POSTCARD N.186 - INDIA.

Postcard sent on the 26th June; received on the 7th August 2025.

Postcard image: Vidhana Soudha

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Ravi sent me this great postcard from India. Bohoma Sthuthi, my friend.

Construction of the  Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore was started in 1951 and completed in 1956. three years later in 1959, it was inaugurated as the seat of the Parliament for the State of  Karnataka, one of the 28 States and 8 territories that form the Repiblic of india.

 The postcard  itself is a source of knowledge for those like me who had never heard about this important building since if its image is scanned through a smarthphone augmented reality app, several information menus become available.

I could thus learn that no less than 5000 unskilled convicts worked on its construction, all of them having been pardoned after the completion of the works and that the intricated wood and stone work necessitated the work of 1500 chiselers. 

Close to the Vidhana Soudha building, which itself hosts a Post Office,  there is another  building where the Philatelic Bureau of Baengalore is located.

Judging from the very nice pictorial postmark, which is illustrated with the Soudha Building, Ravi sent the postmark through this facility.

The 25 Rupee octogonal stamp is illustrated with what looks like a reproduction of a photograph of Gandhi and his wife, Kasturba, is part of a six octogonal stamps set, issued on 02OCT2019, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the father of  independent India.

POSTCARD N.185 - CHINA.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 8th June; received on the 9th July 2025.

Postcard image: Mount Everest under a stary sky - Shigatse, Tibet, China

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A very nice Postcrossing postcard with beautifull stamps 谢谢 Lili.

Postcrossing is really fun. Yes, I don't use it that much, because my efforts are more directed at my cover collection, but receiving a normal postcard illustrated with a picture of a far off place (or not that far, for that matter) with nice stamps on it is a very rewarding thing.

On the other hand, receiving a promotional postcard cut from a thin paper magazine or with an image of a product, or from a hotel or restaurant somewhere, as has happened to me before, is really not my cup of tea.

I like postcards for what they were initially intended to be: little windows into the world, its places, its peoples, its achievements, etc

And Lili's postcard sure fits the bill: Mount Everest by night, under a starry sky. Yes the photo could be better, that bloody lamppost to the left of the image is blowing all the highlights off , but your gaze is still directed at the centre of the image where the unmistakable shape of the Earth’s highest mountain summit is clearly recognizable. 

Strangely, this is not a place that would rank high on my list of places to visit. The images of all the garbage left by climbers and the horrific and stupid queues to attain the summit (not that I would ever try to do it, of course)  really make me think that people are getting stranger by the day.....

anyway, here it is:

Lili used two very beautiful stamps on the cover:

The 200 Chinese renminbi fēn shows Tiandu Peak over clouds, a 1810 m peak in the Huangshan mountains, a UNESCO World heritage Site, located  in the South of the Anhui Province of the People's Republic of China.

The  Stamp is part of an 8 x 200 renminbi fēn issued on 20OCT1997, on the occasion of UPU's 22nd Congress, held in Beijing.

The 3 Yuan stamp is the highest denomination stamp of a 9 stamp set (6 x 1,20; 2 x 1,1,50; 3 Yuan) issued on 15JUN2024, illustrated with views of the Qinling Mountains, a mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, whose highest peak (Mount Taibai) tops at 3,767 meters.

Sadly I could not trust google translator to clarify the postmark for me, since it gave me different options each time I pointed the camera at it :-).

 

POSTCARD N.184 - U.S.A.

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 5th June; received on the 23rd June 2025.

Postcard image: Sunrise from Bluewell, West Virginia

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Sunrise and sunset, the quintessential time of the day for the quintessential postcard... every day that passes they are different and sometimes the guy behind the light console is really a master.... seems they have some great light effects experts in Bluewell, West Virginia, too...

Thanks a lot, Laura!

One can never get tired of watching a great sunset or sunrise, no matter what. Those days when all the sky goes red and orange and purple and yellow and all the shades in between of an outstanding palette of warm and cool colours are days to remember, especially if you have a camera with you.... I know it, I've shot many a sunset and a sunrise, and I never get tired of it!

No matter how many times we've seen it , this is an image that will enrapture, inspire awe, exhilarate and motivate many other positive sensations that will make you feel somehow connected to the ground below your feet and the sky up there on the horizon... cheesy as it might sound...

