COVER N. 250 - MOROCCO  

Postmark: Marrrakesh CTD 19.04.2023

Posted on the 18th April; Received on the 4th May 2023
_________________________________________________________________________________

Self-sent covers are a pleasure to receive, because either they look like the prodigal son has come home, when, after a good while, you receive back on your letterbox a cover that you carefully prepared and sent away for postmarking and returning, or, better than that, they are evidence that you had been away somewhere.

One of my last travels abroad was to Morocco. But this time, contrary to what we usually do, my wife and I, we let ourselves be seduced by not having to book transportation, accommodation, organising the day, what to see, what to eat, in a word (or a bunch of them): think or care about anything other than paying the bill to the travel agent.

BIG MISTAKE!

Yes, we had been on organised tours before, but we had never spent so much time inside a bus travelling around a country and actually visiting almost nothing, except for a larger than normal choice of  arts and crafts shops where the main aim is selling the tourist something. Not that this is wrong in principle, it’s just a question of balance as it should not be the main aim of an organised trip that is supposed to introduce a country to you....

The real interesting places we did not visit, because they were either closed by the time we arrived or they had nothing to sell....

Anyway, this fact notwithstanding, Morocco was a discovery for me and I may go there in the future to see what I didn't this time, but when and if we go, we'll do it on our own... that’s for sure!

Before departing to Casablanca, I had of course prepared some letters to send to some friends.

Now, letters to be sent, and especially to be sent to cover collectors, should respect some minimal qualitative criteria.

One of them is they shall not be sent without at least one stamp and the other is that it should be manually cancelled.

And here my troubles began. The tour schedule contemplated no free days at all. I would only have a free partial afternoon in the last day in Marrakech. So how the heck would I be able to buy stamps and post the letters?

So I was always keeping an eye whenever the bus stopped to see if we were going past a post office so that at least I could buy some stamps, thinking that If I got the stamps I could, in the evening, prepare the letters and the very next day, at another post office, deposit them and ask for them to be manually cancelled.

Well the first 5 days or so of the tour went by without me seeing a post office of sorts...until, on the 6th day, (and I was already believing that on the 7th, I, like God, would be entitled to rest....) in Marrakech, while following the guide on route to the Musée National du Tissage et du Tapis Dar Si Said (one of the few interesting visits we did) we passed by a Post Office. I immediately told the guide, that I needed 5 minutes to go inside and buy some stamps, and with his permission, I did just that. Luckily there was only one person at the counter and he was already paying, so it really was a fast operation. The problem was that the only stamps available were the current domestic and international definitives with the photograph of King Mohammed VI...not the most interesting stamp for a cover, but I bought some, anyway, since I had some postcards to send and maybe I would still find something more interesting for the covers.

Unfortunately the rest of the tour days passed and I did not pass through any opened post office again. On the last day, the day I finally had some free time in the afternoon, I went past a large post office in Jemaa el-Fna square, probably the central station in Marrakech, but it was already closed for the day.

I finally gave in to the idea that I would not be sending any covers from Morocco this time. I had sent the postcards, so at least, I would get mine, but I was a bit sad about it.

The next day we went  to the airport. Upon arrival at the terminal for check in, I saw the Post Maroc logo right beside that of the Al Barid Bank, (which I understand is a bank ran  by Post Maroc) above a counter  in one end of the terminal. I asked the lady at the counter if I they sold stamps and she confirmed she did. Exultant, I bought what she had, in the form of self-adhesive stamps, opened my bag, took off the letters, affixed the stamps and asked the lady to manually cancel them....

She looked at me and shook her head…. “We just sell stamps, we do not process the mail. just go to the other end of the terminal and drop the letters in the letterbox....”

this I did...

The stamp is part of a set of eight self-adhesive stamps issued on 21FRB2020, dedicated to Moroccan traditional dances and music. 

Unfortunately, after using the stamps and since I was in a hurry to get to the check, in I threw away the backing paper, not realising that it contained probably an explanation of the images on each stamp.

