Roundstone, Ireland

well, for my last card today Ive chosen this beautiful Irish card (Irish cards are almost always BEAUTIFUL!)

I love the sort of gloomy atmosphere on this one...and i think I have a particular thing developed for boats like this...not like for a postcard theme, but ive noticed, that whenever I see boats on the shore or in the water, i take pictures of them, and try to make some cool shots regarding the boats' arrangement compared to the surroundings or so...and if boats come in different colours, that is just a bonus!

well, about that story I mentioned above....well, some 10 days ago, there was a huge fire at the main post office in Skopje...and unfortunately, that is the post office where the Philatelic Bureau is also situated...or should I say, 'was'...there were no deaths fortunately, but the damage is huge..and the post office is not working at the moment...all the employees there have been reallocated to other post offices...however, I cant find out where the philately lady is and if she is working at all or she is taking a break...I dont know if and how many stamps have suffered the fire but practically, right now, i cant get any nice new stamps....I have to be satisfied with the general (boring) ones that are sold at the post offices...and that is quite annoying...but unfortunately, for the time being, i dont have much of a choice, and im running out of the nice stock of stamps I usually get at the philately *sigh*
you can read about it here  as well

as for the stamps on the card, we have a nice selection of flowers here...the one on the left is a definitive from a set of 5 definitives issued in 2005. representing an Irish orchid. Next to it is the 'dandelion' (i cant tell if this one was issued in 2004 or 2007). Next tp the dandelion is the 'thrift', from the set of 3 wild flowers' stamps issued in 2008. And the last stamp shows a large-flowered butterwort, as a part of 4 definitives issued in 2007.

thanks a lot to Monika for this lovely card!

And a nice evening/morning/afternoon too all :)

Lighthouses of Michigan, USA

Here is a great card showing just 6 out of the 100+ Michigan lighthouses (if we are to trust the back of the card :))

card sent by Bryon...and when I read his cards, I have a feeling that he is more in the 'air' than on the 'ground' :)))))
I have no idea which Michigan lighthouses are shown here...I tried making comparison with some Michigan lighthouses I have...but no success...though this means that it is a real challenge to actually collect all the Michigan lighthouses :) Who knows if all of them are even on a postcard?

I LOVE that photography stamp! It is just soo cool! It is a 15c stamp issued back in 1978.
As for the other two..they are a part of the fantastic Earthscapes series....more of which you can read about at the post on my stamps-blog (yeah, that was a brag for those who havent seen it :))
Which reminds me now I need to think of a post for the Sunday Stamps entry....uhmm, what to choose, what to choose...ill try not to go with a train :)

thank you thank you Bryon!

Nepal

Good day to all! :) well, it is not such a good one here...apart from my mood, it is absolutely freezing outside, and after the beautiful sunshine and 15 degrees few days ago, today it had to snow. But not the dreamy-kind of snow..it is the one which barely remains on the ground, yet roads get all frozen...so no biking today =/ and all this pile of mail will have to wait till Monday...argh!

On a brighter note, here comes a FANTASTIC card, which marks Nepal as a country where I have a written and stamped card received from (ok, not just one :P), plus it is a map card!! When Sissel said she'd be visiting Nepal among else, I hoped Ill find a card in my mailbox..but I certainly didnt expect it would be a map card.....I dont think ive even seen a map card from Nepal before! So I was so so so happy to find this one in my mailbox! Just LOVE it! Thank you Sissel for tracking this one down for me!

as it can be seen from the map, here you have the National Parks marked (and I could count, uhmm, 14?!) But dont take my word for it...the shades of green are barely distinguishable one from another (im not excusing myself :P). You have the settlements marked too (hmm, they seem very few in number), and you have the mountain peaks...among which you can see the very famous Mount Everest :)

