POSTCARD N.88 - RUSSIA

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 14th July inside cover #145, received on 27th July

Postcard image: Monument to K.E. Tsiolkovsky "Man with a bycicle" on Theatre Street; Monument Girl with an umbrella (Kirov Street) 

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Kaluga is a city with 325,000 inhabitants (data of 2010) located 150 Km southwest of Moscow. the images on the postcard Julia kindly sent me inside cover #145 highlight two of the city's public art items, in the form of two metal sculptures, one of  K.E. Tsiolkovsky and the other of a lady with an umbrella.

 

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovski ... (well, this is really rocket Science) was a Russian and later Soviet Scientist and mathematician  and a pioneer in the rocketry and astronautics fields, who lived most of his life in the outskirts of Kaluga.

According to the ESA website he was the first to determine that "the escape velocity from Earth into orbit was 8 km/second and that this could be achieved by using a multi-stage rocket fuelled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. During his lifetime he published over 500 works on space travel and related subjects, including science fiction novel".

still quoting from ESA's website:

"Among his works are designs for the construction of space rockets and ideas for steerable rocket engines, multi-stage boosters, space stations, airlocks for exiting a spaceship into the vacuum of space, and closed cycle biological systems to provide food and oxygen for space colonies. This is a remarkable achievement by any standards, but particularly as many of these documents were written before the first aeroplane flight and, by a man who had had to abandon his formal education at the age of 10".

Account taken of this little biography, it comes as no susprise that  the lovely statue honouring him on Theatre Street in Kaluga, shows him looking up, towards the stars... and beyond. Quite fitting for a man who once wrote

Earth is the cradle of humanity but one cannot live in the cradle forever!

The other sculpture highlighted in a thumbnail in the postcard is of a lady with an umbrella. This is a "flat" sculpture, that looks quite nice to my eye,  but I could not find any information about it.

Thank you so much, Julia, for another beautiful postcard.

 COVER N.145 - RUSSIA.

Postmark: ПОЧТА РОССИИ - КАЛУГА ПОЧТАМТ УООПО 248099 (Russian Post - Kaluga Post Office 248099) 
Posted on the 14h July; received on the 27th July 2022

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Julia, I really don't know how to thank you for all the trouble you go through to send me your incredibly nice postcards inside such beautiful envelopes, always  loaded with interesting stamps. Thank you so much!

Robert Ludvigovich Bartini's (1897-1974) life story is uncommon to say the very least and one that would be a good script for a film... abridging it to the fullest , here are some notes on the life and some of the achievements of a very important name in the history of Russian aviation:

Born the illegitimate son of  Lodovico Oros de Bartini, the then Lieutenant Governor of Fiume, a city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,  that is today known as Rijeka, in  Croatia, he was only acknowledged by his father as his rightful son after his mother committed suicide, young Roberto thus becoming Roberto Oros de Bartini,  

With the oubreak of the first world war Roberto would fight with the Austro-Hungarian Army only to be captured by the Russian Army, thus spending the rest of the conflict as a prisoner of war. Upon the end of the hostilities he returned home to a city of Fiume being fought over by the Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and  Italians, and to the creation of  the Free State of Fiume, a solution that would, in a short time, prove futureless, with Fiume being integrated into Italy in 1924 (the story does not end here but, one day maybe one stamp may prompt me to tell it....).  

Roberto, now an Italian citizen, became a member of the Italian Communist Party, learned to pilot aircraft and became an aerospace engineer, before emigrating to the Soviet Union to escape Fascist Italy.

Once in the Soviet Union he became a Soviet citizen, changed his name to Robert Ludvigovich Bartini and pursued a long career in aircraft design, working for several departments of the Soviet military administration. This would not be a comfortable ride, nevertheless, because it seems his opinions were not always in tune with the hierarchy, what would end up granting him a conviction  to a ten year imprisonment term, in 1938, during which he, nevertheless, continued to work on aircraft design.

Under the Khrushchev administration he was rehabilitated and was even later awarded the order of Lenin.

In the 1950s his attention turned to the design of ground effect flying machines, the so called Ekranoplans, and drawing on the experience gathered  from his first experimental design, the Be, 1 he conceived for the  Beriev design Bureau what was expected to be a vertical take off Ekranoplan for use in the anti-submarine warfare, a design that was to be known as the  BBA-14, in the early 70s.

A prototype was constructed and tested, but never flown with vertical take off capacity and after Bartini's death, the project was abandoned.

What remains of the disassembled aircraft is now in the Russian Federation Central Air Force Museum in Moscow.

The image of the BBA-14 flying low above the waves graces the envelope Julia used, issued on 31May2022, to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Robert Bartini, whose effigy is featured in the envelope's Tariff A printed stamp which also includes front and side line views of one of his designs, the Bartini Stal -7  in the background.

Remaining stamps, left to right:

15 Ruble stamp, issued on 28 AUG2014 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the soviet victory in the 1939 battles of Khalkhin Gol, an undeclared border conflict opposing the Soviet Union to Japan.

