Hamburg, Germany

As I had previously mentioned, the last post of today would be a bit overwhelming with cards (but not with text, I promise! 😎)

The reason behind this Hamburg post is my cancelled trip to Hamburg, which was supposed to happen at the end of April, but of course, for well-known reasons, didn't happen.
So, just wanna take a glimpse on postcards of things I could have seen in real life, and well prepare myself for some Hamburg trip in the future 💓
Funny, all, except for one of these cards have been sent as officials...

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How can you not love this view above? It shows the Binnenalster Lake, which is one of the two artificial lakes within the city, formed by the river Alster (the other being the Außenalster). In the background you can see some important sites like the Rathaus, several churches, the Alsterpavillon....

comes with a cute Peanuts stamp issued in a set of two in 2018

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A view of the centre of the city, again with the Binnenalster, and the Rathaus as well as the Lombardsbrücke, or the Lombard Bridge, named after the Lombard pawn shop situated here in 1651.   

well, not the Lombard bridge, but another bridge is featured here on the stamp from 2013, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Fehmarnsund Bridge, which connects the German island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea with the German mainland near Großenbrode  

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A multiview of the city, which I guess covers all the essentials :)

The stamp is from a joint issue with Japan from 2011, showing UNESCO world Heritage sites and this stamp features the old town of Regensburg.

Here is that famous Rathaus I had already mentioned above (and the only card which is not an official one). Oh yeah, that's the town hall for those wondering...but when it comes to Germany, im just so used to their Rathaus word, that I never use any other....

the stamp was issued in 2014 showing the Stolzenfels am Rhein Castle.

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aaaand, guess what.... the Rathaus again! 😆

and again we have the Fehmarnsund Bridge from 2013





From what I could find while looking through my collection, these seem to be all the Hamburg cards I have - I must admit it would be more but then that would have made my job tonight more difficult here, so Im perfectly fine with these 6 cards, and I can simply enrich my collection once I go there (and yours of course 😊

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Well, it is just an aerial view of the city, with the port, no other particular information about this one. 

On the left is one of the famous flower definitives (this one is from the set of 3 issued in 2005). The other one is a machine stamp, which I was just told has some kind of rare fault, since the holes at the bottom (which i dont think you can see), usually are like half-holes, but the ones here are like three/quarters of a full circle... so haha, I have some kind of rare specimen in my collection... who would have thought, esp. with a machine stamp, which I must admit, I dont really like at all :)

So folks, that would be all for today! Hope you are still surviving your lock-down wherever you are!

And yeah, I know this aint a priority, but I hope borders and airports would open soon so I could give my itchy feet a nice trip  - this is not just about the borders but also the possibility of having to go into quarantine in case you wanna travel - I mean what is the point of going on a few days trip if you first need to spend two weeks in quarantine there? Where's the sense in that???

Have a nice weekend ahead... till next time! 

Jim Parsons

Well, you already know I love Big Bang Theory and even though it is not as fun as it used to be, I still don't miss out an episode. Lately it has actually become like some sort of ritual to enjoy my Friday morning coffee with the latest episodes of both Big Bang, and Young Sheldon.

And to a great extent I love the show cos of Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons. It has got to be one of my favourite TV characters ever and I often wish I had a friend like Sheldon. Life would be much for fun, cos regardless how annoying he could get, you just can't not love him! I do know some similarly annoying people but they are far from lovable :)))
I guess I should blame it on his charisma too, for me one of the most charismatic men out there (some other guys on the list would be Morten Harket, Brian Molko, Rafael Nadal and Jean-Benoît Dunckel).

Anyways, there are a lot of hilarious quotes by Sheldon, but the one on the card makes it to top 5 for sure, and that's why I was sooo thrilled when few years ago, one girl had it for swap!

