A No Theme Update

Hello again. I'm back with another update. Today's update is an average update with average cards from average places, and mostly average stamps on them. That's not to say that I'm not glad to receive them , but it seems that I have kind of been spoiled lately. Nice cards , exciting and exotic locals and great stamps. Today's cards come from Romania, Russia, Ukraine and the U.S.A.

First let's have a look at the card from Romania. It comes from the city of Sighisoara, a city of about 32,000 on the Tarnava Mare River in north central Romania. It is located in the historic region of Transylvania. Central Sighisoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city. The city is a popular tourist attraction thanks to the beautiful Clock Tower, a 64 m high tower built in the 13th century. It was added to UNESCO's World Heritage Sites List in 1999. On the card we can see a street scene of the city along with the famous clock tower. One of its most famous native born sons is Vlad III the Impaler ( Dracula ) , the Prince of Wallachia. I guess this is why the card sender wrote, hello from the land of vampires and said for me to eat lots of garlic constantly. The stamp on this one is from a set of 4 featuring ceramics issued in 2007.

Today's second card is from a small town called Kirovsk located 175 km south of Murmansk. Murmansk, Russia is the largest city located north of the Arctic Circle. Its hockey team, the Murman Hockey club is the most northerly ice hockey club in the world. The card gives us a look at the Monument to the soldiers or heroes of the 6th Komsomol Battery. There are 2 nice large stamps on this one. The left stamp was issued in 2010 and is an Europa stamp. The stamp on the right , also issued 2010, is from a set of 4 featuring native costumes.

Now for a card from Dnipropetrovsk, a large city in central Ukraine. There's a lot on this card. it shows Karl Marx Avenue, the main street in the city and also an alley along the street with a tram that is a replica of a 1900's tram. It is not a common form of transport as there is only one such tram on the line. To the right is the Central Post Office of Dnipropetrovsk. Quite timely to receive this card as I just recently started collecting postcards of post offices. Olga, a Postcrosser used a bunch of stamps, 5 different in fact , to send this card on its way to me. Here they are. Far left , issued 2004, 1 of 4 featuring Kiev by artists. Top center, issued 2004 , 1 of 6 costumes set. Bottom center, issued 2007, 1 of 6 Folklore Costumes set. Top right , a 2009 definitive. Bottom right, issued 2005, 1 of 4 in a paintings set. Thanks Olga, really appreciate the stamps.

Now the last card for this time. From the U.S. it shows a World War II theme. A U.S. battleship softens up enemy positions for a Marine amphibious landing at the Battle of Okinawa during April to June of 1945. The stamps include a 2011 Forever Love stamp and 2 spice stamps, also issued in 2011.

That's all for this time. Thanks to all for the cards. Looking forward to lots of cards in the week ahead.