The IIHF, Dali Theatre & Museum, Air Zimbabwe, Ypres 1913, The Talaandig, The Art of the Pin-Up Girl, and Moulin Rouge

Wow ! That's a really Big title for an update. I hope it lives up to the title and that you like what I have for you this time. Let's start with a card from Minsk, Belarus. On this first card we see the General Post Office in Minsk. Belarus became a member of the Universal Postal Union in 1949. The building was built between 1949 and 1953 and is one of the most beautiful architectural spots in all of Minsk. The card though is two fold. It also commemorates the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship currently happening in Minsk. It is ongoing from May 9th through May 25th. Sixteen countries are taking part and they are : Group A - Sweden, Czech Republic, Canada, Slovakia, Norway, France, Italy and Denmark. Group B consists of Finland, Russia, USA, Switzerland, Germany, Latvia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.Now I know it's not The World's Beautiful Game , but Hockey is Hockey and I am living in Canada.

 

Irina , who lives in Minsk sent this card. She wrote that Minsk is an ancient city, having been founded in 1067. She also wrote on her card, "Greeting from The Heart of Europe ". Many places , it seems, claim this title. Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Estonia and Hungary all have cities claiming this status. Monuments are even set up in  Polotsk, Belarus; Suchowola, Poland ; Bernotai, Lithuania and near Dilove, Ukraine.  Guinness World Records   recognises Bernotai, 26 km north of Vilnius, Lithuania as the official geographical midpoint of Europe. Questions like this are never truly settled , I guess. 

Irina used a 2013 stamp from a set of 3 called Textile Art. 

 

Card 2 for today comes from Spain. On it we see the Dali Theatre and Museum , located in Figueres, a town in the Catalonia region of Spain.   The town is the birthplace of artist Salavdor Dali, and houses the Teatre-Museu Gala Salvador Dali,  a large museum designed by Dalí himself which attracts many visitors. 

The museum opened on September 28, 1974 and  houses the single largest and most diverse collection of works by Salvador Dalí.  

The Dalí Theatre-Museum, is considered the largest surrealistic object in the world.

 

Dominique used a stamp issued on January 3, 2013 , one in its Civic Values series. It symbolizes water scarcity and depletion. The stamp depicts symbolically the idea of a glass of water, as an individual use of water, pouring into an inverted tap, as a sign of scarcity and depletion. It was a little tricky knowing which way was up for this stamp. But I believe I have it correct.

Air Zimbabwe's Boeing 767 ( Z-WPR) is next .  Air Zimbabwe is the national airline of Zimbabwe, headquartered on the property of Harare International Airport, in Harare The airline formed in April 1980 when the Republic of Zimbabwe was formed. Following financial difficulties, Air Zimbabwe ceased operations in late February 2012. Serving a reduced domestic network, the carrier resumed operations for a short period between May and early July 2012, when flights were again discontinued.  The airline resumed operating some domestic routes as well as the regional service to Johannesburg on a daily basis in April 2013. The aircraft on the card had its first flight back on 25 Oct 1989, making it a little over 24 years old.

 Bruce sent this card along, it's one he has had since 1991.


This next card is a reprint of a 100 year old postcard of Ypres. It is Ypres as it was on July 7th 1913. Ypres is a Belgian town located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between German and Allied forces.

Dolf used a 2009 Flowers self adhesive stamp.

Now for a card from Marikina, Philippines. Marikina, located in the island of Luzon in the Philippines, is one of the cities that make up Metro Manila. On the card we can see  Talaandig natives performing a solemn ritual as they inaugurate a Female Tribal Chief .
The Talaandigs are one of the indigenous groups in the province of Bukidnon, who has continued to preserve and promote its indigenous customs, beliefs and practices despite strong  change. These groups are found in  municipalities surrounding the mountain of Kitanglad specifically in the towns of Lantapan and Talakag.

Johnathan used a number of stamps on his card. The large one on top is from a souvenir sheet of 10 different stamps issued in 2012, celebrating Paintings of Young Filipino Artists with Roses.  Then on the bottoms are smaller definitives from 2011 and 2012.

How about a card from Australia ? It's a Gil Elvgren retro pin-up girl. Gil Elvgren, born Gillette Elvgren in Saint Paul, Minnesota, was an American painter of pin-up girls, advertising and illustration. Elvgren was one of the most important pin-up and glamour artists of the twentieth century.

