Philly Chinatown and a New Europa Stamp

BLOG # 1464  , Still in the Year of Covid

Hello again. As I have mentioned before, since Covid,  postcards have been scarce. I guess since people haven't been travelling,  the idea of sending postcards is pretty much on the back burner. But all is not lost, I have received two cards this past week and they are my focus for today.

First up is this card showcasing Friendship Gate in Philadelphia's Chinatown. The gate dates from the mid to late 19th century.  The first business opened in the area in 1871. Friendship Gate is the first authentic Chinese Gate built in America by artisans from China. It weighs in at 88 tons and stands 40 feet high.

This card arrived from Mike & Ashley in Malvern, PA.  The stamps are 2 in a sheet of 10 issued this year showing American Gardens.

Today's second card is from Germany. Here we see the Elektro-Schnelltriebwagen , a high speed train running through the country.

 This is my first card from Isabelle, a Postcrosser I have just recently started exchanging with. She used a wonderful new minisheet of 1 along with a Flower definitive. The minisheet is Germany's Europa themed stamp featuring Ancient Postal Routes. The Flower stamp was issued in 2018.

There you have it for another time. Thanks for today's card go out to Mike & Ashley and Isabelle.
Thanks to you reading this , come back again soon.

As we are still in the pandemic , be sure to wash your hands, don't touch your face and keep your distance.
Cheers.

France, Q.E.A. , Bears and Lux Airport

BLOG  1463 

Still in the Year of Covid

Hey ! Hope everyone is doing well . I know it`s been 2 weeks, but these days one day runs into the next, so who really knows how long it`s been since I was last here. And a half dozen cards have arrived in that period of time. Three arrived from France, and singles from Christmas Island, Luxembourg, and Finland. So it`s on to France first. Dominique`s card shows the Protestant Church of Bischwiller. It was constructed in 1722 with the Bell Tower added sometime later.

The stamp on this card is from 2016 and is one that I previewed in Blog #1460 on May 7th.  It was on the Strasbourg card, so check it out if you want.

Card 2 is also compliments of Dominique. It`s a look at the Fontfroide Abbey, a former Cistercian monastery located near the Spanish border. It was founded in 1093. It passed into private hands in 1908. Today wine is produced here and there is a small working farm, a bookstore and a restaurant.

This card`s stamp is form 2018 and celebrates Stamp Day. It features a Race car, an Alpine Renault.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996 is the subject of Dominique`s last card for this time. It`s the Canal du Midi, a 240 km long canal in Southern France. The canal was constructed between 1667 and 1681 and was considered one of the greatest construction works of the 17th century.
It is a part of the canal route from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic.

Here`s the last French stamp for today. It was issued in 2005, 1 of 4 European Capitals stamps in a mini sheet. This mini sheet featured Berlin.

Here now is a card from Christmas Island. I received it in June but Jean Pierre mailed it in March. I don`t know about you but I think all mail from Christmas Island be postmarked in December. Christmas Island is an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, some 2,600 km NW of Perth.   The card appears to be an advertising card for Qantas Empire Airways Kangaroo Service. That would be a 1949 flight from London to Sydney by a Lockheed Constellation.

Jean Pierre used a fine assortment of stamps on this card. The 3 stamps to the left are Australia issues and the far right stamp is a Christmas Island issue. Let`s go from left to right. First, from 2020, is a Commemorative marking the 150th Anniversary of the Sydney - San Francisco Mail Steamer Service. Next, again from 2020, is 1 of 3 stamps issued showing Tree Dwellers of the Tropics. Then we have Queen Elizabeth marking the 1954 Royal Tour, the stamp was issued in 2004. Finally at far right , from 2009, a stamp showcasing Species at Risk - shown is the Blue-tailed Skink.

Nice crab cancellation on the left.

Here's a card with a vintage view of Luxembourg Airport. A few vintage aircraft can be seen here too. 

Meelis used two commemoratives on this card. On the left, from 2007, this stamp commemorates the 75th Anniversary of the Auto Club of Luxembourg. On the right, from 2009, this one commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the Aeronautics Federation of Luxembourg. 

The last card for today is from Espoo, Finland and according to the sender, it shows the country's national animal. From looking at the card, I think these two spent too long in hibernation this past winter. And I thought bear's favourite pastime was looking for berries. What do I know , right ? 

Raili used a 2018 Bear stamp. Bears on the card, bears on the stamp, why not ?

That's all the cards for this time. I have just one more little bit of business to attend to. A short while ago I received a small package from Giles in France. It contained a large bunch of postcards of the Strasbourg area and a couple of sheets of what I call computer generated or ATM stamps. One of the sheets were of Star Wars characters. I hadn't had any contact with Giles before, but I had commented on someone's postcard blog that I liked the Star Wars stamp. He saw to it that I now have a sheet of these, so thank you Giles for thinking of me. Here's the Star Wars stamps .

Thanks to Dominique, Jean Pierre, Meelis and Raili for the cards featured today. Take care all.

One more time - Stay Safe, Wash your Hands , Keep your Distance and Don't Touch your Face. 

We will get through this sometime.