Three Brazil covers

South America is revisited as we look at three amazing Brazil covers:

The first one is from Sandro as part of private trade of postcards. Splendid flowers stamps. Thanks to Sandro.

The second one is from Adriana with three nice stamps. Thanks Adriana.

The last one is also the first of Brazil that I received, and it's from my pen friend, Thaisa. And there is a surprise inside as well:

Incredible! The night view of Rio de Janeiro looked from the statue of Jeses the Redeemer. It's a photo, not a postcard. Thanks a lot, Thaisa.

European architecture

These two postcards received through Postcrossing show examples of exterior European architectures. The postcards are from Portugal and Germany:

This postcard PT - 100439 shows the typical houses of Azores, an archipelago of Portugal. The stamp used is a nice one depicting traditional pau. Thanks to Marta.

This postcard DE - 484193, received today on the last day of 2009, shows the types of doors found in northern Germany. Thanks to klasse4b.

Double postcards from Portugal

After two working days of not receiving anything in the mail box, today I received two postcards from Portugal as part of Postcrossing round robins:
An aerial view postcard with a Portugal Christmas stamp.

Uhh... Snowy national park?

Thanks a lot to Maria of Portugal.

Romania

I received a letter from my pen pal of Romania, Zsofia. The stamps on the envelope are unique, and are the first Romania stamps that I received:
And inside there is a nice postcard of Black Sea, visited by my pen friend during the holidays:
Thanks Zsofia.

Poland - Priority or normal?

Today I received two covers from Piotr of Poland. It is part of the item transit time survey. Unlike Malaysia, the postal service in Poland offers normal and priority mail. Both covers (one normal and one priority) were postmarked on December 3, 2009, and common sense will dictate that the cover sent through priority mail should arrive faster than the cover sent through normal mail. Incredibly yet puzzling, both covers arrived on the same day - December 23, 2009:
The cover sent through normal mail.
The cover sent through priority mail (notice the blue label)

The awesome thing is the many stamps on the envelope, although except for one, they are duplicate of each other. Thanks to Piotr.

USA - Maryland and Pennsylvania map postcards

Another favorite postcard theme is map. Right now I'm collecting United States' states map postcards. Today I received two of them - Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Map postcard of Maryland. Thanks to Jennifer for the swap.

Map postcard of Pennsylvania. Thanks to Helen for the swap.

50 - 2 = 48 states to go!

Two more Kaj Stenvall postcards

Today I also received two more Kaj Stenvall postcards:

Thanks to Nina from Finland.
Thanks to Jenni from Finland.

I'm beginning to like Kaj Stenvall postcards=)

Triple Indonesia UNESCO postcards

Today I received three great postcards with beautiful stamps from Shinta of Indonesia as part of private swap:

UNESCO World Heritage Site - Lorentz National Park

- Lorentz National Park (2.5 million ha) is the largest protected area in South-East Asia. It is the only protected area in the world to incorporate a continuous, intact transect from snowcap to tropical marine environment, including extensive lowland wetlands. Located at the meeting-point of two colliding continental plates, the area has a complex geology with ongoing mountain formation as well as major sculpting by glaciation. The area also contains fossil sites which provide evidence of the evolution of life on New Guinea, a high level of endemism and the highest level of biodiversity in the region.
(http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/955)

UNESCO World Heritage Site - Ujung Kulon National Park

- This national park, located in the extreme south-western tip of Java on the Sunda shelf, includes the Ujung Kulon peninsula and several offshore islands and encompasses the natural reserve of Krakatoa. In addition to its natural beauty and geological interest – particularly for the study of inland volcanoes – it contains the largest remaining area of lowland rainforests in the Java plain. Several species of endangered plants and animals can be found there, the Javan rhinoceros being the most seriously under threat.
(http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/608)

UNESCO World Heritage Site - Sangiran Early Man Site

- Excavations here from 1936 to 1941 led to the discovery of the first hominid fossil at this site. Later, 50 fossils of Meganthropus palaeo and Pithecanthropus erectus/Homo erectus were found – half of all the world's known hominid fossils. Inhabited for the past one and a half million years, Sangiran is one of the key sites for the understanding of human evolution.
(http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/593)

Thanks a lot to Shinta.

