Postcard from Poland no. 2

This is an impressive postcard received in January 2011 from Warsaw, showing the Palace of Culture and Science (Palac Kultury i Nauky) against a dramatic sunset.

The 3-zloty stamp was a bit of mystery to me. Before checking the Polish Post website, I tried to guess what it is related to... and had no idea... koi, a drop of water, and a blue stamp frame?? Well, the answer is... the stamp is taken out of a souvenir sheet which mentions the context on the border... The World Philatelic Exposition in Luoyang, China, held on 10-16 April 2009, and now it's obvious, my dear Watson:)

(An aside, in Polish I read that the stamp was issued on 16 "kwietnia" and I thought, ok, it's May - květen in Czech - but far from it! 16 kwietna is 16 April - duben in Czech... our languages are similar, but this is a truly false friend:)

Thank you, Marta, for this card!!

Covers from Russia no. 14 and 15

Two beautiful covers received earlier this week from Yuri in St. Petersburg, with a complete series of 4 stamps dedicated to the decorative art of the Republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus region (2,5 million inhabitants). The head and scarf decorations and the ornamental dagger date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries (as far as I am able to read with my knowledge of the Russian alphabet...). The postage is complemented by the kremlin definitive self-adhesive stamps from 2009, and animal definitives from 2008.

Both covers contained also these lovely postcards showing the major sights of St. Petersburg: Palace Square and The University Embankment. Thank you very much, Yuri!!

Covers from Hong Kong no. 4 and 5

Two more lovely FDCs from Brian in Hong Kong. On 29 December 2010 the Hong Kong Post issued a set of five stamps devoted to the lighthouses in the local port. The 2.40 dollar stamp shows the New Green Island Lighthouse, completed in 1905, and declared national monument in 2008.






And 22 January 2011 saw the issue of Hong Kong's stamps celebrating the year of the rabbit. The souvenir cover used here is connected with the issue of the gold and silver sheetlet with two 50-dollar stamps depicting tiger and rabbit.

Cover from Slovakia no. 3

A great cover sent by Miloš. The 1.20 euro stamp was issued on 26 November 2010 in the ongoing art series (in the same tradition as the Czech one = large engraved stamps). This stamp shows a detail from the picture called the Coronation of Carl Robert of Anjou (1317), which can be found in the UNESCO WHS Cathedral Church of St. Martin in Spišská Kapitula. Another 1.20 euro portrait stamp (Madonna with the Child) was issued on the same day with the same nominal value.

The letter was sent through the town of Močenok in the Šala District, where a special cancellation was used on 31 January 2011, dedicated to St. Cyril and his discovery of the remains of St. Clement.

The list of the Slovak special cancellations can be found here. It looks like there are many more special cancellations on offer than in the Czech Republic.

Thank, you, Miloš!!

Cover from Latvia no. 9

An adorable rabbit cover received at the end of January from Helena:) Quite surprisingly, the Latvian post joined the many, mainly Asian, postal authorities, to issue a stamp to greet the year of the rabbit, with a cute photo of a "trusis" with cabbage. The same animal is also depicted on the special cover issued as an accompaniment to the stamp. The rest of the postage is covered by the also supercute Christmas stamps from 2004, with more rabbits:)



The cover contained also an interesting postcard showing a piece of a facade in Riga, made in the Art Nouveau style, called also "Mucha style", after the famous Czech artist Alfons Mucha. What a great connection between the two countries!

Thank you so much, Helena, this is just fantastic!!

Cover from Austria no. 6

A lovely Christmas greeting from Florian in Austria, with a special postmark (Sonderstempel) from Christkindl dated 30 December 2010. The cover has another postmark too, from the previous day, from the post office of Ilz (8262) in Styria. The Christmas stamp, which is connected with the Cistercian abbey in Rein also in Styria, was issued on 19/11/2010 in 4,000,000 copies. Apart from that, the Austrian post issued two more Advent/Christmas stamps, one of them self-adhesive.

Danke schon, Florian!!

Postcard from New Zealand

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A great aerial picture of the city of Auckland in New Zealand's North Island. With Devonport and Rangitoto Island in the background.

The 1.90 NZ dollar (= 1 euro) stamp shows the Queenstown Bay in South Island, and is part of a 2010 issue of landscape definitives. Here is the self-adhesive version.

Thank you, Phebe!!

Cover from Israel no. 2

An uncancelled cover received at the end of 2010 from Netanya in Israel, with a 1998 definitive showing a water skier, and a 2010 commemorative (one out of three) issued on the occasion of the Shanghai Expo, dedicated to the "Israeli innovations that changed the world".

Total postage is 4.2 shekels, which equals 0.83 euro.

Thank you, Debora!

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!!