Piñatas originated in Iberia, although I can't remember ever being present at a party where someone would break the festively wrapped container with a bat so as to liberate the sweets inside (although I do have a recollection of seeing it on TV somewhere in Portugal, during some local festivities, where it is (was?) customary to break a clay jar with something inside...)

Following the Portuguese and Spanish colonisation, Piñatas were  imported into South America from where they made their way into the USA.

I don't know if Piñatas are traditional in the upper  States, but I think that at least in those States that share a border with Mexico, they made their way into the local usage.

On 08SEP2023 USPS issued a four stamp set (Forever USA) dedicated to this tradition. Two of the stamps can be seen on the postcards. 

The third stamp, also a "Forever USA" issue, began to circulate on 26APR2025 as part of a 10 stamp set dedicated to Dahlias, that beautiful garden flower  native from Mexico and which has become very popular amongst garden lovers as illustrated by this quote form Wikipedia: "There are now more than 57,000 registered cultivars".

The mechanical obliteration was applied at Charleston, the capital of the State of West Virginia.

POSTCARD N.182 - GERMANY

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 8th June; received on the 13th June 2025.

Postcard image: A (much transformed...) view of Downtown Essen showcasing Garner Hotel 

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It has been a while since I received a Postcrossing postcard. Thanks a lot, Anne.

Essen is an important city in central west Germany, with a population of about 600000 inhabitants, in the  North Rhine-Westphalia Region.

Anne sent me a postcard with  a strange, highly digitally modified, I believe,  image of a part of the city relevant for the building of a hotel featured on the postcard: the former Handelshof hotel, built in 1913, nowadays the Garner Essen Hotel.

The postcard designer thought it a good idea to splash a couple of inverted ice cream cones into the hotel towers, a tight rope walker, and a few splashes of  virtual colour to the streets, under the warming yellow rays of a timid sun.......

There's a QR code on the back of the card that leads us to Essen's Theatre - Theatre und Philarmonie Essen -  webpage, so I presume that the postcard is a promotional vehicle for the institution.

Anne used stamps from the World of Letters definitive series, to send me the postcard: two 0.15 € - Letters Peacock - issued on 10AUG2024 and one 0,95 €  - Letters balloon - issued on 04AUG2022.

The mechanical Postmark reads Briefzentrum 45, which is also located in Essen.

POSTCARD N.181 - CROATIA

Postcard sent on ?, received on the 9th JUne 2025.

Postcard image: Aerial view of Dubrovnik

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Another of Ravindra's stops on his European journey: Dubrovnik, Croatia. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi!

One has to agree: Dubrovnik is a lovely place. Totally encircled by the city walls, built between the 8th and 16th centuries, which attain  25 metres at their highest points and can be as thick as 6 metres, the old city,  the part of Dubrovnik that gave it the notoriety it enjoys, greets the visitor with a vast and diverse group of edifications from the renaissance and baroque periods.

The relevance of the old walled city buildings, of which many were preserved in spite of a terrible earthquake in 1667  was acknowledged by the UNESCO, who declared it a World Heritage Site in 1979, well before the war in which Dubrovnik and its inhabitants were sadly involved during the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

During the conflict, Dubrovnik was heavily shelled what caused the destruction of a large percentage of one of the city's trademarks: its distinctive terracotta orange roof tiles, centuries old.

Finding such roof tiles for the reconstruction proved to be an difficult task, but luckily, it was discovered that this type of tiles were still being made in France, in Toulouse. As such, under the coordination of UNESCO, the  restoration of the buildings and roofs damaged by the war could be carried out, returning the city to its former glory.

Several shades of roof tiles are apparent to the viewer, some noticeably more on the red side of the orange spectre. When I visited Dubrovnik a number of years ago, someone told me that this is due to the fact that the newer tiles are darker than the original... if this is true or untrue I do not know, but it is a plausible explanation...

Dubrovnik, the Pearl of the Adriatic has in recent years been shown as an example of overtourism. It easy to understand why: it suffers from the same set of circumstances that afflict Venice or Santorini or so many other places... it falls prey to its own fame... with every new day, especially in the high summer season,  thousands  of visitors  pass through the arch of the Pile Gate, the main entrance into the old town, many driven by the social media fuelled curiosity of visiting one of places where Game of Thrones was filmed.

Still, crowds or no crowds, one has to agree: Dubrovnik is a lovely place!

