Dec
11
2013
postcrossing #44
A stamp from Estonia! The stamp was released in 2013, and the theme is Chinese New Year – Year of the Snake.
Nov
03
2013
Protected: 3 Nov 2013
Nov
01
2013
postcrossing #43
A postcard from Minsk, the capital city and the largest city of Belarus. The card shows some residential blocks from this city.
Nov
01
2013
postcrossing #42
A postcard from the Netherlands, featuring symbols of this country – tulips and hyacinth. Here comes the stamps. The first stamp was released in 1990, from a series called “summer”. I guess it is one of the scene how they enjoy their lives in summer. The second stamp was released in 1987, from a seres called “”Red Cross”. The third and the fourth stamp were both released in 1989. The first one is from a series called “Child Care”, I guess it is a heart drawn in a house. The second one is a Europa stamp. The theme of that year is “Children’s game”. There are two stamps from the Netherlands. The two stamps show a small scientific game – 傳聲筒, that is using a rope linking two paper cups. And voice could be transmitted through this mean.
Nov
01
2013
postcrossing #41
A postcard from the Netherlands! This postcard shows the night view of the government buildings in The Hague. The pond is called Hofvijver, which is situated in the centre of The Hague. The government building complex is called The Binnenhof. It is the meeting place of States-General, the parliament of the Netherlands, since 1446.
Nov
01
2013
postcrossing #40
A postcard from France, showing sea of flowers. And the stamp was released in 2013, from a series called The 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Alexandre Yersin. And the other stamp from the same series was released by Vietnam. Alexandre Yersin was a Swiss and French physician and bacteriologist. He is remembered as the co-discoverer of the bacillus responsible for the bubonic plague or pest, which was later renamed in his honour (Yersinia pestis).
Nov
01
2013
postcrossing #39
A postcard from Ukraine. This postcard shows a castle from Crimea, a place in Ukraine.
Oct
13
2013
postcrossing #38
My first card from Switzerland! (Or actually it was sent through the German postage system, maybe it is because the user lived near the border of Switzerland and Germany, therefore he collected Swiss stamps that were released long long time ago) The postcard shows Stein am Rhein, a town in Switzerland. The town has a well-preserved medieval centre, retaining the ancient street plan. The site of the city wall, and the city gates are preserved. Many of the medieval buildings are painted beautifully. And the river at the middle is the Rhine river.
On the stamp, Helvetia refers to the female national personification of Switzerland. And the Swiss continues to use the name. The full name is Confoederatio Helvetica, which is from Latin. Therefore the abbreviation for Switzerland is CH. The first stamp, seems was really released in 1969. Comptoir Suisse is an event for exhibitiors to showcase their products. And Lausanne is the 5th largest city in Switzerland. This stamp was released to celebrate the 50th anniversity of the event.
And the yellow stamp was released in 1967, seems. It was released because of EFTA – European Free Trade Association. The association was founded in 1960. Switzerland was one of the country which founded the organization. The word “Efta-Handel: Zollfrei” means Duty Free shops. The other words mean similar thing, like EFTA Duty Free products, etc.
The other stamps were also released in 1967. They are from the series, Pro Patria – Water Mills conservation. Pro Patria is an charitable organization in Switzerland. Its purpose is to give meaning to the Swiss national holiday, August 1, by collecting donations to the benefit of social and cultural works of national public interest. And they received donations by selling postage stamps. And these two stamps, seems the content is from Bible. The blue one was titled Joseph on the throne. The green one was titled Proclamation to the shepherds.
And the last one was a German stamp released in 2013. It is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fehmarnsund Bridge(Fehmarn Sound Bridge). It was declared as an historic monument in 1999.
Oct
13
2013
postcrossing #37
My first postcard from Belgium! The user lived in a place called Antwerpen. It is the most populous city in Belgium. And the city is also known as the diamond capital of the world.
The first stamp was released in 2007, frm a series called common teal and boreal owl. The one on the stamp is Common Teal(小水鴨).
The second and the third stamps were released in 2003. They came from the series, the 50th Anniversary of Television. The last stamp was also released in 2003. It was from a series Economy & Industry. The one shown on the stamp represents Civil Protection. Civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation and recovery.
Oct
09
2013
postcrossing #36
Here is my first postcard received from South America! This postcard shows the skyline from Sao Paulo from Brazil. This is the largest city in Brazil, or even the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also the 7th largest city by population in the world.
The stamps were released in 2005 and 2006. They are from the series called “Professions”. The word “costureira” means seamstress. The word “sapateiro” means shoemaker. The word “manicure” refers to a cosmetic beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands performed at home or in a nail salon. I guess you could know what those words mean after you look at those cartoons on the stamps!