Saint Thomas, USVI

 

 

Crystal clear waters and amazing thunder view of Saint Thomas, an island in the Caribbean Sea, part of the United States Virgin Islands. These were sent later than the first batch, but also have San Juan PR cancellation so am still wondering..!

UNESCO - Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace Of Galerius

 

The Late Roman fortified palace compound and memorial complex of Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius, in the east of Serbia, was commissioned by Emperor Caius Valerius Galerius Maximianus, in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries. It was known as Felix Romuliana, named after the emperor’s mother. The site consists of fortifications, the palace in the north-western part of the complex, basilicas, temples, hot baths, memorial complex, and a tetrapylon.

Thank you Judit for this addition to my collection - hvala ti puno! :)

Churches Of Belgrade

Today's Sunday Stamps' theme has inspired me to post these two fantastic postcards which I've sent from Belgrade - they are huge and have a beautiful design, the only problem was filling up the space for writing..!

The Temple of Saint Sava is a Serbian Orthodox church located in Vračar, Belgrade;  it is the largest Orthodox church in the world and ranks amongst the ten largest church buildings in the world. The church is dedicated to Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church and an important figure in medieval Serbia. The interior yet remains to be finished.

St. Mark's Church is located in the Belgrade's Tašmajdan park near the Parliament of Serbia.  It was built in the Serbian architectural style by the Krstić brothers, completed in 1940, on the site of a previous church dating to 1835. It is one of the largest churches in the country.

The stamps are co-issue with Russian Post - only needed to use one but I used both for the esthetic value :))

The date is cool too..!

Croatian Multiviews

 

 

I have chosen these two postcards not for their theme but for this week's Sunday Stamps, which have Churches, castles, and fortifications as a topic. Croatian Post has issued sets of three under the name Towers and fortifications for six year in a row, being 2001-2006.

The first postcard shows a little Istrian town of Labin; the stamp is from the set issued in 2003, showing the Kostajnica Fortress  today also known as 'Zrinski castle', first mentioned in the 15th century.

The second postcard shows the Zagreb Cathedral, officially the tallest building in the country. The stamp is from the initial set issued in 2001, showing the Klis Fortress near Split - probably best known for its defense against the Ottoman invasion of Europe in the early 16th century.

Each stamp in the series shows an overall view of the fortress as well as its ground plan.

For other entries on the theme browse here:

England’s Lake District

 

The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England - a popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or fells), but also for its associations with the early nineteenth-century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth and the other Lake Poets.

1st is a vintage postcard, then comes a painting of a little town Keswick situated just north of Derwent Water; Grasmere is a wonderful little place at the heart of the district; and sunset upon Windermere, the largest natural lake in England. I will remember my visit to these places for two things - my first time pitching a tent on my own :) Iand leaving my camera with all the beautiful photos in the public toilet :( Third thing would be - it was too short!

England’s Lake District in on Unesco's tentative list.

Mucha - Byzantine Brunette

 

This unexpected find in a toy shop in Munich is from a set of two called Byzantine Heads, the other half being a blonde. They are decorative panels from 1897 where women wear highly ornate jewellery in their hair, which is evocative of Byzantine design. Love the colourful stamp dedicated to one of the best-known German artists and children's book authors Janosch, as on the previous lizard postcard :)

Chameleon

 

After a while a new addition to my lizard collection - this green fella looks really impressive against the grey backdrop. But chameleons dont turn grey do they...he must be looking for some leafy cover..!

Tortola, BVI

 

Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands; tradition sez that that Christopher Columbus named it, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove". The postcards show Soper's Hole wharf at the southwestern end of the island, the 'ridiculously' picturesque Cane Garden Bay as well as the 1.5-km-long sand beach of Long Bay.

Exactly a year after my first BVI postcards, another beautiful set, with a stamp showing a post office, and excellent clear cancellation :))

UNESCO - Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland

 

Ilulissat Icefjord is a fjord in western Greenland, 250 km north of the Arctic Circle, that runs west 40 km from the Greenland ice sheet to Disko Bay just south of Ilulissat town. It is the sea mouth of Sermeq Kujalleq, one of the few glaciers through which the Greenland ice cap reaches the sea, and one of the fastest (19 m per day) and most active glaciers in the world.

The combination of a huge ice sheet and a fast moving glacial ice-stream calving into a fjord covered by icebergs is a phenomenon only seen in Greenland and Antarctica. The photo shows one of those icebergs in the Disko Bay.

My 1st written & stamped postcards from Greenland, and a Unesco site at that! Thanks so much Radim, it was a splendid surprise..!!

