USA: Sarah Michelle Gellar

Sarah Michelle Gellar is an American actress, producer and entrepreneur. After being spotted by an agent at the age of four in New York City, she made her acting debut in the made-for-TV movie An Invasion of Privacy (1983). Gellar received widespread recognition for her portrayal of Buffy Summers on the WB series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), which earned her six Teen Choice Awards, a Saturn Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination. The character was widely popular during the airing of the show and became recognized as one of the 100 greatest female characters in U.S. television.

Stamp is Global: The Moon, issued on 22.02.2016.

Thank you Rachel!

Birthday card from Malaysia

Nina received this beautiful birthday postcard from Malaysia.

This stamp is Hydrangea macrophylla, from set of eight Garden Flowers, issued on 01.07.2010.
Hydrangea macrophylla is a species of flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae, native to Japan. It is a deciduous shrub growing to 2 m tall by 2.5 m broad with large heads of pink or blue flowers in summer and autumn.


Thank you Yap!

United Arab Emirates: Dubai Marina

This is my first postcard from United Arab Emirates!

 

Dubai Marina is a district in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai Marina is an artificial canal city, built along a 3 km stretch of Persian Gulf shoreline. When the entire development is complete, it will accommodate more than 120,000 people in residential towers and villas. It is located on Interchange 5 between Jebel Ali Port and the area which hosts Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, and the American University in Dubai. The first phase of this project has been completed.

This stamp is from set of five Definitives 2013, issued on 07.04.2013.

Perforation: comb 14
Printing: Offset lithography
Size: 30 x 40 mm
Face value: 3 د.إ


Thank you Ian!

Bulgaria: Postcrossing

I am trying to collect all Postcrossing stamps, and my friend find this five stamps for me in Varna. Design is little bit weird, but original.

Date of issue: 23.12.2015
Denomination & quantity: 1.00 Lev - 38 000
Stamp size: 49 x 29 mm
Perforation: 13
Sheets: 4 x 10
Printing process: offset
Designer: Stoyan Dechev


There is no cover or FDC for this stamps.

He also sent me two fridge magnets! Both magnets are shaped like map of Bulgaria, and you can see various Bulgarian landmarks on them.




Thank you very much Georgi!

Pakistan: The Karakoram Highway (8th wonder of the world)

This is my first postcard from Pakistan!

The Karakoram Highway (KKH) is one of the highest paved international roads in the world. It connects the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China and Gilgit–Baltistan of Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an elevation of 4,693 metres

Connecting China's Xinjiang region with Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan, the road is a popular tourist attraction. Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

About 810 Pakistanis and about 200 Chinese workers lost their lives, mostly in landslides and falls, while building the highway. 

Stamps:

National Book Day MNH, issued on 22.04.2016.
An Inportant Personalty In The History Of Pakistan: Dewan Bahadur S.P. Singha, issued on 26.04.2016.

Thank you Yousuf!

Rain in the Oak Forest by Ivan Shishkin

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (25 January 1832 – 20 March 1898) was a Russian landscape painter closely associated with the Peredvizhniki movement. The works of this outstanding artist enjoy vast popularity in Russia; the best of them have become the classics of Russian landscape painting. During 40 years of his artistic activity Ivan Shishkin produced hundreds of paintings, thousands of studies and drawings and a large number of engravings. For contemporaries, Shishkin’s personality embodied Russian nature itself; they called him “forest tzar”, “old pine tree”, and “lonely oak”.

Stamp is The 170th Anniversary of the Russian Geographical Society, issued on 23.07.2015.


Thank you Irina!

Postcard from New Zealand

I don't have much to say for this postcard, but stamps are pretty awesome.

Stamps:
New Zealand Landscapes - Central Otago, issued on 09.05.2007.
Brown Kiwi (Apteryx australis), issued on 06.03.2000.
The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies (from set of seven), issued on 05.11.2014.


Thank you Joanne!

Earth postcard and Moon stamp

I have received postcard with Earth. It will be much nicer without this awful drawings of rockets, but it has sort of matching stamp, so i will post it any way.

Stamp is Global: The Moon, issued on 22.02.2016.

125 Years of the Tesla's Transformator Patent

New edition from Serbian Post! 125 Years of the Tesla's Transformator Patent!

125 years a go Serbian genius scientist patented his transformator, known as Tesla's coil. It is used to produce high-voltage, low-current, high frequency alternating-current electricity.

Tesla used these coils to conduct innovative experiments in electrical lighting, phosphorescence, X-ray generation, high frequency alternating current phenomena, electrotherapy, and the transmission of electrical energy without wires. Tesla coil circuits were used commercially in sparkgap radio transmitters for wireless telegraphy until the 1920s, and in medical equipment such as electrotherapy and violet ray devices.

Tesla obtained around 300 patents worldwide for his inventions.

French stamps: Animals are watching us

I have received complete set of French stamps Animals are watching us, together with new French Europa stamp. Issue date for this nice animal eyes is 03.08.2015, and for Europa is 08.05.2016.

