Received a new country in my mailbox

I always feel lucky when people think of me

when they are on vacation and 

send me a card. All cards in this post were kindly

send to me from holiday destinations.

This time I was extra lucky because I got a card from...

Armenia

It was the first time I got a card from this country

Austria

Vienna City Hall

Spain, Canary Islands

El Hierro

Stamps, what else?

These are all stamps I received on my mail. 

Belgium

Right:

Youth philately 

1999

Left:

Claude Lévi-Strauss

And middle:

"Alternative energy"

2001

China

More information on these stamps is very welcome!

Germany

The ancient oak, Quercus robur, known as the chimney oak because it is hollow, grows in the Reinhardswald in Hessen. It is honored on a stamp as part of the set of two for the series "Wilderness Germany".

2017

I love the flower stamps Germany issues, 

but I don't know much about them. 

Information is always welcome. 

Right:

Falkenlust Palaces

2018

I usually do separate posts for my Christmas stamps, 

but these beauties arrived out of season.

And I just have to show them.

 From Italy

2017

Malaysia

2016

Romania

George Constantinescu

2016

I got two Postcrossing stamps for you in this blog, 

the first one comes from Austria (2016)! 

  

The second comes from the Netherlands (2011)!

 I think this one probably already made it to my blog, 

but it doesn't hurt to show it again.

Top:

Hoge Veluwe National Park

set of 4, 2004

Bottom:

"occasion stamps"

2015

USA

Right:

Main Quad (Stanford University)

1990

Top:

With this new U.S. Flag stamp, the Postal Service continues its tradition of celebrating patriotism with one of the most recognizable symbols of the United States. The flag, in various forms has been pictured on U.S. stamps going as far back as the 30 cents 1869 Pictorial issue. In the modern era, the U.S. Postal Service makes sure that a Flag stamp is always available to mailers, and in a variety of formats. This stamp's design features a detail from a photograph of the billowing Stars and Stripes.

2017

Bottom:

Originally issued in 2016 in a coil format, Pears, a 10-cent definitive stamp featuring two red pears on a white background, is being offered in 2017, in panes of 20. The two most common red pears grown in the United States are the red Anjou, similar to green Anjous in all respects other than color; and red Bartlett pears, referred to as "Summer Pears" for the time of year in which they are harvested.

Originally issued in 2016 in a coil format, Grapes, a 5-cent definitive stamp featuring two clusters of deep-purple Pinot noir grapes growing on vines among several green leaves, is being offered in 2017, in panes of 20.

Identified as a French wine grape, it is now grown in other regions including Oregon and California in the United States. Translated from the French, "pinot" is "pine", for the pine-cone shaped clusters in which the grapes grow, and "noir" is "black".

The stamp art is an existing illustration by John Burgoyne, who created the original artwork with pen and ink and watercolor.

Let's visit some countries...

We will start in

Denmark, Copenhagen

Next stop, Hallstatt, Austria

We already have map for Milton Keynes, UK

München, Germany

This is the Palace of the Parliament, Romania

When possible, go to a Postcrossing meeting 

while travelling! Like this one in the Netherlands!

Or this one on the border of the Netherlands and Germany

We will end with a tour around the States

The bear guides us to California.

More specifically to Venice Beach.

Do you know The Magic House in Missouri?

A quick stop in Sun City West, Arizona

Hello Texas! 

Say goodbye to The White House in Washington D.C.

Postcards from every corner of the world (kind of)

Let's enjoy...

There are various swaps on the Postcrossing forum

and this one caught my eye, "Free (NOT ad) card swap".

I have several free cards, so I wanted to give it a try.

This card landed in my mailbox from China

Stamp:

Jing tai lan series:

set of 6, 2013

“Jing Tai Lan (the Chinese for cloisonné) is a unique form of art with the combination of sculpture, painting, copper smithing and porcelain making. “Jing Tai” being the name of a Ming Dynasty emperor during whose reign mass production of such articles began. And “Lan” means blue, which is the background color of Jing Tai Lan in most cases. Cloisonné enamel techniques were brought from Persia into China’s Yunnan Province during the Yuan Dynasty. These were improved during the Ming Dynasty by incorporating them with some of the traditional techniques for metal inlaying and porcelain making, which eventually gave birth to a new kind of cloisonné called Jing Tai Lan.”

Holiday postcard from the Netherlands, Julianadorp

A sweet cat card from Portugal!

 

Loppem Castle, Belgium

Since it is open to the public, I hope to visit

it some day. 

Queen Astrid from Belgium

born 1905, sadly passed away in a car accident 1935

View on the spa at Rogaska Slatina, Slovenia

Rogaška Slatina is a synonym for health-resort tourism in Slovenia. For centuries the curative mineral water rich in magnesium (branded as Donat Mg), the picturesque countryside, and other local attractions have attracted visitors to the area. Roman inscriptions referring to the spa waters have been found. The spa’s true prosperity starts in the second half of 19th century, when this fashionable tourist destination was visited by imperial families and nobility from all of Europe. Today it advertises to be the “only spa in Slovenia which focuses on disease prevention, continued treatment and the rehabilitation of patients with diseases of the digestive system.”

Lesser kestrel

set of 5, 2014

 The cards which arrived with this stamp are already decorating the door, 

but I can't not show it. 

Europa stamp Austria, 2015

Old toys

Happy mailbox, happy me

I did several swaps again and here are the results.

I got so many nice cards and stamps that I put the latter in 

a separate post. 

So lets get started!

The first two postcards you see here 

I received from Slovenia for the 

"your language" swap. 

This card came from Poland with a nice view on

Czartoryski Palace in Pulawy 

This card came from a German swapper but,

as you can see, this is a beautiful view on Hohensalzburg Castle

and Nonnberg Abbey, Salzburg, Austria

And to end with, this card from Midland, Texas, U.S.A.

Not from a swap but from my kind pen-friend who lives there.

From the back:

In 1880, the Texas Pacific Railroad began to lay tracks 

westward from Fort Worth at about the same time that 

the Soutern Pacific began building east from El Paso.

The place where the tracks met bacame known as Midway. 

Later, the name was changed to Midland when it was discovered 

that there was another Texas town by the same name. 

The Parmian Basin, of which Midland is the geographic center, 

is said to contain 25% of the nation's reserves. 

Stamps, what else?

Austria

right:

100 years Wiener Staatsoper

(set of 8, 1969)

left:

woman in national dress, Tirol Pustertal

(circa 1949)

Estonia

right:

“hundred years of Narrow gauge railway” 

(1996)

left:

Estonian Fauna series

"Garden dormouse"

(2010)

Another mail week

A letter from a new pen-friend! 

The tea is gone already and the postcard will soon

decorate the livingroom door

Stamps and a postcard for my collections

from the Netherlands 

Airmail sticker swap from Hong Kong