There have been a few Macedonians too who have conquered this 8,848 metres high peak, where the first one was back in 1989, on 10 May, by Dimitar Ilievski, who was representing the former Yugoslavia back then. Unfortunately, he didnt make it on his way back...on the picture in the link you can see him with the two flags, one of Former Yugoslavia, one of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia (as it was known when it was a part of Yugoslavia).
It is really sad how some great achievements have to end....
a short documentary with some highlights from this expedition...in Macedonian though, but it does give you some idea about it

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and here are some fantastic stamps on the back of the card (makes me think again how much I suck with the stamps on my holiday cards :))
the stamp on the very right was issued in 2006 and represents the Golden Jubilee Year of the Nepal-Russia Diplomatic Relations.
the middle one was issued in 2009 and represents the Chhath Festival. while the one at the left is from 2002, from a set of two stamps, entitled "Let us not discriminate between Son and Daughter".  Hmm, well thats a good message, but makes me wonder if they really had such problems, so that they had to  even issue a stamp like that to promote the awareness about it...

thank you dear Sissel!!!

Turkmenistan

Well, first of all, Happy Easter to all celebrating today! Hope you are enjoying it, along with some nice meals too....this may especially count for those who have been fasting....so it is about time to indulge into something 'forbidden'. Here Easter is next week, so today is just another regular Sunday. And since ive ignored you this past week, ill make it up today with a few nice cards (well, they are always nice actually :))

well, first one comes from the favourites tag....Claus always has in stock some rare countries....i dont know how he gets them all, but it is amazing! And i was really thrilled when he tagged me for this one :)
Well, it was not sent from Turkmenistan, so dont be TOO jealous...but still, the card is just great! I mean, it was in my favourites after all :) And i love cards showing anything traditional!

Now, I couldnt really find some reliable information about the kind of traditional clothes featured on this card...like on what occasions it is worn and from which part of Turkmenistan it originates and such...so if anyone knows, please help. And also, if you have info about the vessel the lady is holding and also the carpet/rug in the background, that would also be very appreciated :)

Bicycles

Have I ever told you how much I love my bike and that it is my main means of transport from April till November, weather permitting?
Well, Ive obtained a number of bicycle cards over the time, and I thought it was about time to give them some attention...Im still not sure if Im gonna start a collection of bicycle cards....though it is very probable to happen...I mean, cards with bikes are just so charming!

the one above is from one of my fairies, and this is from the Bryon fairy :) It shows a lovely mountain bike and mine is just similar to this one....though due to problems with the gears, it is not suitable anymore for mountains or some tougher destinations, but it definitely does its job for my everyday needs....I should maybe start thinking of a new one (my neighbour has a fantastic mountain bike which i used for a few months last year while mine was at the repair service (read, at home, in the back of my yard, waiting for my dad to find the time to fix it).
However, for now, finances are focused on some other stuff, but in the future i will get down to getting a new bike maybe.

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this is a great official card I received, showing some retro bicycles. Ive always wanted to try out those old bikes with the HUUGE front wheel, and a totally small one. I really wonder how does it feel to be riding such a bike and esp. how easy/difficult it is to get on/off. The Kripper (the tricycle) also seems extra cool!
Im just not sure if the bicyclette is just the french term for a bike or there are some differences between a bicycle and a bicyclette? anyone?

sorry for the slightly sidelong scan...I noticed it once i had uploaded the cards, so honestly, i didnt feel like doing it all over again :)
I had this card in my favourites for a long time, and in the end got it twice within a very short period of time :) The first one was sent by dear Peggy for her awesome Choose a country RR, while the other one for the favourites' tag :) Peggy says that there are 18 million bikes in the Netherlands, and 17 million people!? With 15.000 km of cycling paths! And here comes my frustration....recently, there was this law adopted, for cycling...which says that, you must ride your bike on a cycling path, or if there is no cycling path, on the ride side of the road, next to the pavement...otherwise, you pay a fine of 25 euros! For the love of God!! First of all, there are BARELY any cycling paths! And the ones existing, are almost always occupied with parked cars, or construction works or people walking and also, bus stops are always at the cycling path with people waiting, or people getting off the bus which makes it a great opportunity to simply stumble upon someone getting off! And in the end, it will be me paying the fine! I just dont know what smart head says that we should be riding ON the street, next to the pavement, and how on Earth could they find it safe? Not to mention that again, with the buses, and cars parked just right there, it is impossible to have a normal ride.
i cant promise when my next update will be...I have a lot of other things to catch up with, but I hope to see you soon...'till then, stay well :)

Pottinger Street, Hong Kong

this lovely surprise arrived from dear Iris who thought of me during a Hong Kong PC meet-up held on 18 March this year.