21,5 Ruble stamp issued on 02AUG2016 to celebrate the  Centenary of Likhachov Automobile Plant Joint Stock Company, better known as ZIL, responsible for manufacturing trucks but also the limousines used by Soviet VIPs,

- Self-adhesive 50 Kopek stamp, part of the 7th definitive issue of the Russian Federation, started in 2019. It exhibits the State Postal Administration Emblem and was issued on 07AUG2019.

COVER N.144 - FRANCE.

Postmark: 1er jour 08.07.22 - Archéologie sous-marine EUROMED Postal - Paris la Poste 
Posted on the 08th July; received on the 21st July 2022

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The Postal Union of the Mediterranean is an organisation thet brings together  postal operators of the European and Mediterranean region, which was established in Rome in 2011 by 14 Postal Operators and which now has 23 members.

Each year, a common theme is selected for a  joint emission by all members of the organisation, much like the famed EUROPA emissions, each postal administration  being absolutely free to design their own stamps, provided they follow the adopted theme. 

For some reason that I could not identify, the theme for 2022 is two fold: Maritime Archaeology or Antique Cities of Mediterranean. This, as far as I know, happens for the first time, and is probably a one off stunt for next year's theme is already chosen and has no double option.

Anyway. Pierre kindly sent me this very beautiful cover of the French issue, highlighting maritime archaeology,, the 1,65 € stamp being illustrated with a photo of  marine archaeologists recovering a large artefact from the sea bed somewhere in Haute-Corse, West of the Island of  Giraglia. 

The highly striking 1st day postmark is embellished with what I think is the artefact that everybody immediately associates with underwater archaeology: a Roman Amphora.

Thank you so much Pierre!

Operation TAAF

Episode I - Iles Éparses  -  cover received 20JUL22

Uncommon and exotic  places are  a measure of where we stand. In fact what is exotic for me, is the everyday reality of someone else who lives there, but thinking and writing is, most of times, a self-centred exercise, and so I feel I will be excused if I elaborate on the theme from the point of view of my own navel.

These “outworldly” places have a bucketful of charm, we all know, the more so since we will most probably never touch their soil with our feet and all we can do is, more often than not, dream of going there.

Many of theses places are now fully independent countries, with citizens leading their normal everyday lives, what can be a harder proposition by what standards are available to me, since the constraints imposed by geography and weather, if also part of what makes them the source of infinite curiosity and traveller’s longing, are, usually, for the locals, the source of intimate hardship.

A few other places that immediately associate with the adjective "exotic" are what the UN acknowledges as non-self governing territories, corresponding to the definition of territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government, either because their population feels reluctant to embrace independence for fear of economic  hardship, or doesn’t even feel that urge, or does not have any deeply rooted sense of nationality, or there is more than one power claiming the territory, these being administered by a few UN member States, namely the UK, France, United States of America and New Zealand.

And then there are claims to territory, particularly in the Antarctic continent, where several powers have installed scientific bases to pursue scientific purposes but also to establish a round the clock presence in the area so as to substantiate their claim. 

These places generate all kinds of interest and rank high on the list of general public curiosity so it comes as no surprise that the closer you get to the top and bottom (another self-centred assertion, since my top can well be another men’s bottom, depending on where we stand on the ellipsoid  😊) the more desirable is the proof of being in contact with manifestations of human presence in those places, either collected  in person (sigh… sigh… when will I?) or by proxy, such as in the case I’m elaborating about.

The great white, the land where the sun never sets (or never rises…) Could there be any place more exotic, more uncommon for men to settle in and live? Could there be a place more desirable to receive a letter from?

So I set about trying to figure out what would it take to get my letterbox permeated by ice-cold mail, coming from the barren South….

France is one of the countries that has a firm grip on the southern icecap and also administers some other tiny territories located further south than the latitudes at which people usually dwell, these integrating what is known as TAAF - Terres Australes et Antartiques Françaises, which also comprise some deserted, but very important from a conservation standpoint, islands, off the coast of Madagascar.

And so a plan more cunning that any of Badlrick’s was born….

Internet to the rescue and I stumbled upon Jeff’s “My Stamp Stuff” blog, which I do recommend to anyone with an interest in these kind of philatelic yearnings, and also on the  Terres Australes et Antartiques Françaises website, both having plenty of very clear information and guidance on how to receive mail from the various territories that integrate the TAAF.

Next step… stamps. TAAF stamps are needed for this, since France’s stamps are not accepted on mail sent from the TAFF.

I also needed to know how much postage to use on the envelopes, but a swift exchange of emails with blogger Eric Contesse (Mon blog timbré) was instrumental in clarifying this.

Buying the stamps was a rather easy problem to fix since one can buy TAAF stamps directly from La Poste website. So I looked about and my eyes immediately fell on this block of 5 stamps, issued on 12JAN2021 to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the TAFF. “Now, this is perfect”, thought I, because each one of the stamps on the souvenir sheet is dedicated to one of the five constituent territories of the TAFF, so I could “disintegrate” the sheet to post mail from each of the locations in each stamp, and try to “reunite” the block later, with the stamps duly cancelled. 

