COVER N. 692  / POSTCARDS 212-213 - SPAIN

Postmark: Illegible

Posted on the 2nd March;  Received on the 5th March 2026

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A letter  can be a window... better yet, all letters are windows.

More often then not, they reach you closed. And it is easy to understand why, for as such the draught of  unrelated gazes or minds is kept outside, protecting the words within from intent disturbance and privacy violation.

It is then up to you, the name called for on the face of the envelope, to open it, to let the free flowing breeze of words out of its temporary confinement, to finally allow content and intent to self-regenerate themselves through the sheer magic of reading, that most fundamental of all fundamental skills. 

But not all letters are created equal, so not all letters receive the same attention or treatment.

A letter might sit for days on the desk, unopened. In some extreme cases, it might even end up in the bin in the same condition, a sad waste of paper and intent...

These, though, are letters that lack the warmth of pure and simple conversation; these are the letters that are opened by brutally tearing apart the side of the envelope with an unceremonial finger inserted through the flap on their back; these are letters that in lieu of an attractive stamp on the corner of the paper rectangle that imprisons them, exhibit a cold printed legend: "Postage Paid"; these are impersonal letters; these are letters that herald "utilities", "financial statements" or other just as unpleasant but nonetheless essential consequences of the interactions between the individual and the state.

And then, there are the other:

The letters that generate a surge of dopamine and curiosity; that exhibit on the envelope the grace of a functional tiny piece of art applied on it as a laissez-passer; the letters that are slowly, pleasurably and carefully opened up with a small knife running along the top fold of the envelope so as to minimize as much as possible damage to the envelope; in short, the letters that say "Hi, good to see you"!

Well, Today I got one of these from Spain. Muchíssimas Gracias, Eva!

Eva used a 2€ stamp issued on 04NOV2014 as part of a 2 x 2€ stamp issued themed on numismatics.  The stamp is illustrated with the image of the back of a 1 Peseta (the pre-Euro Spanish currency) banknote of 1953 issue. The companion stamp in the set, bears the image of a 1 Peseta coin, of 1944 issue.

The stamp has some augmented reality capability embedded in it but unfortunately it seems that the app used to access it is no longer available to download (at least I could not find trace of it over the internet),  so I can not report on what's on hiding in it.

If letters are windows to a secret world only accessible to the addressee, then Postcards are obvious windows into the regular world, and by nature much more unconductive to privacy unless upgraded in treatment to letter support status.

That's what happened to the two curious postcards Eva included in her letter.

Postcards. There once was a time when every little town, or even village, no matter how small or hidden, would have a little shop or kiosk with a postcard stand. 

The chosen images were sometimes not the most interesting, compositions amateurish, printing deficient, BUT there was always at least a few to chose from neatly ranked on the stand where some of them exhibited a curvature and some washing out of the colours, due to the continuous exposure to the inclemency of the sun.

Sending out postcards to family, loved ones, and friends was an axiom of life back then, especially on holidays....sadly, though, as George Harrison" so aptly put it once, all things must pass, and today, baring the larger, more touristy places, finding the little 10x15 rectangles with a local image to slap a few words and a stamp on it is getting ever more difficult (while in inverse ratio finding hidden Pokémons has become a more productive routine for some, it seems).

Eva is one of those Postcard hunters that will not yield to Pokémon. And she managed to trace two interesting examples of 80s vintage postcards from the city of Alcañiz, province of Teruel, in the Autonomous Community of Aragon in the Northeast of Spain which she kindly included in her letter.

The Plaza de España (just as Eva wondered in the letter, who would care to include so much empty featureless street in the foreground on a picture ..😃)

The Monument to the Drum and the drummer, authored by José Gonzalvo and inaugurated in 1968.

As I understand it, drummers are very much a part of the processions on Semana Santa in this region of Spain and the statue represents one such drummer wearing the tradinional vestsof the Holly Week.

  

COVER N. 692 - SWITZERLAND

Postmark: 3000 Bern 6 Kirchenfeld 20.02.2026

Posted on the 20th February;  Received on the 26th February 2026

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Vielen Dank Vural, for another nice clean cover , this time with a humourous touch.... I'd say it's a GOAL!

Stamps:

1981 was proclaimed by the  General Assembly of the United Nations as the International Year of Disabled Persons.

