Georgia

Postcard of Tbilisi city centre, capital of Georgia, a country that shouldn't have been that hard to add into to collection – I've had Armenia and Azerbaijan for years – but has eluded me until now. Many thanks and მადლობა to friend Andy who was in Georgia on holiday. Card shows a part of the Tbilisi Historic District site on Georgia's Tentative List for World Heritage, and the undulating green Bridge of Peace that links the old and new parts of the city.

Stamp is from the 2012 Europa series promoting tourism and features the Gergeti Glacier on Mount Kazbek, one of the highest in the Caucasus Range.

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

This card shows Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque – originally known as Saint Nicholas's Cathedral – in Famagusta, Northern Cyprus. It was consecrated as a Catholic cathedral in 1328 and was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman Empire captured Famagusta in 1571. It remains a mosque to this day. The building strongly resembles Reims Cathedral and its Rayonnant Gothic style is quite rare outside of France.

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has eluded me for quite a long time, so a massive "thank you" is due to Rosaleen and John, my better half's mother's neighbours, who took time out of their holiday and looked past our very tenuous connection to send this card to me. And another big thanks to Annette for talking me up to the neighbours and arranging for this card to be sent. I'm forever grateful to you all.

Information about Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus stamps is rather hard to come by. Beyond saying that they were released in 2015 and, quite clearly, feature a dog, not much more I can add. Cute dog though.

Norway

Happy World Post Day! World Post Day is celebrated every year on 9 October, to commemorate the foundation of Universal Postal Union (UPU) in 1874 in the Swiss capital, Bern.

To celebrate, a postcard of Nærøyfjord, a branch of Sogne fjord, the largest fjord in Norway and the longest in the world. The fjord is quite narrow and picturesque – said to be the inspiration for Arendelle in Frozen. It is part of the West Norway Fjords World Heritage site. Tusen takk to my Mum for sending this card to me on her recent cruise of the Norwegian coast.

Permanent rate stamp from 2013 set of six featuring tourism activities. Pictured is whitewater rafting on the Sjoa River in Central Norway.

Bosnia and Herzegovina – Srpske Pošte

Multiview postcard from Banja Luka (Бања Лука), the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina after capital Sarajevo. The city, whose coat of arms can be seen in the upper left, has a long history dating back to Roman times, although it is probably better known for its role in the Bosnian War when most of the city's Croat and Bosniak population were expelled and its 16 Ottoman-era mosques demolished.

Stamp from the 2009 definitive series featuring local fauna; seen here the red fox, Vulpes vulpes. As I mentioned in my previous Bosnia and Herzegovina post, the country actually has three separate postal systems. Not sure why; I imagine its a relic of the post-War period, no doubt. Stamp here is from Srpske Pošte, the previous from BH Pošta, leaving me with just Hrvatska Pošta Mostar (Croatian administration) left to collect.

Slovenia

Postcard from the alpine resort of Bled, in northern Slovenia. In the centre of Lake Bled is a small island, home to the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church. Human traces from prehistory have been found on the island and before the church was built there was a temple consecrated to Živa, the Slavic goddess of love and fertility.

Thank you and hvala to my Mum for sending this first Slovenia card in my collection when she was on holiday there.

Stamp is from a 2007 set of 17 on flowers of Slovenia. Pictured here is Cerastium dinaricum, a rare species of chickweed found only in one 50km² site in the Slovenian mountains.

Hungary

Postcard of Matthias Church in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, part of the longly-named "Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue" World Heritage site. The origins of the church go back to the eleventh century. During the Ottoman period, it became the city's main mosque. After regaining its status as a church, it became the coronation site of many Hungarian kings.

Thanks to my Dad for sending this card, along with this one and this one, from his trip "behind the Iron Curtain" and setting me off on my postcard adventures many years ago.

Stamps are from a 1986 set of six on Hungarian castles. Shown is Baroque Forgách Castle, in Szécsény in northern Hungary.

Iceland

Postcard of Reykjavík's famous Hallgrímskirkja (Church of Hallgrímur). It is the largest church in Iceland and the sixth-tallest building in the country. The church was commissioned in 1937 and took 38 years to build, with construction beginning in 1945 and ending in 1986. Its design is meant to resemble the basalt lava flows of Iceland's landscape. Takk fyrir to my Mum who was on holiday in Iceland.

Stamp from a 2014 set of two featuring Icelandic landscapes. Pictured here is the Kvíárjökull glacier in eastern Iceland.

Vatican City II

Postcard of the Vatican City's famous Swiss Guards, who have been defending the country for over 500 years. The Swiss Guard is known for its elaborate ceremonial uniforms, pictured here, which hark back to the Guards' Renaissance origins.

Stamp from a 2007 set of four depicting Pope Benedict XVI on his travels around the world, in this case, Germany, and features the famous towers of the Munich Frauenkirche.

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.

Poland

A rather dated postcard of Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW), formerly known as Okęcie International Airport after the name of town where it is located. It is the largest airport in Poland, handling nearly 40% of the country's air traffic, and recently passed the milestone of serving 10 million passengers in one year.

