Cards From Jean Pierre

BLOG # 1445

Hello again. Today I have four postcards and they are from Egypt, Iceland, Greece and France. All four are from my good postcard friend Jean Pierre.
I will start with the card from Luxor, Egypt. Here we see the Temple of Luxor, and the obelisk in front of the first pylon. It was erected by Ramses II . The obelisk, dating from 1290 BC is the single remaining obelisk in Luxor.

   The two stamps were issued in 2019. The left stamp celebrates the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Mahatma Gandhi. The right stamp commemorates the 90th Anniversary of the Egyptian Philatelic Society.

My next card arrived from Europe's most unpolluted city, Reykjavik, Iceland. This is at least according to the card.

The stamp on this one is also from last year, 2019. It commemorates the the 75th Anniversary of the Republic of Iceland. It's a nice looking stamp , this one.

Greece is up next. It's an Olympic Airways ATR-42, registered as SX-BIB. This aircraft was delivered to Olympic Aviation in 1990. Olympic Aviation merged into Olympic Airlines in 2003 and then ceased operations in 2009. SX-BIB was scrapped in 2013.

Jean Pierre used a 2018 stamp on this card. It is 1 of 2 issued that year for International Women's Day.

 Here's the last card for today. It arrived from Paris. It's a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower.

This card arrived with a semi-postal stamp. It was issued in 1989 to highlight the Red Cross and I guess that's where the surcharge went.

So ends another blog update. BIG Thanks go to Jean Pierrre for all of the cards. Thanks for dropping in today, see you soon. I'm all out of cards now so will have to wait by the mailbox . Take care.

A Bird, A Plane, Well You Know

BLOG # 1444

Well the really frigid temperatures here have come and gone. Yesterday and today and at least the rest of the week we have and will experience mild , above zero temperatures. Sure works for me.
Today I have four cards to highlight. They arrived from Jersey, Channel Islands , Germany, Portugal and Russia. My first card is from Jersey and shows a small bird with an orange chest - maybe a Stonechat, but I'm no birder so I could be wrong. If I'm wrong , feel free to let me know, I won't mind.

Jean Pierre used 2 fine stamps on this card . On the left is a Butterfly stamp -  1 of 6 in a minisheet issued in 2017. On the right , from 2018, is also 1 of 6 in a minisheet of Birds. Both were issued to showcase links with China. What those links are, I'm not sure - maybe the butterflies and birds fly between China and Jersey.

 


Card # 2 -   Here's a card showing the most popular landmark in the city of Mannheim, Germany. It's the 60 m high Watertower of Mannheim, completed in the late 1800s.

Dominique used a quite recent 2020 special Freedom of the Press stamp. It's issue hopes to bring attention to Press Freedom Day , celebrated on May 3rd.

Card # 3 - Another for my Aircraft / Airline card collection. This time it`s an older aircraft , a Boeing 727. The 727s were built between the early 1960s and 1984. A total of 1,832 were built. The aircraft shown on Ana's card , CS-TBW was part of TAP Air Portugal's fleet from 1979-1990. It then flew for Sun Country Airlines and later with Ryan International. As many old aircraft end in the scrape heap, CS-TBW was no exception.

 
Ana used 2 stamps from 2017. On the left , 1 of 6 in a set, of Historic Cafes. On the right, also from a set of 6, Coat of Arms issue.

Card # 4 - Today's last card. It's Russian illustrator Anastasiya Stolbova's version of Father and Mother Frost.

Diana used a 2019 stamp celebrating the 5th Anniversary of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Well that's all I have for this time. Thanks for reading. Thanks also to Jean Pierre, Dominique, Ana and Diana for the cards and stamps.
Take care.

Aircraft, a Map and One Other

BLOG # 1443

Hello again - here I am with a few more cards received the past few days. Four of them were sent by Jean Pierre and the other is a Postcrossing card from Russia.
This first card is a Maximum card from Finland. It is also an Aviation themed card as it features a Super Caravelle. The Sud Aviation  Caravelle flew from 1955 to 2005. There were 282 built in 9 variants. The Super Caravelles were split between Sterling Airways with 7 and Air Inter with 5. Apparently they were not a very safe aircraft  - in approximately 50 years of flying with 282 aircraft , over 1,300 people were killed in numerous accidents. The accident rate for the Caravelle per million flights was more than 5.5 , compared with less than 1 for most recent airlines. On a positive note I can say that my wife and I flew on a Caravelle with TAP Air Portugal and survived.