Calling on the attention of the general public to this fact, many postal administrations across the globe issued commemorative stamps for this occasion. Swiss Post was one of them, having issued on  09MAR1981 the 0.40 Swiss Frank stamp on the cover.

Swiss Sport Aid, or better yet Schweizer Sporthilfe is a foundation established in 1970 with a view to financially support talented  athletes with or without disabilities throughout their sporting career.

The 0.30 Swiss Frank  stamp illustrated with what I presume to be the logo of the foundation was issued on  issued on 19SEP1974.

The 14th UEFA Women’s European Football Championship took place in Switzerland  from 2 to 27 July 2025.

The tournament was won by the British team who defeated the Spanish squad in the final game. 

To celebrate the event, Swiss Post issued on 08MAY2025 a rather funny self-adhesive 1.20 SWF stamp, illustrated with  a match scene on which a goalkeeper fails to stop the ball from hitting the inside of the goal's net... the funny part ifs that the ball is printed as a cutout, and so it can be placed outside of the stamp itself, just as Vural did on this cover.

The postmark was applied at Kirchenfeld, an historic district in the South of the city of Bern, the Swiss capital.

COVER N. 691 - CANADA

Postmark: Canada Post / Postes Canada Canoe B.C. 12.02.2026

Posted on the 12th February;  Received on the 23rd February 2026

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Hip-hop. I have to confess: not my cup of tea, the same as a long list of other genres before (and I'm sure after). 

Still it is undeniable that this musical movement, which goes beyond the constraints of a genre for one cannot untie it from other art expressions such as break dancing or street art, for instance, has found a solid space in the arts panorama, having already made the transition from the margins to the mainstream, with all the highs and lows that are always associated with this inevitable fact of the life of the arts.

The recognition comes in many forms and Canada Post chose to do it i the way we here are mostly concerned with: Philately.

So,  a great thanks goes out to Eduard, for having sent me this quite nice cover.

Canada Post issued the three "P" tariff stamp set on 28JAN2026, withing the backdrop of it customary philatelic celebration of Canada's  Black History Month, which has been celebrated for the past 30 years and which, in 2026, upholds "Honouring Black Brilliance Across Generations – From Nation Builders to Tomorrow’s Visionaries" as motto.

The three stamps feature distinguished MC's from the Canadian Hip-hop scene, which Wikipedia informs me was established in the 80s. 

Quoting directly from Canada Post's  website  and following the stamps clockwise from the top left, "Maestro Fresh Wes propelled Canadian hip-hop into the mainstream with groundbreaking hits that set new industry milestones. Michie Mee combined rap with dancehall and reggae to create an iconic sound that captivated fans. Montréal-based group Muzion layered French, English and Haitian Creole into their music, injecting the ever-evolving genre with a fresh new vibe".

The Postmark is the nicely illustrated one from the city of Canoe, in British Columbia, which bears the image of two people holding a... canoe, over their heads. Nice!

I said above that Hip Hop has made its transition to mainstream and when I was writing that I remembered a production of Rameau's “Les Indes Galantes” of some years ago that totally blew my fuses off when I was lucky to watch it on TV.

Not that Zima and Adario thake to sing Hip-hop style, but the ambience of the full production is totally Hip-hop in conception. A feast for the eyes and the ears... and the soul.

Here's a clip from it (there is at least another one with a solo by a dancer accompanying Sabine also soloing, which is so movingly beautiful that it is hard to put it in words... check it, you won't regret it)

COVER N. 690 - FRANCE

Postmark: Cinéma Eden Théâtre 13-La Ciotat Les Lumières de L'Eden, Premier Jour  La Poste 13.02.2026

Posted on the 13th January;  Received on the 20th February 2026

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Le Cinéma..... The moving image, the moving photographs that moved people into theatres so that they could get moved at watching simple factual "snapshots" (or, should I say, "snapmovies")  of day to day life such as  the workers coming out of the factory or the arrival of a train at the train station...

Although not being the first ever made films,  these two cinematographic landmarks,  carefully captured  on their "Cinématographe" contraption by the Lyonese Lumière Brothers would go down in history as probably the most famous of  the  early examples of "movies", since they would also be among the first to be screened in front of an audience.

The immediate success of films meant that suitable auditoriums had to be found for their screening and one such case was the Eden Théâtre of La Ciotat, France.