On 28Jan2020 Croatian Post issued  a set of three stamps (in regular and self adhesive versions) highlighting some of the Natural Beauties of Croatia. Further to the C tariff stamp used on the postcard, illustrated with an image of Telašćica Nature Park, in the Adriatic Island of  Dugi Otok, the issued comprised a tariff A stamp, dedicated to Kopački Rit Nature Park, and a Tariff B stamp, showcasing the Blue Cave at Biševo.

The postmark is illegible but I suspect it hails from Dubrovnik too.

POSTCARD N.180 - GRECCE

Postcard sent on the 26th April, received on the 15th May 2025.

Postcard image: Corfu. View of the Spianada from the Old Fortress, with the New Fortress in the Backgroundnteay Srey Temple

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Ravindra has been making quite a trip in Europe, passing through several countries. One of them was Greece, from where he kindly sent me this Postcard with a nice image from Corfu. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi.

Corfu... a name that is not that unheard of in my own household... for the time, it is on the "to do" list, and it'll still hold its place there for a while yet, but my wife and I have thought of journeying to Corfu, crossing the south of the Mediterranean,  as a long relaxing car trip when she finally gets off the bus after having so tenaciously dedicated her entire professional life to the sacred craft of spreading knowledge, as all teachers do. 

Until that day arrives, and if it is not tomorrow, it is not that far away either, we will have to keep our travels shorter, but Corfu is indeed a plan, and once there, If I still have the needed stamina, I might hike the Corfu trail... we'll see if all this ever comes to materialise, for life has the nasty habit of intruding in one's plans...

The New Fortress of Corfu, the highlight of Ravi's Postcard, was built in the 16th century, although doubts persist as to the exact dates of the beginning and conclusion of the works. Just like the Old Fortress, dating from the early 15th century, this mighty defensive fort was built  by the Venetians, who ruled the island, as part of the Serenissima, from  1386 to 1797,  in order to protect the urban areas that lay within its walls. 

As part of the Old Town of Corfu both constructions enjoys World Heritage Site status as recognised by the UNESCO.

Ravi used a Postcard Tariff  self-adhesive stamp with an image of the ilsand of Kythera, one of the Ionian Islands, the theme for one of several 10 self-adhesive stamp booklets issued in 2022. This particular stamp set was issued on 26APR2022

The Postmark hails from Corfu, ΚERKIPA, in Greek.

COVER N. 579 - SRI LANKA 
POSTCARD N. 180 - SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 16.04.2025

Postcard Image: 18 Sanni Masks

Posted on the 16th April; Received on the 30th April 2025

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As I type Ravindra is set to fly off from Portugal, after a short visit in which we had the opportunity of meeting and spending some time together,

During one of our meet ups I could ask him about the amazing stamp issue that he used on a cover and a postcard that he recently sent me which I really found interesting. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, my friend.

Sanni Yakuma is a traditional healing ritual of Sri Lanka performed by dancers wearing the masks that are reproduced  in the stamps, each of them corresponding to a certain demon that needs to be exorcised so that the ill person can be cured. 

There are 18 demons, each corresponding to a certain type of ailment, hence the 18 stamps on the issue (although there's one demon missing in my postcard.... maybe there's also a demon for missing stamps disease....😂)

The 18 x 15 Rupee stamp issue began to circulate on 08AUG2018 al, the stamps being included in a mini-sheet, as is very usual for Sri Lanka's very interesting issues.

To send me the stamps that could not be glued onto the cover, Ravi used a postcard  illustrated with another set of the 18 demon masks featured in the stamp issue.

 

A usual, the postmark  was applied at Colombo's main Post Office.

POSTCARD N.179 - CAMBODIA

Postcard sent on the 2nd April, received on the 18th April 2025.

Postcard image: Banteay Srey Temple

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The restless traveller, the Ghost who Walks, the Phantom, ventured into the depths of the Asiatic jungles till he found temples forgotten by time and men... well not so much so, but this could be the first line for another epic adventure of the character created by Lee Falk in 1936...

and yet, it does apply to the latest postcard I got from my Phantom friend, from the depths of Cambodia. Danke sehr Alex!

Angkor needs no presentation. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is one of the world's most  famous landmarks, and Cambodia's most important ambassador.

The historic site of Angkor, the capital of the Khmer empire that was at its prime from the 9th till the 15th centuries, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992, occupies an area of approximately 400 square kilometres, on which several temples were constructed, the most famous of them all being of course the majestic Ankor Wat.

