POSTCARD N.112 - KYRGYZTAN

Postcard sent on the 10th September; received on the 24th September 2023

Postcard image: A Yurt in Kyrgyztan  
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While on his recent foray into "Stan" countries, The Ghost Who Walks  not only generously sent me some covers, but he also sent me this nice postcard of a Kyrgyzstani yurt in a clearing in some local forest. Thank a lot, Mr. Phantom.

Strange to see a yurt amidst trees. I thing that our collective imagination usually associates yurts with the deserted vastness of Mongolia, but in fact it is also used by several nomadic populations in central Asia, in the "stan" countries, such as in Kyrgyzstan, as the postcard illustrates.

The stamp on the card is really curious. In fact, postage is ensured by means of a 57 som label, and onto it Alex glued a vignette, without any face value, but clearly resembling a stamp, illustrated with the image of a mountain sheep, the Argali (ovis ammon), a highly menaced species, endemic to the mountains of central Asia.

The Postmark of the  Kyrgyz Pochtasy SE - one of the two postal operator of Kyrgyztan - was issued at the town of Cholpon Ata.

COVER N. 320 - FRANCE

Postmark: Bicentenaire du Rugby à XV  - !er Jour - 69 Lyon - 06.09.2023

Posted on the 6th September; received on the 24th September 2023

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France hosted the 10th Rugby World Cup which has come to an end last Saturday with South-Africa's Springboks once again showing that it takes more than a great haka to win a game, after beating New Zealand's All Blacks, although for the least marginal differece: 12-11.

Now I know as much about rugby's or football's history as I know about the The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, so I, as usual, perused the most readily available reference these days - Wikipedia - and read the Portuguese article on the subject which states  that the founding event for Rugby, dating back to 1823 is but a myth.

According to it, a certain William Webb Wellis, who was a student at Rugby School, Warwickshire, while engaged in a football match, decided to take the ball in his hands and run to the goal line, thus setting the habit for all the well nurtured bodies we now try to see replicating it...

Intrigued by this, I also checked one of the several English language entries which do not even mention this story and clearly states that "Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845".

Anyway, what seems to be certain is that Rugby started in Rugby and that football and rugby are close relatives.

Back to the World Cup and to the nice FDC which is now in my collection thanks to Eric, a qui je remercie.

The 10th Rugby World Cup took place in France from the 8th September to the 28th October 23 and although the stamp on the cover makes no mention to it, I suppose La Poste issuing it cannot be dissociated from this fact, which, coincidentally, occurred in the same year that Rugby Union is celebrating its 200th anniversary , if we abide by the founding myth I referred to above.

So, on the first day of the tournament 08SEP2023, La Poste issued the single 1,80€ stamp celebrating the 200 years of Rugby Union, in its most common version, which is played by teams of 15 players (there is also a seven players version), which can be seen on the cover, postmarked with the First day of issue mark, issued at the city of Lyon.

COVER N. 319 - SLOVAKIA

Postmark: Martin Činovský  Magister čiar - Banská Bystrica 1 20.07.2023 / 96611 Trnavá Hora 19.09.2023

Posted on the 19th September; received on the 24th September 2023

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Engravers... in their eyes, hands and tools, all equally sharp, lies the responsibility of transferring into the tiny surface of a stamp a work of art.

A singular - in both acceptions of the word - job, calling on concentration, talent and  skill, in order to perform, much like a surgeon does on our bodies,  delicate operations on a sheet of metal, so that we can later enjoy the beauty of  a mirrored image finally printed onto a little piece of paper, so humble that we aren't even afraid of considering it disrespectful to lick its back and paste it onto an envelope.

Often they are also illustrators, painters, graphic artists. But most of all their are  Masters of Lines, Magisteri čiar, in Slovak. 

Much like Martin Činovský, to whom the exhibition thus entitled that ran in Banská Bystrica from 20.7 to the day before yesterday, the past 26th, was dedicated, and whose commemorative postmark features on the cover, for which I heartedly thank Michal.

Martin Činovský was born in 1953 in Levoča, in what was then Czechoslovakia and is now Slovakia. Educated in arts in his home country, he further pursued his studies in France at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, where he specialised in stamp design.

His were the first Slovak stamps after the independence of the country, as well as a further 150 stamps he produced, either as the stamp designer or engraver or both, over the following years unto the present. The outstanding quality of his work is well acknowledged internationally and in 2011, one of his engraving works  - the miniature sheet celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the Žilina Synod, issued in 2010 - was considered to be the most beautiful European stamp of the year.

 I, being new to the hobby, was not aware of his name or of his work, but the quality of engraved Slovak stamps is something that has caught my eye a number of times...

The two stamps on the cover, though, are not produced from engraved masters, but are either offset (on the left corner), or offset and serigraphed (on the the right corner).

Left:

As well as a gifted painter, Peter Michal Bohúň (1822 – 1879) was an ardent defender of Slovak autonomy, as proved by his active participation in the Slovak uprising of 1848, which aimed at improving the national standing of Slovaks within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 

As an artist he would become known for portrait works, although he also painted landscapes and religious scenes, such as the one from which the detail on the stamp issued by Slovak Post in celebration of the 200th anniversary of his birth was taken, and transferred to a 0,65€ stamp, issued on my own birthday :-) 04MAR2022. 

Right:

Hiking as an organised sport in Slovakia goes back to the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when the Hungarian Carpathian Association (UKS) was founded in Kežmarok (Slovakia). on 8th August 1873.

Its present day successor, The Slovak Tourist Club, carries on the flag of promoting Hiking, either by forming instructors of by representing the interests of hikers or by establishing and marking new hiking itineraries.

The 150th Anniversary of Organised Hiking Trips in Slovakia was celebrated by the Slovak Post with a T2 tariff (0,90 €) stamp issued on 14JUL2023, illustrated with a classic image of a Hiking route marking on the trunk of a tree.

The regular postmark on the cover was issued at Trnavá Hora, a town in the Banská Bystrica in the centre-west of Slovakia.

