South America

South America-Argentina-Buenos Aires  Without doubt my favourite city in South America. In one sense you feel you are in Europe. From the tango to the famous wide streets. Full of life. 

I posted this at the main Post office. I see it got a philatelic cancellation. The philatelic section had a great selection of stamps and easy to choose. I have to say I do like that tango stamp. 

South America-Paraguay-Asuncion  Here we have the Presidential Palace in Asuncion the capital of Paraguay. I did take some photos here but officially not permitted. The Police here were very heavy handed. In fact leaving the airport I was strip searched. They kept asking why I visited Paraguay. They were not convinced when I told them I was a tourist! I certainly felt I was in a banana republic... 

The stamps here were pretty dull and unexciting. 

South America-Uruguay-Colonia del Sacramento   A beautiful old town that is also a World Heritage Site. Lots of old cars and narrow streets. Very easy to get here from Buenos Aires . Took the ferry across the river. Really enjoyed the day here. 

In South America you tend to find the cancellation is much larger then elsewhere. 

South America-Argentina-Ushuaia  As it says on the card the Southernmost city in the world. A very busy town with lots of tourists about. This is the main starting point to Antarctica. So you can guess why I was here. Great mountain scenery and nature abounds everywhere. 

I really like the postmarks in use in Argentina . They look like first day of issue cancellations. 

South America-Argentina-Tierra del Fuego  This is the National Park in Tierra del  Fuego. Full of nature and clear skies.

Posted this card at the National Park. They had a option to use a private mail operator. This is Seprit . So as you can see this is the label used. No postmark though. I see it went via Swiss Post !! 

Italy

Europe-Italy-Venice   What a beautiful city. Venice also a World Heritage site. Great to walk around the narrow streets. The food, the water taxis and just taking it all in. 

A very nice pictorial postmark from Venice. 

Caribbean

Caribbean-St.Lucia-Castries  A very beautiful Island. On this occasion I did not see to much of this place. I ended up having a very bad tooth ache so , I spend the day at the dentist here in Castries.I got great reports on the island and ended up visiting another time. 

This was the new definitive issue just realised shortly before I arrived. The postcard arrived without any postmark. So I had to send it back to the post office. This time it got a mark. 

Caribbean-St.Vincent-Kingston  Did not get to see much here as a friend lost his glasses. Spend the day looking for the glasses. Never found them. Another Island I had to revisit. Not having good luck on these two Islands! 

This stamp is a earlier stamp. This stamp is for St.Vincent only. The usual stamps have St.Vincent and the Grenadines. I do like the SVG Post Happy Holidays. Posted at the GPO. 

Caribbean-Bequia-Port Elizabeth  The main town on Bequia .What a beautiful Island. Just like the postcard. Nothing went wrong  here to me today, and I enjoyed the afternoon.

This Bequia stamp is from the Philatelic bureau. According to the Postmaster in Kingston St.Vincent they are not valid for postage. But these stamps are all in the catalogues. This one as you can see went through the system. 

Caribbean-Grenadines of St.Vincent-Bequia-Port Elizabeth  A beach scene from Bequia .

This is the old Grenadines of St.Vincent stamp. Not in use any more. But wanted to use it  as at that time the Islands has their own stamps.A nice clear Bequia postmark. 

Caribbean-St.Vincent and the Grenadines-Bequia-Port Elizabeth  More sea, more sand , most blue skies !!! 

These are the official stamps available from the Post office. They have St.Vincent and the Grenadines on them. 

Caribbean-St.Vincent and the Grenadines-Kingston  The Anglican Cathedral in Kingston. 

These stamps are from the General Post Office in Kingston. At the time they were not to be found in any stamp catalogue. They are not available from the Philatelic Bureau. St Vincent Post had been privatised and they did not recognise the stamps issued by the Philatelic bureau. So there were on going discussions .The Post office of St.Vincent and the Grenadines had one set of issues and the Philatelic Bureau had another set of issues.. The Stamp catalogues only had the  ones from the Philatelic Bureau which were in effect not legal. What a strange situation. 

Caribbean

Caribbean-Dominican Republic-Santo Domingo  A World Heritage site. Christopher Columbus is supposedly buried here.  In fact there are a lot of lights that is around the tomb. They rarely put them on , as when doing so it knocks out the rest of the power in Santo Domingo. A lot to see in this very interesting city. The footpath seen in this postcard is the oldest in the western world.    