The machine cancelation is not what I wanted, but at least it is very clean and clear  and confirms that from the airport, the cover was sent to the central processing facility  - Centre de Traitement et de Distribution - at Marrakesh, from where she eventually flew to my letterbox.

COVER N. 249 - CYPRUS  

Postmark: No postmark 26APR23

Posted on ?; Received on the 8th May 2023

_________________________________________________________________________________

Alex, the wanderer, again surprised me with a cover from the easternmost country of the European Union.

Thanks a great lot, Alex!

It has happened to me also. In Cyprus, it seems that the notion of postmarking a letter or a postcard is vaguely accessory.

When I was there last year, but two of the letters and postcards I sent were cancelled, and only because I expressively requested it at the post office, so it came as no surprise to receive this nice cover from Alex without any postmark on it.

This time the envelope did not even have the fluorescent orange bar code that is now omnipresent in circulated mail, so in spite of my being sure that the envelope did effectively travel from the easternmost country of the EU to the westernmost, I have no means to prove it 😀!

This may, in time, be remedied, though, because Alex has asked me to return the cover so that it travels again to the origin in order to get properly cancelled....

Now this makes for a nice story too.... and as I type the cover is on its way to Alex. let's see how this ends. 😀

On 09JUL2028, Cyprus post issued a 0,64€ stamp celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Orthodox Interparliamentary Assembly.

Quoting directly from the organization's website:

"A main objective of the IAO is to develop a multilevel political and cultural activity to promote the Orthodox heritage and its contribution to the global dialogue for peaceful coexistence among peoples." 

"The IAO was established at the initiative of the Hellenic Parliament, in Halkidiki, Greece, in November 1993. The Assembly consists of Orthodox Christian Members of Parliament, represented either as a national delegation or individually. Moreover, countries with an Orthodox Church, but no elected Orthodox MPs, can also participate as observers."

"Apart from Cyprus, delegations from the Parliaments of the following countries participate in the IAO: Greece, Russia, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Estonia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Belarus, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Czechia, Finland, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine participate in the IAO. Occasionally, MPs from Egypt, Ethiopia, Argentina, Australia, United States, Canada, Congo, Mozambique, Uganda, Sudan and Chile also participate."

- As a way to help finance the Refugee Fund created by the Cypriot Government to deal with the problems caused by the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974, a special "Refugee Stamp" was created in 1971, with a value of 10 mils, that was thereafter obligatorily applied to every object to be posted.

From 1984 the refugee stamp started to be denominated in Euro with a value of 1 cent and, from 1989 on, it has become an yearly issue, always with the same design but with a different background colour. Staring in 2008 it's face value was increased to the current 2 cents.

The 2020 stamp on my cover was issued on 18FEB2021.

If i knew where the cover had been posted, I am sure I would let you also know... 😀 

COVER N. 248 - AUSTRIA  

Postmark: Leobersdorf 2544  26APR23

Posted on the 26th April; Received on the 5th May 2023

_________________________________________________________________________________

Austria and a simple, clean and nice cover with two interesting stamps. Thanks a lot Manfred.

Stamps Left to right:

- Austria, we all know it, is a land of music. Well, many other places are lands of music, to the point of ... everywhere being a land of music, since Music, in itself, is as omnipresent as humanity. In fact, they have always gone hand in hand... but much the  same way I think of watches when someone mentions Switzerland, music immediately springs to mind when someone utters Austria, and especially Salzburg.....

Did I mention Salzburg? again, prompted by association, I instantly picture the opening scene of  the Sound of Music, on one side of the brain, and recall the greatness of Wolfgang Amadeus on the other. 

Drop a nice image of a puppet Papageno on it and.... I have to stop writing for a while, because I have to go on youtube to look for a good clip of the Finale of the Magic Flute... and I find one, ...with a special taste, coming from the National Opera House of Lviv, with Oksana Lyniv at the helm .

