Postcard from Lithuania no. 2

A postcard sent from Klaipeda, Lithuania, on 6 February 2009 and received 6 days later. It shows the famous Curonian Spit (in the municipality of Neringa, in the west of the country), a 98 km long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. The dune is a World Heritage site shared by Lithuania and Russia.

The single 2.15 lt stamp was issued on 27 June 2008 for the 2008 Beijing Olympics (print-run 300,000). Thank you, Anna.

Cover from Mauritius

Another older cover from the 1990s, sent in December 1998 from Rose Hill in Mauritius. The Rs 8 stamp is part of a 5-stamp series dedicated to the 400th anniversary of Dutch landing in 1598 and shows a picture of the landing fleet taken from an ancient map. The last stamp in the series is a souvenir sheet of Rs 25.

About the other 4 Rs stamp issued in 1994 I could not find any information, only that it shows a fern tree and bears the text: Protection of the Enviroment.

Postcard from Slovenia no. 2

Another nice postcard from Slovenia, sent from Ljubljana on 5 February 2009 and received 4 days later. The picture shows the oldest Slovenian town of Ptuj (23,000 inhabitants), situated in the north-east of the country, with a castle from mid-12th century overlooking the Drava River.

The 23 eurocent stamp is part of an ongoing series dedicated to national costumes. The 2009 addition was issued on 30 January and features wedding costumes from the Bela Krajina region, used in the first half of the 19th century. The two nice definitives were introduced on 1/1/2007 with the appearance of euro, and show "Flowers of Slovenia", in this case: 2 eurocent - Moehringia tommasinii, and 10 eurocent - Pulsatilla grandis. Interestingly, all the stamps were printed in Prague.

Thank you, Leonardo:-)

Joint-issue from France

Another great letter from France! Sent on 6 February 2009 from Lyon Bellecour (with a nice postmark) and received 3 days later. The se-tenant stamps issued on 23 June 2008 are a joint project of the French and Brazilian postal administrations and show the French Mer de Glace and the Brazilian Serra do Aracá in the Amazonian Forest. The 85 eurocent on the French part cover postage to Brazil, and the 55 eurocent on the Brazilian part cover postage to France. The Brazilian counterpart was issued two days earlies, with facial values of RS 2 for both stamps.

Thank you very much, Thomas!

Postcard from Spain

A postcard from Valencia, Spain, showing la Lonja de la Seda (The Silk Exchange), built between 1482 and 1533, a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture, since 1996 inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The self-adhesive stamp, issued on 11 February 2008, is part of a project to help in the fight against gender violence, mentioning the telephone number 016 where victims and witnesses can call their testimonies. Sent on 9/2/2009, received on 12/2/2009. Gracias, Margarita!

Cover from Estonia no. 2

A flowery cover received on 1 October 2008 from Laagri, near Tallinn in Estonia. The 4.40 EEK flower stamp was issued on 26 October 2005 on the occasion of the Mothers' Day (print-run 410,000); the costumes stamp with the same nominal value is part of an ongoing series dedicated to Estonian folk costumes and shows dresses from the Tartu County (issued 9 October 2003, in 500,000 copies). The smaller definitive with the Estonian coat of arms of 20 senti is from 1995 (4,975,700 copies printed).

Thank you, Kristi for this lovely letter:-)

Postcard from Costa Rica no. 2

This postcard from Costa Rica reached me in only 10 days. It shows the map of the country with its major beaches, and I guess that for every inhabitant of a landlocked country somewhere in central Europe it must look like a paradise...

The larger stamp of 155 colones was issued on 8 June 2007 as part of the UPAEP project (Unión Postal de las Américas, España y Portugal with its seat in Montevideo, Uruguay). The theme for 2007 was Educación para Todos (Education for All). This Costarican stamp shows an illustration from a textbook of the Cabécar language, spoken by some 4000 persons in Costa Rica.

The smaller stamp of 10 colones was issued in 2002 and along with 4 other stamps commemorates the 100th Anniversary of the Panamerican Health Organization.

Thank you, Shirley!

Cover from Switzerland

A letter sent from Ascona (canton of Ticino) in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland on 4 November 2008, and received 3 days later. The 1.30 CHF self-adhesive stamp, issued on 8 May 2008, shows Rufous-tailed Rock trush (Monticola saxatilis), from the series of definitives dedicated to common domestic birds.

The nice automatic postmark has a picture of Lago Maggiore and the text: "Ancona - vacanze ideali" (ideal holidays).

Postcard from Olomouc, Czech Republic

A card in my favourite series showing two important buildings in the centre of Olomouc - the Archbishop's Palace (used until by the Archbishop), and the Baroque Armoury (now part of the Palacký University where I studied). The Armoury was built on purpose in front of the Palace since there were some clashes between the mighty...

The 10 CZK stamps was issued on 3 September 2008 (2,000,000 copies, in tete-beche configuration), 9 days before the beginning of the Praga World Stamp Exhibition held on 12-14/9/2008, the logo of which it bears. There is another religious building on it: the Emmaus Monastery in Prague, founded in 1374 by the Emperor Charles IV.

Pre-stamped postcard from Croatia

A great "dopisnica" (postal card) sent by Dragan from the city of Rijeka on 26 February 2009. The card has a printed stamp with La Futuro monument commemorating (as the whole card) the 100th anniversary of esperanto in Croatia. The card cost 1.80 kuna, was issued on 7 November 2008, and for mailing to the Czech Republic a 2.30 kuna stamp was used to cover the rest of the postage. The stamp shows the heart of the town of Makarska, the tourist centre of the Makarska Riviera on the coast, and was issued in 4,000,000 copies on 30 March 2001. I find this card very interesting, as I myself came in contact with esperanto some years ago.

Thank you, Dragan!