  

The order was placed and some days later I had the miniature sheet delivered at my place.

From then on all went according to my cunning plan. The souvenir sheet was cut  in 5 irregular parts, each one containing one stamp, and self-addressed envelopes were prepared with the stamps glued duly glued on.

5 letters were also prepared to be sent to the postmasters at each of the territories, following the already mentioned guidance, each of them containing the relevant self-addressed pre-stamped envelope and a note to Mr. Postmaster, asking, and greatly thanking, him/her for the favour of cancelling the stamps and sending the letters back to me.

The letters were expedited on 13JAN2022. Now it was just a matter of waiting to see if the plan was really cunning or one of Baldrick’s and Black Adder’s usual disgraceful moments.

And so the sand steadily flowed from one glass to the other many, many times....

July the 20th 2022, that is to say, 6 months after posting the letters, the first circulated letter popped up in my letterbox.

Not unexpectedly it was the one that was sent from the less southern latitude, the one  coming from Europa, one of the Scattered Islands - Les Illes Éparses - located in the Mozambique Channel, in between Mozambique and Madagascar or  at Long. 40º 21E / Lat. 22º 21S, as informed by one of the locally applied stamps on the envelope. 

The cancellation dates of the 16th May, so it just took 2 months to get here, what is pretty good, I feel, considering the inward journey took double the time.

On the back of the envelope there is also the personal stamp of the Vaguemestre de Europa, which contains the outline of the Island and the image of a green turtle and of a frigate.

I was very happy to receive this first letter, proof that my plan was really cunning... right Baldrik?

more to come....

 Hopefully 😀!

 COVER N.143 - BELGIUM.

Postmark: Beernem 06.07.22 
Posted on the 11th July; received on the 19th July 2022

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In all reality, stamps cover all sorts of themes and concerns. Who would have thought that DJs would one day be the subject of a stamp emission. And yet, that's precisely what happened on 14JUN2021, when BPost issued a souvenir sheet with five "1 Europe" tariff stamps dedicated to those Belgian citizens most proficient in the art of making people shake their bodies in  large  venues....

The DJ on my stamp is known as Netsky, it seems, and on the souvenir sheet he shares the stage with "The Magician", "Lost frequencies", "Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike" and Yves V.

Thanks a lot Guy, for the such a "loud" cover 😀

COVER N.142 - FRANCE.

Postmark: 32014A-01 France 11.07.22 La Poste
Posted on the 11th July; received on the 15th July 2022

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Mais qu'est-ce qu'il se passe, Marianne?  Today is the 15th... YOU ARE LATE! 

La prise de la Bastille, July the 14th, 1789, a date that would,  in time - 1880 - become France's national holiday,  the consuetudinary beginning of the French Revolution which  would be forever synthesised in the trylogic Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité motto, embodied in a feminine figure wearing a Phrygian cap... Marianne.

Marianne's effigy has been present in France's definitive stamps since 1944, as far a I could understand after a bit if searching over the internet (an abridged history of  Mariane stamps until the 2008  emission can be found here ). I also learned that tradition has it that choosing the design for the Marianne emissions rests on the shoulders of the French President.

Emanuel Macron was thus responsible for choosing the design of the stamp on my cover, known as Marianne, l'Engagée  - Marianne the  Engaged. The original set, comprising 9 values, some of them in different versions - gummed, self-adhesive and even imperforated - was issued on 23JUL2018. Of note is the fact that two of the stamps included data matrix codes, which, I believe,  makes it possible to track and trace the objects on which they are applied.

The stamp on my cover, though, was issued on 02JAN2019, and while retaining the same colour and format of the "monde" denominated stamp of the original issue it now features the legend "International", a modification which I suspect is  probably due to tariff reconfiguration.

The cancellation was machine applied, and I could not find information on the place of issuance. 

COVER N.141 - ISRAEL.

Postmark: Tel-Aviv Yafo 06.07.22
Posted on the 6th July; received on the 14th July 2022
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On a hot day (much like the rest of western Europe, we've been experiencing an horrible heat wave that not only has been making life very hard for quite a number of people living in places not usually associated with this kind of phenomenon,  but has also been  fuelling forest fires everywhere,...) I open my  letterbox to find a letter stamped with beautiful cactus stamps... Quite adequate, I should say, so Thanks a lot Yair, you aced it this time 😀!

Cacti are strange creations, surviving in the harshest of conditions, they bring a touch of green to places that would otherwise  be quite devoid of  any other colour than yellow of brown, and most of the times they exhibit  gorgeous flowers that, contrary to them are almost ephemeral.

Still they also adapt to humid and not so hot climates and so much so that one of the cacti in the stamps on the envelope - Opuntia ficus-indica,  is cultivated in Portugal, not only for its fruit, but also for applications in the area of cosmetics and health, I believe.

Stamps left to right:

Gerberas are very beautiful members of the Asteraceae family. Being native to South America, Africa, Madagascar and Tropical Asia, they are today cultivated as cut flowers in many countries, mine included, cultivars now exceeding 80 varieties, I believe.

