POSTCARD N.87 - RUSSIA

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

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

______________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

´´

Stamps Left to right:

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

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

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

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

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

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

COVER N.134 /135 /136 - MONACO.

Postmark: Monte Carlo Pté. de Monaco 04.07.2022 / Principauté du Monaco Paris Philex 23-26 Juin 2022
Posted on the 4th July; received on the 7th July 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

In one of the first entries I appended to the "Musings" section of this humble blog, I wrote that from all the catalogue of human qualities, generosity is probably the one that has me wondering the most. Do unto others like you'd want the other to do unto you... but... would I rise to the occasion? would it  happen, if it would be me?

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

Merci énormément, Pierre. 

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

#134 - Stamps, left to right:

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

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

#135 - Stamps, Left to Right:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#136 - Stamps, Left to Right:

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

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

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

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

POSTCARD N.86 - CHINA

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

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

______________________________________________________________________________

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

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

Stamps, left to right

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

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

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

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

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

COVER N.133 - TAIWAN.

Postmark: Illegible
Posted on the ?; received on the 6th July 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

COVER N.132 - GERMANY.

Postmark: EXPHIMO '22 - Int. Philatelischer Salon Bad Mondorf, Luxemburg 4. bis 6. Juni
Posted on the 4th June; received on the 7th July 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you Andreas for this cover that  shows that a postmark can really make a difference 😀

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

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

Credit: Deutsche Post

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

COVER N.131 - GERMANY.

Postmark: Florstadt 1 28.06.22
Posted on the 28th June; received on the  4th July 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ludwig van Beethoven. What could be said that hasn't been yet? The man, the tragedy, the geniality, the irrevocable place in the pantheon of Man's finest achievements,..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

COVER N.130 - FRANCE.

Postmark: Centenaire de la découverte du tombeau de Toutânkhamon - 1er Jour 23.06.22 Paris
Posted on the 23rd June; received on the 1st July 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________

Tutankhamun... one of the precious memories I have of my childhood was the hours I spent going through the pages of my father's "National Geographic" and "Science et Vie" magazines. I could not speak the languages, but there were photos, good ones, and I was the curious kind so I would  ask my father who would, to the best of his ability and knowledge, explain to me what I was marvelling about.

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

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

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

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

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