In 2013, Salzburg's Puppet Theatre - Salzburger Marionetten Theater - celebrated its first centenary. To mark the occasion Österreichische Post, issued on 27FEB2013 the single 0,62 € stamp with the image of Papageno that graces my cover. 

Out of curiosity I visited the Marionette Theatre website and the Magic Flute is on stage this coming Saturday, the 20th... so hurry up... there are still tickets available...

- Austria Post has the habit of issuing stamp series that run through the years. One such series is dedicated to Austrian wine regions. Having started in 2012 with the stamp on the cover, issued on 19OCT2012, highlighting the Lower Austria Wine district, the series was still running in 2022 and probably continuing this year, sometime in the future.

The stamp features the image of a glass of Grüner Veltliner wine, over the image of the corresponding grapes, this cast being characteristic of the northeast region of the country.

The letter was posted in Leobersdorf, a small town of about 5000 inhabitants located in the same Lower Austria region.

 COVER N. 247 - SURINAME  

Postmark: Paramaribo PBM Suriname 03.04.2023

Posted on the 3d April; Received on the 5th May 2023
_________________________________________________________________________________

More of Eric's surprises...  this time once again from Suriname. the small state in South America where 60% of the population speaks Dutch... I wonder if there are any windmills and clogs and Gouda cheese there too....

One thing is certain, I'm sure that they must have a much larger variety of seashells in Suriname than on the weather beaten sandflats braving the northern sea, on this side of the ocean.... 

So it comes as no surprise and, from my humble point of view, it is hopefully expected, that stamps from a country which I would think must have quite an interesting and diverse maritime fauna, should showcase this diversity.

So instead of having a couple of triangles of Gouda, I'll have a couple of triangles of seashels

The stamps on the cover are part of a 10 stamp strip issued on 02FEB2022, featuring images of seashells that I presumed could be found in Suriname's coastal waters and reefs. But...

The 17 SRD stamp has a photo of a Bullia sendersi, a marine gastropode mollusc that is native to the waters of Kenya and Mozambique, from what I read, so my theory about the shells on the stamps being endemic, or, at least, occurring in Suriname went down the drain....

The 19 SRD stamp features an image of a Cantharus undosus. Again, according to the World Register of Marine Species, it has an Indo-Pacific distribution, so it shouldn't be occurring in Suriname either...

At least the Postmark is endemic, I'm sure 😀: Paramaribo, the place where the cover was postmarked is the country's largest city and its capital.

COVER N. 246 - MOROCCO  

Postmark: Barid Al-Maghrib - Dima Maghrib 20-12-2022 / Meknes 26.04.2023

Posted on the 26th April; Received on the 5th May 2023
_________________________________________________________________________________

Pierre is also a frequent contributor of unexpected items for my blog, which day by day is steadily growing with  a little help from my friends.

Merci Bien Pierre, pour ce chouette pli!

I've spent 10 days in Morocco very recently, but I was on an organised tour (big mistake....) so I did not have the time to go to the post office and do things the proper way (more on that for a later post), so receiving a nice and proper FDC from Morocco, more that makes up for the inconvenience.

Dina Maghrib - Morocco Forever - reads the legend on the flag with a lion, an allegory for Morocco's national soccer team,  "Atlas Lions".

I really do not care about soccer at all. And it is one of those themes that I'd rather not go into, because much, very much, of what I would have to say, would be far for being uplifting, optimistic, positive,...

But, being Portuguese, I can understand  the impact a good performance of a national team can have on the country's self-esteem, given the absurd place the game occupies in the habits and aspirations of a population that bows to two creeds: God and soccer (and not always by that particular order....).

Of course, in Morocco, God may answer by a different name than the One here revered, but I feel that soccer occupies the same space in the collective imagination of its people as in that of my own.

During last world soccer championship, Morocco had a brilliant performance, having risen to the 4th place in the final classification after beating the Portuguese team in the quarter finals.

I said I wouldn't go there, but I can't evade it. Just to show the level of idiocy and “irreflectiveness” soccer can impart on soccer alienated human beings, I will tell a little story.