COVER N. 318 - MONACO

Postmark: Monte-Carlo PTE de Monaco 16.09.2023

Posted on the 16th September; received on the 24th September 2023

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The first rains are in, relative humidity has been high lately too, on top of that air temperature is still far from recommending the use of a warm woollen sweater at all times... soon the ground of the pine woods not far from my place where I so often go to spend some time walking and photographing will begin to be dotted here and there with tiny (and not so tiny) circles of sundry colours... it's autumn and mushrooms are here again....

…And not only on the ground, since it seems The Phantom has been picking them up on that tiny country in the Mediterranean coast, famous for car racing and gossip on the life and times of its ruling family...

Thanks a bunch, Alex. Great Cover with great stamps!

The Parc National du Mercantour was established in 1979, occupying 679 Km2 in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes departments in the Southwest of France, near Nice and, consequently, just a mere 50 km away, as the bird flies, from the Principality of Monaco.

On 26MAY1988, La Poste Monaco issued the six stamp set dedicated to mushrooms from Mercantour's National Park which was used on the cover.

The beautiful illustrations on the stamps depict, from left to right:

Pholiota flammans, a golden yellow and scaly member of the Strophariaceae family in the Agaricales order, it is associated with deciduous conifer trees. Although not poisonous it is not considered as edible.

Lactarius lignyotus, a brownish member of the Russulaceae family, in the Russulasales order, also associated with coniferous trees. Suspected poisonous.

Cortinarus traganus, a lilac or brownish member of the Cortinariaceae family, in the Agaricales order. Again it is associated with coniferous trees and it is mildly poisonous.

Russula Olivacea, yellowish-olive to rusty brown edible mushroom,  it is a member of the Russulaceae family, in the Russulasales order, and is found in deciduous and conifer trees.

Hygrocybe punicea, the crimson waxcap, a deep red member of the Hygrophoraceae family in the Agaricales order, which is known to be consumed, although there are reports of it causing unpleasant stomach upsets. Can be found on cropped grassland.

Leccinum rotundifolie, a light hazelnut coloured boletus, whose cap is cream to brown when young and pale white when old. A member of the Boletaceae family in the Boletales order. Edible.

The stamps were postmarked at Monaco's capital, Monte-Carlo.

COVER N. 317 - SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P.O. Colombo - Mail - 04.09.2023

Posted on the 4th September; received on the 22nd September 2023

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Beautiful animal  illustrations on a cover laden with stamps. Thanks a lot Ravindra.

- As I understand it, in 1961, Sri Lanka iniiated a vast development project centered on the Mahaweli river with a view to establish controlled irrigation areas and hydroelectric power generating facilities, thus allowing for the settlement of populations in the area. The project would affect an area of 365,000 ha and so compensation measures had to be taken, the creation of five national parks to protect impacted fauna and flora having been considered.

Wasgamuwa National Park, establkished in 1984, famous for its elephant population, located in the centre of the country,  is one of those parks and on  05OCT2029, Sri Lanka Post issued a set of 6 souvenir sheets with one stamp each dedicated to the  animals of the park.

Five of these stamps ( 2x 12; 15; 2x45 rupees) can be seen on the cover, the beautiful illustrations depicting a butterfly, the five-bar swordtail (Graphium antiphates ceylonicus); a lizzard, the painted-tipped lizard (Calotes ceylonensis - endemic to Sri Lanka); a fresh water fish the SriLlanka Combtail (Belontia signata - endemic to Sri Lanka); the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) and a bird, the Sri Lanka red faced Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus - endemic to Sri Lanka).

The stamp missing from the set on the cover is dedicated to the Sri Lanka Purple faced Langur (Trachypithecus vetulus), a primate species also endemic to the country.

- the 15 rupee circular stamp was issued by Sri Lanka Post in commemoration of World Post Day of 2021, celebrated each year on the 9th October, precisely the day of issuance of the stamp.

The Madu Ganga Wetland is formed by the Madu Ganga lake and the Randombe Lake which are interconnected by two narrow channels, according to the potted article on Wikipedia. Quoting direct: "It has a high ecological, biological and aesthetic significance, being home to approximately 303 species of plants belonging to 95 families and to 248 species of vertebrate animals. The inhabitants of its islets produce peeled cinnamon and cinnamon oil".

It was declared a Ramsar wetland in 2003.

On 02FV2009 Sri Lanka Post issued a two stamp set (5 and 25 Ruppees) dedicated to the Madu Ganga Wetland. The 5 rupee stamp is illustrated with an image of a Lumnitzera littorea  mangrove.

COVER N. 316 - ANGUILLA

Postmark: Anguilla Post Offfice The Valley

Posted on ?; Received on the 24th September 2023

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A blue cover with the red and blue stripes of the old airmail envelopes... great; and, on top of that, full of stamps,,,, and on top of that from Anguilla???? now where is that?

Hmmm, the monogram of Queen Elizabeth II... so Anguilla is a British dependency... and yes, the Caribbean ... the lesser Antilles... a multitude of islands, which in some cases are independent countries but of which  a large number are European and American dependencies, most of them ressonating to a common history rooted in colonisation, slavery, sugar plantations, hurricanes, and more recently tourism, and offshore financial services linked to their  peculiar tax regimes...

That and Christopher Columbus. Everywhere we look in the Caribbean it seems a link to the man somehow exists. I shouldn't be surprised, though, because much the same thing happens here, where I stand. I have been in Columbus' house in Porto Santo, I have been to Anjos bay, in Santa Maria, Azores, where he was upon his returning from his first journey to the Americas... there is even the theory that the explorer was indeed Portuguese by birth...

Anyway, I digress. The link to Anguilla lies in the name itself, since it seems it is common belief that it was Columbus who so named the island, due to its shape, reminiscent of an eel (anguilla, in Italian or anguila in Spanish).

All things considered, I was very happy to get this cover from one of the "unusual places" regular contributors, none other than Eric from up north. Muito obrigado, Eric. Um abraço!

 

Stamps, left to right:

Diana and Charles, now Charles Rex. The fairy tale that went bad... On the occasion of the royal wedding, a set of five stamps and a souvenir sheet were issued on 15Jun1981. The lesser value stamp of the set (50 c) is on the cover and, further to the royal couple, it features an image of St. Paul's cathedral, where the wedding took place. The stamp includes on the top right corner the monogram of Queen Elizabeth II and opposite to it, on the left, what I believe is called the Prince of Wales (Charles, at the time) feather's.

