mail it . I received this card from Alberto of the blog A Postcard For World Peace. Please check out his blog at http://postcardworldpeace.blogspot.com and send him a postcard. Alberto used a 2007 flower , 140 value, definitive stamp to get the postcard to me. And the message on the card, Austrian , we fly for your smile, speaks for itself.