The Aviation themed stamp was issued in 2003 and features a Finnair Super Caravelle.
You can see it on the front of the card in the upper left corner.


Today's second card is from Egypt. It is a simple map card showing the main Egyptian tourist sites one should visit. There's a few on that map I wouldn't mind visiting myself.

 Jean Pierre used 2 Definitives from 2017. Those are the 2 on the left of the card. What's on the right ? I'm not sure but I don't think it's a stamp. A label maybe. It has no value on it and I couldn't find it in my stamp catalogue sources. It looks like a stamp though and even got a cancellation.

 Time for another Aircraft / Airline card. Here is SU-BTM , an Air Cairo A320 Airbus. As I write this SU-BTM has completed its latest flight from Tbilisi to Sharm el-Sheik. The aircraft is 9.6 years old and saw service with TAM and LATAM prior to Air Cairo.

Here Jean Pierre used a definitive from 2017 and 2 other stamps. The middle stamp, issued in 2019 , Commemorates the 67th Anniversary of the July 23rd Revolution. The stamp on the right, from 2018, celebrates World Post Day.

This next card might  be some sort of reproduction of an advertisement for Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, a three act comedy-ballet . It was first presented on 6 Oct 1668 before the Court of Louis XIX at the Chateau of Chambord.

 I'm not quite sure what to make of the intent of the card, considering the line of writing at the bottom !

A Postcrosser from Kursk, Russia sent this card. Kursk has been around a long time, it was first mentioned in the 1032 book " The Tale of Igor's Campaign " . The Kursk area is also the site of the largest tank battle in history. In 1943 over 6,000 tanks went at it, Germans versus Soviets.

Nastya used 2 of the new Eagles definitives from 2019.

Yes it's that time - last card of the day time. Another for my Aircraft / Airline Postcard Collection. This time it's SU-GGG an A340 belonging to the Arab Republic of Egypt. The card shows it taking off at Berlin in 2001. The aircraft was delivered to the Government of Egypt in 1995.

Jean Pierre used 2 stamps here. Both were issued in 2019. On the left a stamp showcasing the African Space Agency. On the right, a stamp highlighting World Post Day .

So ends post 1443. Thanks for cards go out to Jean Pierre and Nastya. Take care , see you next time.

Cruising Thru Postcards # 12

BLOG # 1442

It's time for the next Cruising Thru Postcards installment. This is number 12. It's long delayed but only because some postcards arrived quite late.
This little saga began back in August of 2019. My Lovely Teena and I booked a short cruise for early September. We were to depart from Fort Lauderdale on September 2nd for 5 nights , with stops in Key West and Nassau before arriving back in Fort Lauderdale on September 7th. That didn't happen. Our cruise was cancelled due to Hurricane Dorian which clobbered the Bahamas among other places.
Well we rebooked our cruise for a new departure of October 28th. Same cruise, same ports , etc.

We flew out of Calgary on Oct 26th and overnighted in Toronto. Then on the 27th we flew on to Fort Lauderdale and overnighted again.
On Monday October 28 we boarded our ship, Majesty Of the Seas around midday . She entered service with Royal Caribbean in 1992. She carries 2,676 passengers and 833 crew.

We pulled out of Fort Lauderdale around 5 pm on the 28th , sailed all evening and all the next day , arriving in Key West around 8:00 am on Wednesday Oct 30th. One might ask where we were for 39 hours. The distance by road is 304 km. There is even the Key West Ferry and that only takes 3.5 hours. So we spent a lot of time cruising, no doubt in a zigzag formation or some other long , long roundabout way getting from here to there. But we're having fun so all's well.

I didn't post anything in Fort Lauderdale, as they say - been there, done that. Teena and I spent an enjoyable day in Key West, toured around, walked around , did all the tourist things, even bought some postcards.
Here the first one.It's a look at Sloppy Joe's Bar, a popular meeting place in Key West.  A tradition since 1933.

I used 2 stamps on this card. On the right a 5 cent Grapes from 2017. The stamp on the left is the more  beautiful one . It's the one dollar value of the set of 3 Statue of Freedom definitives issued in 2018. The set features the head of the statue that tops the U S Capital dome. This $1.00 Emerald Green and the other 2 - the $2.00 Indigo and the $5.00 Brick Red  engraved stamps are a joy to behold. It's rare to see an engraved stamp these days, I think stamp designers take the easy, quick way.

Posted in Key West but as you can see, it received a Miami Cancellation. Whatever works I guess.

 I just want to show the set of 3 , so you can see what I was talking about above. Hope you like them .

While we were walking about in Key West , we ended up at Mile 0. The marker there designates the southern most point in the continental U.S.A.

