Colombia

South America-Colombia-Cartagena  What a beautiful city Cartagena is . You can see the vivid colours here of some of the buildings. The fort and the surroundings are a World Heritage Site. A lot to see here. Found it very safe despite what I was told to expect when here. 

The cost of stamps here is very expensive compared to normal usage. I found the Post offices empty with no customers. I was also told not to expect to get all my Postcards back from Colombia but in fact I they did all arrive home. I like the large stamps and the nice postmarks. 

South America-Colombia-Bogota   Stayed here and and again found it safe . So Colombia has a lot to offer tourists wise and enjoyed my visit. 

I Posted this at the Post office in the Airport. The Post office was closed so I just pushed the card through the Door, as there was no outside Post box. But yes it made it. 

Seattle- USA

North America-United States of America-Seattle  My first time here. Quite hilly in parts. Enjoyed the green spaces and went on the rail line to the Space Needle. 

A standard USA Definitive stamp issue. 

`Alberta and British Colombia - Canada

North America-Canada-Jasper   What a wonderful sight this going through the Rockies . The train is the ideal way to see this wilderness. Pure joy. The weather was great and so much to see . On the train there is a carriage with a glass roof so you can really get a crystal clear view. The National Park in Jasper is a World Heritage Site.

At this stop had a few hours to walk around Jasper. So decided to take time out and have lunch here. They give you a time to get back on the train.When I got back on the train , it had only gone out about 10 minutes when it stopped. Someone had missed the train. So the train stopped and the passenger got on. In Canada there seems to be so many different postmarks types. Here we have a circular cancellation. 

North America-Canada-Vancouver  I arrived in Vancouver to be met by my friends in Canada. One of them is the most widely travelled Canadian , who lives in Canada. We have shared a cabin on some of our Antarctic trips. His wife does not like ships.. !! Vancouver is such a nice city and I was told you could swim in the morning and ski in the afternoon. 

What a unusual cancellation here with strikes and laser. So at least my last postcard in this Canadian trip has a cancellation. 

Manitoba and Saskatchewan- Canada

North America-Canada-Winnipeg   Came here by plane from Toronto. This was the start of my rail journey across Canada. Did not see a great deal of the city. 

A lot of nice Canadian stamps here, but unfortunately no postmark. I usually do not keep cards in my collection without postmarks, but some times one makes an exception. 

North America-Canada-Saskatoon  This is the the VIA rail train I took across Canada. It was great . Loved the different textures of the landscape and the views. A great journey. 

I posted this card during one of the stops in Saskatoon . Very colourful stamps. At least here got a cancellation. 

Toronto and Montreal - Canada

North America-Canada-Toronto  Toronto was one of those cities I had heard so much about but never been to . So a good place to start on my Canadian trip. Very friendly , but not as much to see as I had anticipated. However, I had good friends here and enjoyed the city and its sights. 

One of my friends in Toronto is a stamp collector. So he took my postcard over to the Post office and asked for it to be hand stamped. He told me other wise there may not be any cancellation on the stamps. I like the definitive Canadian stamps , very colourful. 

North America-Canada-Montreal  Got here by car. Interesting to see a French part of Canada. At least I could help ordering the food when here with my friends. 

I cant quite work out if this stamp got a cancellation or not. There is a suggestion of ink on the right side of the stamp. Pity I did not get a clear Montreal Postmark. 

Blenheim Palace-England

Europe-United Kingdom-Blenheim Palace  This is the home of Winston Churchill where he was born. A very famous house and part of which is still in use as a home today. Very historical and the rooms are full of interest. A World Heritage Site. 

On this trip I forget the same pen that I write all my postcards with. So just used a pencil. 

Poland- World Heritage Sites

Europe-Poland-Krakow  Showing the Square and the Historic centre of Krakow, which is a World Heritage Site. A great city to visit. This was my third visit to Poland, but in fact was my last,country to visit postcard wise in Europe. 

Visited a small post office here with very few stamps. 

Europe-Poland-Wieliczka  This is the famous Salt mine , not far from the city of Krakow. You literately go down a shaft mine and is pretty amazing. You can see the Chandlers in the bottom right of the postcard ,  down in the mine. Also a well deserved World Heritage Site. 

I have looked at this stamp many times and not sure what it is about. Think it might be a shell fish of some sort ! 

Mount Athos

Europe-Mount Athos-Karyes   This is Mount Athos on the end of a Pensuila. the only way to get here is by boat. Also you have to be a man ! It is a collection of monasteries. When I started to arrange this trip, I discovered that you are expected to book at least 8 months to one year in advance. I had planned to be in this region so I was lucky and got a cancellation with a two month time frame.  I was here two days. It is a World Heritage Site. 

