New Caledonia, Berat, Bratislava and an A310

BLOG # 1575 ---  Day   361    Make That Day 359 of the Latest Russian Invasion of Ukraine. I                               have  been off by 2 days, not sure for how long, so I have made a correction of 2                 days. I know that Feb. 24 will mark 1 Year since the start of the invasion, so I should have it correct now.   

                                                                      GLORY TO UKRAINE

Here we go again, a few more cards to have a look at. Actually these four are the last four on my desk. I have mentioned a number of times , the pile of postcards on my desk, well after this blog, the pile is no more. I'll have to wait for more to arrive for the next blog update. 

I'll start today with a card from New Caledonia. It shows scenes from Hienghene, a commune in the north province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific. The bottom scene rock formation is called La Poule ( the hen ) cliff.

 Jean Pierre used 4 large stamps on this card. The 2 Bird stamps on the left are from a minisheet of 4 issued in 2017 showing Birds of New Caledonia. The other 2 stamps are from a sheet of 12 issued in 2019 showing all 12 Zodiac Signs. 

Today's second card arrived from Bratislava, Slovakia. It provides a look at some of the places of interest in the city. The top half of the card shows river cruise boats sailing the Danube , passing by Bratislava Castle. On the bottom we see the Old Town Hall, the Presidential Palace, and St. Michael's Gate. 

 

Meelis sent this card along and used a Europa stamp from last year in the Stories and Myths series. 

One more aircraft card . A Lufthansa Airbus A310. This type's first flight was on April 3, 1982. A total of 255 were built. It turned out to be one of the most profitable airliners ever built with lower operating costs than any other airliner in the 200 seat category. Only 24 A310s remain active today. Iran Air, Mahan Air, Iran Airtours and Ariana Afghan Airlines are the only remaining passenger airlines with active A310s in their fleets. There are several flying with  private operators and in cargo operations. Needless to say, opportunities to fly on the A310 these days are extremely limited and the Middle East seems to be the place to do it. 

Jean Pierre used a Spiderman stamp from 2022 along with a Flower definitive. 

Time for the last card of the day and the last card on my desk. After this one I'm all out. 

It's from Albania. It was posted in Tirana but the card shows the city of Berat. The city is located on the Osun River in central Albania. Alena's card shows a view of the Citadel of Berat. It was built in the 4th century but most of what remains today dates only from the 13th century. The city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. 

 

Alena used a stamp from 2022. It is 1 of a block of 4, in the Euromed Issue - Handicraft Jewelry.

There you have it, the end for now. I'm all out of cards. Thanks for today's cards go out to Jean Pierre, Meelis, and Alena. Take care everybody.  

Reading, The B747, Train Tracks and Doves Mailing a Postcard

 BLOG # 1574 ---  Day 360 of the Further Invasion of Ukraine ( let's not forget Crimea ). 

                                                            GLORY TO UKRAINE 

It's time for another blog update. I have a number of cards, sent by a number of people , from a number of places. I think that about covers it . Now it's time to show the cards. 

My first card shows a view of Reading, a town located on the Thames and Kennet rivers in southern England. The town dates from the 8th century. One of the big draws in Reading is the annual Reading Festival, one of the country's biggest music festivals. 

Ron used a Universal Mail International Postcard rate stamp on his card. 

Next up is a Lufthansa B747. Lufthansa, Air China and Korean Air are still flying the Queen of the Skies, even though only about 2 percent of all passenger flights are now operated with the Jumbo 747. 

The first B747 was delivered to  Pan Am way back in Jan 1970. 1,574 B747s were produced over a 54 year period. The final B747 was delivered to Atlas Air in Jan 2023. 

Here is Jean Pierre's card. That's what they look like on the ground. 

Here's what they look like in flight. Pretty impressive, I think.

Jean Pierre used a stamp from 2022. It commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Hans-Jurgen Wischnewski, German Politician. 

It's time now to change the mode of transport. From planes to trains  or at least tracks. I always find trains and tracks to have a lonely aura about them. Living here on the Prairies, one can sometimes see trains and tracks for miles on miles. When I think about the engineer and the conductor on those long trains I know it's got to be a lonely job. I hope they get along. 

I'm sure the card's tracks are on the way to somewhere but unfortunately I don't know where that is. 

Silke used one of the often seen Flower definitive along with a stamp issued in 2019. It shows Campen Lighthouse in Lower Saxony state. 

This next card arrived from Spain. It is a World Postcard Day card from 2022.  It wasn't postmarked on World Postcard Day , but a few days earlier on 29 September. The design on the card is a Winner of the World Postcard Day contest 2022, by Pauline Chretien of France. 

