COVER N. 713 - ALBANIA

Postmark: Ilegible 02.05.2026

Posted on the 2nd May;  Received on the 11th May 2026

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Another rare visitor to this blog: Albania. Faleminderit shumë, Sadik!

I am always very happy to hear the metallic noise of the flap of my letterbox being dropped, after the morning visit of  my friend Mr. Postman.

Until now I always knew that he was coming, stopping or just passing by, because even with my windows closed, I would hear the very characteristic noise of his motorbike, something I was always very attentive to. 

In fact, whenever I heard a bike motor idling by my door, I knew that seconds later that sound would be complemented by the metallic "clomp" of the letterbox flap again dropping into place, after which  the engine sound would again get higher in pitch only to progressively fade into the distance.

Whenever this sequence of events unfolded, I knew I had mail waiting for me, and a visit to the letterbox was thus in order.

Conversely, whenever I heard the bike engine as a continuous sound  in a sudden crescendo/decrescendo mode, which was as fastly gone as it appeared, I knew that Mr. Postman held nothing for me in his delivery bag.

But, ever since a moment in the past which I cannot precisely identify, I have started to notice that the above routine could not be held anymore. In fact, as the day progressed and no sign of engine noise entered through my windows, many were the occasions when I would go and check the letterbox, just to be sure even if  not hopping to find anything there, only to realise there were some envelopes waiting for me.

Some days ago, it so happened that, by chance, I went outside just as Mr. Postman had just dropped this letter from Albania in my letterbox... I looked at him, he returned my gaze and made a sign with his hand indicating that he had just put something inside the box and without further ado proudly went away, as silent as the day's cool breeze that I could feel but not hear, in his shiny all new and silent electric bike...

The 10 and 50 lek stamps  featuring portraits of distinguisehd Albanian doctors are part of a set of three, issued on 16DEC2025 as a three stamp se-tenant strip

When investigating the  two stamps I came across an interesting site devoted to the discovery of Pharmacy and Medicine through philately, so I'll quote directly from there: 

10 lek - Bajram Preza, Neurologist.

Bajram Preza (born 2 February 1923 in Preza near Tirana, † 2007) was a pioneering Albanian neurologist with comprehensive training in neurology and psychiatry in Sarajevo and Nizhny Novgorod. In 1958, he defended Albania’s first medical doctoral dissertation and later authored the country’s first medical textbook for students. For more than three decades, he headed the Neurological Clinic in Tirana and, through his teaching, research, and clinical work, left a lasting mark on generations of Albanian physicians.

50 lek - Koço Poro

Koço Poro (1923–1995) was a prominent Albanian physician of the 20th century. Among other positions, he served as Director and Chief Physician of the Regional Hospital of Elbasan and as Head of Pathology. In Albanian sources, he is described as an influential medical figure, in some cases also referred to as a rheumatologist. His life dates are often given as 1925–2013, although these have not been officially documented.

PostEurop, the entity that coordinates the annual issue of EUROPA stamps, a task previously ensured by CEPT,  was created in 1993.

Marking the 30 years of the organisation Posta Shqiptare (Albania Post) issued the 70 lek stamp on the cover with the legend 30 Vjetori PostEurop (30 Years of PostEurop) on 28JUN2024. The issue also comprises a souvenir sheet with a single stamp (identical to the individual stamp except for the denomination which is 250 lek).

COVER N. 712 - CHILE

Postmark: Correos Chile Concepcion Centro 06.04.2026

Posted on 6th April;  Received on the 8th May 2026

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Always a pleasure to get a good cover from afar with nice stamps on it, such as the one I got from Chile. Muchísimas gracias, Jindrich, por la carta y también por los bellísimos sellos.

- The theme for the UPAEP - the Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal common issue in 2011 was mailboxes. The contribution of Chile for this common issue was the stamp on the 290 Pesos stamp issued on 21OCT2011 featuring an image of a typical cast iron pillar box, which I believe is an original British design that was exported to several counties, mine included, and of course, Chile.

Further to the value indication and the UPAEP logo, the stamp bears the legend "Buzones" which translates into "Mail boxes".

- Papa Francisco visited Chile from 15 to 18 January, 2018. On the occasion of his visit Correos de Chile issued, on 10JAN2028, the single 600 Pesos stamp on the cover, illustrated with a hyper-realistic coloured pencil drawing of Pope Francis,  with his own signature "Francisco" .  A small signature is also included on the right side of the drawing, which I presume to be that of its author (Mana?) though I could not find any information regarding this particular question.

On the side of the Pope's face,  the official logo for the visit  is also included, this being a  yellow cross with the map of Chile superimposed on it and the legend Mi Paz les doy (I give you my Peace).

- UPAEP's theme for the 1995 common issue was "Nature". Chile participated with a 2 stamp set (100; 250 Pesos), issued on 12OCT1995, dedicated to Environmental Protection, of which, the higher denomination stamp is included on this cover.

The illustration on the stamp is a child's drawing of some farmers with trees behind them, farmers working being also depicted in the set's companion stamp. 

As usual the stamp bears the UPAEP logo and the word AMERICA.

Postmark From the city of Concepción, the centre of Chile's second largest metropolitan area of country, after Santiago, the Capital,  located in the central region of the country.

