Sri Lanka

So after like 3 weeks into the New Year, I thought it was about time to blow off the dust and bring this place back to life after last year's hiatus.

Don't know if that was like my worst year blogging so far, but certainly not the one I would like to brag about. But what's done is done... and who knows, maybe this year will have a better outcome. No promises though, since they never work (there is nothing that works so badly as a New Year's resolution).

And the most proper way to start this year would be of course with cards received in 2019, which may not be much but are just enough for one blog post. :)

 The very first one is this lovely train card that Kiran sent me from his trip in Sri Lanka.
Dont know exactly which line this is, but it says that Taking the train is a great and inexpensive way to get around, the train journeys are real cultural experience and the most scenic routes will be highlights of your visit - in particular the wonderful journey from Colombo to Kandy and up into Tea County, and the coastal train ride from Colombo to Dutch colonial Galle.
British visitors will find the stations, signal boxes and old red semaphore signals very familiar.

Ok, I guess the rest of us will feel completely lost and puzzled then, wondering what kind of objects are those...

Kiran used two lovely stamps to match the card, issued in 2017 as part of the World Post Day.
The actual sheet is really fabulous btw...

Brussels, Belgium

By now some of you probably know already where I had spent my New Year holidays. May seem like an odd choice, but when you find cheap tickets for a place you havent been to before, you just grab the opportunity and make the best out of it, and I must say the trip was really fantastic.

The best thing about Brussels? Our AirBnb, which included 5 cats and one dog. Endless joy! One of the cats would scratch on our door every day to let him in, and he would just climb on the suitcase and fall asleep, waking only to the rustling sounds, knowing it was probably food. (Make a wild guess which one was the frequent visitor :D)

Brussels itself is nice, just too crowded for my taste. But it was nice to see it. It didnt make the list of places I would never really like to go back to again, so thats a plus.

the place shown on the card is called Mont des Arts (meaning Hill/Mount of the Arts) which probably makes it one of the best places for taking pictures, cos the view is really stunning (however when your personal photographer cannot really grasp the idea of a good picture, you will end up without one with you in it...)

Not big fan of spending time in museums, at least not those standard types of Art and History ones, but I do love some unique ones, esp if related to my interests and Brussels has this super cool Comics museum, where if nothing else, you will realize how ignorant you actually were about the comics' art cos it is not all Tin Tin and Smurfs and stuff...

and of course, Belgium wouldnt be Belgium without the waffles, but to my surprise and to the disbelief of many I got to eat only two...but they were real good!

and probably just the best nachos I've ever eaten, so if you are in Brussels, and feel like having nachos, go to the O'Reilly's Irish Pub - their food is just fantastic!

so all in all a great stay in this small county and would like to visit it again and explore more of it (aside from Brussels, we also got to see Brugge, Ghent and Leuven, so not bad, eh? :))

the only downside is the lack of cancellation (or as in case with my card, it was upside down) on just all the cards sent but when I think about it, that is way better than some pen scribbles.

There is one of the birds' definitives (not sure which year it was issued), and two stamps from a set of 10 issued in 2003, under the name This is Belgium. Different places across Belgium are represented, and on these two stamps it is Vilvoorde and Turnhout, where the latter is obviously known for its playing cards industry, hence the playing cards' symbols.

Cats of Malta, Malta

A cute card that arrived from Silvan the other day (and I also have a copy sent by dear Marta last year). Well, one can never get enough of cats :)

Colonies of stray cats can be found all over the island. In Malta you will be struck by the lack of starving cats on the streets that you unfortunately see in many other countries. Most of these cats are looked after by the whole community whose efforts ensure that the stray cats in Malta are happy, healthy and well fed.

this is the Christmas stamp from 2018 from a set of 3 showing Baby Jesus.

the stamp from Marta's card, which is from the set of 2 Think Green EUROPA stamps issued in 2016.

Thank you both!! <3

Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg

And more card for today, again, thanks to myself. Yeah, that trip to Belgium included also a one day trip to Luxembourg, however I apologise for the lack of cards from there, but time was really limited.
However, when I saw this cemetery card, I just knew I had to send it to myself. For a while I even thought that this may be just some cemetery dedicated to the American soldiers, elsewhere, but it is indeed in Luxembourg, so yeah, nice catch :)

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to visit it, but hopefully another time. Luxembourg is really cute plus they plan on introducing free public transport for all (buses, trams, trains...) so why not use that chance and explore more of it.

The cemetery was established on December 29, 1944 by the 609th Quartermaster Company of the U.S. Third Army while Allied Forces were stemming the enemy's desperate Ardennes Offensive, one of the critical battles of World War II. The city of Luxembourg served as headquarters for Gen. George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army. Gen. Patton is buried here.

5,073 service members lie here, many of whom lost their lives in the Battle of the Bulge and in the advance to the Rhine River.


As for Luxembourg itself, I guess it would be more appropriate to talk about it and show you pictures with some actual touristy view card :)

and yay, a cancellation! The stamp is a SEPAC issue from 2018, showing spectacular views (this one shows the Beaufort Castle located in Eastern Luxembourg)

And well, that would be it for today. Not too bad after so much silence!
Hope this 2019 had started well for you and has already brought you some lovely cards in the mailbox!