Banteay Srey temple,  the subject of the postcard photo, also located on this historic site,  was built in the 10th century and was dedicated to Shiva, the supreme God and Parvati, the Godess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood.

Built in red sandstone the temple is remarkable for the quality of the carvings on its walls and also for its small stature when compared to the other famous temples in the region.

 

The Phantom used a quite adequate stamp on this postcard since it is one that is part of a set issued on 13MAR2019 dedicated to "Mystical Angkor". 

The issue comprises 5 stamps (500; 900; 1400; 3000 and 4000 Riel) all illustrated with images of Ankor Wat images and all carrying the legend Kingdom of Wander; Save our Culture, it's our History in Khmer and English.

The nice bicolour postmark was applied at Siem Riep, the gateway to the Angkor region.

POSTCARD N.178 - SINGAPORE

Postcard sent on the 21st March, received on the 8th April 2025.

Postcard image: The Fullerton Hotel 

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Ravi sends me a postcard from Singapore, enlightening me with a piece of postal history. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravindra!

What is today the Fullerton Hotel, a 5 star luxury hotel down in the centre of the Island/City State, was  in its inception, which dates back to 1928, Singapore's General Post Office, and there it functioned until March 1996.

Nevertheless, it is yet possible to post cards and letters, from the hotel, since Singapore Post opened a philatelic shop in the basement of the Hotel in 2020, from where Ravindra sent me the postcard.

The date stamp of Fullerton's post office can be seen obliterating the two "1st local" tariff stamps, part of a set of six ( (1st local; 45; 65; 80 cent; 2; 5 Dollars) issued on 12NOV2011on the occasion of the  20th World Orchid Conference, which took place in Singapore.

Each of the stamps in the set is illustrated with a beautiful watercolour of a specific orchid. The "1st local" tariff stamp Ravindra used on this postcard showcases the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid, the national flower of Singapore, a naturally occurring hybrid, resulting from cross pollination between Papilionanthe teres (Vanda teres) and Papilionanthe hookeriana (Vanda hookeriana).

POSTCARD N.177 - SRI LANKA

Postcard sent on the 19th March, received on the 1st April 2025.

Postcard image: Nine Arch Bridge, Ella - Lanka. 

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Ravi sends me another great card from Sri Lanka. This time with another aerial view of what I hear is a quite famous bridge in the country, and which had also been previously covered in Postcard #145. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravindra!

What I find amazing in this image is the general idea it lets one have of the scenery engulfing the viaduct. In fact as opposed to the also great image on postcard 145, the orographic accidents of the scenery and its overwhelming green nature, really lends the viewer an idea of the surroundings and of what an immensely difficult task it must have been to build such an imposing infrastructure in the early days of the 20th century.

Again, as I mentioned a propos the shot on postcard #145,  I cannot even imagine the impact on the image of a cloud of white smoke coming out of the locomotive on the photo, against all that deep green....ah, things were much harder and I am sure "those were not the days", but there is a beauty in steam locomotives that has yet to be matched...  😀

Ravindra had already sent me most of  the ten 15 Rupee stamps issued in minisheet form on 03FEB2020, celebrating World Wetlands Day, which is annually commemorated on that particular date.

On this particular postcard he was careful to use the 4 stamps on the set which he had not used before, a gesture I truly appreciate. As such, from left to right top to bottom, we have:

- Nipa Palm (Nipa fruticans), a species which can be found in the costline and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, being uncommon in that the trunk actually grows beneath the ground, while the leaves grow upwards, above the surface.

- Bruguiera cylindrica, another mangrove dweller of tropical Asia, which can grow up to 20 metres high

- Large-leafed orange mangrove (Bruguiera gymnorhiza), a relative of the previous species, of the same Rhizophoraceae family,  with which it shares the Genus. It can be found in mangroves from the Western Pacific across Indian Ocean coasts to Cape Province, South Africa.

- Stemonoporus moonii, a member of the Dipterocarpaceae family, endemic to Sri lanla and Critically Threathned due to loss of habitat.

The fifth stamp on the postcard is illustrated with an image of a Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea, another mangrove dweller that occurs from India to tropical Asia and the western Pacific. It is the sole species of its genus, in the Rubiaceae family.

Postmark, as usual, from the central Post Office at Columbus, Sri Lanka's economic capital.

POSTCARD N.176 - SRI LANKA

Postcard sent on the 11th February, received on the 18th January 2025.