Here you can see the Pottinget Street, or Stone step street, one of the oldest streets in the central district.
It is made of stone steps and is named after the 1st Governor of Hong Kong, inclining from Caine Road to Hollywood Road and down to Queen's Road Central (ok, that's what the back of the card says, I dont really know of what importance are those other streets...if any). The traditional stalls you can see here sell ribbons, bows and buttons and neighboured with the modern buildings, this is where the old and the new, charmingly mix.

Can you spot the tourists?
I love such scenes, and im pretty sure i would find something interesting to buy here, even if i dont really need it...too charming to resist it :)

the stamp was issued in 2011, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. thank you so much dear for thinking of me! <3

Pichi Richi Railway, Australia

A great train card sent by dear Heather!

the card shows the NM25 locomotive on one of the Pichi Richi Railway's heritage train journeys.
The NM25 is said to be one of two surviving Commonwealth Railways (CR) 4-8-0 locomotives used to operate the Port Augusta to Alice Springs railway, built by built by Thompsons of Castlemaine in 1925.
The Pichi Richi Railway is operating regular heritage train journeys on the oldest remaining section of the famous narrow-gauge old Ghan railway.

I wonder how many train journeys are out there that id love to take...zillions!

and Heather used three awesome stamps, issued this year in a set of 5 stamps portraying city traffic. The left one shows a train in Perth, the one in the middle shows a tram in Melbourne, while the one on the right shows a double decker train in Sydney.

Thanks a lot Heather!!!

Magellanic Penguins, Falkland Islands

so, it is me here again...at last! What can I do...April was an EXTREMELY busy month, that I barely had time for anything....and probably it was the month when i had mailed the least number of postcards....and my mailbox would have remained empty if it wasnt for a few good fairies who surprised me...and also, coz i was such a lucky gal that i was the Winner of the Month on the PC forum. Yay! So thanks to all that my dear mailbox accommodated almost 100 postcards during the month :) I couldnt be more thankful for such a treat! :)

And one of those good fairies was Glenn, who took a nice cruise and sent me great cards from the places he had visited...and one of them is a totally new country for my collection....the Falkland Islands!!! And it is such a lovely card!! Thanks a bunch Glenn!

The card shows a number of Magellanic Penguins in the Gypsy Cove, which is one of the small bays in the Falkland Islands, particularly, on the East Falkland. (the other one is West Falkland, which along with 776 lesser islands, comprise the Falkland Islands). The capital is Stanley (from where this card was mailed) and it  is also the only city there. Interesting...
As for these cute Magellanic creatures....they are the largest of the warm-weather penguins and were named after Ferdinand Magellan who first saw them in 1519 on his first voyage around the tip of South America. They have a wide black strip under their chin and another is in the shape of an upside down horseshoe on their stomachs. On their chests they have scattered black spots.
They live on the stormy and rocky shores of the Falklands, Argentina, and Chile and are around 70cm tall and weigh about 4kg.
Im mostly used to seeing those bigger ones living on the Antarctica, so these seem a bit odd to me, more like a birdy i could see in my garden...but still they are just too cute :)

and here comes a matching stamp with penguins, issued in 2003 and intended specifically for airmail postcards! And I love the nice and clear cancellation!!

Thanks so much Glenn for such a treat!!

Čukotka, Russia

card number two for today comes from the beautiful Russian peninsula of Čukotka. One of the parts of Russia that enthrall me to the utmost. I got this one in the favourites tag!

