HAPPY HALLOWE'EN

Happy Halloweén to all who celebrate. Here are a few Halloweén postcards to get you in the mood.
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, I know that I haven't been very active here on the blog for well over a week. Sadly, I have no really good excuse for that. Cards have been arriving , but I've been putting them aside for the next day. Which seems to have never come around. Well I'm back now and I'll be back again tomorrow. Got a piece of Good news today. A contact in Cote d 'Ivoire emailed that a couple of cards were dropped in the mail for me last week. I'll certainly blog their arrival as I love a new country in the collection

I just have a couple or three cards for today. Two are from my bother Dale and the other is from Jean Pierre. Dale's first card is from New Zealand and shows an upside down map of the world. As the card says, When everything goes "arse up," NZérs come out on top.
Dale's stamp was issued this year for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which the New Zealand All Blacks team won over France.

My second card today is from The Kingdom of Bahrain. It shows a number of towers that are located in the country. The theme of the card is " Bahrain towards Vision 2030 " . Vision 2030 is a comprehensive economic vision for Bahrain providing a clear direction for the continued development of their economy and at its heart is a shared goal of building a better life for every Bahraini. Vision 2030 has been developed over the course of four years in consultation with over 1000 Bahrainis from the public sector, private sector, academia and civil society. The Vision will be underpinned by a national economic strategy detailing strategic initiatives across a range of sectors which together will deliver the long term aspirations outlined the within the Vision. I'm not sure if just building towers will help Bahrain get to Vision 2030.
Jean Pierre posted this card in the capital Manama and used 2 stamps. The large stamp on the right is from a 2010 set of 3 issued for National Day. The smaller stamp is a charity stamp. I wonder if it should be called something other than a charity stamp as I believe it is compulsory when mailing abroad. I'm also not quite sure that everyone using this stamp would be in support of where the money goes. But that's another story for another blog.

Last card for today , another one from Dale, is from Brisbane, Australia. Here we see 3 cute Koalas at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Founded in 1927, Lone Pine is the world's first and largest Koala sanctuary, with over 130 Koalas. The park's motto reads " The earth is not only for humans. "
Dale used a 2011 stamp from a set of 3 issued for skiing and snowboarding.

That's it for this time. Thanks to Dale and Jean Pierre for their cards. Enjoy your Hallowe'en evening. Don't scare the kids too much and don't eat too many treats.

I will be back here tomorrow for sure. See you then.

Airplane Cards, Bulawayo, A Nice Cover, Vincent Van Gogh, French Polynesia, Rainbows and Church of St. Stanislaus

Hello again. I'm back with lots of cards, at least according to the title of this update. I have the cards but I'm not sure I'll get to all of them this time. We'll see how it goes.

Let's start with this fine old 1988 card. It is No 4 of the Air France Collection commissioned to interpret "The Fine Art of Flying . " On it we see an Air France Concorde on the ramp somewhere. A great addition to my Airlines on Postcards collection. Bruce who lives in south Africa sent this card along. He used a new 2011 International Small Letter , Springbok stamp commemorating the 2011 Rugby World Cup. I do believe it's from a set of 10.

Here we have another card from Bruce. It's a card of his hometown , Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The city of around 2,000,000 people is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital of Harare. In recent years Bulawayo has experienced a sharp fall in living standards coinciding with the severe economic crisis affection the whole of Zimbabwe. Today it is home to the strongest opposition to the government of Robert Mugabe. The bird stamp that Bruce used is from a 2005 set of 10 definitives, all birds.

Next is another card from Bruce, but this one arrived in an envelope with 3 wonderful stamps. The card shows a Volar Airbus A321-200. Volar's fleet consisted of 3 A321's and 2 A320's. Volar Airlines was an airline based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. It was a successor to LTE International Airways and was again rebranded as LTE back in 2005. As I say, it's another one for my Airlines on Postcards collection. Bruce used 3 beautiful bird stamps on this cover. They are part of a set of 10 in a Birds of Prey Miniature Sheet issued in 1998. The sheet actually calls them South African Raptors. Just a great set indeed.
Thanks Bruce, you did well, great cards and great stamps.

