USA: Virginia

Last Wednesday I got a postcard from the USA.

It shows a map of Virginia. Virginia is a US State between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. In 1607 the Colony of Virginia was established as the first permanent English colony in the New World and in the American Revolution it was one of the 13 Colonies. During the American Civil War Richmond, the capital of Virginia, was also the capital of the Confederate States of America. Until today eight US Presidents came from this state earning it the name Mother of the Presidents.

With nice stamps:
American Toleware (issued 22-08-2008)
Tyrannosaurus Rex (from set of four) (issued 29-08-2019)
The stamp was printed with a lenticular effect.
Year of the Rat (issued 11-01-2020)
The stamp was printed with gold foil.

Thank You very much Toby!

Slovenia: Sights

Last Tuesday I got a postcard from Slovenia.

It shows various famous sights of the country.

It is an official card: SI-190935.

With nice stamps:
Birds (two from set of five) (issued 29-05-2015)
Environmental Protection (from set of five) (issued 09-11-2018)
Christmas (from set of four) (issued 08-11-2019)
New Year (from set of two) (issued 25-11-2011)

Thank You very much Janez!

Year of the Rat Stamps from New Zealand

Last Tuesday I got my stamp order from New Zealand.

The main reason to order stamps from New Zealand were the new Year of the Rat stamps (issued 04-12-2019), but luckily I was also still able to get souvenir sheets about the Hobbit. You can see those here on my stamp blog.

Singapore: 9th Postcrossing Meet-up

Last Monday I got three postcards: two from Singapore and one from the United Kingdom.

The two cards from Singapore are about the recent Postcrossing Meet-up. Big Postcrossing Meet-up are held in Singapore in January since 2012. I am always happy to receive cards from these meet-ups and luckily always got one since 2015. This year for the first time I got two different cards, but I am not sure if the first one is an officially designed one or if it was designed privately by one of the participiants.

Click here to see my collection of these cards: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

The first card shows various icons of Singapore. 

Stamps:
Year of the Rat - Label (issued 08-01-2020)
Festivals (from set of eight) (issued 21-10-2018)

The second card was designed with a Year of the Rat theme. This card highlights that this was actually the second joint meet-up between Singapore and Wuxi in China. Back in 2017 Singapore and Wuxi held the first Joint Postcrossing Meet-up ever.

With a related stamp and another nice one:
Year of the Rat (from set of two) (issued 08-01-2020)
Singapore Bicentennial (from set of ten) (issued 22-06-2019)
with an advertising postmark remembering to post early for Lunar New Year

Thank You very much Jelene and Adriana!

United Kingdom: Ashmolean Museum in Oxford

Last Monday I got three postcards: one from the United Kingdom and two from Singapore.

The card from the United Kingdom shows the Alfred Jewel from the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The Ashmolean Museum is the World's first university museum. Its first building was erected between 1678 and 1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of Oxford in 1677. The present building was built between 1841 and 1845. It houses huge collections of archaeological specimens and fine art.

With a matching stamp:
Universal Mail
Universal Mail is a second postal operator in the United Kingdom apart from Royal Mail. It produces stamps which are mainly aimed at tourists.

Thank You very much Keiko!

Germany: Kunsthalle Bremen

Last Friday I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows an empty room of the Kunsthalle Bremen. The Kunsthalle Bremen is an art museum in Bremen. It was founded in 1849 and is today the only German museum with an extensive art collection from the 14th to 21st century which is still in private ownership. Currently a special exhibition about icons is shown in the complete building and the permanent exhibition will just return in May. Highlights of the collection are currently shown in Bilbao. For the special exhibition only one artwork is shown in each room, so at the moment you can actually see nearly empty rooms.

With a related stamp:
Treasures of German Museums (issued 02-01-2020)

Thank You very much Christine!

Australia: Koala

Last Thursday I got a postcard from Australia.

It shows a Koala. The Koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. The leaves of eucalypt trees make up most of their diet. While they have few natural predators and parasites, they are highly endangered by habitat destruction caused by agriculture, urbanisation, droughts and associated bushfires. In the early 20th century the animal was also heavily hunted for its fur, until large-scale cullings in Queensland resulted in a public outcry that initiated a movement to protect the species. The Koala is today worldwide recognised as a symbol of Australia.

The card is a maxicard. The stamp is from a set of six and was issued on 12th May 1994.

The card is prepaid.

Thank You very much Evelyn!

Hong Kong: Old Master Q

Last Thursday I got not only a postcard but also a cover from Hong Kong.

Stamps:

Definitive (from set of sixteen) (issued 07-2014)

Hong Kong Police Force (from set of six) (issued 30-04-2019)

with a special Year of the Rat postmark

Inside was a postcard about Old Master Q. Old Master Q is a comic series from Hong Kong. It was created by Alfonso Wong and was first published in 1962. Old Master Q himself is an elderly man dressed in a distinctive traditional Chinese attire. Other important characters from the series include Big Potato, Mr. Chin and Mr. Chao, the main antagonist. While the comics primarily focuse on humour, they also reflect changing social trends. The series is still continued until today and became popular across Asia.

The card is a maxicard. The stamp is from a set of eight and was issued on 5th December 2019.

Thank You very much Kayee!

Italy: Rock Drawings in Valcamonica

Last Wednesday I got a postcard from Italy.

It shows various views of Capodiponte. Capodiponte is a commune in the Valcamonica in Lombardy. It is especially for a high concentration of rock drawings (lower right corner). In the Valcamonica more than 200000 symbols and figures were carved in the rock over a period of 8000 years. They constitute one of the greatest collections of rock drawings in the World and depict themes like agriculture, deer hunting, navigation, war and magic. In 1979 the Rock Drawings in Valcamonica became Italy's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Stamp:
Matera - European Capital of Culture (issued 04-03-2019)
with a special postmark about the 40th anniversary of Captain Harlock

Thank You very much Davide!