On 08DEC1975, the Anguilla Postal Service issued a six stamp souvenir sheet  entitled "Madonna", as its Christmas issue, with stamps reproducing paintings of the Virgin holding her Holly Child. On the cover is the 20 cent stamp, featuring a detail of the painting Madonna and the Iris (Virgin and Child), dated of 1510-10, which is labelled as being an Albrecht Durer's painting, although the British National Gallery, where the painting is kept,  claims it to be authored not by Durer himself but by a painter from his workshop.

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first successful manned journey to the moon, Anguilla issued on 06MAY1999 a set of  four stamps (0,30; 1; 1,5; 1,90 Eastern Caribbean Dollars) dedicated to the event. The 30 cent stamp on the cover is illustrated with a great  image of the Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 11 modules on lift-off. a black and white medallion on the painting shows the command service module orbiting the moon.

On 30OCT1972, Anguilla issued a set of definitive stamps comprising 15 values. On 10FEB1976, these were reissued with the overcharge "New Constitution 1976", celebrating the entry into force of the 1976 revision of the fundamental charter of the territory (which has since then been replaced by a new one in 1982 (amended in 1990 and 2019).

The 40 c stamp is illustrated with an image evocative of boat building, an activity which is naturally carried out on the island, given that fishing is one of the main occupations of the population.

The 1970 Anguillan Christmas issue was, as usual,  illustrated with reproductions of famous works of the great masters. It comprised five values (1; 20; 25; 40 and 50 cents) and the highest value stamp on the cover features a detail of "Adoration of the Magi" by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, dating from the late 1750s, which is kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the world famous Met, in New York.

The cover is postmarked from the territory's capital, The Valley, although the actual postmark features no date on it.

COVER N. 315 - FRANCE - WALLIS ET FUTUNA

Postmark: Mata-Utu Wallis et Futuna  04.09.2023

Posted on the 4th September; Received on the 24th September 2023

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Stamps and letters really know no boundaries, and that's a great part of the enchantment they carry. I would never expect that my first cover from such an unusual place as the French Overseas Territory of Wallis et Futuna right in the middle of the Polynesian South-Pacific, would carry on its back a Polish address, but that is so and I can't say how thankful I am to Roman for this.  Dziękuję bardzo, Roman!

Wallis et Futuna have been under French Administration since 1888, following an agreement with the kings of the three kingdoms into which the islands were divided, which put an end to the conflict between the French missionaries that first set foot on the territory in 1837 and the local populations... At first the colony was administratively integrated into the colony of Nouvelle Caleonie, but from 1961 on, the islands were awarded individual administrative status, being thenceforth classified as a French Overseas Territory.

Today, further to the French High Administrator, appointed by the French Government, local populations have their say through the election of their representatives for the Territorial Assembly. A Territorial Council integrating the three kings (kingdoms of Uvea, Alo and Sigave) and  three other members appointed by the high-representative on the advice of the Territorial Assembly is also part of the Administrative structure of the territory.

Total population on the Islands was 11,558 in 2018 and the economy rests heavily on Agriculture and Fishing.

The first stamp on the cover was issued on 17OCT2019, in remembrance of the 180th anniversary of the last territorial battle fought between the local kingdoms, of Sigave and Alo in the island of Futuna in 1939.

As I understand King Vanai (on the stamp illustration)  was the leader of the Sigave forces but he  would be killed during the  battle.

Of note is the fact that both adversaries were armed with firearms which had been bought from an Australian merchant ship in trade for pigs...

The second stamp was issued on 25JAN2020, celebrating the Chinese new year for 2022, the year of the rat.

The postmark hails from the Islands capital Mata Utu on the island of  Wallis.

COVER N. 314 - FRANCE - DROM-COM - TAAF - TERRES AUSTRALES ET ANTARCTIQUES FRANÇAISES

Postmark: Port-aux-Français - Kerguelen T.A.A.F.  02.04.2023

Posted on the 2nd April; Received on the 23rd September 2023

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Another nice cover for which I have to thank Jean-Pierre. This time from Port-aux-Français, on the main island - Grande Terre - of the Kergulen archipelago, one of the four districts of the Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises.

Jean-Pierre was also very kind to use a beautiful aviation themed stamp on the cover, knowing my soft spot for all things that fly. Thanks a lot!

On the subject of the Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises I can't resist telling a story that happen to me just a week ago, on a weekend visit with my wife to the beautiful city of Nantes.

I had read that there was a Bureau Philatélique in the city's main Post Office and since I wanted to send a couple of covers an postcards and also to buy some TAAF stamps I went there, with this purpose in mind.

Unfortunately, just the day before in the wake of the outrageous attack in Israel by Hamas, there had  been a terrorist action in Arras with one unfortunate teacher having been stabbed to death  and three other persons having also been badly injured, 

This had brought increased security in public service buildings, so the entry to the post office was a bit crowded, with a gentleman there asking each person what they were there for. 

When my turn come, I told him I wanted to buy some stamps and so he directed me to a colleague in one of the counters.

"Good morning, I want to buy some stamps of the TAFF, Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises" said I to her in my best French, which was of course, less than optimal, since the kind young lady looked at me with what I would classify as a slightly awed expression...

"I am sorry, but we don’t have stamps from Australia here..."

"Sorry, it is not Australia, what I want are stamps from the TAFF, and again I  explained what the acronym stood for "les Terres Australes et Antarctiques...."

"Un moment s'il vous plait, je vais appeler un collègue..." and she took to the phone, but since she was quite close I overheard her part of the conversation...

"Hi, there's this gentleman here who wants to buy stamps from Australia,...."

Her colleague must have explained her what I was looking for, since she answered, "I see, ok, Thanks" and got back to me.

"Sorry, we don't have those, just regular issues".

Disappointed by the fact that I couldn't get my "Austral" stamps, I bought some Marcel Marceau stamps for the covers I wanted to send out and once glued I asked her to postmark them manually, to which she said, "well, of course", and proceeded to postmark the envelopes with a quite curious postmark, which hadn't any mention on it as to the place of dispatching.

