United Kingdom- Isles of Scilly, England and Lundy.

Europe-England-Isles of Scilly-St.Marys-Hugh Town   What an adventure getting  here. Took a small plane from Bristol onto a lovely little airport. All around here the water is marine Blue  and when you show anyone the photos of the beaches here they think you are in the Caribbean. One of the Gems of England. 

The mail is processed on the mainland . This is a English regional stamp. The Post offices here all double up as shops. Nice narrow shopping streets with loads of character. 

Europe-England-Isles of Scilly-Tresco-New Grimbsey  A beautiful Island. You get here by boat from St.Mary's. Well worth the visit . Here is Abbey Gardens on Tresco . Like going to old England. 

Somehow this Postcard got a Postmark from the actual Post Office on Tresco. Pretty rare to see that on a Postcard now days. 

Europe-United Kingdom-England-Devon-Exmouth  Visiting friends here. Very nice to just relax and walk around. 

You may wonder why I have some Postcards listed as England and others as United Kingdom. It is down to the stamps used. If they are Regional Stamps , that is stamps especially issued for the Regions ie , England , Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Well then it is as listed for the Country ie England. But if they don't , like this one above well then it is listed as :United Kingdom. 

Europe-United Kingdom-England-Dartmore  Dartmore is an area of mooreland in South Devon, England. 

Here we have to interesting stamps! The one on the left is the machin Definitives issued by the United Kingdom since 1967. The stamp on the right is the designer Mr Machin who designed the stamps. 

Europe-England-Lundy Island    Lundy Island is in the Bristol Channel. A boat ride out. I think about 90 minutes. An interesting Island to visit. Walking up to the Lighthouse , the Church and also a very  nice pub with good pub food. 

Lund issues its own "Local Stamps". This is for use to the mainland. They are not for international mail. So the printed postmark on the right is for international mail and the two local stamps on the left are for Lundy mail. There is a little Shop on the Island that sells essentials including the Lundy stamps. There is a red postbox on the Island to mail the postcard. 

Guernsey - Sark and Herm

Europe-Guernsey-Sark  Well Guernsey is one of my favourite Islands in Europe. Sark is one of the smallers ones. Sark is a great Island to visit and is a car free zone. 

Here is the postmark for Sark. Posted in the local shop which doubles up as a Post office. 

Europe-Guernsey-Herm Another beautiful Island to visit . No cars here either but there are bicycles.Herm is the smallest of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. 

Same as Sark the Post office here is also a shop.. 

Campione D'Italia , Italy and Spain

Europe-Italy-Campione D'Italia  This is a exclave within Switzerland. A very small place. This Postcard had all the major views of and from the town. 

Swiss currency is used here but as it is Italy you have to buy Italian stamps with euro. 

Europe-Italy-Alberobello These are the famous Houses with the white finished buildings and special roofs. They are in fact a World Heritage site. Many of them are now shops. 

It looks like the larger stamp just has a printed amount on it? 

Europe-Spain-Yelca  A large working town , quite crowed. Was here for work. 

Stamp purchased in the local tobacconist  as they all sell stamps in Spain. 

More Swiss Travels

Europe-Switzerland-Chateau de Chillon Here you can see some photos of the said Castle. 

This card has a Montreux postmark. 

Europe-Switzerland-Le Lavaux   Visiting here just after this site was named a World Heritage site. This is around a wine growing area. You travel here on a tour by a small road train. Very enjoyable. 

The Swiss stamps are printed to a very high quality . 

Europe-Switzerland-Meride   Stopped in this Village for food and to take in the local culture. 

The Swiss Post office have a great selection of hand stamps. 

Europe-Switzerland-Mendrisiotto   This beautiful area is near the Border with Italy and Lake Lugano. Very Picturesque. 

Another pictorial Postmark, but could do with more ink. 

Switzerland, United Nations and International Telecommunications Union.

Europe-Switzerland-Geneva  The international city of Geneva is one of the great cities in Switzerland. A great location on lake Geneva. 

The left side stamp is a definitive issue from Switzerland. A nice Geneva postmark.Most of the Swiss Post offices had a selection of stamps available. 

Europe-International Telecommunications Union-Geneva  The ITU is a United Nations body involved with the worldwide exhibitions and forums dealing with all types of communications from TV , Internet, Telephone and everything in between. The Headquarters is in Geneva. Here is the building . 

The Swiss Post office issues Stamps especially for use the the ITU in Geneva. Here is a set of stamps postmarked at the ITU  building in Geneva. You have to go to a special room where you can leave the postcard in for mailing out so the stamps can be used. 

Europe-United Nations Geneva   Here you can see the magnificent buildings that house the United Nations in Geneva. Looks great from the outside. I do remember a giant chair being outside as I entered. I guess the chair was 100 meters high at least.  

On the day I visited this UN building and complex there was no visitor allowed. But I managed to be let in as I specially wanted to go to the UN Post office here. In fact there was two post offices here side by side. The UN and the Swiss Post office next door within the building. 

Europe-Switzerland-Montreux  Another pretty town and visited the Castle as seen here. Well worth it. 

This card got postmarked in Lausanne. I guess that is where the mail is sent from here. 

Serbia , Switzerland and The Olympic Committee Lausanne

Europe-Serbia-Belgrade Visiting this city in 2007, was not one of my highlights of the year as far as travel is concerned. May be everyone had a lot on their minds but I found the people in a sombre mood and lacking in enthusiasm for anything. 

Finding stamps in the Main Post office was a struggle. As was the way the staff were not interested in letting me have a look at a selection of stamps. 

Europe-Serbia-Novi Sad  A half day trip from Belgrade. 

At least I got two stamps on this postcard. 

Europe-Switzerland-Lausanne   Back to one of my favourite countries after Serbia. maybe that is why I found Serbia so depressing. From Switzerland to Serbia and back to Switzerland, you could not have found a large contrast if you had tried. I have been to Lausanne a few times and beautiful city . 

A Tourism Congress was in place when I was here. 

Europe-Olympic Committee- Lausanne  This is the very very interesting Olympic Museum in Lausanne. It is also the headquarters of the Olympic Committee. If you have any interest in Sport this is a must see. In effect the history of the Olympic Games. 

Switzerland issues special stamps for use by the Olympic committee in Lausane. This is one of the stamps and a special postmark as posted at the Museum in Lausaane. 

Further travels around Switzerland

Europe-Germany-Busingen   This is a little part of Germany surrounded by Switzerland. A very small village. All prices in the Village are in Swiss francs and Euros. 

The Post office is also a shop . 

Europe-Switzerland-Stein am Rhein  A very beautiful part of Switzerland. This postcard gives a great overview of how nice it really is. 

Just by chance these stamps were on sale in the Post office. Showing more of the central area of Stein am Rhein 

Europe-Switzerland-St.Gallen This area also known as St.Gall . The Convent of St.Gall seen here is a World Heritage Site. Beautiful inside 

I like the Stamp showing the Dog. 

Europe-Switzerland-Zurich  The major city in Switzerland . Switzerland always feels so organised  and a very well kept city bearing in mind how big it is. 

The stamp on the right celebrates 2000 years since the foundation of the Swiss National Bank.