Now for something a little different, a card from The Netherlands. It shows a class of students and teachers from a middle school in Tilburg, Netherlands , Willem II College . This is the class of 1866-1867 and includes one 13 year old lad named Vincent van Gogh. I'm not sure how well this will scan, but feel free to take a guess as to which of the lads is Vincent. This card is from a Dutch Postcrosser who used 3 stamps. They are, starting from the left : a 2001 Moving stamp and then 2 from a 2008 set issued for 100 Years of Mycological Association.

Next are a number of cards sent by my brother Dale. He is currently on a 54 day cruise and a 10 day Australian Outback trek. He started in Honolulu, which his first card shows. Ah Honolulu, and Waikiki, I think it's time to go back. Are you reading this Teena ? Dale actually posted this card in Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia, so it arrived with an even better stamp than if it was posted in Honolulu. The French Polynesia stamp was issued in 2011 commemorating the 50th Anniversary of The Pearl of Tahiti.

From Honolulu, we follow Dale to Papeete and then Bora Bora. The first card shows various scenes in and around Papeete, Tahiti. Quoting his card "Ah Tahiti, fabled island of swaying palms, and pretty vahines". Tahiti has been the sometime home of Herman Melville of Moby Dick fame, Robert Louis Stevenson of Treasure Island and Kidnapped fame, Paul Gauguin, even Marlin Brando of The Godfather fame. Dale posted this card in Bora Bora and used a 2011 stamp from a set of 3 featuring sculptures for Heiva.

Dale's next card gives us a bird's eye view of the white sand of Matira Beach on Bora Bora. Just another beautiful place one could spend a week . The stamp on this one , issued 2011 actually shows the island of Bora Bora from offshore.
Thanks Dale and keep those cards coming, I love to get them.

I think I'll call it a day here and leave the other two cards for another time. This seems to be a pretty good update, so I'll quit while I'm ahead.
Take care , see you soon. Comments anyone ?

The Burj, Balloons, Saint Paul de Vence and more Burj

Hello again, it's Tuesday and I'm here with a new update. Four cards arrived in yesterday's mail, so here they are.

Card # 1 - The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, located in downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a height of over 828 metres, the Burj holds a number of world records as follows :
Tallest Building in the world,
Tallest free standing structure in the world,
Highest number of stories in the world,
Highest occupied floor in the world,
Highest outdoor observation deck in the world,
Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world and
Tallest service elevator in the world.
I need say no more. To quote Jean Pierre, "Dubai, where everything is bigger, taller and better than everywhere else on earth ".
Jean Pierre used 2 large stamps. The one on the left was issued in 2009 and is 1 of 7 in a definitive bird set . Note Large , the way all definitives should be. The other stamp was issued in 2010 and is 1 of 4 in a set commemorating DP World. DP World operates more than 60 freight terminals across six continents.

Card # 2 - A Postcrosser named Sandra sent this card from Warstein, a small town in Germany, famous for its beer, Warsteiner. It is the home of the Warsteiner Internationale Montgolfiade since 1986. The festival is pictured on Sandra's card. Brings back memories of my hot air balloon ride here in Calgary a number of years back. Great ride but the landing was quite rough, we were dragged sideways about 150 feet. But we all survived. Sandra used a 2011 stamp, 1 of 2 in a World Heritage issue, a joint issue with Japan.

Card # 3 - Comes from France, Cote d' Azur, French Riviera in fact. It shows the Grand Fountain at Saint Paul de Vence.

The town is one of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera. It has always been a haven

for the famous, including artist Marc Chagall who lived there. Nice stamp on this card. It was issued this year for the G20-G8 Summit in France, the motto of which is New World, New Ideas. Let's just hope they come up with some, or else it wi

ll be the same old world.

Now the last card for this time. As the title above

indicates, it's another Dubai card showing another view of The Burj. Same information as above applies .