I was watching the news on TV, on the day or days after the defeat of our team by Morocco's.

As usual, soccer was all over the news and an earthquake or a nuclear explosion could have happened somewhere and still that would not scratch the news alignment and time distribution.

A soccer specialised journalist, a true scientist in the unfathomable ways of the sphere, as we have so many, everyday, on tv, was interviewing someone. I can't remeber if it was our national coach or anyone else, but it was someone directly connected to the team.

"How do you feel after losing to a team such as that?"

I couldn't stand it! The level of supremacism, racism, stupidity such a question implied was absolutely staggering!

"A team such as that? " a team that goes on to the final selection of a world championship, and ends up qualifying in the 4th place? The question coming from a national whose team has only once earned an European championship, and most of the times wins nothing in spite of having a plethora of first grade artists in the team (or could this also be one of the reasons...?) made me quite uncomfortable...

Anyway... My  belated congratulations to Morocco and its team... a team "such as that", may well be champion one day!

The performance of Morocco's national team gave rise to absolute hysteria on the streets (much the same as it happened here when our team won the European championship) and on the wake of the team's last game, which took place on the 17th December, the celebratory  9 Dirham stamp that can be seen on my FDC was promptly issued on the 20th.

Should the Lions have won, I would bet on an overprinted legend: “Champions”.

COVER N. 245 - UNITED NATIONS - VIENNA  

Postmark: Wien Vereinte Nationnen 14(?)0  - 17.04.23 

Posted on the 17th April; Received on the 2nd May 2023
_________________________________________________________________________________

Another of Eric's suprise envelopes. This time from The Vienna Office of the United Nations.

Thanks a lot, Eric.

A funding member violates the Charter, and presides over the Security Council...all at the same time...

It really takes a lot of nerve.... but some people do have it, don't they, Mr. Lavrov?

How on hell will we ever be able to reform the UN?

In the meantime, let's just look at the beautiful images on the stamps. They are soothing and relaxing... a far cry from those that come out of the Ukraine these days....

The four stamps on the cover belong to a set of eight, (3x0,15; 3x0,20; 0,55 and 0, 75€) issued on 24OCT2003, dedicated to World Heritage Sites in the USA. 

Of note is the fact that the 0,55 and 0,75€ stamps are identical to one of f the 0,15 € and another 0,20 €, although the colour of the green frame around the image is slightly different.

The three 0,15 € stamps on the cover feature images of :

- Olympic National Park - This park, located on the Olympic Pensinsula in the state of Washington, on the Northwest corner of the USA, bordering British Columbia in Canada,   gets its name from Mount Olympus.

The park was inscribed in the WHS list in 1981 and a full description of the raguments that led to its classification can be found here.

Think of Sequoias and Ansel Adams and Alex Honnold’s absolutely incredible free climb solo ascent of El Capitan... Yosemite National Park is located in Sierra Nevada, in the state of California, and is probably one of the most famous Parks in the world.

It was inscribed in the WHS list in 1984, and its entry on UNESCO's site can be checked  here.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park extends over an area of 2,114.15 km2, spread across the states of North Carolina and Tennessee in the southeast of the US, encompassing several ranges of the Appalachian Mountain chain.

It made it to the list in 1983 and its entry in the UNESCO site can be consulted here.

The Everglades....alligators and fast moving airboats.... Located on the southernmost tip of the Florida Peninsula, the Everglades National park, due to its inherent characteristics, is a site of outstanding importance in terms of biodiversity associated with wetlands.

It was inscribed in the WHS list in 1979, and its entry on UNESCO's site can be checked here.

The Postmark, indicates that the cover was mailed from Vienna as expected 😀.

COVER N. 244 - British Overseas Territories - Gibraltar 

Postmark: Royal Gibraltar Post Office - Main Office - 30.03.2023 

Posted on the 30th March; Received on the 2nd May 2023
_________________________________________________________________________________

I have said here that some people should be Honoris Causa members of my humble blog, for all the care and attention they contribute in the form of sundry covers from the most unexpected places. 