Steve from, Canberra used a couple of stamps on his card. On the left is 1 of 6 in a 2006 set of 6 Wildlife-Animals issue. this one shows a platypus.

The platypus is a semiaquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania.. It is one of the five  species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth.  On the right we have a 2013 Christmas stamp.

The Moulin Rouge in Paris is the subject of this next card. It's a cabaret that was founded in 1889. It is marked by the red windmill on its roof. Moulin Rouge is best known as the  birthplace of the modern form of the can-can dance.

This is another card from Dominique. Becoming quite the regular, it seems. The stamp this time celebrates the French National Holiday, Bastille Day, held on July 14th each year.

 

It's time for the final card of the day. Well, we started with the IIHF in Minsk, and that's how we end. Another card, same type as the first, but this one shows Independence Square in the city. 

  

Svetlana used a number of the small self adhesives definitives from 2012.

That's the end of another update. Hope you enjoyed it or at least a part of it. Come back again, I'm sure I'll have more soon. Thanks today for cards go out to Irina, Dominique, Bruce, Dolf, Johnathan, Steve, Dominique again and Svetlana.

Take care now and as always comments are welcome. .

Air France- France, Aeroporto Afonso Pena, Lufthansa, Tarragona, Fisht Olympic Stadium and Versailles

That's a pretty long title for this update. Those are the keywords on the front of each of today's featured postcards. Those cards arrived from France, Brazil, Russia, Spain, Russia and France again. So let's start with the Air France card from France. This is a new card for my Aviation / Airlines Postcard Collection.Air France is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France,. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance.  My card is the Eiffel Tower , towering over a number of the other tourist related structures.

Fabienne , who collects World Heritage Sites postcards sent this card along. She has a great postcard blog called "Postcards, Stamps and World Heritage ". You can check it our here . It's well worth the visit. Fabienne used 2 stamps from a 2013 souvenir sheet of 8 commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Tour de France. 

Today's second card is another airport card. Afonso Pena International Airport. It is the main airport serving Curitiba, Brazil, located in the adjoining municipality of São José dos Pinhais. It is named after Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena, the 6th President of Brazil. The airport was originally an air field built during World War II to help serve the allied forces. Civil aviation began at the air field in 1946 and a passenger terminal was built to serve regional and international passengers. The airport provides service to more than seven million passengers and records more than 94,000 aircraft operations annually.

This is another card compliments of Jean Pierre. He used 2 stamp on this card, the one on the left was issued in 2012 and commemorates 100 years of the University of Parana. Parana is one of the 26 states of Brazil and is located in the south of the country. The stamp on the right was issued in 2006 and commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the first flight of 14Bis.  The 14-bis , was a pioneer era canard biplane designed and built by Brazilian  engineer Albert Santos-Dumont. On 23 October 1906, in Paris, France, it performed the first officially witnessed unaided takeoff and flight by a heavier than air aircraft.[

Flying in next is a Lufthansa Airbus A380-800. The A380 is the largest and heaviest passenger aircraft in the world. It is 73 meters long, 24 meters high, and has a takeoff weight of up to 560 tons. The Lufthansa A380 seats 526 passengers, and its four Rolls-Royce engines each generate 70000lbs of thrust. The aircraft on the card,  D-AIMA  Frankfurt am Main , was delivered to Lufthansa on 19 May 2010.

Interestingly this card arrived from Russia, not Germany. Maria used a couple of nice large stamps along with a small definitive from 2008 showing a Fox.  The stamp on the left is from a set of 6 issued in 2006 showing different regions of Russia. The other large stamp, is an Europa issue from 2013 , featuring Postal Transport- in this case it's a horse drawn sleigh.

This next card shows a scene in Tarragona. Tarragona is a port city located in the north-east of Spain on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Tarragona province, and part of the Tarragonès county and Catalonia region. On the card we can see a group of castellers in action.
A castell is a human tower built traditionally in festivals at many locations within Catalonia. At these festivals, several  teams often succeed in building and dismantling a tower's structure. On November 16, 2010, castells were declared by UNESCO to be amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Dominique , who is becoming somewhat of a regular on this blog, used a 2012 self adhesive stamp, 1 of 3 in a set, showcasing Civil Values.