Thanks again Jean Pierre. Different stamps though, which is good. The stamp on the right is another of the large bird definitives from 2009. The other stamp was issued in 2010 , 1 of 2, commemorating the Universal Postal Union's World Post Day.

So ends another postcard update. Thanks to all

for their cards. Take care, see you soon.

A No Theme Update

Hello again. I'm back with another update. Today's update is an average update with average cards from average places, and mostly average stamps on them. That's not to say that I'm not glad to receive them , but it seems that I have kind of been spoiled lately. Nice cards , exciting and exotic locals and great stamps. Today's cards come from Romania, Russia, Ukraine and the U.S.A.

First let's have a look at the card from Romania. It comes from the city of Sighisoara, a city of about 32,000 on the Tarnava Mare River in north central Romania. It is located in the historic region of Transylvania. Central Sighisoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city. The city is a popular tourist attraction thanks to the beautiful Clock Tower, a 64 m high tower built in the 13th century. It was added to UNESCO's World Heritage Sites List in 1999. On the card we can see a street scene of the city along with the famous clock tower. One of its most famous native born sons is Vlad III the Impaler ( Dracula ) , the Prince of Wallachia. I guess this is why the card sender wrote, hello from the land of vampires and said for me to eat lots of garlic constantly. The stamp on this one is from a set of 4 featuring ceramics issued in 2007.

Today's second card is from a small town called Kirovsk located 175 km south of Murmansk. Murmansk, Russia is the largest city located north of the Arctic Circle. Its hockey team, the Murman Hockey club is the most northerly ice hockey club in the world. The card gives us a look at the Monument to the soldiers or heroes of the 6th Komsomol Battery. There are 2 nice large stamps on this one. The left stamp was issued in 2010 and is an Europa stamp. The stamp on the right , also issued 2010, is from a set of 4 featuring native costumes.

Now for a card from Dnipropetrovsk, a large city in central Ukraine. There's a lot on this card. it shows Karl Marx Avenue, the main street in the city and also an alley along the street with a tram that is a replica of a 1900's tram. It is not a common form of transport as there is only one such tram on the line. To the right is the Central Post Office of Dnipropetrovsk. Quite timely to receive this card as I just recently started collecting postcards of post offices. Olga, a Postcrosser used a bunch of stamps, 5 different in fact , to send this card on its way to me. Here they are. Far left , issued 2004, 1 of 4 featuring Kiev by artists. Top center, issued 2004 , 1 of 6 costumes set. Bottom center, issued 2007, 1 of 6 Folklore Costumes set. Top right , a 2009 definitive. Bottom right, issued 2005, 1 of 4 in a paintings set. Thanks Olga, really appreciate the stamps.

Now the last card for this time. From the U.S. it shows a World War II theme. A U.S. battleship softens up enemy positions for a Marine amphibious landing at the Battle of Okinawa during April to June of 1945. The stamps include a 2011 Forever Love stamp and 2 spice stamps, also issued in 2011.

That's all for this time. Thanks to all for the cards. Looking forward to lots of cards in the week ahead.

Thanksgiving Day 2011

It's Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. So to all readers of Gem's World Postcards, Happy Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day in Canada is always the second Monday in October. It is a celebration of being thankful for what one has and the bounty of the preceding year. We celebrate by spending time with family and feasting in the Thanksgiving Day dinner, in which turkey seems to play a big part. The Moores family , me and My Lovely Teena, our sons, their wives and our 5 grandkids, celebrated with turkey dinner yesterday. A great time was had by all.

On the Thanksgiving subject, I was able to come up with a few Thanksgiving postcards. Here are the first two and for some reason they all include a turkey.

Now here are a few regular postcards. First is a card from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. This municipality was founded on 24 June 1478. On the card we can see the first church in the Canaries. Construction on Santa Ana Cathedral was started around 1500 and was not completed until almost four centuries later. Thanks to David for this card and also for one from Playa Del Ingles showing a beautiful beach and resort. The 2 stamps on David's card were both issued in 2011. The one on the left is 1 of 4 in a set issued for Civil Duties . The other stamp was issued for Biodiversity in the Oceans.