Yised  used 2 stamps here. On the left , from 2019, a stamp issued for the National Stamp Design Competition. On the right, from 2021, a stamp issued for the Combat Corona Campaign and UNHCR Against Covid-19. 

That is the end of today's update. Thanks for the cards today goes out to Ron, Jean Pierre, Silke and Yised. 

A Snow Queen, A Concorde and More

BLOG #1573 --- Day 356 of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

                                                                 GLORY TO UKRAINE

Hello once again, I'm back from my latest cruise down south, in the Caribbean. A good time was had, the weather was great, lots of postcards and stamps were available. All in all I posted 48 cards from 4 different ports. Hopefully you were on my list. 

Of course while away a number of postcards arrived in my mailbox . These are some of them. 

First up is a card from Freiberg, a city in Baden-Wurttembery, Germany. It is an old university town and an entry point to the Black Forest. Dominique's card shows the Historical Merchants Hall, built between 1520 and 1530. It was once the financial life of the region. It's facade is decorated with statutes and the coat of arms of four Habsburg emperors.  

Dominique used a stamp from last year that commemorated the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of the Prime Minister of Prussia - Otto Braun.

Today's second card, also sent by Dominique, shows a War Memorial in Colombey - Les - Deux - Eglises, France. The area dates from 1793. It is best known as the home of Charles de Gaulle. A memorial museum was opened here in 2008 by Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel.

 Dominique used a 2021 stamp showcasing the Gallic town of Bibracte -  Mont Beuvray. 

Now here's a card from the Netherlands. I do believe it was designed by the sender, Barbara. It's Barbara's  vision of a snow queen. 

Barbara used 2 Christmas stamps from last year. They are 2 of 10 in a set.

Next up is a card from Austria. It looks at the Alpbachtal area in the western Austrial state of Tyrol. This holiday region is in the middle of the Kitzbuhel Alps, the Rofan Mountains and the Brandenberger Alps. It is Austria's most well known Alpine valley. 

Meelis used 3 stamps on this card, all from 2020 to 2022.  The top left stamp , the cow stamp, shows a Rare Livestock Breed. The top right stamp commemorates the 100th Anniversary of Riess Enamelware. I thought it was a lighthouse at first. The bottom stamp is 1 of 16 in a Definitive set showing Traditional Costumes. That's a nice cow label to the left of the cow stamp. 

I guess it's now time now for an Aircraft / Airline Card. And better than The Concorde. This one is Air France's F-BVFF. It had its first flight on 26 December `978 and last flew on 1 June 1000. It flew a total of 12,421 hours. The postcard shows it taking-off at Geneva Airport.   This Concorde is now on display outside Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. 

Jean Pierre used 3 stamps on his card. Top left from 2022, 1 of 2 issued for Lego Day. Top right from 2018, 1of 2 Europa stamps showing Bridges. The bottom stamp is a definitive stamp issued in 1987, 1 of 5 in a set. 

I think that's it for this time. Thanks for today's cards go out to Dominique, Barbara, Meelis and Jean Pierre. Thanks to one and all.

GemsWorldPostcards on Short Hiatus

Hiatus - a pause or gap in a sequence or series.

Attention all who arrive here and read my blog. 

The lights will be dim on GemsWorldPostcards for the next 2 weeks.

But I`ll be up and running after that, so don`t forget to come on back, sometime after Feb 6th. 

Take care and Cheers !

Glenn  

Planes, Planes and More Planes --Maldives , Nancy and Bremen

BLOG # 1572 --- Day 333 of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

                                                              GLORY TO UKRAINE

Hi folks, thanks for coming by. Here's a few cards that arrived this past week.  First up is this beautiful card from Maldives. I wouldn't mind been there right now. Sun, Sea and Sand , and great temperatures. Sounds good to me. But all is not perfect. Located in the Indian Ocean, 750 km from the Asian mainland, The Maldives are the world's lowest lying country. It has an average ground-level elevation of 1.5 m above sea level and a highest point of only 2.4 m. That's kind of hard to imagine when I can look out my window and see the Rocky Mountains  with elevations of 2,998 m, 2,451 m, 2,948 m and 1,692 m knowing they are approximately 150 km to the west. 

 This card is from Nanni, an 8 year old Postcrosser who participates with the help of her Mamma Rizleen. She used 3 stamps from 2002 , all showing marine creatures, a Blue Shark, a Turtle and a Yellow Breasted Wrass.

