Picking up the threads

After another pause, caused again by a heavy workload, and also by a chain of childhood illnesses including chicken pox, and also flu, I hope to be back... and on Monday also start sending mail too...:)

Cover from Germany no. 3

One of the first covers received in 2011, with four German stamps issued on 3 January 2011: 0.75 euro ballonblume in the ongoing series of definitive stamps, a famous painting by romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, and two commemoratives connected with the German state of Hesse: a stamp dedicated to the history of gliders flying off the Wasserkuppe, a high plateau in the Rhön Mountains near Fulda, and a stamp dedicated to the only national park in Hesse, Kellerwald-Edersee NP.

The letter was sent through Briefzentrum no. 41, in Monchengladbach.

Thank you Isa!!

Postcard from Thailand no. 5

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A superb postcard showing the building of the railway station in the town of Hua Hin (pop. 85,000) in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. This railway station is arguably the most beautiful in Thailand, and the trains run through it to the south of the country and link directly with Malaysia.

The postage of 12 baht is covered by a nice set of four square stamps showing toy speedboats, issued on 5 October 2010 in a series commemorating the International Letter Writing Week.

Thank you very much, Terdsak!!

Cover from Latvia no. 8

Received a few days ago, another great surprise from Oleg. This time with a splendid 0.38 lat stamp depicting the Latvian state emblem, complete with the heraldic animals, issued on 12 November 2010 in a series of three stamps devoted to the centenary of the Latvian Republic.

The rest of the postage is covered with four different coat-of-arms stamps, showing the arms of Zemgale (2010), Staicele (2010), Auce (2007), and Aizkraukle (2006).

Thank you so much, Oleg!! I will get you the new Josef Herčík stamp, and I will try to find the version from the booklet with a coupon attached. All the best!

Covers from Italy no. 19 and 20

Two nice covers received from (and via) Giovanni. Both with a 0.65 euro stamp issued on 2 July 2010 commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer noted for his telescopic observations of Mars and for having detected the markings that he called canali (channels), later misinterpreted as "canals." He showed that meteor swarms travel through space in cometary orbits (Columia Encyclopedia). The planet Mars is also shown on the stamp.

The cover sent from Pisogne (province of Brescia) has a lovely special cancellation from 26 September 2010, commemorating the 60th "festa del fungo e della castagna" (mushroom and chestnut holiday).

Grazie mille, Giovanni!

Postcard from France no. 7

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A lovely postcard received in October 2010 showing a view of Scandola Nature Reserve in Corsica, France, part of the UNESCO WHS: the Gulf of Porto - Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve. Scandola is famous for red cliffs, some 900 metres high, sand beaches, and practically inaccessible grottoes.

The stamp of 0.58 euro, issued on 8 September 2010, commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 by the French statesman Adolphe Crémieux to safeguard the human rights of Jews around the world (as Wikipedia says).

Thank you, Marie!!

New Czech stamps - October 2010

Continuing the overview of the recent Czech stamp production... in the post about September stamps I forgot to mention another new A rate definitive stamp, one of the prettiest issued last year. It appeared on 29 September 2010 and shows a hand-painted postal shield of the Austrian postal administration from the collection of the Postal Museum in Prague, with the texts "C.k. poštovní and telegrafní úřad" and "K.k. Post und Telegrafen Amt", six postal goblins busy about their work and a historic map. Print run unknown.

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On 20 October 2010 the Post issued two new stamps in the Technical Monuments series... this time dedicated to bridges: 10 Kč stamp shows one of the newest bridges in the country which is located in Ústí nad Labem on the Labe River (constructed in 1993-1998), whereas the 12 Kč stamp shows the oldest one, in Písek in South Bohemia (older even than the Charles Bridge in Prague). Pity these stamps are rather simplistic, to be honest, I am not too enthusiastic about them:( Print runs: 1,500,000 and 800,000 copies.

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On the same day there were also new additions to the Historic Stoves series: 10 Kč - Art Noveau stove from the village of Troubky-Zdislavice in the district of Kroměříž, and 20 Kč - Art Deco stove from the town of Nové Město nad Metují in East Bohemia. Print runs: 1,500,000 and 1,000,000 copies.

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The stamp issued in October 2010: Myšpulín the Dog from the Four Clover Leaf comics series in a booklet of domestic-rate self-adhesives stamps, continuing in the tradition of Fifinka issued on 28 April 2010. The rest of the quartet will appear in 2011.

Czech cover no. 4

Even if this is not a nice cover with stamps, it contained a lot of nice stamps, so I decided tom show it here anyway... It came from the philatelic office of the Czech Post in Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) with the Czech stamps I ordered for using on letters I send abroad. Orders are made here after registration from among available stamps, and delivered free of charge if the value of the order is higher than 100 Czech crows (4 euro) for Czech addresses, and higher than 500 Czech crowns (20 euro) for addresses abroad (excellent service!!!)

This cover is "insured letter" (cenné psaní), with VL-number on the red barcode sticker, and the money is collected on delivery (cash on delivery, dobírka = remboursement). Travel time from Karlovy Vary to the opposite tip of the country where I live is 1 day.

In the catalogue I came across the very first stamp issued in the Czech Republic (20 January 1993):



The nominal value is still quoted in Czechoslovakian crowns (3 Kčs), now sold for the equal amount in Czech crowns... I will try to use this stamp on cover to see whether the system will accept it, and will show the result here.

Cover from Italy no. 18

Another lovely surprise from Giovanni, special cover with a 0.65 euro stamp from a sheet of 4 issued on 5 May 2010, commemorating, according to wikipedia, "the Expedition of the Thousand (Italian: Spedizione dei Mille) was a military campaign led by the revolutionary general Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1860. A force of volunteers defeated the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, leading to its dissolution and annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia, an important step in the creation of a newly unified Kingdom of Italy". The set of stamps is part of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification (2011).

This stamps shows a scene when the volunteers from northern Italy reached Sicily at the town of Marsalla (sbarco a Marsalla).

Apart from that, there is a nice special postmark from the town of Valdobbiadene near Treviso, in Veneto, in a winemaking region (home of Prosecco Conegliano-Valdobbiadene), which is mentioned also in the postmark: "brinda la vita" - "toast to life".

Grazie, Giovanni!!

Cover from the USA no. 6

A cover with more stamps from the fantastic series of Flags of Our Nations. This time, taken from the set no. 3, issued on 6 August 2009. The flags belong to the states of Massachusetts and Maryland. The cover was sent from New Jersey, but unfortunately the machine cancellation is not very legible.

Thank you, Ron!!