On this stamps you can see eyes of fiji banded iguana, keel-billed toucan, secretarybird, agama, red-eyed leaf-frog, scribbled leatherjacket filefish, southern white-faced owl, giant wall gecko, hyazinth macaw, brahma rooster, whitetip reef shark and bearded vulture.

Stamp on cover is  Jouffroy d'Abbans, 1751-1832 - The 200th Anniversary of the Invention of the Steamboat, issued on 22.04.2016.

Thank you Axel!

France: The 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun, fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916, was one of the largest battles of the First World War on the Western Front between the German and French armies. The battle took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France.

The casualties from Verdun and the impact the battle had on the French Army was a primary reason for the British starting the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 in an effort to take German pressure off of the French at Verdun. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21st 1916 and ended on December 16th in 1916. It was to make General Philippe Pétain a hero in France.

An estimate in 2000 found a total of 714,231 casualties, 377,231 French and 337,000 German, an average of 70,000 casualties a month; other recent estimates increase the number of casualties to 976,000, with 1,250,000 suffered at Verdun during the war. The Battle of Verdun lasted for 303 days and became the longest and one of the most costly battles in human history.

Stamp is issued on 29.05.2016.


Thank you Axel!

Belize: The Great Blue Hole

This is my first postcard from Belize!

Belize is a country on the eastern coast of Central America. It is the only country in Central America whose official language is English, though Belizean Creole and Spanish are also commonly spoken. Belize is bordered on the north by Mexico, on the south and west by Guatemala, and on the east by the Caribbean Sea. Its mainland is about 290 km long and 110 km wide.

The Great Blue Hole is a giant submarine sinkhole off the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 70 km from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, over 300 m across and 124 m deep. It was formed during several episodes of quaternary glaciation when sea levels were much lower. Analysis of stalactites found in the Great Blue Hole shows that formation took place 153,000; 66,000; 60,000; and 15,000 years ago. As the ocean began to rise again, the cave was flooded. The Great Blue Hole is a part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. This site was made famous by Jacques Cousteau, who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world.

Postcard came with fantastic matching stamp, issued on 31.08.2005.

Thank you very much Debora!

Sunrise over Angel Reef in Trinidad and Tobago

This is my first postcard from Trinidad and Tobago!

Trinidad and Tobago is a twin island country situated off the northern edge of South America mainland, lying 11 kilometres just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and 130 kilometres south of Grenada. Bordering the Caribbean to the north, it shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Grenada to the northwest, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west. Trinidad and Tobago lies outside of the hurricane belt.

Angel Reef is shallow enough for snorkelers and glass-bottomed boats, but is also used as a dive site. It is located just off Goat Island, where Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond 007 novels, used to own a house.

 Stamp is The 150th Anniversary of National Library in Trinidad and Tobago, issued on 09.08.2001.


Thank you very much Nalini!

Latvia: Rocket Bean

I have receive ad postcard from Latvia, with very nice designed logo of Rocket Bean Roastery, from capital city Riga.

Stamps:
Marigold, issued on 05.05.2015.
Breast cancer diagnostics, issued on 30.10.2013.
Signs of the Zodiac - Cancer, issued on 07.08.2015.
Daisy (Bellis perennis), issued on 05.05.2015.


Thank you Velta!

Uzbekistan: Xiva (Khiva)

This is my first postcard from Uzbekistan!

Khiva is a city of approximately 50,000 people located in Xorazm Region, Uzbekistan. Itchan Kala (on postcard) in Khiva was the first site in Uzbekistan to be inscribed in the World Heritage List (1991).

In the early part of its history, the inhabitants of the area were from Iranian stock and spoke an Eastern Iranian language called Khwarezmian. Subsequently the Iranian ruling class was replaced by Turks in the 10th century A.D, and the region gradually turned into an area with a majority of Turkic speakers.

The city of Khiva was first recorded by Muslim travellers in the 10th century, although archaeologists assert that the city has existed since the 6th century. By the early 17th century, Khiva had become the capital of the Khanate of Khiva, ruled by a branch of the Astrakhans, a Genghisid dynasty.

In 1873, Russian General Konstantin von Kaufman launched an attack on the city, which fell on 28 May 1873. Although the Russian Empire now controlled the Khanate, it nominally allowed Khiva to remain as a quasi-independent protectorate.

Following the Bolshevik seizure of power after the October Revolution, a short lived Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was created out of the territory of the old Khanate of Khiva, before its incorporation into the USSR in 1924, with the city of Khiva becoming part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic.

Stamps are definitives, monument Berbaq, issued on 05.04.2012. and on 06.11.2014.


Thank you very much Elena!

Postcard from Belarus

I have received this nice Belorussian postcard with lesson for learning Belorussian language. They have broad campaign Будзьма беларусамі! for strengthening national identity. On this card you can learn names of various kitchen objects.

This nice stamp is Bird of the Year - Common Cuckoo, issued on 11.03.2014.


Thank you Olga!

IIHF World Championship in Russia in 2016

I have received this wonderful maxicard and FDC related to IIHF World Championship in Russia in 2016. The 2016 IIHF World Championship was the 80th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), being held in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, from 6 May to 22 May 2016.