Postcard image: Post Office at Nuwara Eliya 

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Lately, my friend Mr. Postman has been acting rather thriftily  in what concerns visits to my letterbox, on top of that, I have been in bed for the last few days with the worst case of flu I had in recent years, so the last postcard I got from Ravindra was quite a cut in the monotony of coughs and sneezes and body aches that have been filling my days. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi!

With each new Postcard that Ravi sends, the desire to visit his land grows, so many are the points of interest that Sri Lanka has to offer. Just have to wait until my companion of 42 years finally retires so that we can travel in the best time of the year to visit the beautiful Island of Taprobana.

And I'm sure that on seeing a sight such as the one on the postcard below, all those reading these lines will follow me in this desideratum...

The Tudoresque Nuwara Eliya Post office building was built by the British in 1894, and since that date it has been open to the public what makes it one of the oldest Post Offices in Sri Lanka.

As I read in Wikipedia, the postmaster's living quarters were converted into  tourist accommodation in 2012, and in 2017, the United Postal Trade Union of Sri Lanka went on a 3 day strike to stop the conversion of this amazing Post Office and also those at Kandi and Galle Fort into hotels... some things are better left unchanged, it seems.

The 20 Rupee stamp featuring a Schumacheria alnifolia, a critically endangered member of the Dilleniaceae family endemic to Sri Lanka, was issued on 07OCT2016 as part of a 12 definitive stamps issued in two minisheets (1x 8 and 1x4) themed on the Flowers of Sri Lanka.

Smal as the stamps from this particular issue are, I find them rather beautiful.

The 50 Rupee stamp is one that Ravi has already used before, part of a set of four (2 x 50 Rupee + 2 x 110 Rupee) dedicated to the UNESCO WHS of Sigiriya, issued on 15JUN2023.

As usual with Ravindra's covers and postcards, the postmark indicates expedition through the PO Headquarters of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital.

 POSTCARD N.175 - UKRAINE

Postcard sent on the 20th November 2024, received on the 30th January 2025.

Postcard image: Irpin, the City of Heroes.  The Central House of Culture 

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The Russian aggression on its neighbour drags on, in a relentless war of attrition that sadly brings to mind the ferocious lunacy of the western front of WW1...countless lives, sufferance, destruction, what for?

I read it on the news that V. Putin  is quoted as saying that that if  D. Trump (who would end it in 24 hours, both before and after his coming to office, of course...) had been in power in 2022, the war would never had started... How come, then? Would the so called Ukrainian Nazis need no denazification then? 

Anyway, today I got a rather battered postcard from Alex from the Ukraine which was hand dated of last August.

For some reason, not hard to understand, for the postmark hails from Slovyansk, in the Donbas region, a place that has suffered badly the burden of the despicable aggression, the cancellation is dated of the 20th November, 

Before arriving at my letterbox it also got some heavy rain on it, for it shows clear signs of having been affected by water, but this could and probably did happen very recently for a letter I had mailed myself three days ago also arrived totally destroyed by water. Blame it on the ongoing storms that have been affecting Europe, because of climate change, that Chinese hoax....

Thanks Alex. I'm very happy to have this postcard on my collection which again bears testimony to the resilience of the valiant Ukrainian civil servants that make the country go on, in spite of all the hardship impinged upon them. Heroes, all of them!

The photo on the postcard is that of the Central House of Culture in Irpin, built in 1954 and clearly an important military target such as all the civilian institutions and homes that the Russian have destroyed since the 25th February 2022, for it was heavily shelled by artillery fire on 17 March 2022, barely one month after the beginning of the invasion.

As far as I could read, in 2023, protective works were carried out in order to minimize the consequences of exposure to winter of the damaged areas of the building, and I hope that it may sometime in the near future be fully recuperated and us for its  peaceful purpose.

On 23JAN2022, just about one month from the start of the shameful Russian occupation, Ukrapost issued the "F" tariff stamp on the top right of the postcard, dedicated to the 2022 Benjing Winter Olympics.

The Ukraine participated on this olympiad with a team of 45 athletes, competing in 12 disciplines.

 Oleksandr Abramenko won the only Ukranian medal: silver in thye Men's aerials copetition in Freestyle skiing.

I cannot find any indication as to the lion's head on the stamp, which was also used on a comemorative coin issued by the Ukraine mint, but statues of guarding lions are quite common in China, so there's probably a connection here.