The unusual postmark at Nantes Post Office, under a mechanical postmark that was also applied

I saw by the corner of my eye that the postmark on two of the envelopes was not even touching the stamp, and called her attention to it... "Please put the postmark on the stamps also, not only on the envelope."

"Don't worry, I just did" she answered me with a disarming smile signalling that our talk was over…. and so I gave up, comforted by the fact that I now knew that it was not only in my own country that my requests at some post offices for a manual postmark on the stamp and the cover  can be regarded as rather unusual...  😀

The main 1,16 € stamp on the cover, issued on 02JAN2023, is illustrated with a painting depicting a Potez 452 flying boat, in service with the colonial aviso ship Bougainville near the Kergulen Islands in 1939.

To complete postage a 50 cent stamp was used, this being part of a two 50 cent set also issued on 02JAN23, illustrated with images  of Afverdsonite crystal. Arfvedsonite Is a rather rare mineral, found in just a few places around the world (so I presume the Kergulen islands to be one of them), named after Johan August Arfwedson (1792–1841), the Swedish chemist who discovered lithium

A usual with TAAF covers, further to the Postmark identifying the place of dispatching – Port-aux-Français, there is another stampmark with the local coordinates, which of course also correspond to Port-aux-Français.

COVER N. 313 - UNESCO

Postmark: Premier Jour UNESCO Paris, 08.09.2023

Posted on the 8th September; Received on the 23rd September 2023

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Another box ticked in my collection. Thank you so much Jean-Pierre.

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialised agency of the UN contributing to  peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication and information. 

It was founded in the wake of the second world war, in 1945, on the perfectly rational principle that intercultural dialogue is an essential cement to ensure advancement and understanding between human societies.

In fact, people, persons, come and go. We are all short lived, even if our standards of living and hope of life have significantly increased, in general terms, over the centuries.

But art, what significantly remains of our passage, out-endures us. So much so that over time it constitutes a common cultural heritage not of a society, but of our species, as a whole.

UNESCO has of course understood this long ago with the World heritage programmes that aim at preserving sites, traditions, usages, forms of art that are of outstanding value to humanity.

Then, of course, there are those who are so deeply blinded by their irrationality that aim at exactly the opposite... but then again, we are all short-lived, and these too shall pass, while stones, pigments, sounds, are much more resilient....

Once I was at Niaux cave... looking at paintings done by humans 13,000 years ago is sound proof of this. 

UNESCO headquarters are located at Place Fontenoy, in Paris, France. By an agreement with the French postal authorities, UNESCO service stamps, denominated in Francs first and now Euro, have been issued since 1961, these being only usable on mail posted from the UNESCO headquarters.

On 11SEP2023, celebrating 20 years of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted on the 32nd Session of UNESCO's General Conference, held in Paris from the 29 September to the 17 October 2003, La Poste issued the UNESCO service stamp on the cover.

Fittingly, it is illustrated with a photo depicting a Zaouli dancer. the Zaouli being a traditional dance of the Guro people of Ivory Coast, which has been inscribed in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2017. 

Although officially issued on the 11th, the First day Postmark states 08.09.2023.

COVER N. 312 - FRANCE

Postmark: Premier Jour Centenaire de l'immigration polonaise, Paris 01.09.2023

Posted on the 1st September; Received on the 7th September 2023

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Another first day cover for the Centenary of the Polish Immigration issue, this time with a postmark from the City of Lights, Paris.

Un grand merci, Jean-Pierre, for the cover and for the amazing pre-paid postage card inside honouring two of the most important names in the history of the 20th century aviation: Jean Mermoz and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

The 1,80 € stamp on the cover dedicated to one hundred years of Polish Immigration was issued in celebration of this historical fact by la Poste on 01SET2023.

The image on the pre-paid postcard replicates a stamp issued on 19SET1970, honouring two everlasting names in the history of French aviation, and of Aéropostale in particular: Jean Mermoz (1901-36), who amongst other feats, achieved the first direct postal crossing of the south Atlantic from Saint-Louis, in Senegal, to Natal, Brazil, in 12–13 May 1930,  and the Big Prince of French Aviation, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-44) who flew aircraft and letters alike.

The effigies of the pilots imposed over what I  would think are the shores  on both sides of the Atlantic share the foreground with the Concorde, as a reminder that their exploits would in  time lead to supersonic crossings of the Atlantic.

The printed stamp on the card replicates the 3 Franc stamp of the Poste Aérienne issue of 1936, with what looks like a Caudron Simoun (without fin and rudder...), overflying Paris.

COVER N. 311 - SERVIA

Postmark: Nis 29.08.2023

Posted on the  29th August; Received on the 6th September 2023

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One of the most common uses of stamps as a vector for dessiminating a country's culture is taking advantage of their inherent travel capacity to showcase national arts, be it painting, sculpture, film, photography, architecture... you name it and I'm sure there is at least a stamp somewhere illustrated with an example of that particular form of art.

The most common though must be painting, what comes as no surprise since the usual squarish format of a stamp lends itself perfectly to this end, and many are the sets issued by postal administrations graced with beautiful reproductions of amazing works of art.

I confess that sometimes it is easy to fall into exaggeration, with the paintings bordered by golden frames and legends that rival in eye catching capacity with the reproduced paintings themselves.

Not in this case. Thank you so much, Markovic. Great cover. Not only there's an aircraft on it, my favoured theme, but also the to stamps with reproductions of beautiful paintings are a great example of the classy sobriety I think the theme demands.

Stamps, left to right:

On 14OCT2022 Pošta Srbije issued a three 30 Dinar stamp set dedicated to the anniversaries of  three Serbian Museums, these being the 175th anniversaries of the Matica Srpska Gallery, in Novi Sad, and the Museum of Vojvodina, and the 75th anniversary of the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade.

The stamp dedicated to the Matica Srpska Gallery  on the cover (Matica Srpska being the oldest non governmental institution dedicated to the arts in Serbia) is illustrated with the "portrait of Anka Topalović née Nenadović .... the earliest female portrait painted by a woman – the first Serbian academic painter, Katarina Ivanović" according to the gallery's website.

