Friday, November 29, 2019

India: Rajabai Clock Tower in Mumbai

On 8th November I got three postcards: one from India, one from Japan and one from Belgium.

The card from India shows the Rajabai Clock Tower in Mumbai. The Rajabai Clock Tower was built between 1869 and 1878. It was designed by the English architect Sir George Gilbert Scott in a fusion of Venetian and Gothic styles and is part of the campus of the University of Mumbai. As part of the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai is the Rajabai Clock Tower since 2018 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.


Stamp:
150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi (from set of seven) (issued 02-10-2018)


Thank You very much K. R. Bhat!

Belgium: National Basilica of the Sacred Heart

On 8th November I got three postcards: one from Belgium, one from India and one from Japan.

The card from Belgium shows the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Brussels. The National Basilica of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic church and Basilica minor. The first stone was laid by King Leopold II in 1905 to celebrate Belgium's 75th anniversary of independence, but due to the two World Wars it was just completed in 1969. By area it is one of the ten largest Roman Catholic churches in the World.


Stamp:
Dance (from set of five) (issued 18-11-2016)


Thank You very much Marcel!

Japan: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

On 8th November I got three postcards: one from Japan, one from Belgium and one from India.

The card from Japan shows the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.


With a nice stamp:
Year of the Rat (from set of four) (issued 01-11-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark


Thank You very much Keiko!

Saturday, November 16, 2019

UAE: Yas Viceroy Hotel in Abu Dhabi

Last Wednesday I got two postcards: one from the United Arab Emirates and one from Singapore.

The card from the United Arab Emirates shows the Yas Viceroy Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi is the second largest city in the United Arab Emirates and the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Also it is the capital of the whole country. The city's rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the massive oil and gas reserves and production, and relatively high average income of its population, have transformed it into a large and advanced metropolis. The Yas Viceroy Hotel was built across the F1 Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi and is known for its very futuristic design.


Stamps:
Falconry (from set of fourteen) (issued 17-02-1990)
Summer Olympics in Sydney (from set of three) (issued 16-09-2000)


Thank You very much Tristan!

Singapore: Battle Box

Last Wednesday I got two postcards: one from Singapore and one from the United Arab Emirates.

The card from Singapore is from the Battle Box. The Battle Box is a museum about World War II. It was opened in 1997 in the underground bunker where the surrender of Singapore was decided in 1942. 


Stamp:
Festivals (from set of eight) (issued 21-10-2018)
with an advertising postmark about Singapore's Bicentennial


Thank You very much Jobbo!

Germany: Freimarkt in Bremen

Last Tuesday I got a postcard from Germany.

It is about the Freimarkt in Bremen. The Freimarkt is a fair that was first held in 1035. It is one of the oldest fairs in Germany and one of the largest in Northern Germany.


Stamps:
Cuckooflower (issued 18-12-2018)
500 years German Purity Law (issued 07-04-2016)


Thank You very much Serena!

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Canada: L'Anse aux Meadows

On Monday I got a postcard from Canada.

It shows L'Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland. L'Anse aux Meadows is an archaeological site. It was settled by people from Northern Europa, Greenland or Iceland more precisely, around 1000 for a few years and is thus widely accepted as evidence of pre-Columbian transatlantic contact. In 1978 L'Anse aux Meadows became one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites.


The card is prepaid and was cancelled with a special postmark from Québec.


Thank You very much Julie!

Poland: Poznań Goats

Last Saturday I got two postcards from Poland.

One of them shows the Poznań Goats. The Poznań Goats, the display of mechanical fighting goats played out daily at noon above the clock on the front wall of the Town Hall of Poznań, is one of the city's symbols and main tourist attractions.


Stamp:
Centenary of Diplomatic Relations with the Holy See (issued 29-03-2019)
with a special postmark showing also the Poznań Goats


Thank You very much Joanna!

Poland: Poznań

Last Saturday I got two postcards from Poland.

One of them shows the Market Square of Poznań. Poznań is the fifth largest city of Poland and the capital of the Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is an important centre of trade, education, culture, technology and tourism.


Stamps:
Father Michał Tomaszek and Father Zbigniew Strzałkowski (issued 05-12-2015)
300 years Bamber Community of Poznań (issued 19-10-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark


Thank You very much Joanna!

USA: Toy T-Rex

Last Friday I got a postcard from the USA.

It is a 3D card of a toy T-Rex.


With matching stamps:
Pears (issued 23-03-2017)
Tyrannosaurus Rex (from set of two) (issued 29-08-2019)
The stamps are printed with a lenticular effect.


Thank You very much Kimberly!

Sunday, November 3, 2019

USA: Gettysburg National Military Park

On Tuesday I got four postcards: one from the USA, two from Germany and one from Switzerland.

The card from the USA shows the Pennsylvania State Monument at the Gettysburg National Military Park. The Gettysburg National Military Park protects the landscape of the Battle of Gettysburg fought in 1863, one of the most important and famous battles of the American Civil War. It includes most of the Gettysburg Battlefield, many of the battle's support areas during the battle and several other non-battle areas like cemeteries and memorials. 


Stamp:
Succulent (issued 28-04-2017)


Thank You very much Mary Ann!

Switzerland: Rhine Falls

On Tuesday I got four postcards: one from Switzerland, one from the USA and two from Germany.

The card from Switzerland shows the Rhine Falls. The Rhine Falls is a waterfall on the border between the Cantons of Schaffhausen and Zürich. It is one of the largest waterfalls in Europa.

The card is a maxicard with a complete set of three stamps, which was issued on 5th March 2015.


With a matching stamp:
Mushrooms (from set of four) (issued 06-03-2014)
Rhine Falls (from set of three) (issued 05-03-2015)
with a special postmark showing also the Rhine Falls


Thank You very much Meike!