The writers call it the shore of two oceans.
It was named Chukotka after the most numerous population of indigenous peoples in the region, the Chukchi. "Chukcha" means "having many deer" in the local Chukchi language.
As much as I find appealing scenes portrayed in cards like the previous one, I am also deeply in love with the deep north sceneries, and there is this description about Chukotka which totally gets under my skin and makes me want to be there, like just NOW!
"your flight finishes on a different planet, not in the one where it began. You will encounter cool and humid air, a black and yellow landscape if you arrived in summer, and severe white bareness if you arrived in winter. There are no trees, only mountains and tundra, terribly naked" - Oleg Kuvaev.


If you have missed my initial fascination with this place, just take a look at this other Čukotka card 

the Kremlin stamps are definitives issued in 2009 while the fox is from a set of 15 definitives issued in 2008

Boa Vista

so, has the weather been acting weird on your side of the world? here it has...going to extremes of too cold and too hot....luckily we havent had snow at least, though it has occurred in some very neighbouring places...and such weather simply makes you dream of something like this....

which makes it also my first written and stamped card from Cape Verde!! The first one i had received was not mailed from there...and on the other hand, now i see how long it has been since then...huh...

I owe this beauty of a card to Michaela who was lucky to spend her holidays there, and kind enough to spread some joy around the world :)
This beautiful view comes from Boa Vista, which is the eastermost island of Cape Verde (which consists of 10 islands in general). Btw, Boa Vista means 'good view' in Portuguese...well, deserved!

the stamp was issued in a set of 4 in 2006, showing famous people, with this one portraying Francis Drake, a captain, navigator, politican of the Elizabethan Era.

Bear's Den Stone, Finland

I got this adorable card from the favourites tag! Just look at this pair of cute children.

if im not mistaken, these traditional clothing should be typical for Inari, the largest, sparsely populated municipality with four official language and the centre of the Sami culture.
And Bear's Den Stone is the English equivalent to Karhunpesäkivi, a place in this area.
I would still need some help from some of my Finnish readers....Anu? Please? :)

well, whether im right or wrong, I wish you days ahead full of love and hugs and kisses :)

the stamp is from a set of two self-adhesive Dahlias issued in 2011.
I know the Finnish issue some of the most unusual stamps...but the last one ive seen definitely beats them all so far...maybe ill get it on some postcard too :)

In the meantime, you can check it out here:

as a whole, it is crazy, no?? and just fantastic. It represents the Sami culture. Übercool!

Victoria, Malta

this great citadel card came as a lovely surprise from dear Agi, from one of her 'conquering the world' trips. This time, the target was beautiful Malta.

on the card you have a close-up view of the Citadel situated in the heart of Victoria, the capital of Gozo, an island of the Maltese archipelago.
It is known to be first fortified during the Bronze Age approximately around 1500 BC. and was later developed by the Phoenicians and continued into becoming a complex Acropolis by Roman times.
It is a really beautiful peace of architecture.
The massive defensive stone walls of the fortifications rise above the town and were built by the Knights to protect the village communities from foraging corsairs attempting to take slaves and threatened invasion of Moslem forces fighting Christendom

and here is how you can recognize a tourist has found a philately..or at least was on the hunt for good stamps. I really love this pair...these buses are just soo cool! I could remember seeing them on the streets of Skopje too. When I was in kindergarden, there was this van/bus which resembles the ones on the stamps (that one was yellow though) and it was in charge of transporting the lunch each day.
You can still see one of these every now and then, but it is very rare, and they are in poor condition...esp compared to all those modern-class vehicles along the streets next to them
But it is nice when some memories are revived :)

hvala ti drugarice Agi!! <3

Kilauea, USA

Long time ago (actually at the beginning of my posctcrossing career) I posted some Hawaiian volcanoes,

the card above is called "Birth Day" and the back of the card says: Almost every day the newest land on Earth is born here on Hawai'i Island. Since 1983, when most recent eruption began on the southeast flank of Kilauuea, nearly a cubic mile of lava has gushed forth, adding some 500 acres of new land - so far: Often, our excitable volcano goddess Pele likes to celebrate with fireworks when she gives birth.

