February's First

I know, we're already a week into February and this is only my first update. Sometimes it happens like that. Priorities and all. I was out to Calgary for 5 days so that was a big part of the time. Anyway it's on to postcards now. First up is a card showing an Asiatic Lion at the GIR National Park & Sanctuary. The Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is a forest and wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat, India. It is the sole home of the Asiatic Lion and is the world's only place where lions and tigers coexist. These lions were once found across northern Africa, south west Asia and northern Greece. Now there are only around 411 left in the wild and all of them are in or around the Gir Forest National Park.

This card arrived compliments of Nagi who writes the blog - SIDS Hobby Center - and you can find it all here .   It has lots of great information about stamps, postcards, and postmarks . Check it out for yourself. Nagi used a couple of definitives on his card. On the left is a 2008 Rajiv Gandhi issue. Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the seventh Prime Minister of India, serving from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, his mother, to become the youngest Indian prime minister. On the right is a 2009 stamp featuring Homi Jahangir Bhabha , an Indian nuclear physicist, founding director, and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Next is a card from Cologne, Germany. An interesting card with two views of the same area. On the top is a 1945 , after the war view. Then below - the same area in present day. Standing upright and tall in both views is the Cologne Cathedral, dating from 1248. The cathedral,  suffered fourteen hits by aerial bombs during World War II. It did not collapse, but remained standing in an otherwise flattened city. The great twin spires are said to have been used as an easily recognizable navigational landmark by Allied aircraft raiding deeper into Germany in the later years of the war, which may be a reason that the cathedral was not destroyed.

Regular contributor David sent this card . Be sure to check out his great postcard and stamp blog - 
Postcards A World Travelogue. You can find it here .  You'll also learn a lot about the world. David used a new 2015 stamp featuring Ludwigsburg Palace.  Ludwigsburg Palace is a historical building in the city of Ludwigsburg, Germany. It is one of the country's largest Baroque palaces and features an enormous garden in that style.

Another addition to my Airlines / Aircraft on Postcards is next. It is an Austrian Airlines Boeing 777. Aircraft OE-LPD , nicknamed Spirit of Austria, was delivered on 30/01/2007, and is a smaller B777-200. I'm hoping to be flying to Sydney on the bigger B777-300 next month.

A Postcrosser named Yulia sent this card from Belarus. She used a 2014 Flower stamp, showing a Dahlia. It is 1 of 4 in a Botanical Garden set.

Anyone for Sushi ? That's the complete theme of this card from Kobe, Japan. Featured are 20 different sushi.

Michiko used a 2012 teddy bear stamp. It is 1 of 10 different bear stamps in the Autumn Greetings sheet.

Yes, another Airline / Aviation card - this time a JAL B747 freighter. It's actually a B747-200F. The B747-200F was a cargo plane developed from the B747-200B. The cockpit of the B747 was originally placed on the second deck in anticipation of its conversion to a cargo plane. The aircraft was equipped with a nose door that opened upward, allowing it to handle long cargo that to date could not be loaded on other cargo planes.

Another Postcrosser , Ren from the port city of Kobe sent this card and used a nice Aviation related stamp from 2010. It is 1 of 10 different stamps in a  beautiful mini-sheet issued to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Aviation in Japan. It would be a wonderful sheet to have in my Aviation Stamp Collection.

That's 5 cards , so I think that will do for today. I have 5 more here on my desk ready for tomorrow or the next day. Thanks go out to Ren, Michiko, Yulia, David and Nagi for the cards featured today. Take care and leave a comment if you want to or you feel you need to . I'm always happy to read them.