Trinidad and Tobago

Postcard showing Carnival in Trinidad, the island's most important celebration and one of the largest Carnivals in the Caribbean. Many thanks to my Uncle Pierre and Aunt Ginette for sending it to me. – Despite the fact that the Caribbean is a popular place for holidaying Canadians, it's certainly one of the biggest black holes in my collection. Any Caribbean friends and readers, feel free to help me out. ;-)

Stamps from the 1990 definitive set featuring local birds. Pictured here is the bananaquit, Coereba flaveola, a common bird found in tropical South America and the Caribbean.

Belarus

Postcard showing Grodno Regional Drama Theatre in Grodno (Гродна), a historic city in eastern Belarus not far from the borders of Poland and Lithuania.

Permanent rate definitive stamp featuring traditional Belarusian textile designs from a set of two issued in 2012.

Liechtenstein

Postcard of Vaduz Castle, the palace and official residence of the Prince of Liechtenstein. The castle gave its name to the town of Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, which it overlooks from an adjacent hilltop. Parts of the castle date from as far back as the twelfth century, but the princely family only took up residence here in 1938 following the Anschluss that forced them to leave their previous home in Vienna.

Stamp on the left, issued in 2009, is from a multiyear series called "Brand Liechtenstein" featuring iconic buildings from around the country. Pictured here the parish house in the town of Bendern, where locals swore loyalty to the new local ruler, Prince Johann Adam Andreas von Liechtenstein in 1699, leading to the foundation of Liechtenstein. Stamp on the right is from a 2009 series of four on butterflies featuring the marbled white, Melanargia galathea, a common butterfly across Europe and Asia Minor.

Egypt

This super disco retro postcard was, without exaggerating, the only one I could find during my holiday there – and even still it took a day of hunting to find it. Looks to be from the mid-1970s judging by the groovy clothes the tourists are wearing. 

Postcard is of Abu Simbel temple in southern Egypt. The temples were originally carved out of a mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the thirteenth century BC. However, the complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968 to an artificial hill high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. The relocation of the temples was necessary to avoid their being submerged when Lake Nasser was formed following the construction of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River.

The temple complex is part of the "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae" World Heritage site. In fact, UNESCO was instrumental in moving of the temples to a new site and the safeguarding campaign they spearheaded made the importance of protecting our planet's heritage very clear. It led to the mobilisation of international resources to create the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which was adopted in 1972.

Stamps are from the 2002 definitive issue featuring Egyptian Archaeology.

United States of America – California II

A postcard of loggers and a California redwood tree; must be a rather old photo too as redwood have been protected species for a long time. Giant redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, are very tall, long-lived trees that can grow more than a hundred metres high and live more than 1,000 years. In the past they were distributed across most of coastal California, although they were heavily logged (as seen in the postcard photo) from the 1850s with the arrival of European goldminers and pioneers. It's estimated that as little as 5% of the original old-growth redwood forest remains, almost half of which is protected in Redwood National and State Parks, a UNESCO World Heritage site and part of the California Coastal Ranges Biosphere Reserve.

Thanks to friends David and Cormac who were on a road trip holiday!

This is the first American international rate "Forever" stamp in my collection. It's pretty dull, if you ask me. Everyone is probably already bored to death of it and I won't go to the bother of uploading any future copies I receive. 

Canada – Ontario IV

A groovy retro postcard of Toronto City Hall. The iconic building was designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell following an international design competition. The design was nearly eliminated from the short list when it was saved by one of the competition judges, superstarchitect Eero Saarinen (coincidentally also a Finn), who insisted the unique design was the most innovative and deserving to win. It was open in 1965 following four years of construction and is now a designated heritage monument.

Previously featured stamp on the left from the 2012 Christmas series on Christmas cookies. Stamp on the right commemorates Tommy Douglas. He was premier of Saskatchewan and went on to lead the newly formed federal New Democratic Party. While leader of Saskatchewan, he introduced the continent's first single-payer, universal health care programme, which went on to be the model for Canada's national universal health care programme. In 2004, CBC, Canada's national broadcaster named him "The Greatest Canadian," based on a viewer-supported survey for his role as father of medicare.

Djibouti

Another new country; I'm really on quite an astounding role at the moment! Five new countries in the space of a month! Certainly a record for me.

