Sunday, May 18, 2014

A Rainy Day Post

As the title says, it's a rainy day here in Alberta so that makes it a good day for postcards. Today's entries come from Tahiti in French Polynesia, Honk Kong, India , Switzerland , Czech Republic , and the Netherlands. Let's start with Tahiti. That's a place that's always been on my list to visit, and sadly, it still is on the list. Maybe someday, who knows. This card shows the beautiful scene at Opunohu Bay . Opunohu Bay is a bay on the island of Moorea, Tahiti. It is a narrow, straight, 3-km long bay with a water depth of about 80 metres at the mouth. It is located about 20 miles west of Papeete,  the capital of  French Polynesia. French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic. It is made up of several groups of Polynesian  islands, the most famous island being Tahiti  in the Society Islands group.



Jean Pierre used 2 stamps on this card. The one on the left is from 2012 and shows Bora Bora Airport. It is 1 of 3 stamps showing airports in French Polynesia. The 3 airports are Bora Bora ( BOB ) , Tikehau ( TIH), and Ua Pou ( UAP ). The stamp on the right is the 2014 Year of the Horse issue. It was issued on Jan 31and the card received a special First Day of Issue post mark in Papeete, marking the Year of the Horse.
The story doesn't end there however. Even though the card was dated Jan 31st, I didn't receive it until a few days ago, just about 4 months later. And, it arrived in an envelope postmarked from the Philatelic Center in Mahina, Tahiti on March 25th, almost 2 months ago .
Here are the stamps and then the envelope.   









My next item isn't a postcard but another cover . I just want to show it for the neat stamp. I recently received a nice set of aviation stamps from Michael of cddstamps. I was the lucky winner of one of his stamp quizzes. His blog on aircraft & aerophilately can be found  here .  The envelope arrived with a nice dinosaur stamp, 1 of 6 in the recent issue.

Nice stamp from a nice set.


The SRI Channakeshara Temple in Somnathpur, India can be seen on my next card. It was built by the Hoysala rulers.



Nagi, who writes that he is a regular reader of this blog sent this card along. He used 2 stamps from the 2011 set of  6 celebrating Legendary Heroines of Indian Cinema. There is also the Dr B.R.Ambedkar stamp on the left.



Next is a card from San Antonio, Texas - home of The Alamo. "Waiting to hear from You "is the theme of this card and it's 90 plus mailboxes. I'd like to be there nearby someday, when Mr Postman had to open every box and put a postcard inside. I guess he'd curse Postcrossing more than once.



Ashley , who likes T.S.Eliot and Roald Dahl, according to her card, used a number of recent definitives and Forever stamps. The only one new to me is the Phlox stamp from 2013.




Here's a Day of Issue Maximum Card from Switzerland. It was issued March 7th , 2013 and marks the 100th anniversary of the Lotschberg Railway that runs through the Swiss Alps. The Lötschberg line is a major railway through the Swiss Alps, which connects Spiez in the Bernese Oberland with Brig in the Valais.
Shown on the stamp and the card is Kander viaduct near Frutigen.  The viaduct is 265 m long and towers roughly 60 m above the valley floor. It consists of 11 stone arches.



Gabriella who lives in the small town of Buren used 3 different stamps on her card. On the left is a 2008 self adhesive stamp , 1 of 4 issued for Wheat. In the middle is a 2013 stamp with bfu, bpa and upi on it. I really have no idea what this stamp is about. Anyone out there know ? On the right is 1 of 3 stamps issued for Pro Juventute in 2012. Pro Juventute is a charitable foundation in Switzerland established in 192. It is dedicated to supporting the rights and needs of Swiss children.
Since 1913, the Swiss Post Office has issued an annual charity stamp series to support the work of Pro Juventute.



 Prague and some of it's bridges. Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is also the 14th largest city in the European Union. How many bridges, I'm not sure ? I've read 100 , I've even read upwards of 300 . Someone must know, maybe they will  let me know. Comments ? 
Canada has a City of Bridges also. It's Saskatoon, on the shores of the South Saskatchewan River. It has 8 river crossings. This one I know .




Hana's stamps include a 2007 Flower definitive and 2 copies of an A rate Architecture stamp from 2011.




The last card of the day  - It's called Confetti, a 1894 lithograph by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.



Anneke form Broekland in the eastern part of the Netherlands posted her card in Zwolle. On the left is a 2002 Christmas stamp from a set of 20. The other 2 are from a 2001 set of 10 Congratulations stamps.



That does it for today. Thanks going out to Jean Pierre, Michael, Nagi, Ashley, Gabriella , Hanna and Anneke for all the great cards and envelopes. Tomorrow is Victoria Day in Canada, a National Holiday , there won't be any mail delivered. If you want to partake in our holiday tomorrow, and have a bit of fun, here's all you need to do. Just click on the Victoria Day label over on the left and go to the May 23rd , 2011 update. Read all about Victoria day and be sure to listen to the Gravel Pits Song and watch the lads as they have all the fun. Enjoy.

See you again soon.

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