Another Catch - Up Day

Yes, I'm back again with an update and as the title implies, it's a catch-up as some of these cards I have had since I returned from my cruise in April. So it's time they see the light of day.

But first, a little something related to my last blog update on Tues 22 May. In that blog I showed a card from Dingle , Ireland . I wrote that from the description of the town, that it sounded a lot like St. John's, Newfoundland. Now , if one needed any more proof of that statement, have a look here. This is a postcard of Water Street in St. John's, said to be the oldest street in North America. The street was developed in the early 16th century and the buildings just after The Great Fire of 1846. So, just have a look back at Dingle in Tuesday's blog and you'll see what I mean. Very similar aren't they ? You could swap one for the other and nobody would bat an eye.

Now on to today's cards. This time cards are from Croatia, Germany, USA, Macau, Belgium and People's Republic of China.

First up is Pula, Croatia. Pula is a city of around 62,000 located on the southern tip of the Istria Peninsula. The card shows Pula superimposed inside the old 1st century Roman Amphitheatre. This is one of the best preserved amphitheatres from antiquity and is still in use today during summer festivals. Anya used a 2011 stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of The Institute of Art History.

Card # 2 is from Wesseling, Germany, an industrial city on the Rhine near Cologne. Looking at the card we see the city's old City Hall. The stamps , well there are 2, one a flower definitive and the other - a 2009 stamp honouring Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.

Next is a classic view of The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA. Actually it is the North Tower as seen on a quite foggy day. Writing as someone who has never been to SFO , I wonder if traffic still travels across The Bay in foggy conditions such as shown here. Renee used 2 wonderful 2012 Forever stamps commemorating two major battles of America's civil war between the North and South. They are the second set in the Civil War series. They mark the 150th anniversaries of two battles that year : the Battle of New Orleans (April 24-May 1, 1862) and the Battle of Antietam ( Sept. 17, 1862). They are two nice stamps , not I think, what one is offered on any given day at a U.S. post office. Nine out of ten times, you will get small definitives. And, if you ask for something different, you get a strange look back. I'm not implying this is just happening in the U.S. , it happens her in Canada , too. I also know from my postcard experiences, it happens in Belarus, Germany, Ukraine, Netherlands and many others. I don't know why countries issue so many large, wonderful stamps when it's so difficult a chore to buy them.

I guess I got a bit carried away there, but that happens every now and then.

Macau or Macao, you decide. The card and the stamps say Macau, but the sender of the card wrote Macao. I guess either way describes the special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. It lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong Kong. Interestingly, Macau has the 2nd highest life expectancy in the world. Must be related to all the gambling allowed there. This card shows Macanese House, one of the buildings of Taipa Houses-Museum, built in 1921. The 3 stamps ( all the same ) are 1999 Machine Labels, some sort of ATM stamps I guess.

As my regular readers know, I have a passion for airplane/airliner, aviation related postcards. I have lots of card showing planes but a very small few showing helicopters. I think this one from Belgium is only my second or third. Now I'm no expert on helicopters but this one might indeed be a Sea King. If not, I'm sure someone out there will let me know. Johan sent this card as a part of National Postcard Week back in early May. He has a great postcard blog here. The stamp used is from a booklet of 5 issued in 2012 highlighting Calligraphy.

Last is this card. It is entitled Haung Du Yi Yun, The Forbidden City. A rather fierce looking buddy, I'm not sure who or what he is or represents. The Start Here stamp was issued in 2011 and is 1 of 4 in a set, for the 6th Summer Universiade in Shenzen.




That's it for cards this time. Thanks go out to Johan, Renee, Anya and a few others who did not add their names. Thanks for reading, leave a comment if you are inclined to do so. I read all comments , but never seem to get enough. I might be back tomorrow but if not, more than likely , Monday. Cheers.