Santa Claus cover from Finland no. 2

Courtesy of Giovanni we received a fantastic present from the Santa Claus office at the Artic Circle, from Napapiiri, Finland! Santa, as usual, sent a greeting and a lovely picture and a calendar, and put on a stamp with himself, this time from 2001, and cancelled it with a special postmark. Thank you, Giovanni!!

Postcard from Andorra (Spanish Post)

Here's a fresh postcard sent from the capital of Andorra on 29 November 2011, showing a breathtaking view of Andorra la Vella from the Romanesque church of St. Miguel d'Engolasters.
The EUROPA forest stamp was issued on 4 April 2011 and shows the Bosc de Sorobilles near Ordino. Print-run: 115,000.

Thank you, Fabienne!!

Cover from Dominica

Disney's Chip and Dale are soaking and drying stamps on this lovely cover sent on 28 July 1986 from Dominica to Ceske Budejovice (Budweis) in South Bohemia. The set of 4 large stamps was issued in 1986 to commemorate the Ameripex philatelic exhibition held in the US.

Cover from Grenada

Still tripping in the Caribbean, here's a cover sent on 10 April 1991 from Grenada to Trinec in Silesia/Czechoslovakia. The bird stamps are definitives from a series issued in 1989.

Cover from Montserrat

Continuing the trip along the Caribbean, here's an airmail cover sent from the island of Montserrat to Trinec in North Moravia sometime in 1989/1990. The moon-landing stamp is part of a quartet of stamps from 1989, commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the the First Manned Moon Landing.

Cover from St. Kitts

Following the cover from the island of Nevis, here's a cover from St. Kitts, the neighbouring island forming with Nevis the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis (West Indies, pop. around 51,000). The cover was mailed from the capital of Basseterre on 12 July 1993 To Czechoslovakia (it should have been the Czech Republic by then). The ship stamp is part of a big series of stamps issued in 1990, the stamp depicting the Cathedral of St. John the Divine is from 1993, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Diocese of the North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba.

Cover from Nevis

Here's another beauty from my treasure trove of exotic covers, an airmail cover sent from Charleston, the capital of the island of Nevis in the West Indies, with two cricket stamps issued in 1989. The date on the postmark is illegible, but it should be somewhere around 1990.

Cover from Transkei, South Africa

Last week, when we were collectively ill at home with some gastric flu, I spent an evening browsing pages of the largest Czech auction server www.aukro.cz, looking for nothing, and on a whim I bid 1 Czech crown (4 eurocent) at an auction for a collection of more than 50 covers and postcards from some pretty exotic locations around the world, sent to various address in the former Czechoslovakia, in the years 1970-1993, and surprise, surprise, I won, as the only bidder... and the items are just beautiful, here's, for example, a cover from the former Bantustan Transkei in South Africa (dissolved in 1994), with a complete series of stamps on the topic of textile production from 1988, postmarked in Impala Park on 4 December 1990.

Cover from France no. 15

Here's a beautiful cover from 2009 (postmarked on 18 April in Lyon) that I forgot to show at that time, with the complete French souvenir sheet with two lovely engraved stamps, issued as part of the "Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers" project in 2009. Thank you, Eric, also for the careful cancellation!

Postcard from Serbia no. 5

Here's a nice night-view postcard showing the New Palace in Beograde, Serbia, the former royal residence, now the residence of the Serbian president. The first of the three 22 dinar stamps is a definitive with a decorative ring from the 18th century, the second in row is a Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, an Argentinian dinosaur in Beograde, presumably visiting at an exhibition (2009), and the red car stamp commemorated the 55th anniversary of Zastava/Fiat in 2010.

Thank you, Ana:)

Cover from Italy no. 25

Here's another excellent cover from Giovanni, with a stamp from 2010, from the classical Italian series "Tourism", showing the town of Viggiano in the province of Potenza in southern Italy.

The stamp was cancelled in Pulsano (Taranto) with a special postmark commemorating a feast of the Madonna of Lourdes held on 11 February 2011.

Grazie, Giovanni!!

Cover from Portugal no. 7

A nice cover from Portugal, sent from Loures, near Lisbon in 2009. The 67 eurocent stamp shows an olive oil press (o lagar) from a series of stamps celebrating olive oil (issued on 7 October 2008), the bird definitive is from 2003.

Thank you, Nuno!

Postcard from Aland no. 3

A gorgeous postcard sent from the municipality of Saltvik in the Åland archipelago, Finland, with a fairy-tale snow-covered windmill and a trio of lovely stamps, including a chanterelle, the mushroom featured also on the previous cover from Spain - this Åland one was issued in 2003 along with two other mushrooms. Next to the chanterelle there is a stoat (hermine) from a 2004 series dedicated to animals, and a windmill in Soderby, municipality of Lemland in Åland, on another splendid stamp from the series depicting Åland landscapes and nature (2006).

Thank you, Liisa!!!

Cover from Spain no. 9

This is a lovely airmail cover in the best tradition, sent from Barcelona, Spain, with a complete set of two mycology stamps which were issued on 16 October 2009 in 320,000 copies. The left-hand mushroom is Boletus pinophilus (pine bolete), in Czech hřib borový (yum!), the right-hand one is Cantharellus cibarius (chanterelle), in Czech liška (= fox). Both also very popular and widely used and eaten here.

Muchas gracias, David!!

Postcard from Slovenia no. 3

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When we were returning from our holiday in Croatia this June, we spent a few hours in and around the Predjama Castle in Slovenia. A really impressive building set against a huge rock cavity, part castle, part rock hideout, it's a great place to visit especially since one is free to roam the premises and does not have to follow a guide. At the entrance, in a souvenir shop, we bough a few cards and a few copies of the only stamp available which, as I only later learned, is custom made/personalised and sold only at the castle and at the Postojnska Jama Cave some ten kilometers away (the castle and the cave are connected by an underground passage and also as tourist attractions). The C-rate personalised stamp was issued in 2008 to commemorate the 190th anniversary of the factual discovery of the cave system at Postojna.

We had also a great lunch at a medieval restaurant there with typical Slovenian dishes, and left a baby sweater lying on a bench there:)

Cover from the USA no. 7

A very nice cover received last year from Illinois, USA featuring two 44c stamps of the Cowboys of the Silver Screen series issued on 17 April 2010. The film stars here are Gene Autry and Williams S. Hart... plus a 10c definitive. Thank you so much, Bob!

Cover from Ukraine no. 3

Another colourful cover from Ukraine, sent on 21 November 2009 from Kyiv; and the very first, 80k, stamp is connected to the Ukranian capital city, as it is part of a series called "Kyiv Through Artists' Eyes" (2005). The most conspicuous stamp of all here is the woman with the traditional Ukrainian hat, from a series of 12 stamps showing various examples of ornamental head-dresses (2006). The rest of the postage is made up by two current definitives of a jug and a tile, all of it on the first day cover which accompanied a souvenir sheet dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Kiyv zoo (2009). Thank you Ksenia!

Postcard from Pitcairn Islands

Here's a splendid greeting from Pitcairn Island, the only populated island of the four isles comprising the Pitcairn archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, a British Overseas Territory. The picture shows the local school and a set of shell stamps from 2001.

The NZD 1.80 stamp shows HMS Monmouth from a set of 6 stamps dedicated to the Royal Navy Vessels (2nd series, issued on 9 December 2010), ships that visited Pitcairn and contributed to improving the life of resident Pitcairners, e.g. providing medical services and judicial duties.

Thank you so much, Giovanni!!!