Canada won their 26th gold medal, defeating Finland 2–0 in the gold medal game. With the win Corey Perry became the second consecutive Canadian team captain to earn membership in the Triple Gold Club. Russia won the bronze medal, defeating the United States 7–2 in the bronze medal game.

Laika, the mascot of the championship, is in the center of stamp. Stamp is issued on 06.05.2016.

I have received this inside very nice cover, with stamp Postcrossing, issued on 25.03.2016.


Thank you Ivan!

Republika Srpska: Višegrad and Prijedor

Višegrad is a town and municipality in eastern Republika Srpska, resting on the Drina river. The town includes the Ottoman-era Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge, an UNESCO world heritage site which was popularized by Nobel prize winning author Ivo Andrić in his novel The Bridge on the Drina. Andrićgrad, a future tourist site dedicated to Andrić, is under construction near the bridge. Višegrad is a South Slavic toponym meaning "the upper town/castle/fort".

The area was part of the medieval Serbian state of the Nemanjić dynasty; it was part of the Grand Principality of Serbia under Stefan Nemanja (r. 1166–96).

Prijedor is a city and municipality in with an estimated population of 97,588 people within its administrative limits. Prijedor is a city in Republika Srpska and is situated in the Bosanska Krajina region.

Prijedor is the third largest municipality in the Republika Srpska, after Banja Luka and Bijeljina. It is an economically prosperous municipality hosting a wide range of industries, services and educational institutions. The city's geographical location close to major European capitals has made it an important industrial and commercial hub nationally.

Prijedor is known for its Catholic, Orthodox Christian and Islamic heritage. Historic buildings from the Ottoman and Austrian-Hungarian periods are a feature of the urban landscape. The city underwent extensive renovation between 2006-2009.

Stamp is Domestic Goat (Capra aegagrus hircus), issued n 28.08.2015.

Thank you Zorica!

150 Years of the First Postage Stamp Issue in Serbia

First Serbian stamp was issued on 1 May (13 according to the new calendar) 1866. It was the newspaper stamp with a motif of the coat of arms of the Principality of Serbia, and it was printed in two nominal values of 1 and 2 paras. That same year,  on 1866, July 1 (13 according to the new calendar) Serbia issued first regular postage stamp with the image of Prince Mihailo Obrenović III.

Printing of Serbian stamps had great significance, not only because the simplification and improvement of postal services, but primarily because of the choice of motifs (the coat of arms of the Principality and the image of the ruler) which strengthen national identity and shows state sovereignty.

Issue date is 07.06.2016.

Serbia: Games of XXXI Olympiad - Rio de Janeiro 2016

Serbian post will issue two new stamps, mini sheet and two first day covers for Games of XXXI Olympiad - Rio de Janeiro 2016.

The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, and commonly known as Rio 2016, is a major international multi-sport event in the tradition of the Olympic Games due to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016.

Record numbers of countries are participating in a record number of sports. More than 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees. With 306 sets of medals, the games will feature 28 Olympic sports — including rugby sevens and golf, which were added by the International Olympic Committee in 2009.

These sporting events will take place at 33 venues in the host city and at 5 venues in the cities of São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília, and Manaus. These will be the first games to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country, the first to be held in the host country's winter season, the first since 1968 to be held in Latin America, and the first since 2000 (third overall) to be held in the Southern Hemisphere.

Issue date for this stamps is 07.06.2016.

Universal Studios Theme Parks: The Simpsons Ride

Springfield is a themed area at the Universal Studios Florida theme park in Orlando, Florida. The area is themed around the fictional town of the same name from the American animated sitcom, The Simpsons.

The Simpsons Ride is a simulator ride that is the flagship attraction for the area. In the ride, patrons are introduced to a cartoon theme park called Krustyland built by Krusty the Clown. Sideshow Bob, however, is loose from prison to get revenge on Krusty and the Simpson family. The six-minute ride is designed by Intamin and uses 24 m dome-shaped IMAX screens.

Stamps:
Neon Celebrate, issued in 09.09.2015.
Special Olympics World Games, issued on 09.05.2015.


Thank you Natasja!

Czech Republic: Kuba The Bear

Nice picture of bear Kuba. He was some kinda movie star in Czech Republic. The Town Beroun in Czech Republic, which has a bear on its crest and flag, has become home of "TV bedtime story" heroes - the bears Vojta, Kuba and Matej. They live in their bear-home on the Town Hill from the year 2000. Nearby you can find the cache Three Ursus, where the journey of Kuba The Bear started.

Stamp is Folk architecture, issued in 23.02.2011.

Thank you Barbora!

Star Trek 50th Anniversary stamps from Canada

I have received wonderful Star Trek stamps from Canada. Some of them are mint, some of them are used for postage.

On this stamps you can see Captain James. T. Kirk, First officer Mr. Spock and Chief medical officer Leonard McCoy aka "Bones".

On cover you can see Klingon commander Kor and Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott.

Inside cover was also this beautiful mini sheet with two ships: USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and Klingon battle cruiser.

Stamps are released on 05.05.2016.


Thank you very much Brenda!