Yuri Gagarin, Italy

This post was supposed to happen 3 days ago, commemorating Gagarin´s travel into space...but due to a number of reasons I didn't manage to do it in time...and not even the next day...or the next...(I actually haven't been able to post anything for like two weeks even though I had some cards already prepared)....as for the reasons...my allergy kicked in and it's been terribly annoying, preventing me from normal functioning...then I had to do deal with some issues out of nowhere....and on top of it prepare for this job interview which took place yesterday....and which I must say was like one of the most disappointing job interviews I have ever had...like EVER!  It was not about something long-term...just one year for this future project...and you know, I was so delighted that I actually entered the shortlisted-candidates....but then because of a few factors my delight went down the drain...and then you leave the building, wandering like lost around the city and you have this sight of armed soldiers, tanks, water-cannons because of the current situation here and the protests going on.....yeah, quite a reality to live in...and when you sum it all up, postcards are not really something you think of...apologies to all waiting a card from me...I promise to put it in the mail in the next few days :)


Anyways, back to Gagarin...as you know, on April 12th, 1961, the charming Gagarin and his Vostok went on a journey into outer space, completing an orbit of the Earth...the first human to have ever done so...yeah, if I ever get asked to name like the 5 most charming men in the world, Gagarin would take one of the spots ;-)

now this maxi-card here was issued by the Italian post in 2011, commemorating the then, 50th anniversary of his journey into space....I have no cards or anything commemorating the 55th unfortunately

Suurupi Lighthouses, Estonia

I really great maxi-card from Estonia that has been neglected since 2011...don't know why...

Here you can see the two Suurupi lighthouses; the Suurpi rear lighthouse, which was completed in 1760 (the one on the left) and the Suurupi front lighthouse (the one on the right) which was built in 1859 and is the oldest and currently the only wooden lighthouse still functioning in Estonia. It acquired its final shape after several alterations in 1888.

Suurpi, btw, is a small village in Estonia :)

there are three stamps on the back...the two below the airmail sticker were issued in 2011 in a set of five from the Post Horn series. The other one is a definitive from 2007.

North Reef Lighthouse, Australia

A great maxi-card I received as an official this year, plus it is a lighthouse ♥

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The maxi-card shows the North Reef Lighthouse in Queensland, which was first constructed in 1878.

Its construction is unique, having a hollow concrete base that both gives it resistance to the shifting nature of the sandbar and serves as a fresh water tank. As such, it is considered one of the major achievement in Australian lighthouse construction.
It is also notable in that due to the harsh conditions and remote location, only bachelors were allowed to serve as lighthouse keepers. (bachelors as in 'unmarried men' in this context). Does this mean that the conditions were that harsh that they thought these lighthouse keepers may not survive, and may not go back to their wives and children?!!

 At 24 metres  it is also the tallest of Queensland's timber framed iron clad lighthouses.

there are two stamps on the back which I find a bit confusing, since this is one of those postage prepaid cards, and as you can read it yourselves, it refers to delivery worldwide...so why would one need to use more postage then, I don't get it?
Anyways, till someone solves my mystery - the upper stamp was issued in 2008 in a set of four Tourist Precincts stamps and this one shows The Rocks in Sydney. The other stamp is from 2007 from a set of four Australian Wildflowers - here you can see the Green Spider-Flower.

Thanks to Margaret for this lovely lighthouse!