Card # 2 is from a Postcrosser in Oklahoma, U.S.A. This card shows a sight found along historic Route 66 at Catoosa, Oklahoma. Originally built as a one of a kind wedding anniversary present, the Blue Whale is one of the most unique attractions on Route 66. The 80 foot grinning whale can be viewed along the road. A little different look at a Blue Whale , from the one on the Canadian stamp here. I'm not showing the stamp, the Grand Teton National Park issue, as I have shown it many times already.


My next card is one more from Wallis & Futuna Islands. A nice looking card showing the power and beauty of Wallis . Thanks go to Jean Pierre for this one. The stamp is 1 of 2 crab stamps in a 2010 crab shaped souvenir sheet.

The last card for this time is somewhat of a mystery. It is from Sofia, Bulgaria , but I have no idea who sent this one. The front of the card shows a number of Bulgaria Treasures. Bulgaria is a country with an ancient cultural heritage- third in Europe after Italy and Greece. Among these treasures is the oldest worked gold in the world, dating back to the 6th-5th millennia B.C. The large stamp is 1 of 2 in a beautiful 2011 souvenir sheet celebrating 50 years of manned space flight. If you sent or know who sent this card , leave a comment , I would love to know also.It would have been cool to have the complete souvenir sheet but that's the way it goes some times.

That wraps up another update, but before I sign off , I just want to end this Thanksgiving Day update with a couple more Thanksgiving postcards. Here are the final two cards.
Like the two up top, turkeys again. What can I say ! Thanks to all who sent these cards and have a good day.

Giant's Causeway, Saint Pierre, Andorra and More

Here we go again, a few more cards to have a look at. First up is a card showing the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. I have written about this before so just the card and picture for this time. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List and has been since 1986. Laura who has a blog on archaeology stamps called Stamp Raider sent this quite unexpected card. Her blog is here. She was living in the UK for a year and she sent this card on her last day there. Thanks Laura. The causeway has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list since 1986. Laura used 3 stamps, 2 of which show Giant's causeway.

Next we have a great view of Saint Pierre, Saint Pierre and Miquelon. A great place to visit for a weekend. I'm not sure who sent this card as it arrived blank, but my guess is Jean Pierre. . Nice stamp on this one, issued for the St. Pierre Stamp Expo , 2-4 June, 2011.


I know Jean Pierre is responsible for this next card, from Andorra. On it we can see Sant Julia, which stands at 909 m above sea level. The flower stamp was issued in 2011 and is 1 of 2 in a Flora set issued by the French Postal Administration. Now if only I could get one from The Spanish Administration.Thanks Jean Pierre for this one and maybe the St Pierre one as well.

Now a card from Romania. This one is from a Postcrosser in Bucharest. It shows 3 burnt clay statuettes of the Tanagra type. These come from the Dobrogea area and date from the 3rd to 2nd centuries B.C. The stamp was issued in 2007 and is 1 of a set of 4 definitives featuring ceramics.
Today's last card is from The Netherlands. It is from Hennie who lives in the small town of Olst.
The card shows a Dutch Postbox or mailbox. Interestingly, Ive just recently started collecting postcards of postboxes. So this is a welcome addition. Hennie used 3 older stamps, 2 of which are also semi-postal. The stamp on the left was issued in 1997 , 1 of 3 in a Summer Flowers set. The middle stamp, issued in 1984, also is 1 of 3 issued for Philately. The stamp on the right is 1 of 4 issued in 1992 for Olympic Games.

Thus ends another update. Thanks to all who's cards showed up here today. I don't think I'll get another update in this weekend. Pretty busy weekend, it's actually a long weekend in Canada, Thanksgiving Day weekend. Grandkids, Family, Thanksgiving Dinner (Turkey), Going to a showing of Cirque Du Soleil's OVO. Will try to have a Thanksgiving Day update on Monday.
Till then.