Fisht Olympic Stadium is up next. It's an open-air stadium in Sochi, Russia. Located in Sochi Olympic Park and named after Mount Fisht, the 40,000-person-capacity stadium was built primarily for the 2014 Winter Olympics. It didn't come cheap, costing $779 million  to build.

Viki sent this card and used stamps from 2006 and 2007. On the left is 1 of 3 in a WWF Animals issue. This one shows a European Bison or wisent. It is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the American Bison.  The stamp on the right is another from the Regions set that I mentioned earlier.

And today's last card is ....... This view of Versailles. The Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal chateau in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France.  When the chateau was built, Versailles  was a country village; today, however, it is a wealthy suburb of Paris, some 20 kilometres southwest of the French capital. The city of Versailles is  , world-widely renowned for its chateau, and its gardens, designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites . According to the 2008 census, the population of the city is 88,641.

This is another card from Dominique. The stamp on this one commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the French National Order of Merit.

So ends another update , another one put to bed, so to speak. Thanks go out to Fabienne, Jean Pierre, Maria, Dominique, Viki, and Dominique one more time. Great cards - and great stamps on them. What more could one want- only more of the same, I guess.
Take care. and thanks for reading. Drop by again soon.

May Odds and Ends

Welcome back, glad you could make it here again. My cards for this time are just odds and ends, no great theme or topic as such. Let's start with this square shaped card from the town of Domodedovo , located about 37 km south of Moscow. It is a Russian train moving along through winter. Note the plow on the front. Kind of reminds me a little of the movie Doctor Zhivago. With a much older train and more snow , of course. Good movie though. I know, I'm a little off  track ( pardon the pun ), but I can't help it , if  Dr. Zhivago was my first thought when I first saw the card.  Everyone sees different things. Anyway, here's the train in question.

Olesia used a couple of stamps. On the left is a 2009 self adhesive definitive from the Kremlin set of 12. The large stamp on the right is a recent 2014 issue showing some Russian Medal.

How about some cold mailboxes ? That's what I have next. If my mailbox looked like that , I think I'd just wait for the spring before checking for mail.

Susanna who lives in the small town of Askainen, in southwestern Finland sent this card along. Her small town had  only 931 people in 2003. She used a new 2014 Greeting Stamp from a booklet of 5 .

My next card is an airline card with a difference. It's a card for Singapore Airlines, but there is no airplane anywhere in sight. How does that work ? Here we have a young lady and a small boy viewed through the windows of a shop in Moscow. The card reads - Magical Moscow, Daily From Singapore and Houston. Singapore Airlines , A Great Way To Fly.

 

This is my 3rd card from Kayley. She used the same stamp on all 3. It's the fresh water turtle stamp again. I'm not showing it this time. 

Here's a local band from Belarus. Nice hats. I hear they still take bookings for weddings and Saturday night dances. 

Lena used a small Ornament definitive from a 2012 set of 2. 

Nice bike. This one is for all you bike postcard collectors out there. Olga who hails from the small town of Mytischi sent this card and wrote that she loves to ride her bike when the weather is warm.  Mytischi is  a city and the administrative center of Mytishchinsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, which lies to the northeast of Russia's capital Moscow, on the Yauza River and the Moscow–Yaroslavl railway. It has a population of just over 173,000. 

Olga used 3 great Russian stamps. Since I have been collecting postcards I have noticed the wonderful selection and quality of Russian stamps issued lately. These on Olga's card are no exception. On the left is a 2008 stamp issued for the New Year. In the center is a 2005 stamp issued for Blue Planet Earth. It is 1 of 6 in a set. Finally the one on the right highlights Costumes. It was issued in 2012. 

Perhaps my regular readers might recall  that I showed a postcard of the Penny, B.C. Post Office  back on March 22nd of this year. It was a picture of the post office in Winter, all snowed in. Today's card gives us a look at the same post office in the fall. 

 

Since the Penny Post Office was closed at the end of last year, this card has a Prince George B.C. postmark. Angie used a Superman stamp. It is 1 of 5 Superman stamps in a set issued on September 10th of 2013. The issued commemorated the 75th Anniversary of Superman. 

Just 2 more cards to go, so stay with me. Nuremberg Airport is the international airport of the Franconian metropolitan area of Nuremberg and the second-busiest airport in Bavaria. The airport is ranked 10th among German airports and 87th in Europe.On the card you can see the tower, parkade, an aircraft  hangar and an interior view of the airport. Also on the card is an Air Berlin aircraft.

