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.

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

Fort Lauderdale Beach, USA

a beautiful surprise from dear Jean-Pierre. Well, he always sends beautiful surprises...and you never know which part of the globe is gonna hit your mailbox :)

this is probably the most popular beach in Florida...at least for me...maybe coz Ive been hearing about it for ages...and in the lack of other info about Florida beaches, this one has remained engraved in my mind eternally.
Did you know that they call this place 'the Venice of America' coz of its expansive and intricate canal system? Ok, I doubt it has the charm of Venice...it is just too modern.
The city was named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale, who was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort.
(n.b - the Second Seminole War is also known as the Florida War, which occurred from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as Seminoles and the United States. It was a part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars. The Second Seminole War, often referred to as the Seminole War, was the most expensive Indian War fought by the United States.

the stamps come from this beautiful Hawaiian Forests' mini-sheet, issued in 2010.

India

the last card for today comes from India, and is one of the many fantastic cards I received as the April's WOTM on the PC forum (I dont know if I had mentioned, but I also was the lucky winner back in 2009....) :D

the card portrays us the Ottanthullal, which is a a type of performing art from the Kerala state in India.
This piece of art has a (mostly) single actor, donning a green make-up and wearing colourful costumes, and reciting the thullal lyrics (dance songs), all the while acting and dancing himself. The art form has of late found practitioners from among women too, and is occasionally staged as a group dance form with each artiste representing a character in the storyplay.
The art form has its satirical touch, often making fun of prevalent socio-political equations and prejudices of the region.
Just a fantastic card! In a way, these masks remind of the ones of clowns, but I guess, in a way, that is the point of the 'making fun' of.
Thanks a bunch to Georgy for the great choice!

there are three stamps on the card....the two stamps on the right were issued this year...the bottom one is from a mini-sheet of 4 stamps commemorating the 100 years of aviation, while the other one portrays the "Employees State Insurance Corporation".
As for the small stamp, my guess is that it was issued in 2001, and it represents Dr. B.R Ambedkar, who was an Indianwas jurist, political leader, philosopher, anthropologist, historian, orator, economist.....hmmm, this list of qualifications makes my CV look miserable =/

well, thanks for reading, and hope there will be a sunny weekend ahead of you :)

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!!

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!!!

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

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.

RU-683432

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.

Here is a short reportage about the cycling paths in Skopje...it is in Macedonian, but however, the pictures say it all...and frankly, that is the route I also use =/ I guess they should invent flying bicycles....

http://greenbox.com.mk/blog/?p=3743

so, 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 :)