On 05FEB2013 Israel post issued a souvenir sheet with 10 stamps (2 strips of 5) featuring images of gerberas, from which the .20 shekel on my cover was taken. other denominations include are .30; .40; .50;.60 and 1 Shekel. Strangely enough, the date on the margin of the stamp reads 22.10.2012, which is probably the date of printing?

Cacti of Israel was the theme of the 5 se-tenant 2.5 Shekel stamp strip issued on 15FEB2022 from which the two cacti stamps on my cover were part. Illustrated on these two stamps are a Ferocactus (a gender that comprises more than 30 species) and the already mentioned Opuntia ficus-indica. The nice photos in the stamps highlight not only the general aspect of the cactus itself but also the beautiful flowers they produce.

The difficult to read postmark confirms that the letter was mailed in Tel-Aviv.

COVER N.140 - FRANCE.

Postmark: Bureau Philatélique Toulouse Capitole  08.07.22
Posted on the 8th July; received on the 13th July 2022
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Merci Marie-José for this cover with a very interesting stamp on it.

French engineer and avion pioneer Henri Marie Léonce Fabre (1882-1984) is credited with having designed and flown the first successful iteration of a full seaworthy flying machine, capable of taking-off and landing in a water surface. Although not initially referred to as such, his invention would go into history books as  le Hydravion, a word that to this day finds a place in many languages including mine, where sea operating aircraft, both float planes and flying boats alike, are generally referred to as hidro-aviões.

The first flight of his machine took place at the Etang de Berre, on 28 March 1910, following previous unsuccessful tries. The “canard” a name that acknowledged the configuration of the flying surfaces of the aircraft , (besides the main wing, canard aircraft have a forward mounted smaller wing meant to increase lift) was powered by a gnome Omega 50 hp rotary engine and measured 8,5 metres long, with a wingspan of 14 m, weighing in at 380 kg.

The aircraft crashed on 12 April 1911, while being flown at the Concours de Canots Automobiles de Monaco. Its remnants were recovered in 1922 and the restored aircraft is now on display at the Musée de l'air et de l'espace, at le Bourget, Paris.

Contrary to many other flight pioneers, Henri Fabre had a long life, a fact to which his having quit developing aircraft and concentrating in the development of floats for aircraft might  have had some positive influence 😊

The very beautiful 3€ stamp with the effigy of Henri Fabre and the image of his "Canard" taking off  in the background was issued on 27MAR2010, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first successful flight of a sea plane.

COVER N.139 - NEW ZELAND.

Postmark: Whanganui 16.05.22 NZ
Posted on the 16th May; received on the 13th July 2022
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If I were to drill a hole through the crust of the globe and follow right through to the other side, I'd be popping out at where this very beautiful cover came from: the antipodean New Zealand. Thank you so much Peter, not only for the nice cover, but also for the opportunity of adding such an interesting entry into my philatelic atlas.

I would love to visit New Zealand. It is a place which I associate with extreme scenic beauty and on top of it, it is, for the moment, led by a human being that has given the world a lesson on how to handle the aftermath of a hate  episode. If New Zealand is antipodean to me, Jacinda Ardern is antipodean to many politicians we know. My utmost respect to you Ms. Ardern.

Stamps left to right:

According to Wikipedia, 1.3% of the Population of New Zealand follows the Islam religion. Acknowledging this fact New Zealand Post has issued on 06APR2022 a beautiful commemorative issue comprising  four 1,5 NZ Dollar stamp (also issued in minisheet format) dedicated to Eid Mubarak. As far as I managed to grasp, Eid Mubarak are greetings that are expressed by the faithful during the Ramadan feast days. According to New Zealand Post website "These stamps feature "Eid Mubarak" (Eid Blessings) in Arabic calligraphy over the silhouette of a mosque, as well as the wording  “1443 AH” (the Islamic year) and "Eid Mubarak", followed by “New Zealand”.

Souvenir sheet containing six 45 Cent stamps issued on 16AUG1994, on the occasion of World Stamp Exhibition PHILAKOREA 1994

The stamps on this minisheet were also issued on the same date as a ten stamp double row five stamp se-tenant strip, dedicated to wild animals. Further to the tiger, panda, elephant, polar bear, giraffe and lion on the minisheet, the strip included stamps with images of an hippopotamus, spider monkey, rhino and zebra.

COVER N.138 - CHILE.

Postmark: Illegible
Posted on the 17th June; received on the 13th July 2022
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The Declaration of the Rights of the Child was first adopted by the League of Nations in 1924. In it, the ex-belligerent countries, in the wake of a war (that sadly would lead to another...) which brought unparalleled destruction and hardship, acknowledging that children are the most vulnerable of us all, but also those that will ensure the progress and future of mankind, postulated five simple  statements that, if abided to by all nations  would ensure  the protection and welfare of children across the planet.

The principles acknowledged in the Declaration (which would also be improved upon in the course of the years) would be later on  detailed by  the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1989.

This Convention sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. and came into force after ratification by the required number of UN member countries in 1990.