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Maxicards

Last Wednesday I got my stamp order from the Croatian Post Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Among the things I ordered were three maxicards about the Year of the Snake (issued 10-02-2013), Stamp Day (issued 09-09-2002) and the 35th anniversary of the Moon Landing (issued 20-07-2004).

Malaysia: Illustration

Last Tuesday I got two postcards: one from Malaysia and one from China.

The card from Malaysia shows an illustration.

It is an official card: MY-522014.

Stamp:
?

Thank You very much Soon Yee!

China: Christmas

Last Tuesday I got two postcards: one from China and one from Malaysia.

The card from China is a Christmas card.

Stamp:
22nd Congress of the Universal Postal Union (from set of two) (issued 23-08-1999)

Thank You very much Chen!

cover from Germany

Last Tuesday I got not only two postcards but also a cover from Germany.

Stamp:

250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven - souvenir sheet (issued 02-01-2020)

with First Day of Usage Postmark

Germany: Museum Folkwang in Essen

Last Saturday I got two postcards: one from Germany and one from Sweden.

The card from Germany shows the Museum Folkwang in Essen. The Museum Folkwang was founded in Hagen in 1902 by Karl Ernst Osthaus. After his death the collection was moved to Essen. In the 1920s and 1930s it was one of the leading museums of modern art in the World, but during the Nazi rule big parts of its collection were termed as "degenerate" art and sold or destroyed. After World War II some paintings were rebought by the museum and new ones were added. Today It is among the most visited museums in Germany. 

Stamp:
Cornflower (issued 01-07-2019)

Thank You very much Marcel!

Sweden: Heart of Roses

Last Saturday I got two postcards: one from Sweden and one from Germany.

The card from Sweden shows a heart of roses.

With a related stamp:
Hearts (from set of seven) (issued 09-01-2020)
with First Day Special Postmark

Thank You very much Doris!

Finland: Giant Pandas at Ähtäri Zoo

On Friday I got three postcards: two from Finland and one from Sweden.

The two cards from Finland show the Giant Pandas at the Ähtäri Zoo. The Ähtäri Zoo was opened in 1973 and is today the second largest zoo in Finland. Two goals of the zoo are creating natural living conditions for the animals and increasing knowledge of species and nature. It is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. In 2016 it was first announced that the zoo would get two Giant Pandas as loan from China to celebrate Finland's Centenary of Independence in 2017. In February 2017 the construction of the panda's home began and the two Giant Pandas arrived in January 2018. They will stay in Finland for the next 15 years.

The first card shows Pyry, the male panda.

Stamps:
Arktika (from set of six) (issued 09-05-2017)
Christmas (from set of two) (issued 06-11-2019)

The second card shows Lumi, the female panda.

Stamps:
Arktika (from set of six) (issued 09-05-2017)
EUROPA (from set of two) (issued 08-05-2019)

Thank You very much Soili!

Sweden: Grimeton Radio Station

On Friday I got three postcards: one from Sweden and two from Finland.

The card from Sweden shows the Alexanderson Alternator at the Grimeton Radio Station. The Grimeton Radio Station is an early longwave transatlantic wireless telegraphy station. It was built between 1922 and 1924 and until the 1940s it was used to transmit telegram traffic by Morse code to North America and other countries. During World War II it was Sweden's only telecommunication link with the rest of the World. Today it is the only remaining example of an early pre-electronic radio transmitter technology. Since 2004 is the Grimeton Radio Station on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Also it is an anchor point for the European Route of Industrial Heritage.

Stamp:
Fish in the Nordic Region (from set of five) (issued 03-05-2018)

Thank You very much Svea!

Germany: Vincent van Gogh's Field with Poppies

On Thursday I got a postcard from Germany.

It shows Vincent van Gogh's Field with Poppies. It is part of the collection of the Kunsthalle Bremen. Back in 1910, when the painting was bought by the Kunsthalle, it caused the Bremen Artists' Dispute about the status of modern art in German museums.

I bought this card when I recently visited the Kunsthalle Bremen. 

With a nice matching stamp:
Treasures of German Museums (issued 02-01-2020)
with First Day Special Postmark

cover from Germany

On Thursday I got not only a postcard but also a cover from Germany.

Stamp:

250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven - self-adhesive version (issued 02-01-2020)

with First Day of Usage Postmark

Italy: Sanctuary of Oropa

On Wednesday I got four postcards: one from Italy, one from the Netherlands, one from Thailand and one from Canada.

The card from Italy shows the Sanctuary of Oropa. The Sanctuary of Oropa is a group of Roman Catholic buildings and structures in the municipality of Biella. 

Stamp:
Matera - European Capital of Culture (issued 04-03-2019)
with a nice special postmark showing Pinocchio

Thank You very much Davide!

Canada: Québec City

On Wednesday I got four postcards: one from Canada, one from Italy, one from the Netherlands and one from Bangkok.

The card from Canada shows Québec City. Québec City is the capital city of the Canadian Province of Québec. It was founded as a French settlement in 1608 and is thus one of the oldest European cities in North America. Today it is the eleventh largest city in Canada. Also it is the most complete example of a European fortified town north of Mexico. Since 1985 is the Historic District of Old Québec on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Stamps:
Sweet Canada - Desserts (from set of five) (issued 17-04-2019)
Christmas (from set of three) (issued 04-11-2019)
Fruit and Nut Trees (from set of three) (issued 30-12-1992)

Thank You very much Julie!