Along with a Pear stamp from 2016, I used the 2 1969 First Moon Landing stamps from 2019. They commemorate the 50th anniversary of Man first landing on the moon.

 I couldn't believe how many people were lining up to have a picture taken in front of the sign. Not me - I just walked to the side and snapped away.

Here's the marker and My Lovely Teena.

We sailed from Key West at 7:00 pm that evening. The next day was a sea day, cruising enroute to Nassau, Bahamas. 

We docked  in Nassau at 8:00 am on Friday Nov 1st. 

I managed to find a few postcards and stamps here, so was happy about that. You can never be sure of success when you go ashore. I posted 1 card to myself and Teena posted 1 to me also. Teena's card shows the Atlantis Bahamas Resort on Paradise Island. You also see the Paradise Island Lighthouse. It was constructed in 1817.

The stamp is from 2019 and celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization. A set of 4 was issued. 

The second Nassau card shows an underwater sculpture at the Coral Reef Garden. It's called Virtuoso Man and was sculpted by Willicey Tynes. 

I used the same stamp as above. 

Now here's the interesting thing about the cards from Nassau. I posted them on November 1, 2019 - they got postmarked at the Nassau Post Office on December 11, 2019 - and arrived here in my mailbox on January 3, 2020. 

What can I say other than the mail does go through - you might just have to wait on it . 

We pulled out of Nassau at 6:00 pm on Nov 1st and set sail for Fort Lauderdale, arriving at 7:00 am on Nov 2nd. 

Then it was an early disembark , a taxi to the airport and a flight to Toronto and then another to Calgary. Home safe . Cruise # 12 was done.

That's  all for this time. Thanks to My Lovely Teena for her card and for putting up with me , buying postcards, visiting post offices and everything else on the cruise. 

Take care.

A Short & Sweet Update

BLOG # 1441

Hey again. I just have a couple cards for this time. This first one shows a potter working at his craft in Soufflenheim, a village of just over 5000 in north-eastern France. It is known for its pottery but appears to be in a mini slump with a number of pottery shops closing up in the last while.

Dominique used a large stamp from 2015. It is 1 of 2  in a set Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Death of Gilberto Bosques Saldivar. The stamps are a Joint Issue with Mexico.

Time for a little rant again. In my opinion, not that it matters , this stamp should have been issued in 1992 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Birth of Saldivar. I find nothing to celebrate in any body's death. Just my opinion of course and I've been known to be wrong once or twice in the past. So if any country is planning a stamp for me I don't want to see it before 2051.


Today's second card is from Gibraltar. It appears to be an old photo , at least 50 years or so, of the North view of the Rock of Gibraltar from the airfield. Note the small 2 engine prop plane on the tarmac, I'm sure you only see jets there these days.

Jean Pierre used a 2016 Europa Think Green Stamp, 1 of 2 in the set.

Beautiful, clear , circular cancel always looks good.


Well that's it for this time, short and sweet. Thanks for the cards go out to Dominique and Jean Pierre.

Take care.

Hello 2020

BLOG # 1440

Hello 2020. Hopefully you all survived the new year festivities. Today it's my first blog for 2020 with the first cards received today. In the year just ended I produced 60 blog updates, hopefully I'll do a little better this year.

Here's the card I pulled from my mailbox first today, so that qualifies it as the first card of 2020. It's from the Netherlands. It's a Christmas greeting card from Barbara. I believe that's Mrs Claus on the front. Now I know who keeps Santa warm the rest of the year at the North Pole.

Barbara used 2 of 10 Christmas stamps on her card. They are from 2019.

My next two cards are Aircraft/Airlines cards and were a collaboration between Jean Pierre in France and Johan in Belgium. Jean Pierre supplied the cards and Johan the stamps and First Day cancels. Both cards show Sabena DC10-30 aircraft from the 1970s. One is scrapped and the other is stored.

Johan used stamps from a set of 5 issued in 2019 celebrating 75 Years of Liberation for Belgium. Both cards have beautiful First Day of Issue cancels.


Here's a Space themed card from Russia. The card was issued in the early 1970s. It kind of shows how Earthlings comprehended space way back then.

Veronica from Ekaterinburg sent this card and used one of the newer Eagles definitives from 2019.

Well that's all for this first update of 2020. Thanks for cards go out to Barbara, Jean Pierre & Johan and Veronica. I'll be back here soon. I am currently out of cards, and that doesn't happen often, but hopefully something will arrive tomorrow that I can show over the weekend. Take care.