M.C.Escher

In general, I am used to receiving Escher cards mainly from the Netherlands, but who said they couldn't arrive from the USA too :))

The first card shows Escher's litograph work called "Cycle" dating from 1938. I wonder if the little guy on the card is excitedly running down the stairs to check his mailbox (as Bryon pointed it out :D). I for sure look like this when I actually notice the postman through the window, and hear the sound of him dropping something in the mailbox :))) 

The first card arrived with this fabulous 1983 set of balloons, where on the left side the Intrepid (1861) is shown, a hydrogen gas balloon or aerostat built for use by the Union Army Balloon Corps for aerial reconnaissance purposes during the American Civil War. 

It was one of seven balloons constructed for the Balloon Corps and was one of the four larger balloons designed to make ascensions to higher elevations with a larger lift capacity for telegraph equipment and an operator. It was the balloon of choice for Chief Aeronaut Thaddeus Lowe overlooking the Battle of Fair Oaks. 

On the right side you can see the Explorer II, a manned U.S. high-altitude balloon that was launched on November 11, 1935 and reached a record altitude of 22,066 m. The helium balloon carried a two-man crew consisting of U. S. Army Air Corps Captains Albert W. Stevens and Orvil A. Anderson inside a sealed, spherical cabin.

The two stamps in the middle show regular hot air balloons. Still haven't flown with one, but been wanting to do so if I ever go to Cappadocia, and of course, if my budget allows it at that moment, which I highly doubt, since it revolves around 160 euros... per person, not per balloon :D

There are two other small stamps on the card - the 1c Bobcat from 2012, while the other one is from 1991, showing Cole Porter.

As you could notice, none of these stamps have been cancelled, which is actually way better than what happened with the stamps on the card below...

This is another one of Escher's litographs, titled "Drawing Hands", and was first printed in 1948. It depicts a sheet of paper out of which, from wrists that remain flat on the page, two hands rise, facing each other and in the paradoxical act of drawing one another into existence.

and if you were wondering what was wrong with the stamps, here you go... a pen line all the way from left to right. These kind of people should seriously be banned from post offices or coming nearby ones. This is one of the worst crimes in the résumé of a postal worker, that should be marked in both red and bold. Who had the heart to destroy such a lovely issue of four Coral Reefs stamps issued in 1980. Featured are: the Chalice Coral from American Samoa, the Finger Coral from Hawaii, the Brain Coral from the US Virgin Islands, and the Elkhorn Coral from Florida.
Again we have two smaller stamps. First is the Flag over the Supreme Court issued in 1981, and next to it is a bird stamp from a set of 3 issued in 1991.

Oregon Lighthouses, USA

There is something really appealing to the eye (at least mine, even though it is short-sighted), when you have a series of postcards on a theme that come from the same designer/publishing house.

And here we have 3 of the kind, showing three beautiful lighthouses that can be found in Oregon.

First is the Cape Arago Lighthouse, first lit in 1934, automated in 1966, and deactivated in 2006. Today, only the third light remains standing, all other buildings having since been demolished. The site is not open to the public, and the entire area is fenced off.
Well good it exists on a card at least...

Four cool stamps, 2 from the set of 4 Paintings issued in 2014 representing artists from the Hudson River School. The first one is by Thomas Moran, while the second one is by Asher B. Durand.
Then below we have the Mariner 10 on a stamp, from a set of two Space Stamps issued in 1975, while the last one is from 1971, featuring the American artist, John Sloan.

Next is Cape Meares, an inactive lighthouse on the coast of Oregon, built and first lit in 1890, while the U.S. Coast Guard permanently switched it off  on  June 25, 2014, as it was no longer considered necessary for safe navigation of the seacoast.

here we have the other two art stamps from the above mentioned issue (here we have the works from Frederic Edwin Church and Thomas Cole. Below we have the two superb stamps from 1971, celebrating a Decade of Achievements for the US in Space. And lets not forget that red stamp, that is from a set of 4 issued in 1945, featuring Franklin Roosevelt

I was about to say that this series could've been called the Inactive Lighthouses of Oregon, but this one proved me wrong, cos it seems to be still active nowadays, the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Being 28m tall, it is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon.
Made in Paris in 1868 and shipped to Oregon, Yaquina Head Light was first lit August 20, 1873, and automated in 1966. It is active with an identifying light characteristic of two seconds on, two seconds off, two seconds on, and 14 seconds off.