Inaugurated on 15 June 1889, it would, 10 years later, on 21 March 1899, host  the first paying public  screening of films from the Lumière catalogue, with the above mentioned “Arrivé d’un Train à La Ciotat“ on the session programme.

Today, Eden Thèâtre, which become the property of the Municipality of La Ciotat in 1992,  is still opened to film loving audiences, what makes it the oldest cinema in operation in the world.

On 13FEB2026, La Poste issued the 1,52 € stamp on the cover, celebrating this historic landmark of cinematographic relevance.

And Eric and his sister Annabelle, à qui je dirige mon plus grand et sincère Merci, were overkind and generous in sending me not only the lovely FDC but also the beautiful Carte Postale with the image of the Eden's Façade. 

The stamp bears a head-on view of the Theatre and Cinema buildings, the latter as far as I can make it from the images I consulted on Google earth occupying the South wing of the building.

Unfortunately, the Post Office chose again to add a totally unnecessary and absolutely defacing mechanical cancellation on the stamps. I really have trouble understanding why philatelic mail cannot be treated with the respect it deserves by the postal service. Same happens is Spain, very often...

The Postcard that Annabelle so kindly included bears the illustration of the monumental façade with its pediment showcasing what I believe is the city's coat of arms, a detail which was also used in the design of the celebratory postmark.

COVER N. 689 - GERMANY

Postmark: Haustiere Berlin Erstausgabe 10117 08.01.2026

Posted on the 8th January;  Received on the 19th February 2026

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Pets. One of those subjects that I look upon with mixed feelings. I do like animals a lot and I can understand all the positive things that may arise from the relation between people and animals, but do we ensure that most pets live a dignified life? Should we keep birds in cages? Fishes in aquariums akin to water bottles? Dogs in tiny city apartments? etc, etc....

and then there's the ever-growing tendency to humanise animals.... No, a dog or a cat is not a human, so  there is no point in taking it to the hairdresser or to "embellish" them with  false fingernails, no matter how colourful and shiny they might be....

I love animals. That is why I never wanted to have a pet, when finally I could make this decision on my own. I find it strange to say MY dog, or MY cat or MY turtle. at least MINE, roam free wherever they are.

Danke sehr Peter, for another nice FDC to add to the collection.

The Agapornis genus, a type of parrot from continental Africa, comprises nine species which exhibit quite colourful plumage what has attracted the attention of humans who have long kept them in captivity as pets. Also known as love birds (their scientific name derives from the ancient Greek and means just that: Agape - Love + ornis - bird) they mate for life, this characteristic having been at the root of their designation by Prideaux John Selby who first described the species in 1836.

On 08JAN2026, Deutsche Post issued the 0,95€ stamp on the cover, illustrated with a photograph of an Agaporis and the legend “Haustiere” (Pets).

The stamp is obliterated with a First Day Postmark issued at Berlin.

Postage is completed with three stamps from the world of letters series:

0,05€ - Letters as Lotus Flower - issued on 02DEC2021 

0,10 € - Message in a bottle - issued on 02NOV2022

0.15 € - Letters Peacock - issued on 10AUG2024 

COVER N. 688 - CZECH REPUBLIC

Postmark: Svaty Valentyin Milostin 12.02.2026

Posted on the 12th February;  Received on the 18th February 2026

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A special Valentine's day cancellation coming from the Czech Republic. Děkuji mnohokrát, Ivan.

I have to confess: nothing against love nor against celebrating it in whatever way people might want to do it, be it through a letter, even if ridiculous, as Fernando Pessoa claimed that all love letters are, or through a Valentine's gift, or through whatever one might think fit for the occasion. After all, Love is the most important and encompassing emotion that a human may feel (since it syncretically absorbs all the catalogue of human emotions) so nothing bad can come out of the simple fact of celebrating it.

BUT

Traditions are part of one's culture and as such are bound by a reference framework that is specific to a given group, country, society. 

I also have nothing against welcoming traditions from other cultures into our own space. As I said they are manifestations of culture and there can't be anything wrong in that (provided such traditions do not conflict with the set of values that define humanity at large... do not expect me to accept genital mutilation just because it is a tradition somewhere....)

What really annoys me is pushing traditions into other cultures, by way of sheer mercantilism. I have seen it happen in my lifetime more than once and I really find it ... well...annoying.

