Travel by train in Alderney

Ill always be grateful to extended weekends! maybe national holidays do not bring mail..but boy, a 4 day weekend! wohoo!!
and hopefully by then this melting temperatures will drop down as those forecast guys keep saying..they have been proven wrong more than once, but I hope they will be right on this one :)

well, until those better times come, here are some nice cards to show :)

and first one comes from Alderney, the most northernly Channel Island...and on tops of that, it is a card with a train!

this awesome surprise comes from Chris and Julie who have visited this lovely place recently and dropped me a card! Thank you guys!!
The back of the card says: "Alderney trains run regularly in summer. This scenic journey shows the train passing Château L'Etoc, left, and Fort Corblets, right.

The island itself is 4.8 km long and 2.4 km wide, with an area of 7.8 km², so it makes it pretty easy to travel around, whether by train, car, bike or simply on foot :)
The island has a population of only 2,400 people and they are traditionally nicknamed vaques after the cows, or else lapins after the many rabbits seen in the island.

well, apart from being an interesting place, it is also a cool Island for collectors, since not every day you see a card with Alderney stamps...yup, Alderney DOES have its own stamps, he he he :D
The top right 50c stamp comes from an issue of 4 Corals and Anemones stamps, issued in 2007. The other three stamps are from a series of 12 definitives issued in 2006, again representing Corals and Anemones....seems Alderney has fixed on that subject.

and with that said, this means i can actually add a new country to my list! Wohoo!! Thank you again Chris and Julie!!

Indiana, USA

well, to my total dismay, some days ago I realized that my blog is actually missing cards from a few US states..yup, that's right! I dont know how I had managed that, but well, I have...just totally neglecting not one, not two, but 5 of them!! Can you believe it!! So once realized, I dug up into my collections, desperate to find something from these 5 US states forgotten by me....and the first one to cross of that list is Indiana...

well, corn seems to be one of the popular crops in Indiana, so this card does feel representative....I just wonder if it is GMO or non-GMO corn...really, you can never be sure nowadays, and corn and soybeans are on the top of the GMO list...either way, it does look nice on the card

btw, Bryon nicely told me on this card that I have no Indiana card on my blog, but I just didnt listen....just didnt listen...not surprised by myself must admit :)

if corn is of no interest to you, maybe stamps are :)
here you have a nice selection of older and newer ones...the orange eagle one did give me some trouble...and it should be a definitive issued in 1978, showing the bald eagle on an orange background, used as A postage. The stamp next to it is from a set of 4 Wildlife Conservation stamps issued in 1972. This stamps shows the cardinal, which is also Indiana's state bird.
The other two stamps show cars...the top right one comes from a set of 5 Automobiles' stamps issued in 2008, with this one showing a 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk, while the one below it is the Indianapolis stamp issued in 2011 (and btw, Indianapolis is also in Indiana....so nice matching in general :)))

thanks so much again Bryon!!

Turnersee, Austria

Dear Earney often sends me nice surprises when she travels around and this time was no exception :)

the card shows a lovely view of the Turner Lake under the Alps.
Originally the lake was called Sablatnigsee, but in the 20th century, after the Austrian “Turnerbund” had erected their youth camps near the lake, it was named Turnersee. It is the vestige of a large, after Ice Age lake that besides the Turnersee also included the Sablatnig Meadows.

such a lovely peaceful place..Im sure id enjoy a holiday here

the stamp was issued this year, under the name "Bavarian-Upper Austrian Provincial Exhibition".

thank you Earney!!!

Castle Hill, New Zealand

one more card for today, coming from the far away New Zealand

the card shows the Castle Hill, which is a location and a high country station in New Zealand's South Island.
The hill was so named because of the imposing array of limestone boulders in the area reminiscent of an old, run-down stone castle and in 2002 it was named a "Spiritual Center of the Universe" by the Dalai Lama. Hmmm...
The back of the card says: "Looking across the plains of Castle Hill Station in the Canterbury high country. The hills and mountains rise steeply above the farmland. The outcrops of rock shapes are a famous feature of this area. So, many people stop here, for a quick photo or a walk in the hills. It is on the way between Christchurch and Arthur's Pass.

well, does look like an enchanting place!

I wonder if this is how post offices save on their air-mail labels, by splitting them into two :D
As for the stamp, it is from a set of 5 Native Trees' stamps issued this year, with this one showing the Kowhai...which I have no idea what it is, so Ill have to look it up once I finish this last post :)

thanks for reading and see you soon :)

Georgetown, Guyana

Hello guys and gals!! Someone has finally decided to write down a few words here! Yup, as most of you know, Im back from my holidays *sniff* =/. It's been like 10 days already...and I had prepared the cards last week..but I just couldnt get down to posting...I dont know why..something always came up...or i just felt tired in general...or i was dealing with the latest touchnote addiction...khm khm khm...a rather cool thing I must admit...gives you endless opportunities...though on the long run, i wont really like it...but for the time being, it's been fun...give it a try if you want, while it is still free...just that you'd need to use it through a FB account...even if you dont have one, a temp. account can always see the light of the day :)

Anyways, while I was away (and once I came back), some great mail has arrived....just that my mum sort of mixed some things up, that is, old and new cards, so it took me some time to figure it all out and put things in the right place.
And let's see where do we start off today...well, a brand new country of course!! All the way from Guyana! No, not French Guyana...this is just Guyana...though they are not far from each other...all you need to do is cross Suriname and voila...you are in the other Guyana :)

this awesome surprise comes thanks to dear Despina in Greece, who applied for the good-fairy role to help me out with my collections!! <3

The card shows two important places in Georgetown, Guyana's capital. At the top, you can see St.George's cathedral which is one of the tallest wooden church structures in the world and the second tallest wooden house of worship after the Todaiji Temple in Japan. It is an Anglican cathedral and has been designated as a national monument.