The second stamp on the cover was issued on 27JAN2023, and is illustrated with a painting depicting Petar II Petrović Njegoš (November 1, 1813 – October 19, 1851) ... an Orthodox Montenegrin and Highland Prince-Bishop and head of Old Montenegro and Highland from 1830 to 1851." again borrowing from the notes on the Serbian Post website.

the reproduced painting, dating from the 1940s, was authored by Petra Lubarda, and is part of a private collection.

The last stamp on the cover is dedicated to 100 years of the Serbian national aviation industry and is illustrated with the image of a Soko G-4 Super Galeb (jet trainer and ground attack) in the background and a Soko J-22 Orao (Ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft, a product of industrial collaboration of what was then Yugoslavian and Romania) in the foreground.

Postage on the cover was completed with a  7 Dinar label.

COVER N. 310 - FRANCE

Postmark: Premier Jour Centenaire de l'immigration polonaise, 42 Roche-la-Molière 01.09.2023

Posted on the 1st September; Received on the 7th September 2023

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A stamp that is much more than a piece of paper with images on it. Thanks you so much Eric for this very nice cover with a quite timely stamp issue, at least in what concerns its subject in general terms: immigration. 

I know the stamp addresses a quite particular moment in history but one cannot but think how (or if) things would be rather different today, just one hundred years past.

Other that the classic definition for the terms, I think that we tend to analyse them not from a operational point of view, according to the direction of their flow, but from a much more egocentred standpoint, based on our own experiences and how we think our local, national societies interact or should interact with those that are now part of it, for the better or the worse.

Migrations: the displacement of people from their place of living to other places in search of better standards of living, a nicer future for them and theirs.

Emigration: migration viewed from the standpoint of those that migrate.

Immigration: migration viewed from our standpoint, the view of those that most of the time are in the more comfortable side of the equation.

Mine is a country of emigrants, immigrants in many a country all over the world, from Europe (Paris is third largest Portuguese city, right after Lisbon and Porto...) to the Americas, from the Hawaiian Islands to the south of Africa,... it is hard to find a place where there are no Portuguese living.

And yet, here, it is easy to ear the same voices that cry against those who seek nothing other than a future.

No one migrates just because, I believe. But yes, migratory flows have reached an unprecedented dimension, which are hardly manageable at some places, due to several factors we all are aware of but seem not to want or at least try to address properly.

It is an explosive mix:  exponential population growth; climatic crisis; political unrest; religious fanaticism; wealth concentration... Those who have nothing to lose will risk nothing, so they take to the road, most times exploited by the absolute amoral criminal organisations that promise them Eldorados where there are but deserts....

A vicious cycle: from destitute in one's own place, to destitute and paperless in  a strange, foreign place...

And still they come.... for they have nothing to loose... and the tension escalates... the world turned into a pressure cooker...

It is high time the world addresses this global problem in a far more efficient way than just talking about it, but sadly, what we see are tensions escalating everywhere... yesterday Syria,  Yemen, now Ukraine,  Israel and Palestine...

One hundred years ago, in the aftermath of the War to end all Wars (an apt  definition, isn't it?....) France had no human resources to recompose itself, its men laying by the hundred thousands in the poppy fields of  Ypres, the Somme, Verdun...

So France turned to Poland a state that had just been created, issued out of the defeat of the Autro-Hungarian Empire, for help, for a workforce to foster economic development, for building its future..

The two states signed an  agreement making it possible for Polish workers to come to France to work with a working contract and  benefitting from the same payment conditions  applicable to French workers.

This brought along a significant influx of Polish workers, mainly to work as miners in the North of France, but even if they would integrate in time, and even if they had come at France's request, the process was not exempt of the prejudiced views that are common place nowadays.

It is in our nature to blame the others... maybe we should do it in front of a mirror, from time to time!

The very beautiful 1,80 € stamp celebrating one hundred years of Polish Immigration was issued in celebration of this historical fact by la Poste on 01SET2023.

On it, the images of a  Polish woman dressing in traditional attire and a miner evocate those Polish workers that came to France to help get it on its feet again from the rubble of WW! A doctor is also present, a second generation Franco-Polish citizen... integration and social promotion...(if things were so simple...)

The drawings, and the legend "Centenary of the Polish Immigration" are inscribed in the colours of the French and Polish Flags - red blue and white - as a mark of fraternity between the two countries, being complement by the hope in a brighter future represented by the green colour which is also present.

COVER N. 309 - SERBIA

Postmark: Novi Sad 21117 29.08.2023

Posted on the 29th August; Received on the 6th September 2023

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What a nice set of stamps Antea used to send me this letter from Serbia. Thank you so much Antea. I really like them.

Wild flowers are without a shadow of a doubt absolute masterpieces of creation. Their colours, shapes, odours, sizes are a declaration of diversity and if there is one thing that I like is to walk amidst wild flowers covered fields in springtime.

Most of the time they are pretty photogenic also, and another of my pleasures is trying to photograph them. One cannot imagine how beautiful wild flowers really are  until one observes them in detail, and photographs are great for this.

Peonies, for instance, are absolutely lovely... they are so large and contrasting in colour to the bronzish green of their leaves with those fuchsia petals and yellow stamens, that they immediately stand out as a gift of coulour.

 Not the same species on the stamp on the cover, but I couldn't resist getting this shot from my collection of flower photos, to illustrate my thoughts.

and here is the cover:

Stamps, left to right:

This lovely wild flowers of Serbia set was issued as a four 30 dinar stamp se-tenant strip on 13APR2022. Each strip also included a vignette in the central position of the strip, so that the central part of each stamp sheet containing 5 strips was occupied by a vertical illustration also of botanical nature.

The flowers depicted on the beautiful illustrations are the greater pasque flower (Pulsatilla grandis), which blooms in Easter, (hence its name) of the Ranunculaceae family;

Another member of the Ranunculaceae family, the Aquilegia Nikolicii is endemic to the teritory of the ex_jugoslavia;

And yet another Ranunculaceae, the  Pheasant's eye (Adonis vernalis), which althoug existing in Serbia has a far wider distibution, ranging from Spain to the West Siberian plain. Of note is the fact that although toxic, this plant has medicinal uses, namely as a cardiac stimulant.