Another oldish red stamp, issued in 1958, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Noah Webster (the Father of American Scholarship and Education). Right above it is a very nice stamp from a set of three issued in 1973, presenting the Progress in Electronics. And then two newer ones, from 2014. Two hot rods, or to translate it into understandable English - old, classic American cars with large engines modified for linear speed :))))))))))))))

Hello from the other side....

sooo, finally a few words from here....from the far-away land of China! (well, that depends where you actually are...it may not be THAT far-away...in fact, China may be nearer than Macedonia to your place :)

anyways, not so long ago I kinda announced that I may be going to China....and that 'maybe' turned into 'i should really use this opportunity' which finally ended into me landing here in Guangzhou exactly one month ago...yep, believe it or not it's been a month since I've been living here. I know I should have made some post earlier, but for the first days I was all jet-lagged, and then there have been many things to do...and then when I have some free time, all I feel like doing is sleep sleep sleep, or just watch a movie....but I believe that I should really kinda commemorate this small anniversary and just say hello and say Im safe and sound and all :)

I could talk about my impressions for hours and hours...frankly, I feel as if I've been here for like a year...Macedonia feels so distant at the moment that it makes me even sad...I don't miss the country or the places there, but I really miss my family and friends, but I guess that's kinda normal...I miss them even when I go on short trips and all. However, this time is really different, and I still don't know for how long this trip of a life time will last, but I hope I won't have to pack my bags next month and go back home :)

I still haven't sent a single card from here, for two reasons - first, financially I am trying to be wise and not spend money on cards and stamps and stuff, and second, I still haven't even seen a place selling cards which is kinda weird since the city is just HUGE!! Yeah, HUGE!! 14 million people give or take, third biggest in China, and yet I still haven't spotted postcards....but I found a philatelic shop though, which may be even more dangerous! :D

But I have this feeling the language barrier will be a problem...you know, I've never felt more miserable in my life for not knowing a particular language, but here, I do..I feel like I've just dropped from outer space and have been randomly thrown here, feeling completely lost when it comes to the language...I mean, geez, it is even impossible to comprehend a single thing, not to mention that the only way I could make most of the people understand me is body language...cos no, they DON'T speak English and no they won't even try (most of the people - but there is this girl working in a supermarket nearby, and she really tries hard to talk to me in English, I really love her for that!

Speaking of mail...there should be mailboxes in the building where I am, but I still haven't seen them...plus I still don't feel comfortable receiving mail here...but my Macedonian address is always valid, so if you send me something there, my parents will take care of it, just that I'm not sure when I will be able to let you know it has arrived =/

Well, I have seen just a few places here, as I said, whenever I have some free time, I feel like sleeping..plus the weather here is sooo terrible (very hot and humid, or hot and with rain/showers) that often you don't even feel like going anywhere :)

But here are a few pics, just so you don't forget me :))

this is the view from my apartment (:

Yeah, I really am in China, in case you thought I was joking :D

If you wanna know whether I like it here or not...I don't know, everything is still interesting and there are so many new things and all...but I think that my adjustment has been going pretty well, and that's kinda really important to me...and thank God there are some other Macedonian expats here, so in the end you don't feel THAT lonely in a city of 14 million people. Of course, everyone is busy and all, but in a way it does feel comforting to know someone from your own country (one is actually a dear colleague of mine from University, so that makes things even better! :))

Funny thing about these two cards is that I received them both as a part of a swap...I don't know why I would swap for two flag cards, or maybe it was within a short period of time...who would remember, but anyways, I love the pictorial postmark on the first one...maybe if I am lucky, I will get something nice like this in that philately shop :)