UNESCO - Fraser Island, Australia

Fraser Island lies just off the east coast of Australia (appr. 200 kilometres north of Brisbane). At 122 km long, it is the largest sand island in the world. Majestic remnants of tall rainforest growing on sand and half the world’s perched freshwater dune lakes are found inland from the beach. The combination of shifting sand-dunes, tropical rainforests and lakes makes it an exceptional site.

Many thanks to Jemma, who also used some awesome stamps showing the geological wonders of the Antarctic :))

Arta, Djibouti

 

This fantastic postcard, my 1st written & stamped from Djibouti, was sent as a surprise by Salah, thanks sooo much! Btw he is on a true mission to collect one w&s postcard from each country, you can see his blog here with lots of great cards on display...and maybe you can help him in his quest..?

Arta is a town in southeastern Djibouti,  situated on the Mountains of Arta and famous for its mild climate. Also, in 2000 peace talks between various factions of the Somali Civil War were held in the city, resulting in the establishment of the Transitional National Government of Somalia.

People Of Bangladesh

 

 

My first written & stamped postcards from Bangladesh - and oh did I have to be patient to receive them! They show a native woman processing paddy and a scene of spear-fishing. First time they were sent they've never arrived, the 2nd time it took them 4 and 4 1/2 months to arrive (makes you wonder what happens on the way esp as they were sent on the same date..!) Many thanks to Subrata, who used an excellent sellection of stamps :))

Viennese Coffee House Culture, Austria

The Viennese coffee house (Wiener Kaffeehaus) is a typical institution of Vienna that played an important part shaping Viennese culture. Since October 2011 the "Viennese Coffee House Culture" is listed as Unesco's "Intangible Cultural Heritage".

The postcard shows Cafe-Konditorei Demel famous for its sweet stuffs; and the 2nd postcard a well-known Austrian dessert, popular in the former Austria–Hungary and Bavaria, called Kaiserschmarrn. It is actually made with eggs but also sugar so it can be both a dessert and a light meal..! I have made this at my sister's place in Bavaria and she has sent me the recipe to remind me :)

Ginkaku-ji, Japan

 

Ginkaku-ji ("Temple of the Silver Pavilion"), officially named Jishō-ji ("Temple of Shining Mercy"), is a Zen temple in the Sakyo ward of Kyoto, Japan. It is one of the constructions that represent the Higashiyama Culture of Muromachi period. The two-storied Kannon-den is the main temple structure whose construction began in 1482 - the garden and temple complex are open to the public since 2008 and after extensive restoration.

The first time I set my eyes on this sight I thought 'wouldn't it be awesome to live in a place like this..?!'. Surrounded with water and lots of green :)  The back of the postcard  offers a great variety of stamps, what a way to start swapping again for my Japanese collection, thanks a bunch Manami! :))

Gayer-Anderson Cat, UK

 

A replica of the Gayer-Anderson Cat, an Ancient Egyptian statue of a cat made out of bronze, from the Late Period, about 664-332 BC. It is a representation of the cat-goddess Bastet and wears jewellery and a protective wedjat amulet. It is presented in the British Museum, here a photo-shoot with a long-haired blotched tabby :)

UNESCO - Tower Of London, UK

 

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. 

The castle was used as a prison since at least 1100, and it was interesting to see the prison cells and read the stories about the prisoners in each of them. Gruesome times indeed! The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public records office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom - have seen the latter, and although am not a jewelry-enthusiast it was not to be missed heh. 

Finally, some stamps have been cancelled! So many postcards that I've sent during my time in the UK have been uncancelled, or maybe just a sign of the orange strip done by the sorting machine...and white marks in the front done by it :/ 

UNESCO - Stonehenge, Avebury And Associated Sites, UK

 

Stonehenge and Avebury, in Wiltshire, are among the most famous groups of megaliths in the world. The two sanctuaries consist of circles of menhirs arranged in a pattern whose astronomical significance is still being explored. These holy places and the nearby Neolithic sites are an incomparable testimony to prehistoric times.

No associated sites, but Stonehenge and Avebury are here :) Back in 2009 we have visited both sites - but to be fair I have to admit I didn't go past the wire fence some 20 meters from the Stonehenge circle, seemed silly to pay to be able to get just a few meters closer (it was forbidden to get closer than a round path around them, don't know if its still the case...). We visited Bath and Salisbury on the same day, it was quite a fulfilled day trip..! In Avebury we were able to roam freely...the stones are more scattered and less-known.