Although child abuse in all sorts of ways and matters is still one of the worst civilisational nightmares our species has to contend with, the ever greater scrutiny of international organisations, institutions and legislative bodies has ensured actual progress, even though regression is always at the corner of a new war, socio-economic or/and ideo-political crisis.

Chile ratified the  International Convention on the Rights of the Child on  13 August 1990. 

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the ratification, the postal administration of Chile issued on 13SEP2017 a stamp emission comprising a two 500 Peso stamp se-tenant pair and a souvenir sheet with a 1,500 Pesos stamp, the one that graces the nice cover I received  on my letterbox. 

The white legends on the sids of the sheet read childres (male and female) and young people are subjects of rights.

On upper left corner of the sheet there's also this nice slogan: 25 years past the Convention on the Rights of the Child, its up to us, adults, to grow up.

Thank you so much for the nice cover, Jindrich.

COVER N.137 - INDONESIA.

Postmark: Malangselatan 02.02.2022
Posted on the 2nd February; received on the 8th July 2022
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There was a time when hearing about Indonesia would almost always spark in the minds of  the Portuguese  a feeling of discomfort, of mute despair, even though both our  countries stand almost opposite to each other on the circumference of the globe.

and what for...

Today East Timor free from the colonial grasp of both Portugal and Indonesia is slowly  making its way through the grand concert of nations and Indonesia and Portugal are strengthening the bonds of a relation that is 500 hundred years old and that has left its imprint in the form of some words in the Bahasa Indonesia language and also in Indonesian music as I learned the other day on watching a documentary on the Portuguese origins of the Kroncong a direct descendant of the Cavaquinho, just like the Hawayn Ukelele.

Conflicts can be solved. they always are because no conflict can last forever. Humanity, who is well aware of this simple fact (all it takes is opening any history book....) has failed immensely over the years.. and is still failing....

To err is human; persisting in the same error, is not; it is exactly the opposite, and yet, like donkeys, some keep on putting bombs ahead of words ...

 

What a great pleasure it was  to receive a cover from Indonesia! Thank you Irene, I truly appreciated it.

 Stamps, Lef to right:

3,000 Rupiah stamp part of a se-tenant three stamp set dedicated to the fauna of Indonesia, issued on 05NOV2019. The stamp is illustrated with a image of a Stiphodon annieae, a freshwater goby that is endemic to Halmahera, Indonesia, and many fish tanks around the globe, I presume :-).

Souvenir sheet with two 2,500 Rupiah stamps highlighting fauna and flora species endemic to Indonesia, issued on 30NOV2006, on the occasion of the Bandung 06 National Philatelic Exhibition.

The beautiful images on the stamps call on our attention to the Javan Leopard,  Panthera pardus melas, a species that is listed as endangered in the IUCN red list and the Gandaria (Boueha macrophylla) a species of mango endemic to Indonesia and Burma.

The Postmark indicates  Malang in the Island of Java,  as the place of expedition of this nice cover.

POSTCARD N.87 - RUSSIA

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 15th June; received on the 7th July

Postcard image: View of the Neva, Nikolayevsky Bridge and the Nikolayevskaya Embankment, 1910s 

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Saint Petersburg... the cultural fulcrum of an immense country led by a man who thinks he's the reincarnation of the Tsar who established it...  I wouldn't be surprised if one day we would find a  Vladimirograd in the map.... 

Meanwhile let's take a look at what Saint Petersburg looked like when the Romanov were still ruling the country, back in 1910, in this beautiful postcard I got from Oleg. Many thanks Oleg.

One of the key features in the photo are the arches of a bridge connecting the two banks of the Neva. This, I read, was the first permanent bridge over the river in Saint Petersburg and when it was inaugurated in 1850 it was christened as the Nevsky bridge, only to have its name changed five years later to Nikolaevsky bridge thus honouring Tsar Nikolai I, who died that same year. 

But bridges do last longer than men (if men do not send a rocket do destroy them, as it is so common nowadays, about 1,000 km south of Saint Petersburg) and the bridge was again redenominated Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge, after one of the leaders of the Russian Imperial Navy uprising of 1905 in Sevastopol. (Battleship Potemkin, anyone?)

The end of the story? Not at all. In 2007, it was probably felt that Liutenant Schmidt had gone through all of his airtime and so a new name plaque was unveiled, this time indicating  the bridge would  thenceforth be known as the Annunciation Bridge (could it be a reflexion of the ever growing proximity between church and state, in a country that was once known for  advocating that  religion was the opium of the people?)

The monumental dome of St. Isaac Cathedral  towers up above the line of the horizon while in front of it the buildings of the huge complex of the Admiralty can also be perceived with the Hermitage (oh sigh.... when will I?...) right to its side... out of the photo,  but just a couple of blocks across the bridge one will find Marinsky Theatre....

On the foreground we have what is now Lieutenant Schmidt embankment where trams and carriages whiz down the rails and the wide spacious streets....

´´

Stamps Left to right:

Self-adhesive  4 Ruble stamp, part of the 7th definitive issue of the Russian Federation, started in 2019. It exhibits the State Postal Administration Emblem and was issued on 07AUG2019.

