A Lumberjack's Candle, The Old Bushmill's Distillery, Minori, Mata Hari, Les Calanques and a Royal Brunei A319

      Blog # 1608 --- Day 704 of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of Ukraine 

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE      

Here we go again -- some cards to look at and some great stamps, too. My first card today arrived from Finland. It's a look at Lumberjack's Candle Bridge in Rouvaniemi, Finland. The bridge , built in 1989 and spanning 320 meters, crosses the Ounasvaara River between Ounasvaara Hill and the city centre of Rovaniemi. 

Alisa used a number of stamps on her card. The blue stamp on the left was issued in 2002 and is 1 of 2 in a set . It is a self-adhesive Coat of Arms stamp. The other two stamps were issued in 2003. They are the 2 stamps in a minisheet with the theme --- Nordic Stamps.

 

Now we go from Finland to Northern Ireland. David's card shows us the Old Bushmill's Distillery, the world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery. It is located at Busmills in County Antrim close to the Giant's Causeway. The original license to distill was granted by James 1 in 1608. Whiskey has been made there now for over 400 years.

  

David used a 2023 stamp, 1 of 8 issued under under the theme Terry Pratchetts Discworld.

Now it's off to Minori, Italy. Located in the province of Salerno in the south-western part of the country. As part of the Amalfi coast, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Apparently Minori is quite beautiful and a little less busy than Amalfi itself, so a good place to explore the area from. 

David used a recent A Zone stamp showing a Leonardo Da Vinci drawing.

It's on to France now. My next card shows one of the many calanques or inlets found around Marseille. Many of these are found between Marseille and Cassis. These unique geological limestone formations are really big rocky coves forming a steep and narrow valley inland. Have a look.

Dominique used an older stamp from 1964 on this one. It is 1 of 2 issued that year to promote Tourism.

Here's a card that arrived from Nuremberg, Germany. It shows Margaretha Geertuida Macleod, better known as Mati Hari. The lady was a Dutch exotic dancer who performed on stage under the name Mati Hari. Sadly her fame grew from her conviction of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed by firing squad in France in 1917 at the age of 41. Mati Hari's story of a beautiful exotic dancer using her powers of seduction as a spy made her name synonymous with the femme fatale. Some aspects of this reminds me of the Munsinger Affair here in Canada. An East German prostitute and alleged Soviet spy , Gerda Munsinger immigrated to Canada and was dubbed the Mata Hari of the Cold War. She had dalliances with two cabinet ministers  and that led to the first national political sex scandal in Canada. Also, let's not forget the John Profumo and Christine Keeler Affair in the U.K.

 Julia used a Small Animals stamp from 2021.

Here now is the last card for today. It's been quite a while since I showed one of these I thought it good to end with an aircraft/airline card. Here is a Royal Brunei Airbus A319. It was registered as V8-RBP and was pictured at Hong Kong in Oct of 2003. V8-RBP was in service with Royal Brunei Airlines from Aug 2003 until Dec 2015 Then with R Airlines from Apr 2016 until Oct 2016. It is now stored.

 Jean Pierre used two stamps on this card. The one on the right was issued in 2012 and marks the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces in 2011.

The other stamp  - I didn't come up with any info for it. 

Well that's all for this time. Big thanks to Alisa, David, Dominique, Julia  and Jean Pierre for all the cards .

   

Madeira Cable Car, Technik Museum and the Groote Kerk

        Blog # 1607 --- Day  697 of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of Ukraine 

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE      

Howdy folks, it's time for another update of The Blog -- Gems World Postcards. I'll start with this card from Madeira, Portugal. Here we have a great view of two cards of the Funchal Cable Car or Madeira Cable Car. This gondola lift transports people from the lower section of Funchal to the suburb of Monte. This journey between heaven and earth runs 3,200 meters.  

Dominique used a recent stamp showing a map of Madeira island. 

