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.

Czechoslovakia

Home for the holidays and able to rifle through the postcard archives for another card sent by my Dad on his tour behind the Iron Curtain, which launched me on my postcard collecting quest. Seen here is the Old Town Square of Prague and the imposing Church of Our Lady before Týn in the background. Construction of the Church began in the fourteenth century and continued in fits and spurts until 1511 when the south tower was completed. Part of the Historic Centre of Prague World Heritage site.

Stamp featuring the Carpathian newt, Lissotriton montandoni, a common species in the temperate rivers, marshes, and ponds of Central and Eastern Europe.