Eric is another such case. I've lost track of how many times I wrote him just to say  "Thank You" for yet another outstanding addition to my herbarium of letters.

Although he is geographically much closer to me that his family name would lead me to believe, we have never met and we’ve exchanged but some short email messages. This hasn't kept him from making sure that my list of countries and territories keeps growing at a steady pace, many a time due to his overgenerous contributions. 

Such incredible generosity humbles me and I do try to reciprocate as often as possible, but it isn't easy to be at the same level....

This last batch of covers bearing his ... aura?  (for some of them don't even have sender information) is as diverse as it could be and all great additions as usual, Again, all I can say is  "Muito Obrigado, Eric!"

Gibraltar... the Rock, the place where you have to wait for the traffic light to turn green to cross an airport's runway, if you want to go to town.... right in front of Algeciras, with the larger than life statue of larger than life Paco de Lucia next to the port, turning his back on his Majesty's subjects while filling the city with the unforgettable fire of his incomparable "rasgueados" .... 

Irrespective of who is right, (and I won't go there, since it seems the question  is a really complex affair) the notion of "Overseas Territories" in the 21st century, for me, a citizen of what was once an empire also, sounds awkward, to say the least.... mainly because it'll will never cease to be paired with the notion of "Empire" itself .... 

This reminds me  that the term "Imperial", in the southern half of the Portuguese rectangle, has quite a different connotation, not even being an adjective, but a noun.

Maybe one day, the Prime-ministers of both monarchies may come to a definitive agreement over a couple of Portuguese cold and bubbling "Imperiais", for such is the name we give to a well drafted half-pint on any bar, tavern or restaurant in town!

Cheers!

Stamps, left to right:

- The theme of the 1882 EUROPA stamp issues was "Historic Events"

Gibraltar issued two stamps on 11JUN1982 (14 and 17 p) highlighting the role of the Rock in the building up of Operation Torch, the invasion of the then French North Africa.

The one on my cover evokes the episode of the meeting of Generals Henri Giraud and Dwight Eisenhower in Gibraltar, when the former was invited by the latter to be the commander of the French troops for the operation, something Giraud refused at first, because he thought that the operation should be commanded by a Frenchman (himself).

This notwithstanding, after the assassination of the appointed commander, General Darlan,  Giraud would  assume this role,  effectively becoming the Commander of the French Forces in North Africa.

The companion stamp is illustrated with what looks like spitfires and probably hurricanes, highlighting the strategic role of Gibraltar not only for Operation Torch, bus also has a sentinel guarding the entry of the Mediterranean.

- Winston Churchill needs no introducing.

Celebrating the 75th anniversary of VE Day, the 8th May, on 25MAR2020, Gibraltar Post issued a five stamp and one souvenir sheet set, evocative of the date.

The 4£ souvenir sheet can be seen on my cover  with a photography of Winston making his famous V sign to the crowd from a balcony in Whitehall, on the 8th May 1945. Little did he know that coming the next elections....

Winston Churchil is also featured on another stamp on the cover, part of a five stamp set (22; 64; 70 and 80 p) issued on 20MAR2015, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Churchill's death. 

Winston here is depicted inspecting what looks like Willys jeeps on a port...  a photo related with the invasion of France, I would say, but I'm just guessing.

The last stamp - 19 p - on the cover is part of the 1983 EUROPA issue, themed on "Great Achivements of Human Genious", which saw the light of day on 21MAY1983.

It depicts the "water catchment slopes" that from 1903 to 1991 insured that rain falling on the sand slopes on the east side of the promontory, covered with corrugated iron sheets, would be collected  so as to supply water to the inhabitants since no other sources of the precious liquid were at the time available. In 1991, desalinisation plants began to operate and the area has been renaturalised, restoring the old habitats.

The companion stamp on this two stamp set was used by Eric on another covr he had sent me before, and can be seen here.

The letter was registered, hence the high postage and the "registered" sticker.