Steffi , who lives near Nuremburg used some kind of ATM postage, showing the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. I don't know much about this type of postage , so I'll just leave it at that.

And the final card is this : You have got to love fishing to do this. Here's a guy in Saint Petersburg, sitting on the frozen ice of River Neva, sitting in a plastic bag, ice fishing. For his sake, I hope it was fishing and not wishing.

Mila used a 2013 stamp issued for the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Winter Games .

That ends another update of cards . Thanks go out to Olesia, Susanna, Kelsey, Olga, Lena, Angie, Steffi and Mila for their fine contributions.  Thanks for readong and we'll be back here as soon as possible.

Another May Update

Hello postcard lovers - that's what you are if you're reading this. I mean, why else would you be here ?
Today's first card comes from Ljubljana, Slovenia.  Ljubljana is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. The city has a population of just about 275,000 people. The card shows a view of the city , looking north from Ljubljana Castle, with the Alps in the background. 

Ana , from Skopje, who must have been visiting Ljubljana sent this card along. She has a great postcard blog called  "My World of Postcards " and you can visit it here . She used a Flower definitive from a 2007 set of 17. 

 

My next card shows Salgado Filho International Airport,   the airport serving  Porto Alegre , Brazil. The airport is located 6 km (4 mi) northeast of Downtown Porto Alegre. We can see on the card a couple of aircraft and airlines . The one up front is a GOL Transportes Aereos Boeing 737 registered as PR-GOD. It was delivered to GOL in Dec of 2000  and has been stored since Nov of 2012. 

Jean Pierre used a 2013 stamp of Pope Francis. 

Now we have  "Kuifje in Amerika " The Belgian cover of Tintin in America.
Tintin in America is the third volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story tells of young Belgian reporter Tintin and his fox terrier Snowy who travel to the United States, where Tintin reports on organized crime in Chicago. Pursuing a gangster across the country, he encounters a tribe of Blackfoot Natives before defeating the Chicago crime syndicate.

Johan used 2 of the Tintin character stamps issued this year. They are part of a booklet of 10. The actual cancellation on the stamps is a little different as you can see. It reads "Collect & Stamp "and the date . Not quite sure what that relates to.

Here's a rare treat on this blog. A card from my country Canada. I haven't  received many Canada cards over the years. I guess I can assume from that , not many of my fellow Canadians are reading this. This card was a surprise, it's from Brenda who lives in Ottawa, our nation's capital. Brenda wrote that she enjoys my blog, and I hope she continues to do so. Thanks for reading, good to know there are actual readers out there. Her card gives a look at a couple of buildings near Parliament Hill. You can also see Maman in front of the National Gallery of Canada. It  is a bronze, stainless steel, and marble sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois.  The sculpture, which depicts a spider, is among the world's largest, measuring over 30 ft high and over 33 ft wide (927 x 891 x 1024 cm) .Louise Bourgeois wrote " The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother."

Brenda used a really recent stamp . It is 1 of 2 issued April 14, 2014 marking the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Another Airlines / Aircraft card - how surprising is that ? This time it's a Malaysia Airlines B 747-400. A fine looking aircraft but sadly, not flying anymore. This 747 was delivered to Malaysia Airlines in 1991. In 1998 it became part of the Qantas fleet. It flew with Qantas until 2009 when it was stored. It met it's fate in 2011 when it was scrapped in VCV - Southern California Logistics Airport, or Victorville Airport as it's sometimes called. Many , many airplanes have met their doom at Victorville.

Kayley, a young Postcrosser from Singapore sent this card, her 2nd to me, and used the same stamp fresh water turtle I mentioned in my last update.

Time for another card from Ukraine, this time Kiev. Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of July 2013 was 2,847,200, making Kiev at least 8th largest city in Europe. This card though is not showing any scene from Ukraine. It's a fishing boat at sunrise in the Atlantic Ocean - specifically Conakry, Guinea, Africa. 

