Four Cards From Four Postcard Friends

BLOG # 1003

Hello again, I trust all you Mothers out there survived and were all treated well.
I wonder if Mother's Day postcards exist today ? I know they did way back when. I have  one Mother's Day card in my collection,  a fairly old one I think. It may not have even been issued for Mother's Day per se. Have a look .

Now on to more current cards. I have four to have a look at this time. They arrived from Germany, Belgium, France and Sri Lanka, compliments of Dominique, Gerda, Jean Pierre and Ravindra. All good postcard friends.

Dominique's card shows Castle Neuschwanstein, built between 1869 and 1886 by King Ludwig II. Ludwig paid for the castle out of his personal fortune rather than Bavarian public funds. At the time of Ludwig's death the castle was far from complete. Sadley , he slept only 11 nights there. Since his death more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. More tha 1.3 million visit annually, with as many as 6,000 per day in summer. A busy place indeed.

Canada isn't really a land of castles , I think we have just 3 . Casa Loma in Toronto and Hatley Castle and Craigdarroch Castle, both in Victoria.

Dominique used a stamp from 2018 commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Wormser Dom - St Peter's Cathedral in Worms, Germany.

My second card , shows a number of scenes in the Valley of the Zwatre Beek. The Zwarte Beek is a tributary of the Demer in the province of Limburg in Belgium. The Zwarte Beek brook valley is one of the most valuable brook valleys in the area. A number of rare vegetation types and some threatened species can be found here. It must be a beautiful area for a walk or a hike.

Gerda used 2 fine stamps on her card. On the left is 1 of 2 issued in 2006 , celebrtaing Hanseatic Towns, in this case Bruges. On the right, 1 of 5 issued this year celebrating Belgium in Space.

Today's 3rd card , from France , is another great addition to my Airlines / Aircraft Postcard Collection. It's a Boeing 737-300 in the livery of Air Guadeloupe. This aircraft F-OGRT is 27.6 years old. It has seen service with Air France, Ansett, Garuda, Sama and Transair Congo. Most interesting is that even though painted in Air Guadeloupe's attractive scheme, F-OGRT was never delivered to the airline, instead it became F-GHUN with Air France. Interesting fact, indeed.

Jean Pierre used a stamp from 1988 on this card. It is 1 of 12 in a  Communications-Comics set.

Now the last card for today. It's a look out from Pigeon's Nest Picnic Area , located on Pigeon Island, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. Pigeon Island National Park is located here, 1 km off the coast. The island's name stems from the rock pigeon which has colonized it. The area became a national park in 2003 and was severely affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.

Ravindra used a great selection of stamps. The yellow and blue stamps are from a set of 4 issued in 2014 for the Asia Pacific Postal Union meeting held in the country. The stamp on the far right is from this year and honours Cyril Ponnamperuma, scientist. The Ho Chi Minh stamp in the middle is from 2014 also.

There you have it, that's all for today. Thanks for cards go to Dominique, Gerda, Jean Pierre and Ravindra.
Just before I go, this is for Barbara. Your mint sheet will be on it's way soon.
Take care everyone.