I like transport machines, especially aircraft. Not just for their functional purpose. In fact it is the plastic quality of the machines that I admire the most, I do believe. The same happens with ships, cars, trams and of course trains. All of them beautiful machines and  infinite sources of bewildrement for  those like me that like to go calmly through transport and aviation museums.

Stamps can fulfil the role of a museum admirably, I find. Well drawn  detailed images of trains such as the ones on the card Oleg sent me are proof of this.

It just took a quick search on the internet to find examples of locomotives that could be the steam loco on the left side stamp of the se-tenant 27 Ruble denominated pair issued on 02AUG2021, dedicated to Russia's  trains. investigating a bit further I came to the conclusion that it represents the Ruskeala express, a tourist oriented train that runs from  Sortavala to the Ruskeala Mountain Park  in the Karelia region. 

The train on the right is a modern Russian Railways Double-Deck Business Class and Sleeping Car.

The postmark lets us know that the postcard was mailed from the city of Vologda, in the Northwest of Russia.

COVER N.134 /135 /136 - MONACO.

Postmark: Monte Carlo Pté. de Monaco 04.07.2022 / Principauté du Monaco Paris Philex 23-26 Juin 2022
Posted on the 4th July; received on the 7th July 2022
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In one of the first entries I appended to the "Musings" section of this humble blog, I wrote that from all the catalogue of human qualities, generosity is probably the one that has me wondering the most. Do unto others like you'd want the other to do unto you... but... would I rise to the occasion? would it  happen, if it would be me?

Of course everyone has it reasons, possibilities, capabilities but the simple act of giving, in exchange for nothing other than a simple, frank, heartfelt "Thank you" is, more than a uncommon gesture, an act of grandeur.

Merci énormément, Pierre. 

Pierre sent me no less than 3 C5 envelopes full of goodies, exhibiting each one amazingly beautiful (and equaly expensive) stamps on them, posted, I am led to think, from a Philatelic exhibition held in Paris - Philex 22, which was held between 23 and 26 June at the "Parc des Expositions de Paris de la Porte de Versailles", hence the beautiful commemorative Postmark with the a Parisian lamppost and the silhouette of the Tour Eifel in  the distance, on the envelopes.

#134 - Stamps, left to right:

10 Franc stamp, issued on 06MAY1998,  celebrating the centenary of the death of Charles Garnier, the architect that rose to fame by conceiving the project for the place where Serge Regianni  is his fabulous "Le barbier de Belleville" said he sadly would never be able to sing: la salle Garnier, or the monumental Paris Opera.

5 Franc stamp, issued on 03MAR1998, commemorative of the 50th anniversary of the Monaco Red Cross. established on the 3rd March 1948 by Prince Louis II, the grandfather of Prince Rainier III

#135 - Stamps, Left to Right:

3,80 Franc stamp issued on 28NOV1997, in taglio printed, celebrating the centenary of the birth of Princess Charlotte, the mother of Prince Rainier III.

The Circus festival of Monte Carlo, held each year in January is a long tradition that dates back to 1974. With its creation, Prince Rainier sought  to promote a form of art that often does not get the attention it deserves. 

The 3 Franc stamp celebrating the 1998 edition (its 22nd) of the Festival International du Cirque de Monte Carlo was issued on 30NOV1997.

Joseph Kessel (1898-1979) was a man of many trades. An aviator on both world wars, he would become famous for his literary work and for being the co-translator (with his nephew) of the celebrated Chant des Partisans, from the Russian Original. One of his most famous novels was "Belle de jour" which Luis Buñuel would direct in film form with a very young and beautiful Catherine Deneuve in the main role.

The beautiful in taglio printed 3.90 Franc stamp celebrating the centenary of his birth was issued on 06MAY1998.

Also the brainchild of Prince Rainier III, the Festival de Télévision de Monte Carlo was first organised in 1961, with a view to developing a form of communication  and art dissemination whose importance was  perceived from the moment the first experimental signal emissions took place.

The 4.5 Franc stamp celebrating the 38th edition of the festival was issued on 04FEV1998.

#136 - Stamps, Left to Right:

Prince Albert I (1848 - 1922) was a sea lover. So much so that he devoted much of his life to the study of the seas and their interaction with humans and other animals alike. He was also  friends with one like minded monarch - D. Carlos I - that ruled Portugal until being  killed by gun shot in 1908, two years before the eventual fall of the monarchy in my own country.

Both of them would satiate their scientific desire with expeditions aboard their Royal yachts, the Hirondelle and the D. Amélia, producing an investigation corpus whose value was well recognised by the scientific community. Both would also create museums dedicated to their love of all things sea, the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco and the  Aquário Vasco da Gama in Algés, Portugal.

The very beautiful in taglio printed stamp with the effigy of Prince Albert I as the monarch progressed through the years and a face value of 7 Franc was issued on 06May1998, celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth.

