Airplane Cards, Bulawayo, A Nice Cover, Vincent Van Gogh, French Polynesia, Rainbows and Church of St. Stanislaus

Hello again. I'm back with lots of cards, at least according to the title of this update. I have the cards but I'm not sure I'll get to all of them this time. We'll see how it goes.

Let's start with this fine old 1988 card. It is No 4 of the Air France Collection commissioned to interpret "The Fine Art of Flying . " On it we see an Air France Concorde on the ramp somewhere. A great addition to my Airlines on Postcards collection. Bruce who lives in south Africa sent this card along. He used a new 2011 International Small Letter , Springbok stamp commemorating the 2011 Rugby World Cup. I do believe it's from a set of 10.

Here we have another card from Bruce. It's a card of his hometown , Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The city of around 2,000,000 people is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital of Harare. In recent years Bulawayo has experienced a sharp fall in living standards coinciding with the severe economic crisis affection the whole of Zimbabwe. Today it is home to the strongest opposition to the government of Robert Mugabe. The bird stamp that Bruce used is from a 2005 set of 10 definitives, all birds.

Next is another card from Bruce, but this one arrived in an envelope with 3 wonderful stamps. The card shows a Volar Airbus A321-200. Volar's fleet consisted of 3 A321's and 2 A320's. Volar Airlines was an airline based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. It was a successor to LTE International Airways and was again rebranded as LTE back in 2005. As I say, it's another one for my Airlines on Postcards collection. Bruce used 3 beautiful bird stamps on this cover. They are part of a set of 10 in a Birds of Prey Miniature Sheet issued in 1998. The sheet actually calls them South African Raptors. Just a great set indeed.
Thanks Bruce, you did well, great cards and great stamps.

Now for something a little different, a card from The Netherlands. It shows a class of students and teachers from a middle school in Tilburg, Netherlands , Willem II College . This is the class of 1866-1867 and includes one 13 year old lad named Vincent van Gogh. I'm not sure how well this will scan, but feel free to take a guess as to which of the lads is Vincent. This card is from a Dutch Postcrosser who used 3 stamps. They are, starting from the left : a 2001 Moving stamp and then 2 from a 2008 set issued for 100 Years of Mycological Association.

Next are a number of cards sent by my brother Dale. He is currently on a 54 day cruise and a 10 day Australian Outback trek. He started in Honolulu, which his first card shows. Ah Honolulu, and Waikiki, I think it's time to go back. Are you reading this Teena ? Dale actually posted this card in Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia, so it arrived with an even better stamp than if it was posted in Honolulu. The French Polynesia stamp was issued in 2011 commemorating the 50th Anniversary of The Pearl of Tahiti.

From Honolulu, we follow Dale to Papeete and then Bora Bora. The first card shows various scenes in and around Papeete, Tahiti. Quoting his card "Ah Tahiti, fabled island of swaying palms, and pretty vahines". Tahiti has been the sometime home of Herman Melville of Moby Dick fame, Robert Louis Stevenson of Treasure Island and Kidnapped fame, Paul Gauguin, even Marlin Brando of The Godfather fame. Dale posted this card in Bora Bora and used a 2011 stamp from a set of 3 featuring sculptures for Heiva.

Dale's next card gives us a bird's eye view of the white sand of Matira Beach on Bora Bora. Just another beautiful place one could spend a week . The stamp on this one , issued 2011 actually shows the island of Bora Bora from offshore.
Thanks Dale and keep those cards coming, I love to get them.

I think I'll call it a day here and leave the other two cards for another time. This seems to be a pretty good update, so I'll quit while I'm ahead.
Take care , see you soon. Comments anyone ?