However, I should do a better job in reading stamps from scans instead actual cards....I promise to do a better job for next time!

as for that next time, I can't tell when it;s gonna happen...you know, apart from the busy life, things like gmail and fb and blogger don't really function here in China unless you use some VPN services, which are not 100% functional, so sometimes you just feel like cut-off from the real world, which from time to time may not be such a bad idea :)

Anyways, big hug to you all, and see you around, sooner or later! :)

Alphonse Mucha

Well many of you know that Mucha is one of my all-time favourite artists, and that postcards related to his works have been one of my favourite themes and that I have acquired quite a number over the years...and here comes another episode of my poor choices as I mentioned above since with this post I realized that after all these years, I have actually never EVER posted any cards by Mucha here...like EVER! (you can see some Mucha stamps, but that's NOT it...)

If it wasn't for Mucha's birthday today, probably it would have taken I don't know how long before I actually realized I have totally neglected the subtle beauty of Mucha's works here....so yeah, better late than never they say, but sometimes I really wish I wasn't so lost and absent-minded...

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So who was Alphonse Mucha (or Alfons Maria Mucha)?
He was a Czech Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist, most well known for his distinct style and the images of women. He produced many paintings, posters, illustrations, advertisements and designs.
Born on 24 July 1860 and died on 14 July 1939 at the age of 79... he didn't manage to get to celebrate his 80th birthday by 10 days only...

The name of his work featured on this first card is "Flower" and dates back from 1897.

a very cool Postcrossing stamp issued in 2015! :)

Thanks a lot to Helena for choosing this one as an official car to send it to me!

This card shows the poster Mucha did for the 10th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Czechoslovakia (1918 - 1928).

This card arrived from Martin as part of our swap in 2014.

a number of stamps here...first comes a definitive issued in 1997. Next is a flower stamp from a set of two issued in 2003. At the top right corner is a greeting stamp from a set of two, also issued in 2003, while the last stamp was issued in 2002 and shows the Tradition of Czech Stamp Printing.

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Another cool card that arrived as an official from Monique and it shows a version of Mucha's poster for 'Moët & Chandon: Champagne White Star'.
Mucha worked with Moët Chandon (a French fine winery and one of the world's largest expansive champagne producers and a prominent champagne house) on a number of posters, catalogues, postcards and other promotional material. Mucha chose a sensual blond girl in a pink dress to illustrate Moët's lighter White Star champagne. She has bare shoulders and holds a bowl of grapes in her left arm.

First comes a semi-postal stamp issued in a set of 6 in 1962, for the struggle against Tuberculosis (it has a 40c value, + 10c for donation).  The other one is a self-adhesive butterfly stamp from a set of two issued in 2012.



Ok, one more card for this first and hopefully not last Mucha edition on the blog.

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A beautiful poster from 1897 with the title "Fruit".
Did you know that one of the largest collections of Mucha's works is in the possession of the former world no. 1 professional tennis player Ivan Lendl, who started collecting his works upon meeting Jiří Mucha in 1982. And I was so so sooo lucky to have had the chance to see it, since his collection was exhibited publicly for the first time in 2013 in Prague! For me it was such a perfect combination, Mucha + tennis! And I have to say that Lendl has like the most beautiful Mucha posters!
I also had the chance to visit Mucha's museum, but what is exhibited there, doesn't come close to what Lendl has :)

a lovely stamp showing the T3 tram from a set of two stamps issued in 2015 showing historical vehicles.
Thanks a lot to Kristyna for such a great addition to my Mucha collection!

Belize

Hello everyone from the rainy Friday evening in Skopje!
In some other occasion I may have complained about this, but tonight it feels so perfect to be chilling out at home and enjoy the rain and thunderstorm outside...it's been like this ever since the afternoon...just in time you know...finished all errands during the first half of the day and then just came back home and eagerly anticipated the forecast thunderstorm. After days and days of unbearably hot temperatures, this is like a real blessing...even though the drop of temperatures is kinda extreme, at least one can breathe comfortably now...

