COVER N. 279 - CROATIA

Postmark: Hrvatska Posta P1405  03.07.2023 

Posted on the 3rd July; Received on the 11th July 2023

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A distinctive feature of cover collecting is the fact that one can count on the help of friends and relatives to increase one's collection, given that a visit to a post office while abroad is not, most of the times, something that will either take too much time or be in any other way too inconvenient..

So, whenever I get the chance within my family nucleus, I always pester wife and daughters, begging for their help.

My wife went to Croatia some time ago for professional reasons, so I immediately prepared a cover and asked her to pass by the post office if she had the time.

Unfortunately, she didn't, but she passed my request to a kind colleague of hers, who went through the trouble of buying the stamps and posting the envelope. I could not be more thankful for such a nice and generous gesture. 

Thanks a lot, Andrea!

The Croatian war of Independence, which marked the beginning of the several secessionist conflicts that would bring about the need to revise the Balkanic atlas after a decade of brewing up in Yugoslavia after Tito's death, took place between 1991 and 1995.

The conflict opposed Croatian units to the Yugoslav army and local Serb forces, and besides causing an estimated 20.000 military dead on both sides,  was also at the root of the displacement of several thousand civilians. The former opponents are now at peace, but as usual with wars, and particularly civil wars, the ugly scars that were left will take time to fully heal...

Honouring the Croat forces that participated in the conflict, Hrvastka Post issued between 2017 and 2020 a series of stamps evocative of the involved Croat units, decorated with the badges of the pertinent unit against a camouflaged "fabric" background.

On my cover Andrea used one such stamp from the 2020 issue - which comprised four 8,60 Kuna stamps and began to circulate on 11MAR2020 -  dedicated to the 5th Guards Brigade - Sokolovi, The Falcons, I believe.

Andrea completed the postage with a 0,56 € label, on which the place of expedition - Zlatar Bistrica, is clearly identifiable, thus adding to the cover another interesting element as two currencies were used on the same postal object.

As a side note, this year I'm planning to finally bring to life a project that has been with me for decades. That is, to walk the Portuguese Coastal Caminho de Santiago between Porto and the Praza do Obradoiro, in Santiago.

Knowing this, and having been at a church which is in the Santiago way that runs through Croatia (something I didn't even know it existed), my wife had the back of the envelope stampmarked with the church stamp, another great touch to the cover! Thanks Francisca!