For three years starting in 2018, Ukraposta issued a series of 3 beautifully illustrated minisheets with stamps dedicated to the Alphabet, each stamp being illustrated with a letter and a an object presumably begining with this particualr character.

The eleven stamps on the 2020 minisheet, issued on 12SEP2020, had each a face value of 9 Ukrainian hryvnia. The stamp on the postcard is illsutrated with a pair of boots, чоботи in  Ukranian.

On 05JUL2019 Ukraposta issued a set of five 8 Ukrainian hryvnia in the series The Beauty and Greatness of Ukraine  dedicated to the Donetsk Region.  The stamp dedicated to the Stone tombs reserve, near the town of  Nazarivka, in the Mariupol region, a nature reserve established on April 5, 1927. Sadly the occupier installed a military base in the reserve, I read... not good news for conservation, I fear.

There are two postmarks 0on the card, One of  Slovyasnk and the one on the upper right corner which calims "Донбас - це Украіна" (Donbas is Ukraine).

POSTCARD N.174 - SRI LANKA

Postcard sent on the 20th January, received on the 28th January 2025.

Postcard image: The Lion's paws at Sigiriya 

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The entrance to the  royal palace of Sigiria, Sri Lanka's capital in the 5th century, and a current UNESCO World Heritage Site,  sitting atop what is known as the lion rock, was made through a stairway that penetrated the monumental head of a brick sculpted lion.

Today, all that remains of this huge sculpture are the lion's paws, the subject of this rather nice card Ravindra set me.  Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi! I hope to see in loco one day, but uuntil that time comes, your nice postcards are a great apetiser... :-).

The Ancient city of Sigiriya, is one of the eight UNESCO declared World Heritage Sites, six of cultural and two of natural nature.

As I mentioned a propos cover #385, The top of the lion mountain was chosen by King Kashyapa on the late 5th century as the place to erect  Sri Lanka's capital, something that  could only be attributed to the facility in defending it from any ill intended creature, be it human or animal, since  the site is a huge rock massive, protruding from the forest below, which makes it quite difficult to reach or attack from below.

In fact, it turns out that  Kashyapa was a parricide and he build his palace on top of what is known as the Lion Mountain, so as to defend himself from the vengeance of his brother, who, nonetheless, succeeded in defeating him, Kashyapa committing suicide afterwards.

After this episode, the site was progressively abandoned, having served as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.

The site was declared of WHS importance in 1982, UNESCO highlighting the fact that the frescoes existing on the site inaugurated a style which endured many centuries, and also that the poems inscribed on the rock walls bi visitors, known as Sigiri graffiti, are among the most ancient texts in Sinhalese language.

The 50 rupee stamp is part of a set of four  issued (2 x 50 + 2 x 110 rupee) on 15JUN2023, dedicated to the Sigiriya site, all illustrated with aerial views of it, and bearing the legends the legends “Sigiryia”, “World Heritage Sites Sri Lanka” as well as the UNESCO logo.

The 20 rupee stamp is part of a large set of butterfly themed stamps issued on 01DEC2022, and it depicts a Pale Ceylon line blue (Nacaduba sinhala), a member of the Lycaenidae family, endemic to Ceylon.

POSTCARD N.173 - SWITZERLAND - UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION

Postcard sent on the 30th December, received on the 7th January 2025.

Postcard image: Voeux Bonne Année 2025 

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A very interesting postcard with best wishes for the year. Mon grand Merci, Roland!

As I read on its website, Philapostel is the most important philatelic association in France. Sadly the website does not have any historical notes on the association itself (or maybe I could not find them), but from what I also managed to infer, the Association congregates chapters in several French regions.

This year, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Union Postale Universelle, UPU, Philapostel issued this very nice "Happy New Year" postcard, which was kindly sent me by Roland from Berne, the Swiss Capital and also the location of the UPU Headquarters.

Of special note is the 90 cents UPU Service Stamp, issued on 09SEP2003, highlighting the commitment to the improvement of service quality in postal services, symbolised by a stamped envelope encircled by the letter Q. 

Since 1957, through an agreement with the Swiss Post, UPU has sporadically issued service stamps, the last issue dating of 2012.

The 1 Franc stamp, on its side, is part of the two Swiss Post two stamp Christmas issue of 1006, which began to circulate on 21NOV2006.