The last stamp of the strip is a rather curious Peony: the Steppe peony (Paeonia tenuifolia), native to the Caucasus mounbtains. Its compound leaves very dense in number are deeply divided, this being the reason for the flower also being named the fern leaf peony.

Postage on the cover was completed with a couple of 5 Dinar stamps from a definitive set issue on 24FEB2020 also illustrated with images of wild flowers (photographs, this time). The flower, or better, the inflorescence depicted is that of the Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus), another case of a flower that we are all so used to seeing that we don't stop to take a closer look, because if we did.... it is such a beautifull inflorescence... the colour, the delicate lateral petals.... totally amazing.

The Postmark hails from Novi sad a, city on the banks of the danube in the north of Serbia, and I guess it is quite a fittting place for the cover, since Novi Sad means New Garden....

COVER N. 308 - BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES - FALKLANDS

Postmark: Stanley Falkland Islands 07.08.2023

Posted on the 7th August; Received on the 22nd August 2023

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The second cover I got from the post office at Port Stanley

The stamp on it was isued on 10OCT2022, included i a 10 stamp definitive set themed on Rural Heritage. The image on the stamps is that of "Little Chartres Bridge", spanning 120 feet, built in 1928 over the Chartres river in the West Falkland.

COVER N. 307 - BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES - FALKLANDS

Postmark: Stanley Falkland Islands 07.08.2023

Posted on the 7th August; Received on the 22nd August 2023

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Some of my own doings again. This time a couple of covers from the Falklands, which I got in trade for an International Reply Coupon sent to the local Post Office.

The Falklands...Malvinas for the Argentineans, another of the colonial eccentricities of His Majesty's subjects.... do as I say, don't do as I do...

I still remember quite well the days of the infamous Malvinas war, a totally avoidable conflict of the kind dictatorships love to promote, so as to force a surge of  mouldy nationalism....same as is happening nowadays somewhere else.... at least it paved the way for democracy in Argentina, with the fall of the Junta....

Anyway, I was hoping for some fauna stamps, but I forgot to mention it and so I got local views instead... nothing against, and a new postal operator to the list... maybe one day I'll will have a cover from the Malvinas  Post Office... who knows...

On the 20th may 2022, Port Stanley was officially  awarded city status by Her Majesty the Queen as part of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

To mark the occasion The Falklands Postal Service issued a four stamp set (33p 80 p; 1.03 Pound; 1.30 Pound), with photos of some of the city landmarks.

On the cover the 80 p stamp is illustrated with a view of the Secretariat Building and the Liberation Monument, built in 1982 which celebrates the British forces active in the conflict with Argentina.

COVER N. 306 - BULGARIA

Postmark: SOFIA 1000 - 04.08.23

Posted on the 4th August; Received on the 22nd August 2023

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A new entry in the county's list, and this time thanks to my own self. Well done Pedro!😀

During the Summer holidays I spent some days touring Bulgaria. While in Sofia, I managed to go to the central post office and mail a few letters I had prepared beforehand. I had a few communicational problems with the lady at the post office, but in the end I managed to mail all my covers, although, in retrospect, I wish I have had a bit more time to spend at the post office, so that I could have chosen what stamps to use. 

My  company was waiting  though, and I did not want to impose my time taking, so I had to completely rely on the decisions of the lady of the post office who spoke but one word of English: tomorrow.

I put my letters on the table and asked for stamps. She took a folder and for  those bound for Europe, after perusing some pages back and forth, out of it she took the stamp on the cover.

Saint Paisius of Hilendar (1722-1773) was a Bulgarian monk of the Hilandar monastery at Mount Athos. He is credited with being the responsible for kicking off the movement known as Bulgarian National revival, a nationalist movement aiming at liberating Bulgaria from Otoman rule, - something which was finally achieved in 1878, in the wake of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 - with the publication, in 1762, of his historical book, Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskay.

On 28OCT2022, on the occasion of the tercentennial of the birth of Saint Paisius, Bulgaria Post issued a 1,90 Lev stamp celebrating this fact with the image of the monk holding his history book, presumably, in the foreground and the  monastery where he wrote it, in the background.

Of note is the fact that the colours used in the bands in middle of the image with the mention to 300 years, and the face value of the stamp (green and red) plus the white in background, are the colours of the Bulgarian flag, albeit on the flag the white stripe is on top, with the green and red following.

The stamp was glued onto the envelope by the lady herself, who literally immersed it in a damp sponge, so much so that it came out of it dripping....

When all the stamps were glued, I asked her by gestures to postmark them and also to postmark the envelope. 

To this she answered with a quite definitive "Tomorrow", so knowing my stuff was in good hands, I politely said goodbye and went away to meet my wife for a much deserved ice-cream.

COVER N. 305 - BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES - GIBRALTAR

Postmark: Royal Gibraltar Post Office Main office 17.08.23

Posted on the 17th August; Received on the 29th August 2023

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Thanks to Alex, I can add another Cover to the folder of "the Rock".

Another aircraft carrier... after the Bearn... although almost a century separates them both. 

This time it is HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of the two state of the art aircraft carriers currently operated by the Royal Navy, of which it is the Fleet flagship.

HMS Queen Elizabeth was commissioned on 2017, two years before its sister sheep, HMS Prince of Wales, the second carrier of the Queen Elizabeth class.

The vessel has a total crew of 679 (excluding personnel allocated to the operation of the aircraft of its air wing) and can also transport up to 900 troops.

HMS Queen Elizabeth air wing operates a mix of 40 fixed and rotary wing aircraft, including F-35B Lightning STOVL multirole fighter aircraft and Chinook, Apache, Merlin and Wildcat helicopters.

On the occasion of  the first visit of HMS Queen Elizabeth to Gibraltar, which took place on the 9th February 2018, the postal administration of the territory issued, on 10MAY2028, the 3 Pound stamp on the cover, illustrated with an image of the aircraft carrier as it sails past the promontory that guards the entrance to the Mediterranean sea.