This next card is a view of a section of the Sinsheim Technik Museum exhibits. Located in Sinsheim, Germany , it opened in 1981. It has well over 3,000 exhibits and is the largest privately owned museum in Europe. The museum has lots of great exhibits, including the largest Formula One collection in Europe. In 2001 it acquired a Tupolev TU-144 and in 2003 a Concorde F-BUFB. It is the only place where both supersonic passenger aircraft are shown. If you visit, you can also see The Blue Flame - the fastest rocket-powered land vehicle of all time. On Oct23, 1970 it set a fantastic world record of 1,014.656 km/h . 

Meelis used two stamps on this card. The left stamp was issued in 2023 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Schleizer Dreieck Auto Races. The right stamp was issued in 2022 under the theme The World of Letters. 

It's on to Sri Lanka for card number 3. Shown is the Groote Kerk or Dutch Reformed Church . It is located within the Galle Fort in Galle, Sri Lanka. It was built in 1755.

Ravindra used a nice set of 3 stamps from 2022. They were issued in a minisheet for the Vesak Festival.

I think that will do for this time. Thanks for cards go out to Dominique, Meelis and Ravindra. Tune in again soon. 

India Cards and a Bridge

     Blog # 1606 --- Day  693 of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of Ukraine 

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE      

    

Hello once again. Today I want to start this update with a few cards from India that I received yesterday. Four in fact, all sent by Neeraj. This first one depicts a 1996 watercolour where the artist has painted himself into the picture as the fish in the lower left. 

 

Neewaj used 2 stamps on this card. The left stamp, is from a 2011 minisheet of 4 . It commemorates the 100 Anniversary of Airmail. It was issued for An International Stamp Exhibition , held in New Delhi, INDIPEX 2011.  The other stamp is from 1 2019 minisheel of 5. It marks the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Guru Nanak. 

This next card is from a series called Women in Nature. In India women often spearheaded initiatives to save and protect nature and wildlife. Women in Nature is dedicated to all the Women in India. 

The stamp on this card is from a 2023 minisheet of 4. All 4 stamps show Indian Bridal Costumes. 

Here is Neeraj's 3rd card. It's a view of the intricate artwork at Konark Sun Temple. It shows a frieze of dancers from Bhoga-mandapa, Konarak. 

It arrived with another of the Bridal Costumes stamps.

Number 4 card from India. -- Here we see a drawing of Usha and Aniruddha. If you look up and read their story, you'll find a saga of eternal romance. 

Here's one more of the Bridal Costumes stamps.

 I have one more card for this time. It arrived from Nassau, Bahamas. It's a good look at Paradise Island Bridge. The 1560 foot bridge connects Paradise Island to Nassau.

Gina used a 2021 stamp featuring Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, on the occasion of her 95th anniversary of Birth.

That's The End for this time. Thanks for cards go out to Neeraj and Gina.

A Yuletide Witch and More

     Blog # 1605 --- Day  689 of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of Ukraine 

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE      

Hey folks , it's good to be back again. It's so cold here in Alberta, staying in and doing a blog is a great way to pass an afternoon. When I got up yesterday morning the temperature was  -39C , with a windchill of -47C. This morning it was a little more balmy with the temperature at -34C and windchill of -44C. We are forcasted to have two more days of these bitter temperatures. All should be back to normal by Tuesday. 

I want to start today with a Christmas themed card from Barbara in the Netherlands. It's a self designed card by Barbara. It features Yuletide Wishes from a Yuletide Witch. 

Barbara used 2 stamps from a set of 10 Christmas stamps issued in 2023.

Next is a card from the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. 

It's a look at Malealea, a remote valley set in the foothills of the Thaba Putsoa  ( Blue Mountain ) range. The mountain has a height of 3096 metres and is the source of the Orange River. 

 

Bruce used a stamp with a similar scene to the postcard. It is 1 of 3 in a 2016 set issued to mark the country's 50th Anniversary of Independence.

Now here's a card from Constantine, Algeria. This city of approximately a half million people is often called the City of Bridges and is located in northeastern Algeria.  This city of bridges has seven bridges.

David used 2 stamps on his card. The left stamp , from 2021, is 1 of 22 in a set showing Musical Instruments. The stamp on the right was issued in 2020 to highlight the Repatriation of the Anti-Colonial Resistance Martyrs. 