Interesting story and an amazing eruption!
Thanks a lot to Mary for sending me this awesome card as a part of her Vacations RR group. She also used a number of lovely stamps as you can see below:

the two on the right side are part of the four stamps issued in 2011 representing the US Merchant Marine (i really like those); the top left stamp was issued in 1974 as a part of 4, mineral heritage stamps, while the Magna carta stamp below dates back from 1965. I dont know if Mary had these stamps purchased in advance or found them on spot (though my guess bets on the first), but she certainly had put effort in them!

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the second volcano came as an official card, and it again represents the Kilauea volcano at twilight and you can see (or not) how lava is flowing into the ocean. 

the stamps you can see hee are the American clock from 2003, the Cars from the Send a Hello series, issued in 2011, and one more ship from the US Merchant Marine series....the owl is a sticker ;-) 

Son Kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan

Yes, someone is still alive here...or better said, struggling to survive this heat....i know I always complain about the summers in Skopje (though practically summer hasn't even come yet), but the worst thing is that this weather strikes all of a sudden and from 10 degrees, it just decides to go to 30 overnight...and then people feel lost in the universe...well of course they do..and i dont seem to be an exception...

apart from that...well, I dont know, life has been going at some fast pace and i just seemed to have really little time for one of my favourite hobbies lately...so my mailbox is in some starvation phase, my postman feeds it like once a week with some breadcrumbs...and then my dear darling blog has not been given enough attention from my side...and that pretty much gets me down coz I have some really great stuff to give to my blog, but I've been this selfish little thing, depriving it of what it deserves..and what has either way initially been intended for it...
Erm, Im talking too much no? But this cute horse seems to be patiently waiting for me to stop the claptrap and get down to something meaningful...like for example telling you that this sweet horse came all the way from Kyrgyzstan...and he came tagged (in the philatelic terms, read: written and stamped) Yay!! Finally a written and stamped card from Kyrgyzstan! Im soo extra happy!  Thanks a bunch to Sonya and Travis who have offered to send cards from their Silk Road journey. I tried to be modest, and pick just a few out of all the countries they are travelling to *blush*
It is so cool to visit a card like Kyrgyzstan....with such undiscovered beauties (like Macedonia, btw...;)

the card shows some yurtas near the Son-Kul Lake. Yurtas are portable, bent wood-framed dwelling structures traditionally used by Turkic nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. And what's funny is that they are designed in a way so that they can be dismantled and the parts carried compactly on camels or yaks to be rebuilt on another site. So cool! These are most likely the yurats that are rented to tourists, since there are no other facilities in the area, but for sure you will not remain without accommodation.
And this beautiful Son-Kul lake is the second largest lake in the country (18x29km wide, 13 meters deep).
The area is inhabited and safely accessible only from June to September....so you still have time to pack your bags and enjoy the morning sunshine lurking through the yurt.

and i just love the cancellation...so clear! and the stamp is so beautiful too!! (and pretty much blending the whole postcard mood). It was issued in 2008 in a set of 4 stamps representing the Yaks of Kyrgyzstan.

Titanic, Canada

as for my last choice today come these two cool Titanic cards, sent by two dear people respectively.

As many of you probably know, 2012 is a year commemorating the 100 year memorial of the Titanic disaster so many Postal services have issued a commemorative stamp (even Macedonia..though I cant say the stamp is anything special, plus as usual, the face value is totally useless....it is enough not for one, but 3 postcards actually..so unfortunately, cant be something to be used on daily mails).
Anyways, Canada also issued the Titanic stamps, plus it issued a reprint of old Titanic postal cards, each one with a matching preprinted stamp. The card above shows the bow of Titanic and I received this card from Glenn as a part of his National Postcard Week Quest! Im honoured and touched to be one of the chosen for this, since you can use like just seven cards. So to be one of those, means a real lot!
I hope that next year Ill be able to take part in this too...though im not sure how ill manage it with Sunday, since post offices here do not work and our mailboxes are not operational..but we'll see...there is till plenty of time to come up with a plan.

