Four Postcards and Three New Countries ( but not in my collection )

I have four cards to have a look at this day. They come from France, Ukraine, Spain and Turkey. First though I have to say that it doesn't get any easier. I haven't received a card from a new country since back in August. If you look to the left at the list of places I still need a card from , you will find 27 places. Now , as of yesterday, the 10th of the 10th of 2010, I have to increase that to 30 and add 3 new places to my list. Yesterday, October 10, 2010 three new countries or entities were created. How did this happen ? Well, it seems, the Netherlands Antilles were dissolved. The island of Curacao gained its independence on October 10, 2010 and will issue its own stamps with the name Curacao. The island of Sint Maarten ( St. Maarten) gained its independence on October 10, 2010 and will issue its own stamps with the name of Sint Maarten. These two new countries are now autonomous countries within the Kingdom of The Netherlands. The third new entity is Caribisch Nederland (Caribbean Netherlands ) consisting of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. These so called BES Islands will also issue its own stamps under the name Caribisch Nederland. They have the status of special municipalities of the Netherlands. I honestly didn't know anything about this , until Johan left a comment on this blog. So I thank him for his heads up. I will update my list , possibly tomorrow.

Now for some cards. First up is a card from Bayonne, France. The sender of the card writes that Bayonne is an old town with a cathedral and two rivers. Bayonne is located in south western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers. The Cathedrale Saint-Marie is an imposing, elegant Gothic building. It was constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries. The south tower was completed in the 16th century and the north tower was finally completed in the 19th century. So I guess it is an old town as it's written on the card. The stamps on the card include 2 definitives and a 2010 issue for Villeneuve Lez Avignon.

The next card is from Katya in the Ukraine. She lives in Kiev, the largest city and capital of the country. Her card shows the city skyline with the Darnytsia Railway Bridge in the foreground. Note the train traveling from right to left on the bridge. Katya used 3 fine stamps. The small one is a definitive from 2009. The large one on the top is from 2009 and is 1 of a set of 4 issued for the National Song. The large stamp on the bottom is from 2008 and is from a set of 2 commemorating Nikolaj Hohol.

Card number 3 is from Spain. The card , showing the Altar of the Nation in Rome, is from Ave , who is from Estonia but lives in Spain. This monument , has been nicknamed by the French , La grande tarte ( the big cake ) . It does in fact resemble a large wedding cake decorated with cream and meringue. The Romans however call it la macchina da scrivere ( the typewriter ). Needless to say, it is not a popular monument. Katya used a 2007 stamp from a set of 2 issued for cartography and astronomy.

The final card for today comes from Turkey. It shows a symbolic wooden Trojan horse in Canakkale. The city lies at the narrow entrance to the Dardanelles. Canakkale is the nearest major town to the site of ancient Troy. This is the wooden horse used in the 2004 movie Troy. Two stamps were used . The one on the left is from 1998 and is 1 of 5 in a set featuring famous persons, in this case , Feza Gursey . The top stamp, from 2010, commemorates the 2010 FIBA World Championship , held in Turkey.

That's the cards for this time. I guess now I will have to work on getting cards from the 3 new places I mentioned above. It's a changing world for sure.