Gibraltar, Republic of Congo, and Air Saint Pierre

  Blog # 1656 --- Day 1240 ( That's One Thousand Two Hundred and  Forty Days ) Since the Start of the Current ( Second ) Russian Invasion of UKRAINE .        

                                                                

                                                                     GLORY TO UKRAINE 

Howdy folks. Before we get to a few cards today, here is a little update to my blog of July 12th. I had mentioned that stampede attendance was running high and might get to a record. Well it wasn't to be --- final attendance was 1,470,288 which was just over 7000 short of last year's record attendance .

Now back to postcards. Let's start with this one from Gibraltar showing the airport runway and the frontier with Spain.  Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory and headland, on Spain's south coast. It’s dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, a 426m-high limestone ridge. First settled by the Moors in the Middle Ages and later ruled by Spain, the outpost was ceded to the British in 1713. 

Many visitors to Gibraltar cross the international airport’s runway to get in to the city. It is one of the many unusual tourist attractions of Gibraltar. Visitors are often surprised that they are walking across the runway they had just landed on only minutes before. And that's exactly what Jean Pierre and Bruce did sending this card.

Jean Pierre used 2 stamps on his card. The left stamp was issued in 2012 and is from a set of 6 Visit Gibraltar stamps. The right stamp is from 2019 and 1 of 14 in a set issued for the 18th Island Games. 

My next card is from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.  Brazzaville is the capital of the Republic of the Congo, in central Africa. It's on the Congo River, opposite Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

My card shows a spectacular view of The August 15,1960 Bridge , an iconic bridge located along the Corniche Highway in Brazzaville and named in honor of the county's proclamation of independence on August 15, 1960.

Bruce used a stamp from 2012. He wrote that finding a postcard was extremely difficult and getting a stamp was even more so.

That's one Congo off the list, now if only I would find a card from the other , the Democratic Republic of Congo , in my mail box. That would be great. DR Congo is 1 of the 8 countries in the world from which I do not yet have a card. 

 

Here is the last card for today. It's always nice to end with an Aircraft / Airline card. This time it's an Air St Pierre Hawker Siddeley 748. Not the best or nicest airplane around , but that's just my opinion and what do I know ? Jean Pierre's card shows it on the ramp in Halifax in January 1989. This airplane was first delivered to Bahamas Airways in 1967. After that it saw service with many different airlines - Eastern Provincial Airways, Air St Pierre ( 1986-1995), Ibis Air, Kamaria Air, Ar Espace, Abakan Avia and finally Gabon Express 2000 - 2001 , after which it was written off. 

Two lovely stamps arrived on this card, of course I think most St. Pierre & Miquelon stamps are lovely. I think they are right up there with stamps from French Polynesia and French Southern and Antarctic Territories- three of my favourite countries to collect. 

The left stamp was issued in 2016 for the 200th Anniversary of the French Repossession of St Pierre, which took place on 22 June 1816.  The right stamp was issued in 2024. It shows art by a French Navy painter, Olivier Desvaux . His painting is called  " The Souls of Miquelon " .

There you have it, another update in the books. Thanks to Jean Pierre and Bruce for todays cards.