This has been a short update but it's all for today. Thanks for these cards go to Barbara, David and Bruce. 

Cruising Thru Postcards # 16

         Blog # 1604 --- Day  688 of the Current  ( Second ) Russian Invasion of Ukraine 

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE      

Howdy folks, Happy New Year to all. I hope everyone receives at least one postcard in their mailbox every day of 2024. That would be awesome.  Well it's been almost 3 weeks since my last update. I have to do better in 2024. 

Some time ago , actually back on Jan 8, 2020,  I presented an update called " Cruising Thru Postcards # 12" . Now I would like to continue this theme, but now it is Cruising Thru Postcards # 16. I know your next question must be  " what happened to # 13, 14 and 15 ?  Well not everything works as we might want. The postal aspect of those cruises didn't happen as I would have wanted. I couldn't find stamps in Labadee, Haiti and none of the cards I posted in Falmouth , Jamaica ever arrived anywhere, at least to my knowledge. The same for  Ocho Rios, Jamaica. A few cards from other ports arrived but not enough for an update so I just want to forget about postcards from those cruises. I'm moving on to Cruising Thru Postcards # 16. This was a 9 Day Southern Caribbean Sunfarer Cruise to the ABC Islands and Bahamas. The ABC islands are Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao , the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean. 

 We left Fort Lauderdale on Holland America's MS Rotterdam on Nov 3, 2023. We then endured two sea days before our first port of call. We arrived early at Kralendijk, Bonaire on Nov 6th. I walked to the post office and bought stamps. My intention was to visit the town , then later go back to the ship, prepare my postcards, and later go back to the post office and mail them. It worked out well, even better than that. I asked the lady at the post office to be sure to hand cancel the stamps. She said certainly but then asked if I would like to do it. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. So Bonaire worked out well.     

Teena's card to me shows some of the slave huts on Bonaire. These huts, built in 1850, housed the slaves who worked in the salt pans on the island. 

The Dutch Caribbean ( Bonaire ) Flamingo stamp was issued in 2022. 

Our next port was Willemstad, Curacao. This is my favourite port down that way. We arrived in port early on Nov 7th. We did the touristy things, crossed the Queen Emma Bridge, walked around the Handelskade and shopped a little. Later in the day we made our way to the post office. That didn't go so well. We had to take a number on entering  and then had to wait to be served. Well we waited and waited some more. Nothing seemed to be happening so I decided to leave and take my cards back to the ship. I passed them in at customer service and asked that they have the ship's agent mail them. And it worked. 

It's another Teena's card of course. Great views of a great place. 

Teena's stamp is from 2022. It's 1 of 6 in a set showcasing the Velas Latinoamerica Sailing Regatta.  

We sailed out of Willemstad in the evening of Nov 7th and headed for Oranjestad , Aruba. Be sure to check out Palm Beach or Eagle Beach if you ever find yourself  in Aruba. It was quite hot when we were there and since I knew from past experience that the Post Office was quite a hike from the port, I decided to not go there. I purchased stamps from a shop quite near the ship. The lady running the shop offered to mail my cards . She had done this for me one time before so I knew I could trust her. Again everything worked out well. When I returned  I sent her a postcard of an iceberg, something she will never see down there. 

Teena's card to me is a world map card showing where Aruba is located. 

 The Aruba stamp has 3 Dutch Princesses on it. It was issued in 2019 , in a set of 4.

We left Aruba in the evening of Nov 8 and then it was 2 sea days to Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, arriving the morning of Nov 11th. 

We enjoyed the water, the beach and had a great lunch ashore. There was no Post Office at Half Moon Cay, so no option to send postcards, even though postcards were available. , We pulled away from Half Moon Cay around 4:30 pm and arrived back at Fort Lauderdale at  7 am on Nov 12th,  safe and sound. 

That's it for this time, the first update of The Blog for 2024. 

Thanks to My Lovely Teena for all 3 cards. I love cruising with you Teena , looking forward to # 17 next month . Can't wait to visit all those new and exotic ports with you.