May's Last or The Last of May

Today is the last day of May, and this will be the 9th update for the month. If I could get in 9 every month, I'd be happy. This time my cards come from Uruguay, Brazil, Poland, Italy, Canada, Egypt, Italy again and Belarus. Let's get to the card from Uruguay. Not a country that I have received many cards from , I think this is just the fourth . The card gives a great view of one of the most important avenues in Montevideo : 18 de Julio. Avenida 18 de Julio  or 18 de Julio Avenue, is the most important avenue  in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is named after the date the first Constitution of Uruguay was written: July 18, 1830.
It starts from Plaza Independencia at the limits of the Ciudad Vieja (the Old City), and ends at the Obelisk of Montevideo in Tres Cruces, where it meets Artigas Boulevard . Although not the widest or longest avenue of the city, it is considered as the most important of Montevideo, both as a commercial center and because of the many tourist attractions along its length.The large building on the right is Palacio Salvo. It was completed in 1928 and was the highest building in South America for many decades. It stands at 95 meters.

This card is the result of a swap with Sofia who lives in Montevideo. She contacted me and of course I said yes. Sofia used a new stamp that was issued on March 7th of this year. It is 1 of 2 issued on that date honoring national hero Jose Gervasio Artigas. He is known as the "father of Uruguayan independence". Uruguay has a long history of featuring Artigas on its stamps, with the first stamp for the general issued in 1883. 

Here's a card from Brazil, showing Porto Seguro Airport. The airport was inaugurated in 1982 and  is located 2 km (1 mi) from downtown Porto Seguro.The card shows a couple of aircraft from a couple of airlines parked on the ramp at the airport. The closest one is a B737-500 in a RIO-SUL livery. The airline operated between 1976 and 2002. Another fine card for my Aviation and Airline Collection.

Jean Pierre used half of a 2013 tete-beche pair honoring Vinicius de Moraes.  In philately  tete-beche  is a joined pair of stamps in which one is upside-down in relation to the other, produced intentionally or accidentally.

A card from Szczecin, Poland is next. Szczecin is a city in the vicinity of the Baltic Sea. It is the country's seventh-largest city and a major seaport in Poland. As of June 2011 the population was 407,811. The card shows the National Museum in the city. It was established on 1 August 1945.

Ania , who reads  this blog, sent along this card. She used a couple of recent stamps. On the left is a Raspberry Fruit stamp from 2011 and on the right is a 2013 Priority A rate stamp.

 

Today's 4th card , compliments of David, brings greetings from Rome. On the card we can see the Spanish Steps., all 135 of them. They were constructed between 1723 and 1725. It is the widest staircase in Europe. 

 

 David used a couple of definitives from 2005.

David writes a great postcard and travel blog called "Postcards A World Travelogue ". You can find it right here  .

Famous Atlantic Shipwrecks. RMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner that sank in the Saint Lawrence River, Canada  following a collision with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad in the early hours of 29 May 1914. Of the 1,477 persons on board the ship, 1,012 died.  The number of deaths is the largest of any Canadian maritime accident in peace time. The Empress of Ireland was  a Canadian Pacific liner sailing from Quebec City to Liverpool.

On May 29th  Canada Post issued 2 stamps commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland. On the left is the domestic permanent stamp, while on the right is the new International Rate stamp. The stamps received a May 29, 2014 cancellation  making it a First Day of Issue card.

Here's another card from David's recent trip to Egypt.  On the card we see a bit of Luxor.

On this card David used a stamp celebrating World Post Day 2013, which was held on October 9th.

And yes, another card from Jean Pierre. This time it's from Naples, Italy. The card isn't of or about Naples, but Pompeii , its ruins and Mount Vesuvius in the background. The city of Pompeii was an ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples. Pompeii was mostly destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Three stamps from a set of 5 celebrating Stamp Day 2013 arrived on this card.

And the final card is : From Minsk, Belarus, and it took 79 days to arrive. I do believe it is a postman doing his rounds.

Dzianis used a nice topical Bird stamp from this year, from Birdlife International.

That's the end for this time, that's how May ends. Thanks for the cards  going out to Sofia, Jean Pierre, Ania, David, and Dzianis.  Take care and see you in June.