Happy Halloweén

It's Halloweén once again. Since I am new to this area, I can only wonder how many little kids will knock at my door this evening. Hopefully we have enough treats for them all. Here is what the area near our place looks like for tonight.

My first card for today arrived from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It gives us a look at some of the newer buildings , or as the card says, the New Faces of Dubai.

This is another card from Fati, who was in Dubai after work in Syria. The stamp was issued in 2007 and is 1 of 4 in a Falcons definitives set.

One of the Jack-o-Lanterns in the area.

My next card arrived from Ankara, Turkey, but shows Ortakoy Mosque in Istanbul.  Ortaköy Mosque, officially the Büyük Mecidiye Camii in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, is situated at the waterside of the Ortaköy pier square, one of the most popular locations on the Bosphorus. it was built between 1854 and 1856. Notice the vast suspension bridge crossing the Bosporus strait, connecting Asia and Europe in Istanbul, the only city to span two continents.

This card comes compliments of Leslie, who blogs about her postcards at the postcard blog !   . 
Leslie used a wonderful souvenir sheet of 1 that celebrates protected nature areas and national parks. It was issued this year.

Here's another wonderfully carved pumpkin from the neighborhood.

Card number 3 is from Taiwan. It highlights a Temple fair and Zhong Kui, a figure of Chinese mythology. He is said to be a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings. Quite appropriate for Halloweén, I guess . 
His image is often painted on household gates as a guardian spirit, as well as in places of business where high-value goods are involved.

Unfortunately I don't know the sender of this card , but it arrived with 2 flower definitives and what I believe to be a really wonderful stamp. It is 1 of 5 in a beautiful set  celebrating the Quing Dynasty featuring Birds. It would be a great set to have in one's collection.

Time for another pumpkin, I think.

This is the last card for this time. It's from Hamamatsu, Japan. The city of about 800,00 people is located in western Japan on the Pacific coast. Hamamatsu is famous for musical instruments and is sometimes called "The City of Music ". Yamaha, Kawai and Suzuki are all headquartered in the city. The card shows a 1950s  music themed painting from the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

Emiko used a couple of Flower topical stamps.

One more pumpkin for you.

And a final one.

That's it for pumpkins and postcards today. Thanks to Fati, Leslie and Emiko for their cards. Thanks to the pumpkin carvers , they did an excellent job. This is the last update for October , see you in November.
Take care.