This card from the small East African country of Djibouti says on the reverse that it's of Moucha Island, a small offshore island popular with scuba divers. But I'm quite certain that must a printing error of some kind. Google Earth confirms that this is a picture of the eponymous capital city, Djibouti, founded in 1888 by the French as the capital of French Somaliland.

Shukran and many thanks to Salah for help knock this country off my list.

Stamp commemorating the Djibouti National Women's League that works for women's empowerment, literacy and health care.

Czechoslovakia II

A postcard from my archives of the Czechoslovakian spa resort of Mariánské Lázně in eastern, modern-day Czech Republic. The spa was popular with the nobility of Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century, when many celebrities and top European rulers came to enjoy the curative carbon dioxide springs and features a wealth of fine architecture from the period. The spas hosted the likes of Goethe, Frédéric Chopin, Thomas Edison, Richard Wagner, King Edward VII of England, Russian Czar Nicholas II, and Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I, and many others. On the Czech Republic UNESCO Tentative List as a part of the West Bohemian Spa Triangle.

Groovy stamp from 1987 about atomic energy.

Hong Kong III

Postcard showing view of Central District on Hong Kong Island in the 1920s. The streetscape looks decidedly different nowadays; I doubt a single building from this photo is still extant, although the tram tracks in the centre of the street do still exist and host the world's largest collection of double-decker trams that ply the streets with frequency all day long.

Stamp commemorating a stamp! The first stamp was issued in Hong Kong in 1862 and features Queen Victoria. Commemorative cancellation mark as well from the territory's central post office.

Spain II

Another postcard from the archives, this one rather special because it was sent by my mother when she was a hippy backbacking around Europe on $5 a day in 1968. The card was sent to my great-grandmother and great-aunt. It shows the Court of the Myrtles in the Alhambra Palace in Granada in southern Spain. The courtyard is in one of the oldest parts of the Palace and was used to receive ambassadors and distinguished guests at the Moorish Court. It is so named for the myrtle shrubs lining the pond. Part of the Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada World Heritage site.

 

Left stamp features former dictator, Francisco Franco. Stamp on the right commemorates the 2,000th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Cáceres in Extremadura in western Spain.

Thailand III

Postcard of Wat Arun, วัดอรุณ, or the Temple of the Dawn, a Buddhist temple on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, opposite the Grand Palace. Named after the Indian God of Dawn, Aruna, it is considered one of Bangkok's most recognized landmarks. I can attest that the vertiginous, nearly vertical stairs to the top offer some of the most fantastic views in the capital.

Cutesy, heart-shaped stamp commemorating the sixtieth wedding anniversary of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit, making them the longest-serving royal couple.

United Kingdom – Wales

Postcard showing an early twentieth century view of the high street of Prestatyn in northern Wales. After the arrival of railways in the nineteenth century, "Sunny Prestatyn" became famous for its beach, clean water and seaside promenade. Thanks to Ceri who was visiting her hometown.

Literally the day after learning of the existence of definitives for each of the United Kingdom's constituent countries from a Northern Irish postcard, I received a postcard from Wales with a Welsh definitive! Curiously, it features a daffodil rather than a leek. I guess they needed to make soup on photo day.

Indonesia II

Vintage postcard showing a kecapi suling traditional Indonesian music ensemble from southern Sulawesi island. 

Stamp from a 2001 set of eight of Flower Greeting stamps.

Malaysia V

Next card shows sunrise at the fishing village of Marang on Malaysia's east cost.

I was a bit surprised to see a Malaysian stamp featuring jícama, Pachyrhizus erosus, a common vegetable in Mexico. I learned that Spanish galleons brought the crop from Mexico to the Philippines where it then spread throughout Southeast Asia and is now a familiar ingredient in the region's kitchens. 

United States of America – Texas

A vintage postcard of the Fort Worth Stockyards, a historic district that is located in Fort Worth, Texas, that opened in 1866 as a livestock market. The city of Fort Worth was often referred to as "Where the West Begins", and it became a vital transshipment point for western cattle after the arrival of railroads.

Thanks to Jennifer who was visiting and can indeed confirm that Fort Worth lives up to its Wild West heritage!

Permanent rate stamps issued in 2011 showing, very obviously, the American flag and the Statue of Liberty.

Andorra – French Administration

Valls d'Andorra, Alt 2,407 m
Vall d'Envalira
Pyrenean Chamois in the Envalira Valley








Stamp issued by French postal administration from a 2009 series on cars showing the first model Renault car ever built, the A-15.