Germany: "Antarctica" in Bremen

On Tuesday I got four postcards: two from Germany, one from Switzerland and one from the USA.

One of the cards from Germany is an advertising card for the exhibition "Antarctica" at the Übersee-Museum in Bremen. The exhibition "Antarctica" was shown between the 27th October 2018 and the 28th April 2019. It offered the chance to accompany Luc Jacquet, the director of the film March of the Penguins, on an expedition to Antarctica. 


Stamp:
Crown Imperial (issued 05-12-2013)


Thank You very much Svenja!

Germany: Bielefeld Meet-up

On Tuesday I got four postcards: two from Germany, one from Switzerland and one from the USA.

One of the cards from Germany is the official postcard of the Postcrossing Meet-up in Bielefeld.


The card was signed during the meet-up
Stamps:
Cuckooflower (issued 18-12-2018)
Rothenburg ob der Tauber (from set of two) (issued 04-04-2019)


Thank You very much Doris!

cover from Hong Kong

On Monday I got a cover from Hong Kong.

With nice stamps:
Year of the Pig (from set of four) (issued 12-01-2019)
Landscapes of Hong Kong (from set of sixteen) (issued 24-07-2014)
70th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China (from set of four) (issued 01-10-2019)


Inside were two postcards from Hong Kong and one from Macao.

The first card from Hong Kong is about the MacLehose Trail. The MacLehose Trail is a 100km hiking trail in the New Territories. It is named after Sir Murray MacLehose, the longest-serving governor of Hong Kong who was himself an enthusiastic hiker. The trail passes through a variety of natural scenery including beaches and many of Hong Kong's highest peaks.

The card is a maxicard. The stamp is from a set of ten and was issued on 24th October 2019. As special feature the stamp has holes.


The second card from Hong Kong shows a Post Box. The Post Boxes of Hong Kong were imported from the United Kingdom. After Hong Kong's handover to the People's Republic of China the formerly red boxes were painted green and were adorned with the new Hongkong Post logo, but as of October 2015 59 colonial post boxes bearing the royal insignia were still in service.


The card from Macao is a maxicard about the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The stamp is from a set of four and was issued on 1st October 2019.


Thank You very much Yan!

Turkey: Çeşme

Recently my mother was in Turkey, where she got three postcards of Çeşme for me. 

Çeşme is a coastal town and the administrative centre of the district of the same name in Turkey's westernmost end. It is a popular holiday resort.




Friday, November 1, 2019

Belgium: Mardasson Memorial

On Saturday I got four postcards: two from Belgium, one from Italy and one from Germany.

One of the cards from Belgium shows the Mardasson Memorial. The Mardasson Memorial was dedicated in 1950 to commemorate the American soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Ardennes, Nazi Germany's last offensive on the Western Front. It was designed in the shape of a five-pointed American star and insignia of most participating battalions as well as the story of the battle are shown on the walls. 


With a nice related stamp:
75 years Liberation in World War II (from set of five) (issued 19-10-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark


Thank You very much Gerda!

Belgium: Princess Elisabeth

On Saturday I got four postcards: two from Belgium, one from Italy and one from Germany.

One of the cards from Belgium shows Princess Elisabeth. Princess Elisabeth was born on 25th October 2001 and is the eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. As the Belgian constitution was changed in 1991 to allow the female succession, she is also the heir apparent to the Belgian throne and will be Belgium's first queen regnant.


The card was signed by the designer of the stamp.
With a matching stamp:
18th birthday of Princess Elisabeth (issued 19-10-2019)
with First Day Special Postmark


Thank You very much Gerda!

Germany: Struwwelpeter Museum

On Saturday I got four postcards: one from Germany, two from Belgium and one from Italy.

The card from Germany is from the Struwwelpeter Museum in Frankfurt am Main. The Struwwelpeter Museum is a museum about the psychiatrist and author Heinrich Hoffmann and his World-famous book Der Struwwelpeter. It was opened in 1977 and recently moved to Frankfurt's reconstructed old town.


With a nice matching stamp:
Der Struwwelpeter (from set of five) (issued 14-04-1994)
Cuckooflower (issued 18-12-2018)
Lighthouses (from set of two) (issued 11-06-2015)


Thank You very much Edith!

Italy: Vittoriale degli Italiani

On Saturday I got four postcards: one from Italy, one from Germany and two from Belgium.

The card from Italy shows the Vittoriale degli Italiani at Lake Garda. The Vittoriale degli Italiani is a museum complex consisting of the residence of Gabriele d'Annunzio, an amphitheatre, the cruiser Puglia, a boathouse and a mausoleum. It was mainly created by d'Annunzio, a forerunner of Italian fascism, in the 1920s and remains a controversial place to this day. Its desciptions range from a monumental citadel to a fascist lunapark.


Stamp:
Italian City Squares (from set of eight) (issued 02-07-2016)


Thank You very much Alessandro!

cover from Italy

On Saturday I got not only four postcards but also a cover from Italy.

Stamps:
Italian Mail (issued 13-02-2013)
EUROPA (from set of two) (issued 04-10-2019)
with a special postmark about World Post Day


Inside was the complete set of the EUROPA stamp in mint condition. You can see it here.

Thank You very much Davide!

Japan: Toson Memorial Museum in Magome

Last Friday I got a postcard from Japan.

It shows the Toson Memorial Museum in Magome. The Toson Memorial Museum is a museum about the naturalist writer Shimazaki Toson. Among other exhibits the museum shows original copies of Toson's novels and some of his favorite things.


Stamp:
Enthronement of His Majesty the Emperor (from set of two) (issued 18-10-2019)
with a special postmark


Thank You very much Keiko!