Now, I'm not one to talk, as many of you know, but a lot of postcard collectors don't like the idea of a card showcasing a particular place, arriving from another. I'll not say whether I agree or disagree with this idea. I like this card and it gives me an opportunity to talk a little about Guinea, a place that I have not yet received a posted card from. Back 82 days ago , on Feb 11th I sent a card to a lady in Conakry, Guinea. She is a Postcrosser and she wrote on her profile that there seemed to be a problem with cards arriving there. She advised to put the card in an envelope and to use lots of tape. I did all that and it still hasn't arrived almost 3 months later. Sadly, I have just about given up on this one. So, if I can't get a card to her, then there's not much chance of getting one back from her. 

Anyway, here the stamps that Aleutina used on her card from Kiev.

 

Here's it comes - the last card for today. A little strange one - looks like a plane landing on some suspended airport in Hell. Could be a rough landing. 

 

Svetlana, who hails from Moscow used a number of stamps. I'll just mention the 2 larger ones this time. On the left is a stamp issued  November 1st 2013 celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Martial Art Sambo. Then on the right is another 2013 stamp highlighting Ferries. 

  

Wow, seven cards, that's quite a few. Another update in the books. Thanks for cards going out to Ana, Jean Pierre, Johan, Brenda, Kayley, Aleutina and Svetlana. I appreciate all your cards. Be sure to drop by again soon. Leave a comment if you have one. Take care.

It's May - What Can I Say ?

Hello again. Today's cards come from Turkey, France, Singapore and Ukraine. Let's start with Turkey and a group of Whirling Dervishes in Konya.   Established in 1273, the Sufi Dervishes  are among the most famous symbols of Konya and Turkey.

 

Leslie, who lives in Ankara sent this card along. We have often swapped cards in the past. She has a great postcard blog called "the postcard blog ! ". A simple enough name for a postcard blog. You can check it our  here .  

Leslie used 2 great stamps, one large and one huge. The large one on the left was issued in 2013 and highlights the new International Airport under construction in Istanbul. It is due to begin operations in 2017. A nice Aviation stamp. The huge stamp on the right was also issued in 2013. It commemorates the opening of Marmaray Tunnels under the Bosphorus. It is the world's deepest immersed tube tunnel at 60.46 metres

 Alternately described as the long-lost link between Europe and Asia or the end of the city of Istanbul as we know it, the world's deepest underwater railway tunnel was opened on Oct. 29, 2013 under the Bosphorus, connecting two continents by rail for the first time.

A Big project like this requires a Big stamp and here it is . 

Flying in next is the latest postcard for my Airline / Aircraft Collection. This time it's an Air Austral B737, registration F-ONGB shown landing at Toulouse in 2010. Air Austral is a French airline  with its headquarters at Roland Garros Airport  in Sainte-Marie, Reunion, France The airline's main base of flight operations is Roland Garros Airport. It operates scheduled services from Réunion to metropolitan France,  South Africa, Thailand and India and a number of destinations in the Indian Ocean. The company has 900 employees and was formed in 1987.

Jean Pierre used 2 stamps which received a nice clear circular cancellation - often a rarity these days. On the left is a recent Marianne definitive, while on the right is a 2013 stamp commemorating the 2013 Savate French Kickboxing World Championships. Savate is a traditional French Martial Art which uses the hands and feet as weapons and where only foot kicks are allowed.

 

This next card arrived from France but appears to be the inside of a casino in Baden-Baden in Germany.  Baden-Baden is a spa town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany. It is located in the northern foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River in close proximity to France and Switzerland.

Dominique used 1 of 2 stamps in a Joint Issue between France and Denmark. It highlights a Trade Treaty between the 2 countries. It was issued in 2013. 

"Love The Life You Live, Live The Life You Love " . Just one of the many quotes of Bob Marley.   He
was a Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international fame and acclaim.  Starting out in 1963 with the group the Wailers, he forged a distinctive songwriting and vocal style that would later resonate with audiences worldwide. He was a committed Rastafari who infused his music with a profound sense of spirituality.

I received this card from Kayley, a young Postcrosser from Singapore. She used a 2011 stamp featuring a Black marsh Terrapin - 
a freshwater turtle endemic to Southeast Asia. The stamp is one of 3 Animal stamps issued with the year shown as 2011B. Another set of 10 had the year shown as 2011A. Strange indeed.  

That's the last card for this time. Thanks to Leslie, Jean Pierre, Dominique and Kayley for their cards. I can't do this without people like you. Thanks for dropping around  and do come back again.