Because I could not get the dates I had wanted, I ended up here on a Saturday and Sunday. There is a Post office but it was closed. So I had brought Greece stamps with me to mail this card. The stamp on the right is the original stamp I used for this card. However, there is more to this then meets the eye. A month or so after I had got home I discovered in a Stamp Magazine that Greece issues stamps each year just for Mount Athos. Then I googled this and discovered a wonderful Postcard Blog. That was Glenn Mores from Canada. The Postcard  blog is www.gemsworldpostcards.blogspot.com   It is excellent and I view it many times. I then ordered the Mount Athos stamps from the Greece Post office and sent the card back by registered mail to the Post office in Karyes. These are the two stamps on the left of the card. So a unusual Posting. As a result of that blog , it gave me the inspiration to start this blog. Ok. it took me 3 years to start but better late then never. ! 

Greece - World Heritage Site.

Europe-Greece-Vergina  This postcard shows the site of Vergina , a World Heritage Site. The museum was especially impressive. 

Hard to read the Postmark, but posted in Vergina. 

Europe-Greece-Ouranoupoli  This is the town right at the end of the peninsula. Busy but picturesque. I stayed here over night.Really enjoyed the place day and night time.  Only reason to come, is that this is the town you get the boat from to visit Mount Athos  .

Very nice stamp , but hard to see here with the postmark. 

Cyprus and Greece and British Sovereign Base Area of Cyprus

Europe-Cyprus British Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri & Dhekelia-Akrotiri  The Sovereign Base of Akrotriri is in fact a British Overseas Territory . I hired a car in Cyprus and stopped here as I travelled around the Island. Not a lot to see. 

There was a Cyrus mail box in Atrotiri. So posted this postcard here. This card also got a  second Irish Postmark, for some reason. Unusual. 

Europe-Greece-Thessaloniki One of the biggest cities in Greece. A lot to see around here. Very interesting. 

The Post office here had a poor selection of stamps. 

Cyprus

Europe-Cyprus-Limassol  Spend an enjoyable two days here with friends. Very nice beach front . 

Posted in Limassol but I see was cancelled at the Nicosia Sorting centre. 

Europe-Cyprus-Troodos  I could not find a card showing Troodos. This is in the Mountains and has a number of World Heritage Site Monasteries. Beautiful inside with lots of icons. So here you see a map of Cyprus . 

Posted in Troodos . 

Spain and Cyprus

Europe-Spain-Santiago de Compstela  Santiago is in Galicia , north Spain. The Cathedral is so interesting. Inside and out. There is a tremendous atmosphere around the town with quite a spiritual feeling. Very picturesque. The Old town is a World Heritage Site. 

A clear Santiago postmark. 

Europe-Cyprus-Pafos  A very old town from the Neolithic period. Very historical but yet yet nice to see in a modern sense. A World Heritage Site. 

Even thought this postcard is posted in Pafos, I see the postmark has Nicosia sorting Centre as the Postmark. 

Spanish World Heritage Sites

Europe-Spain-Segovia  This is the famous Aqueduct in Segovia. Very impressive and a World Heritage Site. 

It is not very often one finds a Triangular stamp. This may be my first on this blog. The most famous ones are from Cape of Good Hope. 

Europe-Spain-Avila  Another World Heritage Site. This is the old Ciudad , the main Settlement at that time . Very well maintained , in great condition. 

Posted in Avila with a clear postmark. 

Germany World Heritage Sites

Europe-Germany-Lutherstadt Wittenberg   This is a World Heritage Site , with the famous Luther's House and Museum. Fascinating . The bigger story for me was getting here. I was with some friends and we got a early morning train from Berlin. Me being the traveller they had presumed that I was looking after the arrangements. At Berlin train station I gave everyone their tickets and it said the time of arrival. We are all on the train still together, but I fell asleep. I can even to this day remember the time of arrival 9,17... So I woke up at 9.17 and looked out the train window to discover we were at Wittenberg . All my fellow travellers were just staring out the window.. I jumped up and said we are here. But it was too late. The train pulled away. We had missed our stop. When I asked them all why did not wake me up they said, well they were not sure what station it was.. The train was the ICE train so very fast. The next stop was Leipzig. The train conductor seen our tickets and understood what happened and did not charge . We got the slow train back, I think that took 3 hours instead of 1 hour. Well we did see here in the end. To this day , I am reminded of that story, The day we went to Leipzig by mistake. I never did see Leipzig, just the train station. 

I rarely manage to get unusual stamps in Germany. So another definitive stamp. 

Europe-Germany-Berlin   The Pergamon is part of Museum Island. This is a World Heritage Site. I would have to say this is one of the best museums I have ever been in. I was especially taken with the section on Babylon. It has made me determined to get there. All being well that will be in 2014. 

More Lighthouse stamps.