Till next time...

Scenic Railway, St. Kitts

Well since the plans for the rest of the day have been cancelled, it wouldn't be a bad idea to use that time for an update here, right?? And who knows, maybe it would end up as a good thing, these cancelled plans, since it looks like a storm is approaching... once again - been having those like on daily basis now, as if someone has pushed a button and switched climates on this planet...

 As promised last time, this update will be dedicated to one of my fairies, and this time it is my dear Agi... and this post also coincides with this time of the year, cos it is the time of the InMusic Festival, but unfortunately this year I couldn't go... so no missiles fired to some mailboxes around the world either =/

And will open this post with a great train card from St. Kitts.
The Scenic Railway in St. Kitts. takes the passengers on a 3-hour tour that makes a 30-mile circle around the beautiful  island , with 18 miles by narrow gauge train and 12 miles on sightseeing buses. Built between 1912 and 1926 to transport sugar cane from the island’s sugar plantations to the sugar factory in the capital city of Basseterre, today the “Last Railway in the West Indies” provides visitors an unsurpassed opportunity to experience the scenery and culture of this unspoiled country.

there are two fruit stamps on the card, tangerines and a sugar apple - should be from a set of fruit stamps issued in 2007 but I am not 100% sure about it....

this card arrived without the address number btw but I guess I have become well known throughout the years :)))

Korkyra Lighthouse, Croatia

It took me a while to figure out which lighthouse this is since the card bears absolutely no information - and after some extensive googling, seems like I have nailed it! I didn't dare bother Agi during the festival for such a trivial question :D

This is the Korkyra lighthouse (a very cool and for me, unusual name for something located in Croatia) built in 1871 on the island Vela Sestrica in south part of Pelješac channel.
As you can see, from the card, there are rooms as well which indeed you can rent, for around 460 euros per person per night, and in return you should get some peace and quiet - yeah, tranquility does come at a certain price unfortunately...

the stamp is from a set of 4 featuring castles in Croatia - this one shows the Mailáth castle in Donji Miholjac, considered one of the most well preserved castles in Croatia.

Haghartsin, Armenia

Next is a super cool card from Armenia - a country I would really like to visit one day.

 

This is the Monastery Complex Haghartsin -  a 13th-century monastery located near the town of Dilijan in the Tavush Province of Armenia. It was built between the 10th and 13th century; much of it under the patronage of the Bagratuni Dynasty.  

The largest building and the dominant artistic feature is St. Astvatsatsin Church  

 

the stamp is from a set of 7 Forget-Me-Not Flowers issued in 2015, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Back to the neighbourhood with this lovely card from Mostar (out of all the places shown today, the only one I can say I have actually visited myself too :D)

I've written about Mostar before and nothing new I could add here for the time being, but might as well go there again one day, so would share some of those new experiences... I may as well even jump from that bridge, you never know, haha!

Agi used two really nice stamps and the one on the right makes me hungry, even though I've just eaten. It was issued in 2015, celebrating the World Food Day (16 October) - didn't even know that such a day existed - I better note it down so I can celebrate it properly next time :)))
The other stamp is from 2013, issued for the Year of the Snake.

Fonds de Gras, Luxembourg

I started with a train card, so lets end it with a train card... and the funny thing is that this train card arrived without the address number as well - Agi couldn't have done it better, even if she had tried :D

The  card shows the "Train 1900" which runs between Pétange and Fond-de-Gras, on the former "Mining Line". The train line was opened in 1874 in order to transport the iron ore extracted from neighbouring mines.
Historically, the Fond-de-Gras was one of the most important mining centres in Luxembourg. A few years after the closure of the last mine at the Fond-de-Gras in 1964, a few volunteers worked to preserve part of the railway line with the aim of operating a tourist train on the line. The first train ran in 1973.

at first I thought this stamp showed a bottle of perfume so I was even trying to sniff it... will just have to add this to my list of nonsense-I-have-done.
It is in fact from a set of 3 stamps issued in 2015 representing the National Museum of History and Art.

So, the storm didn't come after all, but at least I have used the time wisely :D

Aginice, hvala ti na sve ove divne razglednice i markice! Nadam se da se vidimo opet, prije ili kasnije! :*

And thank you all for stopping by. Make sure to check again soon, or not so soon, for another just regular no-fairy update :)

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Hello guys! I hope the summer weather is treating you well. Here it is already getting scorching hot during the day and I am wondering how am I gonna get through yet another unbearably hot summer (well I always do but the struggle is real :D )

So kinda appropriately, lets start with a card from a country where it is simply hot throughout the year.

Sent by Glenn from one of his cruises in 2011, from Santo Domingo, the country's capital and one of its UNESCO whs.

The city is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas, and was the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World. Santo Domingo is the site of the first university, cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress in the New World.

the stamp on the left may remind you of a slice of pizza at first glance... but it isn't :) It is a City Friendship stamp from a set of two, issued in 2009. The other one, is from 1999 from a set of two New Millennium stamps.