So as I said, it kinda makes it perfect for chilling out with a cup of coffee and some cards...and first comes one from Belize...yeah, one of those posted in a very timely manner :P

The first card for today comes from Glenn and his trip to Belize back at the end of 2013 (but the card arrived in 2014, hence the label...to avoid any confusion).

Maybe I have mentioned it before, no beaches for me this summer....well no travels at all in general...but I don't think I have the right to complain...I think I really went a bit overboard during the first half of the year so I have to bear the consequences now.

Not sure which beach in Belize this is, but I love that small house inside the sea....not appropriate for living maybe, but certainly ideal for getting away from everything from time to time....and the view to wake up to in the morning i am sure is unbeatable!

the stamp is from a set of 12 definitives issued in 2005 on the subject of Ecological and Cultural Heritage. It shows the Nohoch Che'en Archaeological Reserve.

Thank you Glenn! :)

Manchester, England

A card from Sissel from 2014...well from almost the end of it :)

Really unintentionally, I post this Manchester card today on the date that late Ian Curtis was born (Joy Division's singer). And how it is relevant you may wonder? Well, he was born right here, in Manchester! Talk about coincidences....

Well, the back of the card says: The impressive city skyline of Manchester is made up of a variety of buildings, from the historic cathedral to the modern Arndale Centre and the contemporary Urbis.

Oh, I could talk about the referendum too, but I don't really feel like getting into politics :)

Two Christmas stamps. The one on the left was issued in 2014 in a set of 7 stamps, while the other one is from  2013 from a set of also 7 stamps (the thing here is that some of these images are repetitive, but each stamp is with a different value or intended for 1st or 2nd class mail and things like that.

Thanks a lot to Sissel for this card :)

Trains, Czech Republic

well, get ready for a longish post full of train cards from the Czech Republic, all coming with a whole variety of lovely Czech stamps....and you know, it was while selecting the cards for this post that I realized the huge number of Czech train cards I have received...my initial idea was like to post them all but that turned out absolutely inconvenient...so I decided to stick to a small part of it...

and first comes a card I received from Monika last year...
This illustration, showing the 220.1, the oldest locomotive in the Czech Republic, produced in 1858 and it was issued as a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first train to Prague Masaryk Station.

the stamp on the left was issued in 1995 in a set of two 'Homeland' stamps, with this one showing the Panska Skala, also known as the Lord's Rock, while the other stamp was issued in 2013, commemorating th 400th Anniversary of the Bible of Kralice.



Next is a card I received from Katka in 2012...

The modern blue and white one is called Pendolino and is considered as the fastest train in the Czech Republic (well at least it was when this card was mailed). The other one is a regular train (and as Katka says, not very comfortable), bearing the logo of Poštovní spořitelna, one of the banks in the country...so it is something like an advertisement train...

both stamps here were issued in 2011....the one on the left was issued in 2011 for the Children's Day, showing the Little Witch, a feature film by Zdeněk Smetana...the other one is from the Young Animals series and shows the European Hamster.


The title of this one translates into "Full Steam ahead into the New Year"...I don't know if this was meant as a New Year greeting card or what, but I do like the correlation :)

sent by Radana for the Favourites Tag in 2013, this card shows the 354 195, CSD Steam locomotive, manufactured in 1925 by ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk).

a beautiful car stamp showing the Mercedes Benz 540, manufactured in 1936. the stamp is from a set of 6 Classic Cars stamps issued in 2012.


This steam engine was sent by Milan on the very last day in 2010 for the Czecho-Slovakia meets the world tag...

it shows the U 46.001 Steam Engine train on one of the few narrow-gauge railways in the Czech Republic, near the town of Jindřichův Hradec in South Bohemia.