COVER N. 711 - BRUNEI

Postmark: Serikomplex Brunei Darussalam 12.01.2026

Posted on 12th January;  Received on the 7th May 2026

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The intrepid Phantom writes from Brunei, the small sultanate that occupies about 5,800 square kilometres of land on the northern coast of the Island of Borneo, which it shares with Malaysia and Indonesia and which has been ruled by the same family as an absolute monarchy for the last 600 years.

It is not that often that Mr. Postman brings in mail from such far away places, so I am really grateful to The Ghost who Walks for having me in his thoughts whenever he pauses in his wanderings to visit the local Post Office.

Danke Sehr, Alex!

The portrait of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who ascended to throne in 1967 and is now the current longest reigning monarch, after the passing of Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, illustrates all the stamps Alex used on this cover.

The 50 and 25 sen stamps are part of a definitive series issued on 23DEC1985, comprising 12 values (10; 15; 20; 25; 35; 40; 50; 75 sen; 1, 2, 5, 10  dollar), while the larger 15 sen stamp was included in a 12 stamp definitive issue (10; 15; 20; 30; 50; 60; 75; 90 sen; 1; 2; 5; 10 dollar) dated of  22FEB2007.

A far as the internet tells me, the postmark hails from  the Post office located in the Batu Satu area of Bandar Seri Begawan, the Capital of Brunei.

POSTCARD N.228 - U.A.E. - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Postcard sent on the 6th Februray; received on the 6th May 2026

Postcard image:  Dubai Skyline 

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Ravi also sent me a postcard from Dubai, during his stay there. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, friend.

Looking at the joyful image on the card, I cannot but think about the irony in it.... these are the kind of fireworks that one expects over a city, not those of incoming missiles or air defence explosions...

The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant was the first commercial nuclear power plant to be built in the Arabian Peninsula and also the first in the Arab world. It has 4 reactors, for a total output of 5600 MW, the first having been commissioned in 2020.

On the occasion of the inauguration of the facility, Emirates Post issued on 25OCT2020 the 3 dirham stamp used on the postcard, which features a dusk or dawn picture of the facility, with the domes of the four reactors clearly visible.

The two coloured postmark was again applied at the Customer Happiness Centre of Dubai's Convention Centre.

COVER N. 710 - U.A.E.- UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Postmark: Customer Happines Centre Dubai Convention Centre Emirates Post 04.02.2026

Posted on 4th of February;  Received on the 6th May 2026

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Ravindra sends me a cover from Dubai in the UAE.... Luckily he did not get caught in the disruption caused by yet another senseless and arguably illegal war that two and a half months later has only brought general economic uncertainty and particular suffering for those directly affected by military action, the more so in Iran and Lebanon, but also in other States of the Persian Gulf region.

Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi.

The United Arab Emirates became independent from the United Kingdom in 1971. According to a timeline of  Emirates Post history that I consulted here, "Post offices open in the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah" in 1963 and 1964.

This is probably the event that was considered as the founding moment for Postal Services in Abu Dhabi, which 50 years later was celebrated with the 4 stamp souvenir sheet that Ravi used on this cover, issued on 3'MAR2013.

Of note is the fact that the stamps carry no face value indication, this being indicated on the frame of the sheet, as a global 10 dirham. As such I presume the stamps could not be used individually... was that so?

The four stamps (or should I call them vignettes?)  are illustrated with photographs of postal treatment facilities in Abu Dhabi. The top right corner and bottom left one stamps feature the same building in different eras (1968, 1975), Could it be that the other two with photos form 1963 and 1993, also show the same facility, as it was originally and as it looked like in 1993?

Postmark from The Customer Happiness Centre (quite an uncommon designation for a service...) of the Dubai Convention Centre.

COVER N. 709 - FRANCE

Postmark: none

Posted on ?;  Received on the 28th April 2026

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Well, as we say here, "Christmas is whenever a man wants it to be...".

Merci Daniel. Ta lettre avec les timbres est en transit....

I must be a good and well behaved kid, since I do not believe Santa writes this early in the year to anyone who does not have a service record as pristine as mine 😀.

The prepaid letter envelope the Daniel used was, as far as I could investigate over the internet, issued by la Poste in 1993, as part of a set of three, all featuring Santa, both in the pre-printed stamp and  the cachet.

No cancellation was applied on this envelope, probably due to its prepaid/pre-printed nature.

POSTCARD N.227 - PHILIPPINES

Postcrossing postcard sent on ?; received on the 29th April 2026

Postcard image:  Cherry Blossoms 

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Heidi sends me some cherry blossoms from the Philippines. Maraming salamat po, Heidi.

Intrigued by the photograph on the postcard I investigated if there are native cherries in the Philippines and the answer was "Yes. There are several, distinct types of tropical, cherry-like fruits native to the Philippines, but they are not the same species as the temperate sweet cherries (like Bing cherries) commonly imported from North America or Europe".

The 1 Piso Postal Station Stamp illustrated with a mail distribution scooter is part of a three stamp set (1; 17; 100 P), issued on 09AUG2024.

The 12 Piso stamp dedicated to the Filipino Language is part of the second 20024 issue in the National Symbols definitive series, comprising 6 stamps (12; 14; 35; 45; 50; 55 P), which began to circulate on 15OCT2024.

The 1Piso stamp bearing the image of a South Sea Pearl inside a Pinctada Maxima oyster, the largest pearl oyster in the world, cultivated in Philippines, Indonesia, Tahiti and Australia, was also issued    on 09AUG2024, included in the first definitive set of three stamps (1; 5; 17 P) dedicated to National Symbols.