as i said, these are matching stamps to go with the card...

the second card shows Titanic's prow and propellers...im not sure if i got the terms 'bow' and 'prow' correctly here, so sorry for any potential misuse.
This second card came from Bryon who as you could have figured out by now, loves making surprises and putting smiles on people's faces :)

I dont know if there is any point in asking if you had watched Titanic...i could say I guess you have...well, I watched it when it came out to the cinema, so long time ago...for that age i was, it was not bad...but even then, Leonardo was not someone i fancied..neither Kate...plus lasting over 3 hours...give me something else please!
I wonder if they're gonna maybe make a movie soon about Costa Concordia......

thanks so much Glenn and Bryon for always cheering me up! I hope I manage to do the same...at least from time to time!

I would like to say that I would try to squeeze in updates every day for the rest of the week....but lets not get overambitious...every second day would be perfectly fine :)

stay well!

Nekromanteion, Greece

time ago i came across a lovely person..Despina from Greece...ok, she came across me actually...and I couldnt have resisted her offer...and im glad to know that i was the guilty person to have introduced her to Postcrossing and to have given her back the addiction for a mailbox full with cards! It is such a noble feeling you know...coz at least I know how Postcrossing has changed my life ever since I discovered it...

and one of the results of meeting each other was this lovely card arriving in my mailbox...a great place with a cool and rather scary story...Nekromanteion means 'Oracle of Death' and according to the ancient Greeks this was the entrance of the souls to the underworld.  When Christianity came to the area, a church was built on top of it, and that's what you can actually see on the card.
The temple was dedicated to Hades and Persephone.
I wonder through what sort of gate my soul would go through one day...
And I must say i love to have a card from Greece which shows something different from the usual places ive seen so far.
Btw, just after I uploaded the card, i noticed that big Hellenic Post stamp on front of the card...I dont know what it is doing there...and more over, I wonder how i hadnt noticed it while looking at the card previously....anyways, it does blend with the card nicely, so i dont mind it :)

the stamp was issued in 2008, representing the logo of the Asteras Tripolis F.C. football club.

Efharisto para poli Despina!!

Crooked River Gorge, USA

next comes an extra cool card...not only coz it is railway related..the view is just jaw-dropping!

The Crooked River High Bridge is a steel arch bridge that spans the Crooked River gorge in Oregon, which is a 150 m deep gorge located around Warm Springs and Smith Rock State Park
. The bridge is 141 metres long with a main span of 100m. The deck is 90 m above the canyon floor. The bridge was eventually unable to keep up with the growing traffic demands of U.S. Highway 97, and was replaced by the wider Rex T. Barber Veterans Memorial Bridge. The old bridge is open to pedestrians. Too bad, coz it is really cool.
I remember when I was very little and i would go with my grandparents on a train visiting some relatives to Serbia...there was this bridge I ALWAYS dreaded somewhere en route....you could have simply seen the river in between the rails and you could feel how the rails themselves were all shaking under the weight of the train...i always had the feeling of 'now we're gonna crash..now we're gonna crash'...amazingly enough, the bridge did withstood all that burden..i guess nowadays it is a new modern one so (un)fortunately, you can't have an experience of that kind again :)

two stamps are affixed on the card. The top one was issued this year in a set of 5 Birds-of-prey stamps and it portrays the Northern Harrier. The other stamp is a definitive issued in 2011, representing George Washington...well, you all know who he is :)