COVER N. 304 - FRANCE

Postmark: 39002A-03 La Poste France 25.08.23

Posted on the 25th August; Received on the 29th August 2023

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A cover with a single mechanically obliterated stamp, but quite an expensive one and one that I really love to have on my cover collection. Thank you so much, Jean. Truly appreciated.

Émile Dewoitine began his aeronautical engineering career working at Latecoère, in Toulouse, during the frst World War.

In 1920 he would establish his own aircraft manufacturing company, Constructions Aeronautiques Émile Dewoitine, also established in Toulouse, which would go on to produce several aircraft types, based on his first design, The Dewoitine D1, which had a metal skinned fuselage and a fabric covered  parasol wing and which was driven by a Hispano-Suiza 8Fb V-8 inline liquid-cooled engine, producing 224 kW (300 hp).

Although the products of the company were not  very successful at home, they were licensed and built in large numbers in Italy, by the Ansaldo Company and also sold to Yugoslavia and Japan.

In France, 30 Dewoitine D1s  were acquired in 1923 by the French Navy, out of an order of 44, and  15 of then would see service in Escadrille 7C1 which operated them on the country's first ever aircraft carrier, the Bearn, from 1927 to 1932.

Constructions Aeronautiques Émile Dewoitine closed in 1927, but was later re-established as Société Aéronautique Française (Avions Dewoitine), and would go on to produce many successful designs, used both in civil and military aviation, the most famous of them being the Dewoitine 500 series fighters which equipped the French Air Force at the beginning of the second world war.

On 07NOV2022, la Poste issued the very nice 5,26 € (Domestic up to 250 g)  stamp which can be seen on the cover I received from Jean, illustrated with the image of a Dewoitine D1 of Escadrille 7C1 flying in the vicinity of the Bearn Aircraft carrier. 

  

COVER N. 303 - PANAMA

Postmark: Donde La Ciudad Inicio - V Centenário de Panama Viejo 18-06-19 (First day of issue); Correos Y Telegrafos - Departmaneto de Filatelia - Cotel - Panama (Corporative stamp); Correos Y Telegrafos - Panama Este - 17.10.2022 Panama (Postmark of the day)

Posted on the 17th October 2022; Received on the 21st August 2023

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Slow mail can be as tasty as slow food.

In these days of immediate everything, the surprise of receiving something that was sent from quite afar almost one year after its expedition is an obvious reminder that no matter how fast we can bridge them, geographical distances are inherent to our condition of Earth dwellers. Our planet is a large one by our standards and it is not that long ago since going around the world in 80 days was considered an almost impossible objective to attain. Right Phileas?

I remember exchanging some messages with my friend the Phantom when he was in the place where a canal was opened to let the Atlantic court the Pacific. 

He was very enthusiastic about sending a whole bunch of circuits from the Philatelic office of Panama and he told me he had spent quite a few hours there arranging this.

And then time passed. And passed..... and passed...

The Phantom was disheartened. Not that he would let himself ever be defeated by the unexpected setback: the Ghost who Walks knows that justice will prevail, no matter how tortuous the road might be... 

"It's only a matter of time", I kept telling him...

But time passed... and passed.... and passed again.

I, of course, knew how he must have been feeling and I tried to encourage him, but it was becoming obvious that a bunch of mail bound for Europe must have had probably fallen off the truck somewhere ....

Till one day, last August when I opened up my letterbox...

Gracias, Amigo, for another PHAMTtastic cover and for letting me tick another box in the list of countries.

The city of Panama, the capital of the equally named country in Central America, was founded on 15 August 1519 by a Spanish conqueror, named Pedro Arias De Ávila, who later would also be the governor of Panama, whose biography, like many of these so called conquerors, is not very kind in what concerns personality traits....

Anyway, 500 years have passed and Correos y Telegrafos  Panama  would not let this important anniversary  go by without issuing a celebratory set of stamps with pictures of several infrastructures (or of what's left of them) in Panama Viejo (Old Panama, the original city) dating from that era, which can still be visited in the country’s capital.

The set, comprising five 0.20 Balboa stamps, was issued on 18JUN2019 and can be fully seen on the cover The Phantom sent me, albeit it one on the back of the cover.

From left to right, they depict:

The Convent of Santo Domingo; the Jesuit Church; the Convent of the Conception; the Bridge of the King and the Cathedral Tower (on the back of the cover).

A plethora of postmarks and cachets illuminates the cover, these being the first day of issue postmark; the Corporative stamp of Correos Y Telegrafos Panama, and the normal day postmark of the Post office (on the back of the cover).

Thanks a lot Alex, for another great addition to the collection! 

 Buen Camino! - a  Philatelic Camino de Santiago 

Part II - the postcards

I should have sent one from Porto, also. 

This was my thought when I looked at the two postcards I have on my table as I type. In fact my journey began in the beautiful northern city caressed by the ceaseless flow of the Douro on its way to succumb into the Atlantic, much to the indifference of the city's hustle and bustle, for this has held true for thousands of years, and will hold true for many a thousand more... 

Why didn't I? I had the time and the opportunity…, but you can't go back in time, so I ended up sending but two postcards for me. One posted from the last town I touched before entering Spain and the other from the finish line, the magnificent cathedral that has witnessed thousands and thousands of people driven by faith or by will or by both come to its door from all Europe, from places as far as Poland or the Scandinavian Peninsula, or the Eastern Mediterranean coast.

The postcard I sent from Caminha though, has much more than a stamp and a postmark associated to it.

It is the reminder of a meeting. Not a chance meeting with fellow walkers or locals, like the many I had along the way, but a pre-arranged and, for me at least, highly anticipated one.

This blog has made it possible to exchange covers with a lot of people. From that group of friendly people who happen to share a common interest with me, a few have become more frequent on the "return to address, if undelivered" flap of the envelopes I so eagerly antecipate.

From this smaller group, an even smaller number has been kind enough to let me maintain some direct contact with them by email or a messaging app.

But, up to now, I had never met anyone face to face, I had never been able to put a face to the names I so often write and thank for another great addition to my growing collection.