The bottom picture shows Georgetown;s National Library, which is actually very close to St.George's Cathedral (both are situated on Church street). The library celebrated its centenary in 2009 and is said to offer lending services to prisoners. Hmm, I guess that makes it special...I dont know..Ive never really researched the issue of libraries and prisoners..I know prisons should have their own entertaining areas (TV, radio, books, cards...), so I guess here things work differently...cool!

the stamp comes from a set of 9 definitive butterfly stamps issued in 2003.

Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ και πάλι Δέσποινα!!
And thanks a lot to Karline too, who was kind to send me a card!

Carnikava, Latvia

next comes an AWESOME official card from Latvia! The sender saw it in my favourites...and dropped one in the mail for me!

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the card shows the railway bridge over the river Gauja in Carnikava, which is a small village in Latvia.

Just a great great image...I love that deserted gloomy foggy atmosphere of a cold winter morning...well, that is just an assumption that it is a winter morning, but that;s how it feels to me...

here is one nice Train song for you.....

the sender made a great match, using the great Latvian train stamp from 2010. The small stamp represents the Coat of Arms and was issued this year.

Brussels, Belgium

one VERY misleading card!

unless there was an explanation on the back, I would have bet my head that this card comes from China...never in my life I would have guessed Belgium...but yeah, believe it or not, this Chinese style can be seen in Belgium's capital.
It was built in Paris for the world exhibition in 1900 and then bought by King Leopold II and rebuilt in Brussels in 1904. All the decorations are real 'made in China and brought to Europe so it does have the authentic Chinese style.

Cool, I must admit..

the stamp on the very right was issued in 2008 in a set of two flowers' stamps, this one showing a Marigold. The middle stamps is from a set of two newspapers' stamps issued in 1987, while the last, bird stamp is a definitive, showing a duck and was issued in 2010.

thanks a lot to David for such a cool card :)

Asenova Krepost, Bulgaria

always happy to receive written and stamped cards from Bulgaria since I do not get them very often :)

I got this one thanks to the thread I opened at the forum (and re-opened just today). So in case you think you can help me out with my favourite postcards, drop me a line :)
This great card shows Asen's Fortress, situated 2km south of Asenovgrad (grad = city), on a high rocky ridge on the left bank of the Asenitsa River.  The best preserved part of the fortress is the church Holy Mother of God from Petrich - 12th - 13th century. Close to it, there is an inscription by tsar Ivan Asen II.

the stamp on the right was issued in 2009, commemorating the 130th Anniversary of Sofia's Proclamation as Capital of Bulgaria. the other one is from a set of 6 definitives issued in 1999 representing Historical sites, fountains...
thanks a lot to Lilia for the great card!

Durango and Silverton, USA

well, finally for today we have a number of cards in one post, since somehow, in a rather short time (all during this year), I had managed to acquire all these Durango and Silverton cards...I have a feeling that another one has remained in some pile, but I just couldnt keep on looking...well, 4 for now would be more than enough :)

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the first one comes as an official...just as a short intro...The Durango and Silverton Railroad (D&SNG) is a narrow gauge heritage railroad that operates 45 miles (72 km) of 3 ft (914 mm) track between Durango and Silverton, in the US state of Colorado. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark and is also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. No wonder they have so many postcards with it :)

here we have a number of not so orderly glued stamps (I guess this would be comforting for people who somewhat miss the straight line for just a bit ;-)) the stamp on the very right is a Forever stamp issued this year as a part of the Year of the Dragon series. The one in the middle is another Forever stamp issued this year, called heart-health (with the U.S. Postal Service hopes to raise public awareness about the importance of maintaining a healthy heart). The three small stamps show the American toleware...a stamp issued in 2004.

the second Durango card comes from dear Andrea, who sent me this lovely surprise for the WOTM lottery earlier this year. The back of the card says: Locomotive 482 leaves Silverton on its trek back to Durango. Without a doubt, the most spectacular 45 mile ride in the world.
Ok people, this is NOT fair! Do you know how many SPECTACULAR rides there are? Ill never get to go on all of them =/

well, the third and the fourth Durango cards came for the Dec-May RR, the first one from Angee and the second one from Naomi.
On the back of this one it is written: One of the formidable engines of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad puffs a cloud smoke as it makes its way to the Colorado wilderness.

three stamps on this card...the right one is a Forever stamp issued in 2011, featuring Gregory Peck. the middle one is also a Forever stamp issued in 2011, celebrating Hanukkah, while the third stamp on the left represents George Washington and was issued in 2011 as well.

the back of this card says: Narrow Gauge Railroad offers spectacular views of the San Juan mountains of Colorado.
The route was originally built between 1881 and 1882, by the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, in order to carry supplies and people to and silver and gold ore from mines in the San Juan Mountains. The line from Durango to Silverton has run continuously since 1881, although it is now a tourist and heritage line hauling passengers, and is one of the few places in the United States which has seen continuous use of steam locomotives

and a bunch of stamps here too...starting from the top right, we again have the Year of the Dragon stamp and below it is the well-known Tiffany lamp. As for the other three stamps, they did give me a hard time, but I am glad to have this variety here and to see some different US stamps. the top left stamp was issued in a set of two 'special delivery' stamps in 1954 (the other stamp is blue). The stamp below it, to the left, is an airmail definitive issued in 1968...and the stamp btw the airmail one and the Tiffany lamp is from a set of 10 stamps issued in 1973, representing the US postal service.

Thanks a lot to Priscilla, Andrea, Angee and Naomi for such great choices!

And thanks a lot to you for reading! Have a great week ahead!