Melbourne Park, Australia

Next is this beautiful maxi-card showing the tennis courts of Melbourne Park, issued in 2005, to commemorate the 100 years of the Australian Open Tournament. I wish this post was done in a more cheerful and ecstatic tone, but well, it still makes a suitable thing to post today :) And yeah, it is gonna be a yada-dada blabber, so you may just skip this one :)

As some of you may know, the Australian Open took place in the last two weeks...two weeks of great tennis, a lot of drama, and sleepless nights, cos time zones arent the friendliest sometimes...but all that waking up at 5 am was worth it, to enjoy the sight of dear Rafael Nadal. Who after missing last year's tournament due to injuries, showed exquisite performance here, reaching the finals...where to the surprise of many, on the other side of the net he had Stanislas Wawrinka...the Swiss guy who among else defeated Novak Djoković...and who until today had beaten Nadal zero times, out of the 12 times they had met...but the unlucky 13 turned out to be the charm for Stan..
I don't know what to think of today's final...too many expectations from Rafa, that's for sure...and as some called it, a bizarre final...why bizarre? cos of Nadal's back pains...for whole two weeks it was the blister...and now today, out of nowhere, he was struggling with terrible backache..i dont think ive ever, EVER seen this kind of Rafa...totally apathetic...unable to run for the balls...lousy serves...just losing poitns and moving from one side of the court to the other without even asking for his towel...Nadal, who asks for his towel after every single damn point, didnt ask for it once during several games..didnt even care about the placement of his bottles...i was speechless...and sad...and frustrated...i tried to stay realistic...tried not to make too much of a deal...but yeah, the audience was nothing but arrogant for booing him after the medical time out...cos im sure that all those who do not like Rafa, would stick to the story that he faked his injury, cos he wasnt capable of beating Stan, and at the first signs of Stan playing better than him, lets make excuses...no kidding??  You should actually thank him for not retiring...for struggling till the end just to give you a whole match...maybe not what you expected from a final, but at least he did give you an entire match...cos that's what you paid for, no? He did give Stan the chance to say he has beaten him, not that Stan won his first title cos Nadal retired...kuddos to you Rafa for that....for your humbleness...for never making excuses that an injury is the reason you lost...for saying that this is Stan's day, not yours...the greatest reason why Rafa has remained my very favourite is this attitude of his..never arrogant...never smashing racquets...always praising others...so as someone said, I dont care you lost today...Stan may be the winner, but you are the champion...
I do admit that when other players all of a sudden start complaining about injuries, there is this devil inside me that thinks they are just buying time, trying to recoup, to confuse the opponent...but i dont know if i have not done enough search. it is only when it happens to Rafa that the internet population goes nuts about how he is a cheater and blah blah blah...but if someone got the cheers and support from the crowd in the end, that was Rafa...yeah, the same crowd that first booed him :)


I just hope whatever that injury is, that it is nothing serious...I really cant handle another bout of Rafa-less tennis...i just need that daily dose of Rafa fighting on court :) Without him, tennis just wouldnt be the same for me

hugs to my dearest Zarah, who has stayed along with me for the past two weeks, through thick and thin...watching tennis together makes it much more entertaining, and easier to bear the tough moments...Gracias amiga!! ♥

Açores, Portugal

My last card for today is something which to me at first, second, third glance looks like a lighthouse..but is actually a windmill :)

It is a great maxi-card, showing a nice windmill on the Portuguese island of Açores and Maria, who sent me this one, says that the windmills are something very typical of the island. If I got the translation right, this one is the Revolving wooden mill (or it would be rotary, im not sure)
In 2007, 6 windmills maxi-cards were issued...and now im not sure if this maxi card would have also arrived without the stamps on the back, coz I think the postage does suffice....

Maria used two stamps...the left one comes from a set of six stamps issued in 2012, representing Traditional Festivals, while the other one is an Açores stamp from a set of 7 stamps issued in 2011, representing the Whaling Heritage of Açores.

well, that would be all for today...glad to be back...well, always glad to be back since I seem to have such absences more and more often.

Enjoy your weekend guys!!

Australian Antarctic Territory

it is just unfair how quickly weekends go by....I just dread at the THOUGHT of Monday =/
Plus for some reason(s) I have this surge of negative thoughts....so I thought it might help if i come here and get distracted for a while from all that.....