Stamp on the left features the museum and former studio of renowned, classical Polish painter Jan Matejko. Stamp on the right is from a 2005 series of Polish cities, featuring here the Baltic Sea resort of Sopot, once known as "Monte Carlo of the North", attracting Europe's Belle Époque high society.

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.

Finland II

A card showing the lightship Helsinki in the foreground, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. A "lightship" is a ship whose function was to serve as a lighthouse in places were it would be impractical to build a conventional lighthouse, in this case outside Helsinki Harbour. It was in active service until 1959 when modern technology made it obsolete. Having survived a German attack in World War Two, it now serves as a maritime museum. In the background is the Finnish Presidential Palace, which was previously the Imperial Palace of the Tsar, back when Finland was a grand duchy of the Russian Empire. 

This card is something of a rarity: a non-Postcrossing card from Finland! ;-) Many thanks and merci to my friend, Étienne, who was on holiday in Helsinki.

Stamp from a set of three issued this year featuring popular Finnish berries, in this case redcurrants, Ribes rubrum.

United Kingdom – England

Postcard from England's smallest city, Wells, in Somerset. With a population of 10,000, it is a city by virtue of its cathedral, and was designated a city in 1205. Pictured is the Vicar's Close, claimed to be the oldest purely residential street with its original buildings all surviving intact in Europe. They were built to house cathedral priests, with the first building of the Close connected by walkway to the Cathedral itself. Records indicate that construction of all buildings in the Close was completed by 1412.

Royal Mail stamp from the 2013 home countries series showing an oak tree for England. Now I just need the one from Scotland to round out the set.

United Kingdom III

Postcard from the English coastal city of Plymouth showing Smeaton's Tower, a lighthouse that once stood 20 kilometres out to sea to warn ships of dangerous rocks. It was built in 1759 then later dismantled and rebuilt in Plymouth in 1882 as a memorial to its designer, John Smeaton, a celebrated civil engineer.

Usual British Machin Queen's head stamps.

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands, the second of two new countries received today! Woot! The Faroe Islands are an archipelago in the North Atlantic halfway between Scotland and Iceland and are an autonomous part of Denmark. The islands are famous for having dramatic scenery and equally as dramatic weather. Card shows the high cliffs near the village of Trøllanes, on the northern island of Kalsoy.

Stamp depicts the northern prawn, Pandalus borealis, an important food resource widely fished in the Faroe Islands and elsewhere in the North Atlantic. The species is not considered overfished however, likely due to its short life expectancy and high rates of reproduction.

Åland Islands

Woohoo! On a roll with another new country, the Åland Islands, an autonomous Swedish-speaking region of Finland made up of a Baltic Sea archipelago between the two countries. Postcard show the Åland Islands flag, which is a Swedish flag defaced by a red cross symbolising Finland.

Stamp on left depicts the Boletus edulis mushroom, or porcino mushrooms as it is more commonly known in culinary circles. It is a common mushroom across the Northern Hemisphere and is highly regarded in many cuisines. Stamp on the right depicts, quite obviously, potato chips. A bit of investigative searching for the connection between the Åland Islands and potato chips revealed that the Åland Islands is, in fact, home to Scandinavia's largest potato chip company, Chips AB, established in 1969 to offset the decline in the the island's traditional economic mainstay, fishing.

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.

Italy II

Postcard showing the Doge's Palace, and the Piazza San Marco, part of the Venice and its Lagoon World Heritage site. The Palace, built in 1340 in Venetian Gothic style was the home of the Doge, the leader of the Venetian Republic, elected from an inner circle of powerful Venetian families. One of the doge's ceremonial duties was to celebrate the symbolic marriage of Venice with the sea. This was done each Spring by casting a ring from an elaborate barge into the Adriatic. The doges rules the Venetian Empire for more than one thousand years before being forced to abdicate by Napoleon in 1797.

Many thanks to friend Laura who was visiting.

Two not terribly exciting definitive stamps from the Italian Posts.

Luxembourg

Postcard showing Notre-Dame Cathedral in the eponymous capital of Luxembourg. Construction began in 1613 and is a noteworthy example of late Gothic architecture. It was made a cathedral in 1870 and remains the only cathedral in the country today. Part of the City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications World Heritage site.

This is a card I sent myself while on short holiday in Luxembourg and I must say that out of all the places I've ever been, Luxembourg had by far the worst postcards.  They all seemed to want to out-Photoshop each other using as many effects as possible (rainbow shadow gradient drop bevel Comic Sans!) with the most heinous photos ever developed at the local drugstore. It really took a lot of hunting to find this relatively innocuous one!

Left stamp features Grand-Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte Concert Hall. Joséphine-Charlotte was a Belgian princess who then married the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and is mother to the current Grand Duke, Henri. Stamp on the right features the headquarters of Luxembourg Bank and Savings Union and the Adolphe Bridge in front of it, spanning the Pétrusse River and its steep river valley.

Albania II

Postcard showing the Citadel of Berati, a town in central Albania famous for its historic architecture. In fact, it was one of the two towns spared by former dictator Enver Hoxha's modernisation campaigns and, as such,  has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site together with the other spared city, Gjirokastra. The Citadel was founded by Illyrians in the third century BC on the site of an even earlier fortress!

Previously featured sttamp of Osum Canyon.