The 8 Franc stamp is part of a 2 stamp set, with facial values of 8 and 9 Monegasque Francs issued on 08SEP1997, dedicated to Great Paintings and Painters, It depicts a portrait of François Grimaldi, a name that is associated with the rulling family, although not by direct descendant line., by Ernando Venazi, a contemporary painter born in 1948. The companion stamp on the set is illustrated with an image of  "Peter and Paul" by the Dutch Peter Paul Rubens.

POSTCARD N.86 - CHINA

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 15th May; received on the 4th July

Postcard image: Blue Cat on tyhe Great Wall of China by Rina Zeniuk 

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Thanks a lot Tou. For once I wish I were a cat, and  a blue one, for that matter!

The great wall is so iconic that i'm sure everyone  dreams of getting to visit once... well, so do I. I'm sure that somewhere along its 21,200 km there must be a spot without the pressure and the hustle and bustle of  the usual selfie loving crowds for an elusive cat like me to enjoy and contemplate 😀.

Stamps, left to right

Popocatépetl (what  aptly translates from the original Nahuatl language into something like the smoky mountain) is the most famous Mexican volcano. With the mouth of its crater standing at 5,426 meters of altitude, it is a very active volcano, its last  eruption having occurred in 2020.

On 22NOV2007 its picture was chosen to ornate one of the two stamps of a joint People's Republic of China  - Mexico issue, both stamps having the same value (1,20 renminbi yuan), highlighting well known mountains  of both countries. The Chinese couterpart was Mount  Gongga, the highest mountain  in the Sichuan province, 7,556 meters high, ranking as the 41st highest peak in the world.

1.20 renminbi yuan issued on 18JUL2015, as part of a three stamp set (1x 80 renminbi fēn + 2 x 1,20 renminbi yuan) celebrating  Mount Qingyuan National Park famed for its granite sculptures and stone inscriptions. On my beautifully drawn stamp one of the most famous sculptures takes centre stage, that of Taoist philosopher and writer Laozi, 

1.20 renminbi yuan stamp part of a five  same face value stamp  set issued on 29NJUL2019 honouring Chinese National Heroes of Modern Times, featuring the image of  Lin Zexu (1785 - 1850) who would become famous for his stern proactive advocacy  of the end to the opium trade,  that would lead to the First Opium War with the British.

The nicely printed postmarks although very clean are unfortunately unreadable for me for obvious reasons...

COVER N.133 - TAIWAN.

Postmark: Illegible
Posted on the ?; received on the 6th July 2022
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The red panda (Ailurus fulgens). No, it has nothing to do with the other one, the black and white king of cuteness, apart from also being listed as endangered in the red list of endangered species of the IUCN. In fact, to my eye, it looks a lot like a red haired racoon and upon consulting wikipedia, I confirmed my suspicions, since both are genetically related.

Thank you so much Maurice for this nice cover with four stamps that prove that even if not as famous as the B&W giant, Mr. red panda here also rates high in the cuteness department.

The red panda  is present in a long strip of land along the Himalayan range in Nepal, India, Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar and China. Being an animal of nocturnal habits, it feeds primarily on an herbivore diet, bamboo being its favourite "dish", but it wont say no to a bird or small mammal for desert...

The four stamps on the cover, 2 x  5  NT$ - Taiwanese New Dollar + 2x 10 NT$, were issued as a set on 25APR2007.  The emission also comprised a souvenir sheet with a 12 NT$ stamp, equally featuring a photo of  red pandas.

COVER N.132 - GERMANY.

Postmark: EXPHIMO '22 - Int. Philatelischer Salon Bad Mondorf, Luxemburg 4. bis 6. Juni
Posted on the 4th June; received on the 7th July 2022
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Thank you Andreas for this cover that  shows that a postmark can really make a difference 😀

I had already received a cover from Andreas with the same set of nice stamps, but with a different commemorative postmark, so this one makes another nice addition to the collection.

Since the philatelic exhibition that the postmark celebrates was held in Luxembourg, I suspect that that Deutsche post was also present at the event and that the postmark was applied to mail sent through the their services.

Credit: Deutsche Post

It would be logic if the image in the postmark was the logo of the Salon, but I am not sure of this and   I have a hard time deciphering it. I see a rat who seems to have another animal on his lap (a lion? a hare?). help, anyone?

 

The two stamps used are part of a series that began in 2014 dedicated to "Baby animals", the 80 cent stamp with the image of a baby otter (Lutra lutra) was issued on 03SEP2020. 

The European otter has a very wide distribution and it can be found from Ireland and my own country, Portugal,  to Japan, and from as far North as Finland to Indonesia on Southeast Asia. It has a lifespan of 6 to 8 years and it has a Near Threatened global conservation status.

The 60 cent stamp featuring the photograph of a baby hamster (Cricetus cricetus) is half of this year's emission of the series (the other stamp presenting the photo of an Alpine Ibex) at it was issued on 10JUN2021.

The European Hamster is now considered to be Critically Endangered as far as its global conservation status is concerned, with populations dwindling due to habitat loss and hunting for fur collection.  According to Wikipedia it  can be found in  Belgium and Alsace in the west, to Russia in the east, and Bulgaria in the south. It has a lifespan of up to 8 years.

