Sunday, December 2, 2018

New Country # 266 and More Cards

BLOG POST #883

Well November is gone, so this is my first post for December and what better way to start off than with a new country. The Republic of Artsakh, where you might ask ? We're about to find out.
Artsakh was known between 1991 and 2017 as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. It's a de facto independent state in the South Caucasus, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. It's capital is Stepanakert and the republic has approximately 150,000 people. Artsakh is not a member of the UN and no UN member currently recognizes the republic.
Since the card arrived bearing only Republic of Artsakh stamps and is postmarked Artsakhpost , I have no problem adding it as a new country in my collection. Artsakh is new country or stamp issuing entity # 266.

The card shows the sculpture by Sargis Baghdasaryan called " We are our Mountains " . The 1967 monument of the old man and woman hewn from rock represents the mountain people of Artsakh and is widely seen as a symbol of the self-proclaimed republic.



David used 3 stamps of Artsakh, all issued in 2018. The stamp on the far right commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the First Postage Stamp of Nagorno Karabakh. The other two are topical Animal stamps.





My next card is from France. On this one you can see inside one of the local shops in Corte, located in the middle of Corsica. The shop holds more than 2,700 local products. If you can't find it there, I think that you don't need it. 



Dominique used one of the best Aviation stamps on this card. It shows an Airbus A300. The stamp is an Airmail stamp from 1999. You don't see many Airmail stamps these days. A beautiful stamp for sure.




It is December as I mentioned earlier, so here's the first Christmas wishes card for this year. What Happens Under The Mistletoe, Stays Under The Mistletoe. Sounds a lot like what people say about Vegas.



Gerda used two Christmas Stamps that were issued in October.




Speaking of Vegas, I guess it's time I mention my recent excursion to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam . My Lovely Teena and I , flew down to Vegas and met up with another couple who flew from Newfoundland. None of us had been there before so it was all new and exciting for us. Of course I found time for postcards so here's a few of them. The ones from Las Vegas itself have not arrived yet, maybe some day soon.

First up is this grand view of the Colorado River deep down in the Grand Canyon. Obviously it took millions of years to carve this. UNESCO put the Grand Canyon on its World Heritage Sites List in 1979.


 
I used 3 Wonder Woman stamps from 2016 on this one. It got posted in Grand Canyon Village , a village of just over 2,000 people located on the South Rim of the canyon. It is wholly focused on accommodating tourists visiting the canyon.





We drove a portion of the famous Route 66, between Vegas and the Grand Canyon. One of the original highways in the U.S , Route 66 has many names - the Mother Road, Will Rogers Highway, and the Maim Street of America. Route 66 was established in 1926 and goes from Chicago to Santa Monica - a total of 3,940 km.



I posted this card in Williams, Arizona - a small city of just over 3,100 along Route 66. Williams is known as the gateway to Grand Canyon National Park and has many shops and restaurants dating back to the early 1900s. I used a number of Forever stamps on this card, from 2016,17 and 18




Here's the last card for today and it's another from our trip to Vegas. It's the Hoover Dam this time , along with the Colorado River Bridge. The dam was completed in 1936. At its base the dam is 660 feet thick. The bridge in the background is officially named the Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tilman Memorial Bridge. It was complete in 2005 and stands 900 ft above the river.



The dam and the bridge are certainly marvels of construction and well worth a view.

I posted this card in Boulder City, the closest city to Hoover Dam. It is one of only two cities in Nevada that prohibits gambling.

I used 3 WPA Poster stamps from 2017 on this card.



There you have it. Another blog post done. Thanks for cards today go out to David, Dominique, Gerda and My Lovely Teena. Hope you enjoyed this and that it encourages you to come back again. Take care.

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