Valentine's day is one such case, as is, for instance, my biggest pet hate: Halloween.

Back in my courting days time, we wrote ridiculous letters, we gave ridiculous gifts, we did all sorts of ridiculous things as befits lovers all year round... we needed no Saint or specific date for that...

Although I'm not a religious person, I think I can say that Saint Valentine was never one of the most revered  saints in Portugal, as I am absolutely positive that no one had ever heard of Valentine's day around here say 40 years ago.

Now go to a supermarket in my country around the first weeks of February and you'll find all sorts of things that make celebrating love an obligation, be it chocolates, flowers, parfumes, lingerie, you name it....

Commerce has put the celebration of love into the yearly obligations calendar in Portugal but celebrating Love as an obligation is a contradiction in terms....

Anyway,  the same has happened in quite a number of non-Anglo-Saxon ancestry countries like the cancellation on the cover so clearly proves..... a sign of times..... 

Maková panenka a Motýl Emanuel, or Poppy Doll and Emanuel the Butterfly are the central characters of an animation series of 13 episodes produced in 1972 that was very popular in what was then Czechoslovakia.

The two characters are the subject of the B tariff self-adhesive stamp, issued on 06SEP2023.

The theme for the EUROPA/CEPT common issue of 2008 was "Writing Letters". The Czech issue comprised one single stamp with a face value of 17 Krone, issued on 07MAY2008.

According to Google, the handwriting on the stamp is that of  Marina Richterová, the stamp's designer.

The Commemorative Postmark features no place of issue.

COVER N. 687 - PORTUGAL

Postmark: 100 Anos Nascimento Querubim Lapa -  Exposição Filatélica AFAL -  CTT Portimão 14.02.2026

Posted on the 14th February;  Received on the 18th February 2026

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It is very seldom that I post here Portuguese covers. There is no particular reason for this, other than the primary goal of the blog being to organise and show up the beautiful correspondence I get from fellow collectors all over the globe, and the fact that all Portuguese covers that I get are self-sent, what makes them a bit off mark for the blog's intentions.

But every once in a while, there comes a stamp or an event, or the conjugation of both, that I find more meaningful to my own self and then I don't let the occasion go by without me trying to get a more personalised cover to add to my collection.

Such was the case, for instance, with the stamp celebrating my French literature teacher, Urbano Tavares Rodrigues, or the one celebrating poet Alexandre O'Neill (although I haven't posted his cover... will do it one of these days).

These were people I knew. Not that I was intimate with them, but at some point in my life I met them, and giants they were already, one cannot but be proud of having been able to enrich one's own intellectual heritage, by hearing, reading, or just observing the way they related to the universe around them.

I never met Querubim Lapa (1925-2016) in person. But I have met his works... in several places throughout my life, and they have to have told me something, like O'Neill (his poems  did tell me a lot more than the reproach I got from him, once) or Urbano did, for I never forgot them.

There was the  ceramic  panel at "Mexicana", where I would go to accompanying my sister, to meet her friends, or the panel at the Foyer of  the Aula Magna of Lisbon University, or other occasional acquaintances for no particular reason, like the panel at the Palace of Justice... and then there was Querubim's last work... which dropped a ray of light into a bleak suburban corner, not  different from any other bleak suburban corner, were it not for the surprise of an immensely  joyful drop of colour on a startling architected temple of culture... about ten minutes from where I live... a humble public library, which is such an exercise of pure good taste, that I went there on several occasions just to take a look at the ceramic panels, photograph them, enjoy them.

Postage was completed with a 0,04€ from the 28APR2022 Portuguese numismatics definitive set 
 Day mark of the main Post Office at Portimão

Querubim Lapa would be 100 years this year. He was one of the notable Portuguese that featured in a set of 8 x 0,69 € issued on 21APR2025 dedicated to Portuguese figures of history and culture.

In his native Portimão, in the Algarve, our southernmost region,  the local Museum organised an exhibition celebrating his centenary, and the Philatelic Association of the Algarve was also present with a philatelic exhibition. For this event a special cancellation was also issued. 

The above mentioned stamp and cancellation can be seen on the cover I prepared which also features a photo I took of one of the panels at the Biblioteca Municipal José Saramago, in Feijó, Almada. 

My thanks to the CTT team at Portimão, who handled this cover in the most professional possible way.

Municipal Library José Saramago, Feijó, Almada