COVER N. 623 - SLOVAKIA  

Postmark: Trnavá Hora 96611 - 29.07.2025

Posted on the 29th July; Received on the 5th August 2025

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Clearly, the weather interfered at some point along the way.... and somehow it is a fitting tribute, for 100 years ago, the pilots in open cockpit aircraft also had to withstand the rigours of weather and irrespective of rain or shine, what really mattered was to reach one's destination... same as it happened with the cover that Michal so kindly sent me.  Ďakujem, Michal.

The first commercial flight between Prague and Košice, via Bratislava, in what was then Czechoslovakia, took place on the  5th may 1924.

Surely, the feat bears no comparison with today's era of aircraft belching thousands upon thousands or passengers on ever crowded terminals, for the single-engine Aero A.14 biplane (a modified version of the WW1 vintage German Hansa Brandenburg CI) of  CSA-Československé Statni Aerolinie carried but one single passenger  sitting behind the pilot in the open cockpit, cruising at the fantastic maximum speed of 170 km/h.

By way of comparison, in 2023 Košice airport handled a total of 625,053 passengers, with solid growth prospects for this relevant regional hub.

To mark the centenary of  this important milestone in the history of Slovak civil aviation, Slovenská pošta issued on 03MAY2024  the 2,70 € stamp that Michal used on the cover, featuring an illustration of the Aero A.14 flying over a contemporary map of Czechoslovakia, with the flight route superimposed on it.

Incidentally, the photograph on which the aircraft image was based can be found on the internet, on Wikipedia, and I can't resist reproducing it here:

Source: Aero A.14 – Wikipédia

The postmark on the neatly addressed and laid out  envelope was applied at Trnavá Hora, a 1.2 thousand inhabitants town in central Slovakia.

COVER N. 622 - AUSTRIA 

Postmark: Feldkirchen Bei Graz 8073 date illegible

Posted on ?; Received on the 5th August 2025

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Austria. The first country that I got mail from when I started this blog (note to self: come to think of it, it's high time I should send some mail to Florian...) and yet not one that I often see in my mailbox...Vielen Dank, Kurt!

The common theme for the EUROPA stamps of 2024 was "Underwater fauna and flora". Austria's issue comprised one single 1,20 stamp, illustrated with a photograph of the Grüner See (the Green Lake), which began to circulate on 04MAY2024.

I was not familiar with the Green Lake, but my voyager papillae immediately started salivating  just from looking at some photos on the internet.

The lake which is quite shallow from July to May, (1to 2 meters deep at most) but come spring and the melting of the ice from the nearby mountains, its water rises exponentially, attaining depths up to about 12 metres.

As a consequence, all the man made infrastructures around the lake, like park benches and walkways, get underwater what makes for a rather strange sight given the transparency and clarity of the emerald green water.

This is particularly highlighted in  the stamp with a coat of UV varnish on the lower 4/5 of the stamp, which imparts a rather "watery" look to the photograph. I have no access to a UV light right now, but the effect should be even greater under such a light source.

The Postmark was applied at Feldkirchen Bei Graz, a town of 7.3 thousand inhabitants in the State of Styria