Palau

well, it's been over a month...a rather long time, though personally, i didnt really notice when it flew away..I was out of town due to work for like almost a month, with the weekend-scheme being at home, and then on the road again...it got extremely tiring towards the end, but now i have some time to recharge for a bit...i wanted to post during this past month, but the time simply didnt allow it...so now I have like a week to squeeze in a number of updates, send a bunch of postcards before I finally take off on holiday for two weeks...oh yeah, holiday time! It was just today that it actually HIT me I was going somewhere....you know, when you are constantly out of town you dont actually get to notice and feel it since you are not at home anyways...but now it is starting to feel real! Uh...cant wait! Though im having a list of worries regarding all that...And where Im going...hmmm, well, ill keep it a secret for now...in case you already know, dont reveal it please :).
But before I reach my planned (and WELL deserved) destination, ill show you some more beauties that have arrived in my mailbox....

and first we start with a new gem in my collection...an awesome card from the small island of Palau, located in the Pacific Ocean. I was about to give the general facts and figures about the country, but then a few information caught my attention...
the first one was that Palau, in 1981, voted for the world's first nuclear-free constitution which banned the use, storage, and disposal of nuclear, toxic chemical, gas, and biological weapons without first being approved by a 3/4 majority in a referendum.
This ban held up Palau's transition to independence because while negotiating a Compact of Free Association with the United States, the U.S. insisted on the option to operate nuclear propelled vessels and store nuclear weapons within the territory.
After several referendums that failed to achieve a 3/4 majority, the people of Palau finally approved the Compact with the U.S. in 1994The second one was that On June 10, 2009, Palau announced that it would accept up to all 17 of the remaining Uyghurs detained in Guantanamo "as a humanitarian gesture". Five Uyghur captives were released without being prosecuted in 2004, and transferred to Albania in 2006. The remaining seventeen were released due to lack of evidence in 2008. I have no idea how Uyghurs ended up in Albania actually and why...funny..
Palau seems like such a peaceful place to be at...i will certainly not have associated it with nuclear weapons and detainees.....

the thank-yous for this awesome piece of card go to Patrick...and he used a bunch of fantastic stamps too!
the one on the left is a definitive issued in 2009 in a set of 10 fish stamps, showing the 'scissor tail fusilier' the bird stamps next to it are definitives issues in 2002 in a set of 18 birds' stamps which here portrays the Rufous Fantail. The Euoplea butterfly is also a definitive issued in a set of 18 butterfly stamps in 2007, while the birdy on the right comes from a set of 6 endemic birds of Palau' stamps issued in 2006, representing the Morning bird.

Ålesund, Norway

well, my last card for today is another one sigh-provoking...ahhh...

this card was for a LOOONG time in my favourites! I mean, how can it not be...just look how magnificent this place is with all these lovely colours and surrounded by water! Plus it is Norwegian :)
the entire city of Ålesund burnt down in 1904 (except for one house in the middle of the city) and it was rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style. It feels like living in some fairy tale!

btw, I just remembered that today on the news I heard today was one year since the bomb attacks in Oslo and the island of Utoeya. Maybe I should have chosen a different card instead of Ålesund but while choosing the cards I honestly had no idea today was the day....plus, well, I dont feel like commemorating such a bad thing right now...however, may the victims rest in peace, and may this never happen again

the stamp is from the set of 6 issued in 2009 representing the Norwegian tourism...this one in particular shows the Stottafjorden in Meloy, Nordland

and a huge thanks for this card go to dear Catherine from Norway, who sent it to me, and my dear Rajko monster, who actually asked Catherine to send it to me as a RAS. Thank you both soooo much!! If it wasnt for you, I would not have had this card in my collection! <3

And ok, I guess it is time to announce the short holiday this blog will take..at least there will be no updates until August 10, though you can always drop by and read some of the previous stuff :)

Enjoy your summer wherever you are or wherever you may go...and keep fingers crossed i manage to find some postcards to send :)))

Hugs to you all!!!!