3 stamps here (don't be fooled by the big one which came with the...well, I dont know if this is the vignette or the selvage but it comes as a nice addition - the stamp in question was issued in 2010, and it is from a joint issue with Luxembourg, commemorating the 700th Anniversary of the Succession of Luxembourg to the Czech Throne.
The one on the right is from 2000 from the Zodiac series, representing the Virgo, while the flower stamp is from a set of two issued in 2007.
It's been a while since I've seen Milan around, I hope he is doing fine :)



One from Radim for the June-November RR in 2012...

the card shows the IC 141 "Detvan" Praha-Zvolen train, which has just left the Ústí nad Orlicí station on 14 September 2006.
The 151014-8  Locomotovie (the Prague depot) in the Czech Railways was the only locomotive of this series, which had the advertising painting of Poštovní spořitelna in of 2006. Five other locomotives of the series 362/363 propagated also this company, while other vehicles were then given advertising stickers of this financial institution.

a stamp issued for the Olympic Games in London in 2012.




And a train card which I often confuse with the one above since they like bear the same colours and I often get to confuse them, but just now I realized it is because of that famous Poštovní spořitelna that they are advertising...

Sent in 2014 from someone called Erika or something...on behalf of Goran...and now I cant recall if I have ever figured out which Goran was in question here, since I know two who could potentially be involved in such a surprise...so I dont know now if i had ever thanked the right Goran...shame on me =/

from the back of the card:
Six red yellow locomotives (advertising colors of Poštovní spořitelna) were seen in 2006 on the Czech rails. It was three locomotives of the series 362, two locomotives of the series 363 and a locomotive of the series 151. The color scheme came from the Konting advertising studio.
On 13 September 2006, the locomotive 362121-6  Locomotive (from the Brno depot) was seen at the front of the fast train R 878 Brno - Česká Třebová, Praha near the stop Tatce.

and a fantastic Mucha stamp issued in 2010 in a set of two, commemorating 150 years since his birth !!


now comes a card that I dont know what did it actually go through on its journey, to arrive in such a condition in the end..

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This express steam train dates back to 1917, which for that time was considered as the company's largest and most modern machine and had its last journey somewhere in the mid-60s.

at least the stamps didn't suffer some greater damage....three nice ones...starting from the left, issued in 2010, from the "For the Children" series, here we have a stamp commemorating Helena Zmatlíková, one of the leading Czech female illustrators of children's books.
In the middle there is a Chrysantemum stamp issued in 2011, and at the right we have the Christmas stamp from 2011.


Hope you are holding on, since there are three cards left....

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an official card, showing the CD 715 001 (T426 001) rack diesel locomotive.

a nice stamp issued in 2013 commemorating Franz Kafka on a stamp which portrays a realistic-looking beetle. As a symbol of relentless metamorphosis, not always for the better, the beetle is set in austere, even unsympathetic modules.



Another card from Radim...

...where again you can see the Pendolino...

...and two nice stamps on the back..the one on the left is from the EUROPA issue from 1999 on National Parks, and here you can see the Šumava National Park. The other stamp was issued in 2007 and comes from a fantastic sheet on which the White Carpathian Mountains and Orchid Meadows Unesco Biosphere Reservation. On this particular stamp you can see the Ophrys holosericea.



aaaand as promised few cards above, here comes the last one for today..

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an official card sent by the Raab Family, showing the 310 006 Locomotive..

...which came with three lovely stamps (in case you have followed this post from start till end, maybe you noticed that all the stamps shown were different, no repetitions or such :)).
Anyways, the first stamp is from a set of three Old Aeroplanes, issued in 1996. The middle one was issued in 2003, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the First Electric Railroad Connection, while the last one is from 2000, showing a train from 1900 with a steam locomotive, service coach and carriages for passengers - it is from the set of two stamps for the Transport issue, comparing the Railway of 1900 and 2000.


so, no more trains for today, promise :D