That's why when I got a note from one of these kind souls saying he'd be probably able to meet me to walk a bit of a day's leg of my journey, I felt quite happy and immediately accepted his proposal, even though one of the main objectives of my journey was to be ... well.. alone, for a while, fully committed to my thoughts and perceptions. Still, my experience told me that meeting people with whom we have some common grounds, with whom we share some interests, is always much easier and productive than what my inherent shyness always makes me fear.

And this again proved true, for when I entered Praça da República at Vila Praia de Âncora and saw this bloke looking down the street  searching for someone with a backpack, I immediately knew we would get along well, and in fact the first few words we exchanged were the kind  that are exchanged between people who have known each other for some time: "Hi, there you are, so how is it going" "Fine, thanks" and without further ado we proceeded to a table on the patio of "Café Central" so that I could finally have a much  desired "bica" (what an expresso is called in the south of Portugal, for in Porto the same thing goes by the name of Cimbalino. Just don't worry, ask for a café, and everyone will know what you want, irrespective of geography).

Eric, for it is him who I'm talking about, was my gift for the day.  We had an enjoyable conversation, in Portuguese, for Eric speaks it as well as I do,  with no need for ice-breakers or weighing our own words,  from the very first expresso sips… But the earth was moving and so was the day and Caminha was still some 10 km away, so I got up to put my back pack on... but no way. Eric simply would not let me: "Let me take it for you, for a while".... I was flabbergasted .. "No, how come... it is heavy, you shouldn't..", but while I was still uttering my concerns, he was already adjusting the back pack belt to his waist....

And I, shamelessly, have to confess that not only did not insist (he was so determined...) but also deep at heart I felt a bit relieved because that was the longest leg of the entire journey (in excess of 30 km) and after 20, every gram in the back pack starts to inflate as by some strange physical phenomenon, so much so, that I believe I have discovered a new law of physics which will go down in history as the Eric and Pedro's axiom: after 20 km, every gram of matter increases in weight, in direct proportion to the distance travelled. ( I feel a Nobel coming in...).

So we took to the road that follows the coast and we spent a couple of delightful hours walking, talking and enjoying the magnificent views at our side, until, already close to the end of my leg, Eric had to turn back (to walk again almost 10 km to our point of departure).

“Take it, you must take it to the end of the leg”, said Eric, handing over the backpack to me.

We exchanged goodbyes, but a bond had been created...

And exchanged letters and postcards will now take more than stamps and postmarks with them, even if empty, or filled with just a plain unwritten card... 

I'm sure Eric agrees with me..

 

The main square at Caminha.... I had a great ice cold alcohol free beer on one of those cafe patios, while writing on my little logbook the notes for quite a special day,

The day's postmark of the Post office at Caminha on the stamp with an image of the castle of Miranda do  Douro, which stands some 300 km to the East, curiously also on the border with Spain . This stamp is part of a six N20 (Domestic up to 20g) stamps + 1 3,00€ (make some money for the company...) stamp souvenir sheet, issued on 10MAR2023, themed on castles and fortresses on the raia (the border with Spain).

It took me eight days from that day, Ito again send  another postcard home. 

Feelings invoked by the image of the cathedral on this postcard were now  much more mixed, though, for arriving was somewhat anticlimactic:

The journey had ended, period!

I was happy that I had conquered m Everest, I had attained my objective, but, somehow, I was a little sad that something that I had wanted for so long had just been completed... terminated.... achieved...

Still I'm sure other ways will be opened to my steps, to my waking poles....,yes, that's what the image of the cathedral reminds me of....that's what the image of the cathedral keeps telling me to do... so I'd better keep that postcard well at hand....

Santiago's Cathedral by night... even the moon walks to its courtyard, it seems.....

The stamp themed on Archeology,  issued on 16JUN2023, featuring the mosaics at the Salar Roman Villa, in Granada. 

Sadly, the beautiful pictorial Postmark of Santiago Central Post Office, with a image of the Catedral, is obliterated by a mechanical postmark, presumably pertaining to the Mail Prossessing Station at Santiago.

POSTCARD N.111 - MALTA

Postcard sent on the 13th August; received on the 21st August 2023

Postcard image: Aerial view of St. Paul's Bay  
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In his periplus through the Maltese archipelago, Alex kindly sent me also a nice postcard with an aerial view of the region around St. Paul's bay, one of the more tourist sought areas in the Island.

Alex used a stamp of the, the Maltese SEPAC 2022 issue, devoted to Local beverages.

The 1,40 € stamp, part of a four stamp set, all transmitting an idea of vintage advertising posters, is iollustrated wiyh the image of a bottle of Bajtra Liqueur. A popular local beverage made from the fruits of the Prockly pear, which also feature on the background, as well as the skyline of the village of Mdina.

The neat Postmar tells us that the card was maild from the town it depicts - Saint Paul's bay or San Pawl il-Bahar, in Maltese.

POSTCARD N.110 - CHINA

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 1st August, received on the 17th August 2023

Postcard image: Suzhou 
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I have a terrible handwriting. so much so that sometimes not even I can understand it....and this must be the ultimate ´paradox...

So, I am not really used to see many handwritings more difficult to decipher than my own... and yet...

I got this lovely card from Mengyu, and I really liked it... BUT, I could not understand a word of it, so strange was his handwriting. Not that I am criticizing, the same must happen so some of my readers, it's just that it is a rather unusual fact.

I also don't have a clue as to what the beautiful image on the postcard depicts... I did some investigation via google, but could not come up with any image resembling the scene :-(. 

The  fish stamp depicts an Indian Ocean Chevron Butterflyfish (Chaetodon chrysurus)  and is part of a souvenir sheet comprising eight  200 Chinese renminbi fēn stamps plus a vignette, themed on  Seafloor World-Coral Reef Ornamental Fish and issued on 22DEC1998. 

The Microraptor, unfolding its four wings on the second stamp, was issued on  19MAY2017 as part of a 6 stamp souvenir sheet dedicated to Chinese Dinosaurs. The issue also comprised another souvenir sheet this time featuring only one stamp, the gigantic Mamenchisaurus... quoting directly from Wikipedia: "Most species were medium to large size sauropods, around 15 to 26 meters (49 to 85 ft) in length and possibly up to 35 meters (115 ft) based on two undescribed vertebrae".