Postcard from Ireland no. 2

Another fantastic card received today from Ireland showing five Irish castles (e.g. Ross castle - in the middle, Kilkenny Castle - top left, Dublin Castle - bottom right...). The large stamp of 82 eurocent was issued on 8 July 2008 in a series dedicated to the recent Irish cinema and films produced there. The film "The Wind That Shakes the Barley", made by the British director Ken Loach in 2006, was awarded the Palme D'Or at that year's Cannes Film Festival, and no, I haven't seen it yet. The other films are "Garage", "Kings" and "Cré na Cille". Print-runs: 370,000 for 55c stamps, and 320,000 for the 82c ones.

Thank you, Stefania:-)

Postcard from Florida, USA

Here is a flamingo postcard from Florida, sent on 7 February 2008 and received 19 days later, special by its insufficient postage. The sender put on only a 41 cent stamp of the domestic rate... and the card safely reached me even across the ocean. An American postman marked the card as "short paid" with the T68/75 and "postage due" notices, however, no one here asked me for anything.

The stamp is a self-adhesive flower issued in 2007, along with 7 other stamps.

Cover from Portugal no. 4

A letter received on 9 April 2009 and sent on 5 April 2009 from Lagos, Portugal. The stamps with skull and fossils is part of a series of 6 stamps dedicated to the bicentary of the birth of Charles Darwin (1809-2009). There are two stamps with the nominal value of 32 eurocent, 2 stamps of 68 eurocent and 2 stamps of 80 eurocent, plus a miniature sheet. Thank you, José Antonio!

Postcard from Bulgaria

A nice surprise from Sofia, Bulgaria, with a postcard of St. Sofia Church and St Alexander Nevski Cathedral (in the background), with both featured also on the commemorative stamp of 0.60 leva issued on 25 March 2009 and cancelled by the special first day postmark with the head of Sofia. The stamp (print-run 16,000) celebrates the 130th anniversary of the proclamation of Sofia as capital of Bulgaria. The other, definitive stamp, was issued on 15 January 2004, as part of a series dedicated to night butterflies and shows Noctua tertia.

Thank you, Lilia:-)

Postcard from Aland

Two interesting cars on this great postcard sent from Mariehamn, in the Aland Archipelago off the Finnish coast. The picture of the postcard shows the Mad Cad, created by the artist Larry Fuente, the large photo-stamp a black Ford V8 from 1939. There are four vintage cars in this series issued on 4 March 2005 in a booklet with a print-run of 200,000.

The smaller stamp of 5 eurocent shows a hasselsnok, smooth snake (Coronella austriaca), and was issued on 2 January 2002 (print-run 400,000).

Thank you so much, Liisa!

Cover from Estonia no. 3

Received today, a fantastic registered letter from Johvi, Estonia, with the complete miniature sheet from the "Preserve Polar Regions and Glaciers" project, issued on 15 January 2009 in 75,000 copies. The two stamps show melting Antartic glaciers, logos of the project, a small Antartica map and a handwritten text in the margins, as far as I know written in Estonian. The letter was sent on 7 April 2009 and reached me in 3 days, with two registered labels, one Estonian, one Czech.

Thank you, Kristiina:-)

Geographical curiosity from Great Britain

Received on 9 April 2009, an interesting greeting from the island of Anglesey off the Welsh mainland. The picture shows the area around the suspension bridge (1826) over the Menai Strait with the town boasting the lovely name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (the longest in the world?).

The card was sent through the Shrewsbury postal hub on 6 April 2009 and the postage is covered by the 56p "queen-head" definitive, incidentally, the first day the new postal rates apply for Europe (from 50p to 56p). Thank you, Phillippa!

Cover from Belgium no. 3

A splendid cover received on 9 April 2009 from Belgium, courtesy of Thomas from Ieper. It is my first received Europa stamp of 2009, and it goes with a special cancellation of the first day of issue!

This year's theme of Europa stamps is astronomy (the Internation Year of Astronomy), a great topic promising beautiful stamps, and this sheet is one of them; designed by Thierry Mordant, with facial value of Class 1 - currently 90 eurocent.

Thank you Thomas for this terrific surprise!!!

Postcard from Denmark no. 2

A great postcard, sent on 22 March 2009, showing a night view of Copenhagen (Nyhavn) with a stamp showing another night view, in another, possibly imaginary, city.

The large 8.25 DKK stamp was issued on 6 June 2007 along with another stamp presenting the contemporary Danish art. The painting called Trionfale (2007) is by Finnish-born artist Seppo Mattinen (1930-), who moved from Denmark to Italy where he got inspired by the local Via Trionfale to create this atmospheric piece of art. I just love this stamp.

New Czech stamp - April 2009

A new souvenir sheet issued on 8 April 2009, showing the reliquary of St Maur kept at the chataeu of Bečov nad Teplou near Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad). The reliquary sized 140 x 42 cm is 65 cm high and its upper part has the shape of a gabled roof. It is made of walnut wood, and contains pieces of skeleton, textiles and leather. The stamp is engraved, the rest of the sheet is printed in offset. Print-run 85,000.

I've already managed to buy it at my local post-office, and am suprised at the prevailing black colour which makes it almost impossible to have a visible postmark when used...