My next card is the latest to join my Aircraft / Airlines Card Collection. Here we have F-WZHF, a Japan Air Lines Airbus 350 shown landing in Toulouse in May 2019. This aircraft saw service with Cathy Pacific  in 2018, Japan Air Lines in 2019, Qatar Airways in 2020 and is now with the German Air Force as of 2021. 

Jean Pierre used a 2020 stamp , 1 of 2 in a set , celebrating the 2020 Summer Olympics , held in Tokyo.

Now for a card from Bremen. This city of 570,000 people lies in northwest Germany. Locaed on the River Weser, Bremen is well known through the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale " Town Musicians of Bremen " . A statue is dedicated to it in front of the city hall. The bronze statue includes a donkey , a dog, a cat and a rooster, one atop the other. 

Ana used a 2021 stamp , 1 0f 2 in a set, showing Baby Animals.

Time for another aircraft card. I just seem to have an endless supply of these, don't I ? Here we have a Royal Air Maroc B767, shown at Paris - Orly in March 2002. This aircraft, CN-RNT  is 21 years old and was delivered to Royal Air Maroc in Feb 2002. It flew with that airline until Nov 2019. Then from Jan to Nov 2020 it was stored. It was back in service with Omni Air International in Nov 2020. CN-RNT is still active. 

 Jean Pierre used a 2019 stamp showing a Ceramic Kettle. It is 1 of 8 in a booklet of Ceramics

Card # 5 is from France. It shows Place Stanislas in the riverfront city of Nancy.  This 18th century square is the focal point of the city. Place Stanislas was built between 1752 and 1756 and has been on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1983. 

Dominique used a 2022 stamp from a minisheet of 4, highlighting European Capitals - in this case Ljubljana. 

Time now for today's last card and wouldn't you know it - it's another aircraft card. 

It's another Royal Air Maroc plane - a B737 shown at Orly in September 2017. CN-RVG is sporting the airline's 60th anniversary colours. This aircraft is 15.5 years old and was delivered to Air Europa in Aug 2007. It was acquired by Transaero Airlines in 20`` and flew for them until 2015. It saw service from 2015 to 2017 with Eastern Air Lines. It started with Royal Air Maroc in 2017 and continues flying with then today. 

Jean Pierre used another of the Ceramics stamps that I mentioned earlier , on this card .

So ends this update. Thanks for today's cards go out to Jean Pierre, Dominique, Ana,  along with Nanni and Rizleen . 

A Temple, a Bridge, an Airport and Postal Uniforms

 BLOG 1571 --- Day 329 of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

                                                                        GLORY TO UKRAINE

Here we go again. Another day and a few cards. 

My first card today arrived from Thailand. It shows a beautiful white temple near Bangkok. Yulia sent the card  and she took the picture of the temple. Unfortunately she didn`t tell the name of the temple and I wasn`t able to identify it. 

Yulia used 4 copies of a 2017 Definitive showing a Thai Pavillion.

Card 2 --- From Germany, showing the Altmuhl Bridge in Ornbau. The town is one of the smallest in Bavaria with just over 1700 people. This five arch sandstone bridge dates from the mid 17th century. 

Thoralf used an assortment of stamps on this card. The left stamp was issued in 1990, a semi-postal from DDR German Democratic Republic. It is 1 of 3 in a set commemorating the 150th Anniversary of The World`s First Stamp. The next stamp is also from 1990 , 1 of 9 in a set of Monuments and Buildings. The large stamp showcases the 125th Anniversary of the Birth of Sepp Herberger. It was issued in 2022. The last stamp there is a Flower definitive. 

Personal note -- I am surprised that DDR stamps are still valid for postage.    I would have thought otherwise. 

Helsinki Airport is the focus of my next card. Helsinki Airport ( HEL ) is a major hub for Finnair, the flag carrier of Finland. The airport serves about 50 airlines and was opened in 1952 for the Summer Olympics. 

Sanna used 2 stamps here. On the left, from 2017, is 1 of 4 in a Birds minisheet. On the right , from 2021, 1 of 5 in a minisheet called Glimmer of Summer. 

Now it`s time for today`s last card. It arrived from Xiamen, a small coastal city in China. I said small but it does have 4.3 million people. I guess that`s small in China. The card shows a number of Postal Service Employee uniforms.

Yaping aka Leah used a stamp from a minisheet of 6 , issued in 2017. It showed Prehistoric  Animals - Chinese Dinosaurs.

The card was issued with prepaid postage - hence the stamp printed  on the right. It must have only paid for postage in China , I guess that`s why Yaping added the Dinosaur stamp. 

That`s all the time I have for today. Hope to be back again soon. Today I have to thank Yulia, Thoralf, Sanna and Yaping for their cards. 

Take care everyone.