The mechanical postmark which strangely  failed to hit the satmps celebrates the 175th anniversary of Swiss Post, which was celebrated ion 2024.

POSTCARD N.172 - MEXICO 

Postcard sent on the 27th November, received on the 6th January 2025.

Postcard image: Queen angelfish of the Cozumel reefs 

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The Phantom rides on.... and we keep track of him not by his footsteps, for it is well known that phantoms do not leave any physical trace of their passage, but by cards and letters that drop by some time later.... that is the way of the ethereal dimension in which the Ghost that Walks moves.... indeed... he moves in a mysterious way...

Danke Sehr, Alex, and I hope you had a great time in Mexico.

Cozumel is an island in the Mexican caribbean, famous for its reefs, which make it a diver's paradise, judging by the colourful angelfish that takes the centre stage in the postcard.

The Queen angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris) is a typical dweller of the coral reefs bathed by the warm waters of  western Atlantic from the Gulf of Mexico down to the lower tip of the Brazilian East coast., being an highly prized species for large aquaria, since it can grow up to 45 cm in length.

It is well known that armed violence is something which Mexico has been unfortunately obliged to fight. 

One of the latest strategies to this end is a campaign implemented by the Mexican Government, entitled "Si al desarme, Si a la paz", (Yes to disarmament, yes to peace),  through which people can anonymously exchange weapons for money in local centres where the necessary privacy conditions are granted to those willing to trade their firearms or ammunitions for money.

AS a way of raising awareness to the campaign, Correos de Mexico has issued on 05AUG2024 a three 15 Pesos stamp se-tenant strip themed on it. 

One of the stamps, illustrated with a photo of an army expert  handling a ammunition magazine which he has just taken out of a firearm, was used by Axel on this cover. The stamp also bears the coat of arms and the logo of Mexico city, as well as the slogan of the campaign.

The Postmark bears the location indication of Ventanilla, but I could not find any such place in the island of Cozumel.

POSTCARD N.171 - RUSSIA 

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 30th June, received on the 3rd December 2024.

Postcard image: A phantasy scene

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Cut and Paste, the miracle technology of the late 20th century....  I did paste, but I did not cut....

And so Post regarding Postcard 171 disssolved into cyber oblivion for ever, and ever, hallelujah, hallelujah.....

I am so sorry, but I will not try to reconstruct the post. Have to move on and time is a scarce comodity.

Here's the card, of which I remeber saying without any ill intention towards Olga who kindly sent it to me in the best of intentions, that post cards with phantasy images were not my preferred type of cards.

Still the stamps were totally to my liking and I also remeber having thanked Olga for her care and attention.

The 40 Ruble stamp was issued on 10MAR2020, celebrating the life of Hero of the Soviet Union - Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub (1920-1991), fighter pilot and triple Hero of the Soviet Union. the highest scoring WW2 pilot with more than 60 victories to his credit. It shows his portrait with a Lavochkin La-5 the type of aircraft in which he score most of his victories.

The 45 Ruble stamp, issued on 10MAR2023, celebrates a pedagogue on the bicentenary of his birth: Konstantin Ushinsky, (1823 - 1871) considered to be the father of Scientific pedagogy in Russia. 

Again the stamp is illustrated with his effigy with a classroom on the background.

As far as I can tell, the postmark indiocates that the card was mailed from Moscow.

POSTCARD N.172 - CZECH REPUBLIC 

Postcard sent on the 29th November, received on the 10th December 2024

Postcard image: Hluboká Castle

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Michal surprised me with another of his beautiful and always appreciated postcards. Děkuji mnohokrát, Michal.

This time he sent me a beautiful image from the Tudoresque looking castle of Hluboká, located in the town of Hluboká nad Vltavou, in south Bohemia.

For ease of explanation I'll quote directly from the postcard's legend:

"Originally royal castle from the 13th century, later reconstructed. The present neo-gothic appearance dates from  reconstruction in "Tudor Gothic" based on Windsor Castle and comes from the period of culminating romanticism."

In fact I wouldn't be surprised to see Henry the VIII chasing a potential 7th wife in the castle gardens, given the decidedly Tudoresque aura of the building.

Michal used a tariff E stamp part of a two same tariff stamp set issued on 12OCT2022 in celebration of LIBEREC 2002 European Stamp Exhibition and Polar Salon, held in Liberec between 13 and 16 October 2022.  Faithful to the theme of the exhibition, the stamp is illustrated with a bunch of stamp and letter carrying emperor penguins.

