Blog # 1594 --- Day 525 of the Current ( Second ) Russian Invasion of Ukraine
GLORY TO UKRAINE
Welcome back to The Blog. I have a bunch of cards from Dominique and a bunch from Jean Pierre along with a couple others to have a look at this time around.
First up is this card showing Urquhart Castle . Urquhart Castle is a ruined castle that sits beside Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. The castle is 21 kilometres south-west of Inverness and 2 kilometres east of the village of Drumnadrochit. The present ruins date from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though built on the site of an early medieval fortification. Founded in the 13th century, Urquhart played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century. Loch Ness is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately 37 kilometres southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the Loch Ness Monster.
Dominique used a United Kingdom Universal Mail International Postcard stamp showing The Heavy Horse. It was issued in 2009.
This next card arrived from Baiona. Baiona is a town and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It's a tourist town with a medieval historical center situated by the outlet of the Vigo Bay. Its population of just over 11,000 rises to around 45,000 in summer, if one includes the tourists. Dominique`s card shows a replica of La Pinta in Baiona.
A nice large stamp from this year was used on this card. It was issued and marked the 160th Anniversary of the Birth of Spanish portrait and landscape painter, Joaquin Sorolla.
Here`s another card from Nancy, in France. It`s a nice view of the Saint Epvre basilica. It was built between 1864 and 1871 in the neo-Gothic style.
Dominique used a 2023 stamp showing a bike.
The 4th card from Dominique shows a portion pf Baden-Baden. This is a spa town in southwestern Germany`s Black Forest near the border with France. The steeple atop the buildings on the card is part of the Church of Our Dear Lady.
The stamp used on this one was issued in 2022 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Otto Braun, a long time Prime Minister of Prussia.
My next card is from Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. Here we have a bird's eye view of Dongsha Atoll, a circular atoll 25 kilometres in diameter with a tropical monsoon climate. It has a reef table of about 46km long and 2km wide, which emerges at low tide. Dongsha Atoll (also known as the Pratas Islands), is the northernmost atoll in the South China Sea.
Yun Ting used one half of a 2018 minisheet. The sheet contained 2 different stamps, the Shark stamp and a Green Sea Turtle stamp.
Now it's a few cards from Jean Pierre. It shows a Fokker 28 in Air Namibia colors. The picture shows it on the ground at Lanseria International Airport, northwest of Johannesburg. Registered as ZS-JAV, this aircraft saw service with 10 different airlines between July 1982 and August 2005. It was part of the Air Namibia fleet from December 2002 until May 2003. The aircraft has been stored since August 2005.
Jean Pierre used 2 Bird stamps on this one. Both are from sets of 5 . The left stamp was issued in 2013 and is a Bird definitive. The right stamp, from 2017, is from a set - Rollers of Namibia.
Next up is a card from Gibraltar, showing the Gibraltar Cable Car. It's the most exciting way to reach the top of The Rock and you do it in only 6 minutes. From the terraces of the Top Station you can gaze down over the town below, look North towards Sierra Nevada over the Costa del Sol, look East over the blue Mediterranean Sea and South across the Strait of Gibraltar to the Rif Mountains of North Africa. In short you will view 2 continents, 3 countries and the meeting point of 2 great bodies of water. Impressive is not the word!
Jean Pierre used a nice Aviation themed stamp from 2014. It is 1 of 4 in a set showcasing RAF Squadrons.
Terrific cancel on that one.
Here is another Aircraft / Airline card. It's a Virgin Atlantic Airways B747 photographed at LHR in 1995. The aircraft registration is G-VOYG and it flew for 27.2 years from 1971 until 1999. It had a varied flying history with SAS Scandinavian, Nigeria Airways, British Airways, Caledonian Airways, and finally Virgin Atlantic , where the aircraft was called Shady Lady.
Shady Lady was stored at GBA in 1998 and later scrapped in 1999. GBA is Cotswold Airport, formally RAF Kemble and once home of the Red Arrows.
Two stamps on this one. On the left, from 2023, 1 of 10 showing River Wildlife. On the right, from 2017, again 1 of 10 , showing Landmark Buildings - Visionary British Architecture.
Drink up now, it's the final call , sorry card. It arrived from Greymouth, New Zealand. Ravindra's card shows us a view of Arrowtown , a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Arrowtown is located on the banks of the Arrow River approximately 7.5 km from State Highway 6. Arrowtown is located 19.5 kilometres to the east of Queenstown.
Well I'm done for today. A bit of a long blog here on The Blog. Thanks today go out to Dominique, Yun Ting, Jean Pierre and Ravindra for these cards. See you again soon.
