British Virgin Islands, New Country #222

Here I am with a late Sunday update, showing a few cards that arrived on Friday. Leading off is a new country in my collection. The card is from British Virgin Islands, country # 222. What can I say, I just love it when a new country card arrives in the mail. With 222 here, that just leaves 44 more to go. British Virgin Islands is a British overseas territory located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The BVI consist of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, along with a number of smaller islands. The larger island is Tortola , where the capital , Road Town is located. The card shows a red sunrise over Maya Cove, Tortola. The card is compliments of Robyn of The British Virgin Islands Tourist Board & Film Commission. For more information on BVI visit www.bvitourism.com . Robyn used 3 stamps on the card. The stamp to the left was issued in 2005, 1 of a set of 4 for the Endemic Bird Festival. The center stamp is from 1 set of 6 issued in 1991 featuring butterflies. The stamp on the right was issued in 2008 , 1 of 3 featuring The Rev. Charles Wesley and coats of arms.

The second card is from The Kingdom of Lesotho. This is another of several cards that have arrived from Lesotho during the last couple of weeks. This one shows a Mosotho Rider. From what I understand, the Basotho (not Lesothans) like to be referred to as Basotho, or a Mosotho (not a Lesothan). Basotho speak Sesotho. The card was sent by another PCV serving in Lesotho, Kelly F. She has a blog called Study In Contrasts- My Peace Corps Journey in Lesotho June 2008-August 2010. Thanks Kelly. Kelly used 3 flower stamps issued in 1997.

The next card is from Metropolis , Illinois- Home of Superman. Metropolis is located along the Ohio River and in 2000 had a population of 6,482 . A quick bit of trivia- Robert Stroud , the Birdman of Alcatraz is buried in Metropolis. The front of the card shows a reproduction of Action Comics front page , issue No 1 from June 1938. Check out the price , 10 cents. This card is from Nori, a Postcrosser. She used 2 of the 2008 USA First Class Forever stamps.

And finally , a card from Austria. Sent by Edna who I have swapped cards and stamps with previously. The card depicts the Wiener Staatsoper or the Vienna State Opera House. Work on the building started in 1861 and was completed in 1869. 2009 marks its 140th anniversary. Edna used 2 stamps and was lucky enough to get the special postmark marking the 140 years of the Wiener Staatsoper. The stamp on the right depicts the Staatsoper and was issued 25May 2009, while the stamp on the left is from 2003 and features Kleinwalsertal.

That is all for tonight. Hopefully the mailbox will bring a bunch of cards tomorrow.
Cheers.l