Thank you Glenn!

Kolka, Latvia

A surprise card from dear Liza, showing the Kolka Lighthouse in Latvia.

The Kolka lighthouse is on an artificial island which was created between 1872 and 1875. The original lighthouse was made of wood, and its light was first lit in June 1875. As the island settled into the sea, the current tower was built. It began operations on July 1, 1884. It has been automated since 1979.
It is said that the Cape of Kolka on the Baltic Sea is the most dangerous place for navigation, near the Latvian coast.

And this card comes with a lighthouse stamp too, showing the Akmenrags Lighthouse, issued in 2008.

Hvala ti puno Liza!!

Estação Júlio Prestes, Brazil

An official card from 2013.

BR-254435

This is the Júlio Prestes Station, a historic railroad station building in São Paulo in Brazil. In addition to commuter rail service, Júlio Prestes Station is also a cultural arts center, with a performance space and administrative offices for state-run arts programs.
The remodeled structure, originally built in 1938, has been on the state register of protected buildings since 8 July 1999.
 The train station is named in honor of the São Paulo governor (1927–1930) and Brazilian president-elect (1930), Júlio Prestes.
(There is also a Brazilian poet with the same name and initially I thought the station was named after him. Obviously I was wrong).

If there is a stamp you quite often see from Brazil, is the trumpet one on the left (along with a few other Brazilian stamps). Issued in 2002 in a set of 5 Instrument stamps.
The other one is from 2012, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Federal University of Paraná

Cats

And for the end of today, I left these four super cool cat cards sent by Bryon, cos I don't know if you know, but for a while now, a new adorable cat has been part of our family... again. And life just makes more sense.. again.

Cos what else could you do when you see this little terrified kitten in your backyard, abandoned by its mother, yet, she protects and feeds the rest of the three kittens from the litter. It gets you both angry and overprotective, and that's how yet another story had started and the Little Bullet took a special place in my heart in an instant (She is not so little anymore. In fact, quite big and heavy for a cat that hasn't even celebrated its first birthday, but that's what makes her more adorable too)

several months later:

I think it is obvious she has been well fed :D

This cat story has an additional recent kitten story, but about that, in a future cat-post :)

Now back to the cards - all these are from a set of illustrations titled Kliban's Cats

B. ‘Hap’ Kliban was born on January 1, 1935, in Norwalk, Connecticut. He began painting and drawing while he was in elementary school. As a teenager, he joked about wanting to join the Air Force to strafe civilians, something that epitomized the bizarre sense of humor that later characterized his cartoons and drawings

Three stamps from the set of 20 issued in 2001, representing American Illustrators. Here featured are: Robert Fawcett. N.C. Wyeth, and Edwin Austin Abbey.

In 1962, Kliban became a Playboy cartoonist, contributing cartoons until his death. He is best known for the book Cat, a collection of cartoons about cats drawn in Kliban's distinctive style. The cat cartoons were discovered by Playboy editor Michelle Urry and the 1975 book Cat was born. This led to several other books of cartoons ending with Advanced Cartooning in 1993.

Along with the Navajo Jewelry. some dinasourish stamps too coming from The World of Dinasours sheetlet issued in 1997. Shown here are Edmontonia, Camptosaurus and Corythosaurus.

Judith Kamman Kliban trained in fine arts where her main interests were landscape painting and photography.  In 1975, she moved west to San Francisco where she radically changed her lifestyle, and continued to pursue her ambitions as an artist and designer. Living in San Francisco she worked as an advertising agency art director and as a freelance designer. She also continued her painting and photography.
During the crazy mid 1970's, Judith met artist and cartoonist B. Kliban and began a deep and lasting friendship. They later married and enjoyed a wonderful creative and spiritual alliance. While Hap continued to create and publish other humor books and Playboy Cartoons, Judith ran the business and became the Art Director/ Designer and facilitator of all B. Kliban®Cats Licensing and Design.

The very well-known Tiffany Lamp and George Washington stamp, side by side with two Christmas stamps from 2004.

The husband and wife team ran the business as a "cottage industry," preferring to keep things simple, under control, and small.
Since B. Kliban's untimely death in 1990, Judith has continued to expand and strengthen B. Kliban®Cats. The positive changes have promoted growth and added more polish to the classic license, Cat. Judith works on creation of new Kliban concepts and calls upon the huge residual of work from B. Kliban's prolific artistic life. As a designer, Judith's wide experience in design and with Cat enables her, in a way, to continue even today her collaboration with her husband.

and more prehistoric animals on stamps here, these coming from 1989, featuring the Tyrannosaurus, the Pteranodon, the Stegosaurus, and the Brontosaurus - Correct name is Apatosaurus.

Big thank you to Bryon for these beauties, and to all of you as well for dropping by.

Be sure to drop by soon for another fairy-day post. Who is it gonna be this time? Well, you have to wait and see :)

Now I am off into some big shadow... like the basement maybe.