This was not the main post office. It  is not in the city centre. This post office  had few stamps. They insisted on putting the priority mail sticker on which cost more than the stamp . The stamp was is over 5 years old. 

Caribbean-Virgin Islands British-Tortola-Road Town   The Capital of British Virgin Islands.  The pink roofs  on the buildings were very noticeable when arriving by ship. Much nice then US  Virgin Islands. 

Well at least you have a menu here how to make Pina Colada Pie. The currency on the stamp is US . 

Caribbean-Virgin Islands British-Virgin Gorda-Spanish Town-The Baths    Well the most beautiful part of BVI. The water was fab to swim in . Had a great day here. 

Posted in Virgin Gorda . 

Caribbean-Antigua-St.Johns    The Capital of Antigua . This is a major cruise port in the Caribbean. 

You may note that this is a Antigua stamp only. I purchased this stamp in advance so I could show a stamp for Antigua only. Stamps are now entitled Antigua and Barbuda 

Caribbean-Antigua and Barbuda-St.Johns   This postcard shows much of Heritage quay, which includes shops , restaurants a casino and a hotel. 

I visited the Philatelic bureau in St.Johns Just up stairs and near the main post office. This is the standard Antigua and Barbuda stamp, but is in fact a special issue. 

Caribbean-Montserrat-Plymouth   I flew here from Antigua and had to get back to Antigua later the same day to get  on the cruise. I nearly missed the cruise as the plane got delayed from Montserrat. I walked up the plank and onto the ship and then it sailed away. Seconds from missing the ship.! Montserrat is charming. Many Irish settled here during the  1800s and you will find Irish names on the Island. In fact their national day is also St.Patricks day. There are no white sandy beaches here, enough of other delights and few tourists. 

The Postmark may say Plymouth but in fact it was completely off limits due to the volcanic eruption that occurred a few years before. But could see Plymouth from the hills nearby. The Post office was in a cabin in a make shift town while they were deciding what to do re a new capital. 

Caribbean

Caribbean-Barbados-Bridgetown  This is the Braemar the ship operated by Fred Olsen. 750 passengers and very comfortable . The food is excellent along with the service. 

One of the stamps has the very same Bridgetown Port that the ship was moored when I arrived on my flight from Dublin to start the cruise. 

Caribbean-Barbados-Bridgetown  The Parliament building and downtown Bridgetown.  Barbados is quite busy and active. 

The Post office is right by the main Pier . So very convenient.  They had a  great selection of stamps and was easy to choose from as they were on a panel. Excellent. 

Caribbean-Trinidad and Tobago-Tobago-Scarborough  What a beautiful Island Tobago is . The lesser of the two  Islands but in my opinion by far the nicest. 

The Post office here was mad busy sending out Christmas mail. A very faint red postmark is on the far right of the Iguana stamp . 

Caribbean-Netherlands Antilles-Curacao-Willemstad  Beautiful coloured buildings greet you as you arrive in Curacao. The museum here is the best in the Caribbean . One of the best Islands. 

At this time Curacao issued Netherlands Antilles stamps. Now they issue their own with Curacao on them. I visited the Philatelic bureau when there. One of the options was the Photo stamps. So here is one of myself on the top left. Pity the wavy postmark got in the way.. lol. 

Caribbean-Jamaica-Port Antonio   This is the Marina at Port Antonio. The only  nice part of this town. In fact it felt  sort of dangerous as a lot of the shop owners had security outside with rifles. 

I do like this stamp. The Post office here is quite small and you get stamp wise what they have.. 

Caribbean-Cuba-Santiago de Cuba  This is where the Castro revolution began. Visited the fort of the World Heritage site , but they had no postcard of the fort. This is the Cathedral. My second time to Cuba . Last time spend 7 days back in the early 80s in Varadero.  

Found it hard to find a postcard here . The post office had limited stamps. So a domestic cat. 

Europe

Europe-United Kingdom-Plymouth   Did not see much of Plymouth as here for work. 

Interesting that the stamp has a theme of ships bearing in mind this is Plymouth which is associated with the sea

Europe-France-Saint Malo  Right on the Brittany coast. The hotel itself is very nice and is famous for its thermal baths.  

Just a basic French definitive stamp here. 

Europe-France-Plancoet   This is a very nice village in Brittany. There is a Michelin  star restaurant here in this village. I was taken out to lunch here . A special experience 

Well more food this time on the Europa stamp on the right. A very nice clean postmark.