Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus- - #247 - Just 25 Left

Kuzey Kibris Turk Cumhuriyeti - That's the name in Turkish. A new addition to my collection , # 247 , leaving just 25 more to collect, at least at this time. It will revert back to 26 on July 9th with the Independence of Southern Sudan. Oh well, I'll just keep hacking away.

Now on to the cards. My first card from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus gives us a look at a number of cities and towns in northern Cyprus, along with a bunch of kids in local dress. Northern Cyprus is a de facto independent state located on the northern portion of the island of Cyprus. A unilateral declaration of independence was declared in 1983. However, Northern Cyprus has received diplomatic recognition only from Turkey. My second card from there is called "Sleeping City, Famagusta". It gives us a look at an abandoned town called Varosha . It was a modern town until 1974, when the Greek backed coup and Turkish invasion happened. Now it is controlled by the Turkish Armed Forces and only available to soldiers. No one else can enter the area. Both cards carry the same stamp. It was issued in 2008 and is 1 of a set of 10 definitives, all featuring orchids. Now , how did I come to receive these cards ? Well, first off they were a big surprise. Both cards are from Pinar, who has a postcard blog called Pinuccia's World of Postcards . She is a friend of Leslie of the postcard blog ! . Leslie always told me that if she ever travelled to Northern Cyprus or knew anyone who was traveling there, that I would receive a postcard from the trip. Well guess what, she kept her word. Pinar recently travelled to the area, and I am the happy recipient of 2 cards. So thank you Pinar and Leslie. I couldn't have done it without you both.

Another card received yesterday is from Manchester, England. It is a picture of The Central Library, which hosts one of the largest collection of books outside London. King George V opened the library on 17 July 1934. Manchester has a number of firsts attached to it. It was the site of the world's first railway station, the first programmable computer was developed there, and scientists first split the atom there. I'm impressed ! Regular contributor David sent the card along. The stamp shows a peony design by Kate Faulkner. It is from a set of stamps issued 5 May 2011 entitled 150 years of Morris & Co that Royal Mail hopes will showcase artwork over the last 150 years. Thanks David for this one.

I think I'll end this update here. I planned a couple more cards but I'll save them for another time. Thanks for reading, and take care.

By the way, is anybody out there, is anybody actually reading what I write here ? Sometimes I wonder , do people really seek out this blog ? I don't know. I read other people's blogs about postcards, and stamps, but I never know about mine. Sorry, I didn't mean to go off on this tangent, but I did anyway.

Fear not, I'll be back again soon.