Europe again, this time Portugal

I received three postcards from Americo as part of private swap:

UNESCO World Heritage Site - Historic Centre of Evora

- This museum-city, whose roots go back to Roman times, reached its golden age in the 15th century, when it became the residence of the Portuguese kings. Its unique quality stems from the whitewashed houses decorated with azulejos and wrought-iron balconies dating from the 16th to the 18th century. Its monuments had a profound influence on Portuguese architecture in Brazil.
(http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/361)

UNESCO World Heritage Site - Cultural Landscape of Sintra

- In the 19th century Sintra became the first centre of European Romantic architecture. Ferdinand II turned a ruined monastery into a castle where this new sensitivity was displayed in the use of Gothic, Egyptian, Moorish and Renaissance elements and in the creation of a park blending local and exotic species of trees. Other fine dwellings, built along the same lines in the surrounding serra, created a unique combination of parks and gardens which influenced the development of landscape architecture throughout Europe.
(http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/723)

Map postcard of Lisbon coast

Thanks a lot to Americo for the swap and the three different beautiful stamps.

Kaj Stenvall

Kaj Stenvall is a famous Finnish artist best known for his painting of the duck that looks like Donald Duck. Immortalized in postcards, they have been avidly collected by postcard enthusiasm. I received this Kaj Stenvall postcard as part of private swap:

Thanks a lot to Merja. My first Kaj Stenvall postcard.

Germany map postcard and miniature sheet

I received this awesome Germany map postcard with motor sport miniature sheet - a reminder of classic Germany engineering:
Thanks a lot to Maren for the colorful and richly detailed map postcard with nice stamps.

Singapore, Serbia, and many more

Today is another day with good haul of items inside my letter box. I like it when this happened. Maybe it's because of the fact that yesterday (Friday) was public holiday in Malaysia, so the mails and postcards that were supposedly to be delivered yesterday were delivered today instead.

On top of the list were two new countries: Singapore and Serbia.

Singapore
As part of private swap with Daphne, I received a lovely envelope, a nice postcard, and an awesome set of Sweden stamps, as well as some used stamps:
The envelope. Notice the two nice Botanical Garden commemorative stamps and the 5 cents definitive. I have to admit that Singapore stamps are definitely more beautiful than Malaysia stamps (just look at the Malaysia 5 cents definitive stamps, sigh...)
A postcard depicting surreal Singapore
The awesome set of Sweden stamps. They were issued in 1989 to commemorate Sweden's polar explorations.

Thank you very much to Daphne for the swap.

Serbia
Used to be known as Serbia and Montenegro as recently as the 2006 FIFA World Cup, now they have separated to become two new country. I received three postcards (one of them in unique shape) as part of private swap:

The envelope with Serbia stamp. My first Serbia stamp.

UNESCO World Heritage Site - Medina of Sousse

- Sousse was an important commercial and military port during the Aghlabid period (800–909) and is a typical example of a town dating from the first centuries of Islam. With its kasbah, ramparts, medina (with the Great Mosque), Bu Ftata Mosque and typical ribat (both a fort and a religious building), Sousse was part of a coastal defence system.
(http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/498)

Postcard of Subotica, one of the cities on Serbia.

Apparently postcards come in bizarre shapes too. The round shaped postcard of Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbia. My first round shaped postcard.

Thanks a lot to Judit.

Two Christmas themed stamps from two postcards

Apart form the fact that they are beautiful postcards, I also like the stamps used:


A nice Finland Christmas stamp. Postcard received as part of private swap. Thanks Nina.

A lovely Australia Christmas stamp. Postcards received through private swap. Thanks Alison.