The companion stamp on the set can be seen here, on postcard 163 .

The postmark hails from the city of  Cesky Budejovice.

POSTCARD N.170 - RUSSIA 

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 26th October, received on the 19th November 2024

Postcard image: A building in Novo-Sobornaya Square, Tomsk.

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Siberia, the land of the cold...just out of curiosity I went and took a look at the day's weather report as I type: 17º C here where I live; - 2ºC in Tomsk..., well, not really cold  for Tomsk's standards I presume, but I'm feeling warmer already....

Thank you Polina, for the very nice postcard of Tomsk.

Polina wrote me in Russian, so I had a bit of a difficulty in figuring out what she had written on the back of the postcard, but thanks to the Google translating app I could get it all clear... one just has to point the cellphone camera to the text and you get the translation on the screen....nothing short of amazing.

I also had a bit of difficulty identifying the building in the painting, but after some searching I managed to locate it in Novo-Sobornaya Square, a favourite place for city events, I read.

The stamps used on the postcard are all part of the first definitive issue (11JUN2029) of the series illustrated with the State Postal Administration Emblem.

Unfortunately, the Postmark is illegible but Polina tells me she lives in Nizhnevartovsk, so I presume that the postcard was mailed from there.

COVER N. 533 - RUSSIA

Postmark: Illegible

Posted on (?); Received on the 19th November 2024

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The second letter from Julia came in a nice envelope with a maxim card inside. 

The interesting envelope and maxim card are themed on aeronautical and aerospace matters, and beginning by the former it is interesting to see that Julia, who usually sends me her correspondence from the city of Kaluga, managed to find an envelope related to this particular city.

It should also be mentioned that Kaluga bears a deep relation with the history of  space exploration going back to the days of space exploration pioneer theorist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovski, so much so that it is the location of the Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics.

The envelope is illustrated with the logo for the celebrations of the  650 anniversary of the city, in which space exploration is again very much present, the central object of the logo being none other than Sputink, I the first man made satellite to orbit the earth.

On each of the sectors defined by the satellite's antennae, landmarks of the city are included, these being the Gostiny Ryady (a complex of buildings of the XIX century with shops, cafes and restaurants) the Stone Bridge, the History of Cosmonautics Museum and the Local Folklore Museum.

On my search for information I also found out that there is also a satellite named in what I think might also be a way of celebrating the city's anniversary, this being the  Avion-Kaluga 650.

The CubeSat satellite was launched from Vostochny Cosmodrome in Eastern Russia, on a soyuz rocket on  27JUN2023 with the aim of "studying the temporal and spectral characteristics of electrons and gamma radiation", whatever that might be....

It is in geostationary orbit at an average height of 554.82 km and an average speed of 27308.65 km/h.

The stamp used on the cover depicts the decoration for the Order of Gagarin, which was established in 2023 and is to be awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to space exploration, scientific research, and technological innovation.

The 90 Ruble stamp is part of a two same face value stamp set issued on 07Mar2024, in a series dedicated to Russian medals and marks of honour.

The decoration features the face of Yuri Gagarin, the first man to travel to space,  in his flying helmet and suit, framed by the Vostok 1 rocket flying towards the stars. 

Inside the envelope Julia kindly sent me a maxim card with Drones as the main subject.

Drones are here to stay! Everyday better and more advanced drones are made and new uses are found for these incredible flying machines.

Unfortunately, not all uses are so innocent as one might be led to think from watching the image on the card of an operator who guides a camera equipped drone, and it is well known the role that these devices play in the ongoing conflicts as vectors of intelligence gathering and precise targeting of human and material resources.

In this sad state of affairs it is expected that research and development as well as  the manufacturing of drones with both civil and  belligerent intent be intensified everywhere in the world and particularly so in those countries which are already using them for military purposes.

On 24SEP2024, Marka issued the 31 ruble stamp used for the maxim card, commemorative of the Russian Unmanned Aviation Systems (UAS) National Project, established on the 1st January 2024, which, according to the stamp release notes, aims at reinforcing the domestic share on the Russian drone market from the current 24% to 72%.

Quoting direct from the said notes: "the postage stamp features operators of unmanned aircraft systems, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles of the BVS VT-45, BVS VT-440 and Geoscan 801 models".

The First day postmark was issued at Kaluga.