Of note is the fact that the 2021 stamp is already fitted with the special code that allows tracking of the letter it has been used on.

COVER N.131 - GERMANY.

Postmark: Florstadt 1 28.06.22
Posted on the 28th June; received on the  4th July 2022
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Ludwig van Beethoven. What could be said that hasn't been yet? The man, the tragedy, the geniality, the irrevocable place in the pantheon of Man's finest achievements,..

As I type, Youtube offers me in the background, as a soothing counterpoint to the syncopated click clack of the keyboard, the supreme joy of Ludwig's sixth, directed by the also supernatural Bernstein.

I chose it because as far as I remember, the first movement of the sixth symphony was my first introduction to Beethoven (well, the 4th movement of the 9th, doesn't count, right?)  as the magnificent sounds meant to  "awake cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country" - as Ludwig himself wrote in the original score as an indication of the purpose  of all the beauty spread over the dense pentagram lines - floated in my living room where the old turntable played a Readers Digest long play vinyl record with an introduction to classical music...

I was probably 13 or 14 years old, and I was starting to discover that classical music was not only a pretext for old people dressed in rather unconformable and exceedingly formal attire to go to a concert hall to hear long boring  pieces played by boring musicians.  Unsuspectedly, those lyric and pastoral - yes there is no better word to describe them - first bars were carving in my brain cells a need for discovery that would lead me, in time, to being one of those older people that would happily go to concert halls to hear those long "boring" pieces, although I managed to skip the formal attire part.

In time, I would even have the immense pleasure of adding my voice to  a bunch of others much better than mine to praise "Joy, beautiful spark of  Divinity, Daughter of Elysium..." something that the 13 years old kid that once out of curiosity placed  a Readers Digest record on a turntable at home would have never dreamed of.... (yes, that's me, and quite a bunch of others in the choir....)

Thank you so much for the beautiful Beethoven cover,  Peter  , I really appreciated it!

Beethoven lived between 1770 and 1827. One cannot help but wonder how many more sublime pieces would have been written if.... but  we, Humanity, are so lucky to have all he left that asking for more would be pure gluttony, and this, we all know, is a deadly sin...:-)

To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of the  author of what has become the European Union hymn, several postal administrations (not only European) have issued commemorative stamp emissions (and I'm pleased to acknowledge that Portugal also joined the chorus).

On 02JAN2020 Deutsche Post issued its homage to Beethoven in the form of a single 0,80 € stamp, also issued in souvenir sheet form, both of which can be seen on the cover.

 

the 0.10€ stamp comes from the "flowers" series initiated in 2005. It was issued on 08JUN2017 and it depicts a Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis).

COVER N.130 - FRANCE.

Postmark: Centenaire de la découverte du tombeau de Toutânkhamon - 1er Jour 23.06.22 Paris
Posted on the 23rd June; received on the 1st July 2022
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Tutankhamun... one of the precious memories I have of my childhood was the hours I spent going through the pages of my father's "National Geographic" and "Science et Vie" magazines. I could not speak the languages, but there were photos, good ones, and I was the curious kind so I would  ask my father who would, to the best of his ability and knowledge, explain to me what I was marvelling about.

On one of those National Geographic issues there was an article with photos of the famous golden death mask and of the golden sarcophagus of the pharaoh and I was immediately grabbed  by  the story behind it. Especially by the fabled Tutankhamun's Curse. Science would of course prove it to be but bollocks, but to my 6 or 7 years old mind this was the type of thing that would generate the sort of enthusiasm that adults dread to see growing on children for fear they won't talk about anything else for quite a spell.😀 I guess I did have what it would take to be a young Indiana Jones, but my father was not an University teacher, and his family name was Soares, not Jones...😀

Anyway, the current year marks the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by the British Archaeologist Howard Carter, on commission by George Herbert, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who, in 1914, had come in the possession of the rights to excavate at the Valley of Kings. Aside from this one, the Earl was a man of many other possessions (the most precious of them all being his wife, who was endowed with what I would term as illimited financial security), and if any doubts there could be, sufice would be to say that he was the owner of the "little house on the prairie" where the mega hit series "Downtown Abbey" was filmed. Therefore, in this state of affairs money to finance the exploration of the valley would not be a problem and Carter and the rest of the team would persist in trying to find the coveted tomb. Unfortunately, the first World war would interrupt the archaeological work but at long last, in November 1922, Carter was finally successful in finding Pharaoh Tutankhamun burial chamber, which he would open to find the famous treasure (and be exposed to the no less famous curse 😀) in February 1923.

Thank you so much Pierre for this very beautiful First Day Cover, and for the memories it triggered...

Celebrating the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb, La Poste has issued this magnificent stamp with the image of the Pharaoh's death mask, lavishly encased in a golden (what other colour could have been used????)  frame of legends, reading "1922-2022 - Centenaire de la découverte du Tombeau de  Toutânkhamon" and which also includes the denomination (1,65 €) and the country of issuance - France.

The first day postmark repeats the legend and the motif on the stamp.