Im rather stunned at the maxi-cards that are circulating around from the AAT! They are just amazing and so breathtaking most of the times! On a side note, i dont know if ive told you, but ive grown really fond of collecting maxi-cards...they just feel so beautiful...too bad i cant respond by sending them as well =(
AAT is the largest territory of Antarctica, claimed by any nation....in this case, Australia, of course.

Regarding the postage stamps...it is Australia that has issued postage stamps for the AAT since 1957. All have been Antarctic themed, and are also valid for postage in Australia, so in practice they are just Australian stamps with a different inscription. So this in a way explains why these are commonly seen among the Australian traders. I was sort of in doubt if I should post this maxi-card, since just last time I posted an Australian one....but i decided to go for it, since it does fall as a separate item in the philatelic catalogues and this one in particular is from a set of 4 stamps issued this year, called Icebergs. The mini-sheets of all the AAT stamps are just jaw-dropping!

The Electric Train EJ 575, Lithuania

An amazing maxi card sent by Inga

This is the double-decker electric train EJ575, manufactured by Škoda Vagonka, Czech Republic.
Id really LOVE to get a ride on a double-decker train...it looks sooo cool...and yeah, if possible, id like to have a seat on the second floor and observe the world 'from above'.

Here you can see the train in action, coz i believe that a video is worth a thousand of words :)





such a cool train! I LOVE it!!

Great Southern Rail, Australia

An update wouldnt be an update if there is no train card to bother you with :D

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And this fantastic maxi card came as an official from Australia (boy, I love the 'official' people who pay attention to someone's wishes).

The card shows the Great Southern Railway (GSR), which operates interstate passenger trains aimed at the tourist market:
The Indian Pacific (Sydney-Adelaide-Perth)
The Ghan (Adelaide-Alice Springs-Darwin)
The Overland (Melbourne-Adelaide)
The Southern Spirit (various routes from November 2008)

The Ghan, Indian Pacific and Overland were operated until 1997 by Australian National Railways. As a Government enterprise, it was always unprofitable. The Australian Commonwealth sold ANR Passenger and Freight in 1997. GSR took over the operation of the Indian Pacific, The Ghan and The Overland passenger trains, and has operated them profitably since that time. Costs were reduced by renegotiating staff pay and conditions, and by extending the Ghan, which originally ran from Adelaide to Alice Springs, so that it ran once each week from Sydney and once each week from Melbourne. With completion of the railway from Alice Springs to Darwin, the Ghan now runs from Adelaide to Darwin. While GSR owns the passenger car fleet, Pacific National provides hook and pull (locomotive haulage) services.
The Southern Spirit is a luxury cruising train service, launched by Great Southern Railway on 17 June 2008, with the inaugural service running on 25 November 2008

Ahhhh, I wanna go I wanna go!!!!

Btw, due to some assignments lately, I had to attend this office, which believe it or not has a direct view onto the railway tracks which come in and out of the Main Railway Station in Skopje! Do you know what a feeling it is to be able to watch the trains from so close?!  I wonder what was the impression the people got, who noticed the absolute fascination in my eyes and the way I stared at the trains and followed them as they were moving along....

Switzerland

A FANTASTIC Maxi Card I got from Sara!

I am not exactly sure which railway line is shown here, but however, it was Manfred Luckmann who had kindly provided this lithography to be used for the Maxi Card. As for the stamp on it, it was issued this year in a set of two railway stamps. Cancelled with a special cancellation in Bern, on 6th May 2010.
In case you understand German, here is the link provided on the back, where you can get lots of additional information, enjoy the pictures and whatever not...of course, that is in the case you love trains :)

www.schmalspurbahn.ch

Here are the two stamps which helped this Maxi Card arrive to me.
The one on the left was issued in 2008 in a set of 4 Cereals' stamps, this one representing Wheat, while the other one is from a set of 4 special stamps issued this year regarding the Centenary of Aviation in Switzerland. This particular stamp represents Geo Chavez who was a Franco-Peruvian aviator. At a young age, he achieved fame for his aeronautical feats. He died in 1910 while attempting the first air crossing of the Alps.