Ny-Alesund, Icelandair, a Mailbox, Galicia and OH-PAK

Here we go with another bunch of postcards to to have a look at. You know what they say, "there's postcards and then there's postcards ". I'm not sure who they are though. Well I have one of those postcards for this time. It's from Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Norway. I mean, how difficult is it to get a card from London, New York or Paris or any other major city, with millions of people ? You may have thought getting one from Pitcairn Islands was difficult with just 67 people. Try getting one from Ny-Alesund with a permanent population of just 36. I'm happy to say, I have finally succeeded . I have been trying for quite a while now for a card from Svalbard , from Spitsbergen or from Longyearbyen, but never with any success. So when I opened the mailbox yesterday to a Ny-Alesund card , you know the walk back to the house was an easy one.

Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, the northernmost part of Norway. Spitsbergen is its largest island and Longyearbyen is the region's capital. Longyearbyen is also the world's most northerly Town. Ny-Alesund , at 78 degrees 55 minutes N, 11 degrees 56 minutes E, is the northernmost permanently inhabited public settlement with about 36 people living there. Of course the world's northernmost post office is located here. It is a permanent settlement based entirely around research. It's a company town operated by the Norwegian state owned Kings Bay.
Now the card. It's a train card to boot. Allbeit a rough one. But a great card from a great place. Thanks Hallvar. The stamp is a 2011 Norway ATM Machine postage label featuring a Polar Bear.


Card # 2 comes from Finland, another northern country. It's an Icelandair card with a Boeing 757 on the front. Another card for my Airlines on Postcards collection. Icelandair is the flag carrier airline of Iceland. It says on the back of the card, "We fly to Iceland and America ". They actually fly to 31 cities in 13 countries. Jaana used a stamp showing a ship. It is 1 of 2 different stamps in a 2010 Norden souvenir sheet.

Here's another mailbox postcard. The more the merrier I say. This one shows a Russian mailbox attached to a tree. The stamps include a Coat of Arms stamp from 2010, a couple of 2008 definitives and a nice large stamp bearing an airplane. It is from a 2011 Aviation set of 4.

This next card shows a beautiful harbour scene from A Coruna, a city in the Galicia region of Spain. A Coruna is one part of only eight city pairs in the world that has a near exact antipodal city. Christchurch, New Zealand is A Coruna's antipode. Alberto used a 2011 international Women's Day stamp along with a recent Juan Carlos definitive stamp.

The last card today is , opps another airplane card. OH-Pak, a Piper Cub Trainer. And I always thought The Marlboro Man got around on horseback. To each his own I guess. The stamp is from 2011 and is a self adhesive Winter House issue.

That's it for this time. Hope you enjoyed the cards and do come back again.
Thanks to all card senders.