Madeira, Portugal

two dear friends of mine visited Portugal this summer...the dates were unfortunately inconvenient for me, so I couldnt join them..it is really a pity since it would have been soo cool to visit Portugal! But work is work, and comes first...and maybe some other time Ill have the chance to go.

they also went to Madeira for a few days and were really nice to drop me a postcard! :)
they say it is most flowery island, with lovely beaches.And this card is so nice and colourful that it definitely makes me believe it! Plus, I missed the chance to get a swim in the ocean....for the first time in my life...

the stamp comes from a set of 3 stamps issued in 2011, representing Traditional Festivals

I also had to include this card, since this Botanical Garden Cable Car is represented on one of the small pictures in the previous one :)
The Botanical Garden Cable Car has a total of twelve cabins, each with a capacity of 8 seated places, allowing the visitor a dream trip with a magnificent view over the beautiful Madeiran landscape. This trip allows a panoramic view along a 1600 metres route.
 The round trip is approximately eighteen minutes, being the maximum speed of 4,2 metres per second

UNESCO Headquarters, France

For some reason I keep confusing myself that this card comes from Brussels when it actually comes from Paris...I dont know, maybe i just have this general idea in my head that all those important buildings are situated in Brussels :)

And it is nice to see UNESCO's Headquarters! After collecting UNESCO cards for so long, and struggling with many of them since many come from such rare countries and are like impossible to get, it is nice to see where all these crazy ideas and decisions come from :)
The building is located on the Place de Fontenoy, and was inaugurated on 3 November 1958.
Nicknamed the ‘three-pointed star’, the entire edifice stands on seventy-two columns of concrete piling. It is world famous, not only because it is the home of a well-known organization but also because of its outstanding architectural qualities (here in the dark I honestly cant see any architectural qualities...or I may be at the wrong building since three more buildings complete the headquarters site. The second building, known affectionately as the "accordion", holds the egg-shaped hall with a pleated copper ceiling where the plenary sessions of the General Conference are held. The third building is in the form of a cube. Lastly, a fourth construction consists of two office floors hollowed out below street level, around six small sunken courtyards. The buildings, which contain many remarkable works of art, are open to the public.

the stamp was issued in a set of 2 in 2010 and is UNESCO related. The French Post regularly issues since 1960, some official stamps for UNESCO, which can only be used on mail from the headquarters of this United Nations agency devoted to science, culture and education. On this stamp, the Alpaca is depicted, and with these stamps UNESCO wants to remind us of the endangered species throughout the world. An alpaca is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in appearance

Dhamaka Lake, Pakistan

So, my fellow dear readers..this will be the last post before me taking off on my holidays...I cant believe it that the time has almost come! Now im in the state of panic...and in realization that I should have bought a new suitcase...mine is just NOT enough...but well, I guess Ill have to manage..Im in the middle of packing, and as usual I have no idea what to take..Im sure ill take stuff that are extra and I wont need, and that i will 'forget' something important...the beauty of all travels, eh? :))

So before I go, here is one more update, with a few lovely cards :)

First comes from dear Vera who has moved to Pakistan and who was so kind to search for some of my favourite cards so that she can send them to me! And I dont know if I had said this before, but Pakistan has AMAZING postcards and STUNNING nature in general!
The lovely card here shows the Dhamaka Lake in the Swat valley, which is situated in the north of Pakistan. It has an ancient history, but its recorded history begins with Alexander the Great, who entered Swat in 326 or 327 BC. Swat in the past used to be home to the Buddhism that spread from there to other parts of Asia (China, Bhutan, Tibet and even Japan). Many monasteries have been founded there, where Buddhist monks used to live and Buddhist teachers educated their students.
Probably another reason why this card is so appealing to me is coz it is related to Alexander, so it feels close to heart :)

Before I get down to the stamps, please take a look at the artistic beauty here..makes the card sooo beautiful and special, and I also REALLY appreciate the effort and the time that Vera took to decorate my card like this! Love it!!
As for the stamps..the one on the right was issued this year, commemorating the 150th Anniversary of St Joseph's Convent School in Karachi, while the other one...it should be a definitive..but i cant tell exactly from which year...the other definitives of that kind were issued in 1994, but this one of Rs.28 does not seem to be among them...so any help is welcome :) thank you soo much again dear Vera!!