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Atlantic Ocean-Canary Islands-Tenerife-Puerto de la Cruz Took a short flight here from Gran Canaria. It was in fact cheaper then the boat trip. A nice enough town , stayed overnight. |
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| Head Post Office building here quite impressive outside. Had a good selection of stamps on offer. Very clear postmark. |
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Middle East-Palestine-Bethlehem My second time here. This time got a Arab bus from Jerusalem . Visited the church and walked around. Completely different atmosphere than Israel. A very Arab feel. Had a nice lunch here. |
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| The Post office had a mixture of stamps to choose from. It is right in the square. This time it was a new post office since the last time inside. |
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Middle East-State of Palestine-Bethlehem This Postcard gives you a better overview of Bethlehem . It was easy coming on the bus. The church itself was very busy as usual. |
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| You will notice that this stamp is now inscribed "State of Palestine" . A change from the previous listing of "Palestine Authority". So a new listing. This is the standard stamp that was being given out by the Post office when I was there, but still had the old Authority stamps for sale. |
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Middle East-Israel-Jerusalem Showing the Western Wall . My second time here and I had hoped to get a closer look at the Golden dome nearby, but like the previous time not able to get near access today. |
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| This stamp is showing the logo for the Eurovision Song contest 2009. This is the main reason I came here. A lot of buzz in Tel Aviv for the event. I had not time to find a Post Office in Jerusalem so posted in Tel Aviv. |
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Middle East-Israel-Tel Aviv This card I noticed just now has Jerusalem on the front. Loved the Umbrellas and all the different colours. I posted this in Tel Aviv where I stayed for a few days. My second visit to Israel. |
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| I never did find a philatelic office but the Post Offices had a small selection of stamps . In May when there Israel had lovely blue skies and these stamps remind me of that. |
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Asia-Turkey-Kadikoy, Istanbul This card is showing Kemal Ataturk who ruled Turkey in the early 1900s and changed the face of Turkey . |
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| This card was posted in Kadikoy, which is on the Asian side of Istanbul. It is a lot less touristy on the Asian side but still very interesting to visit. |
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Europe-Turkey-Istanbul I loved this card so much I just had to buy it. It is slightly embossed and shows one of the old trams in Istanbul. They are in limited use now, most replaced by new style ones like we have in Dublin . |
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| I purchased this miniature sheet in the Philatelic shop in Istanbul. I liked that the theme of this card is transport from Trains to Trams . |
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Europe-Turkey-Istanbul This is The Hagia Sophia Museum. It used to be a museum. One of the best museums to visit in Istanbul. By Irish standards, Istanbul is very cheap city to visit. There is a large choice of different restaurants . Certainly a city where East meets West. This is a World Heritage Site. |
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| I like to buy stamps if possible that are issued in the year that I have visited, However that is not always possible as sometimes few issues are out that year. I purchased these in a nearby Post office and they are from 2011 and 2018 |
Europe-Turkey-Istanbul As you can see I have been a while off the radar here. A lot of changes and moving house. It took me some time to get sorted again. Now I am back and have lots of updates over the next few weeks. This blog started with a Postcard from Istanbul and it is the first postcard to my new address. Still living in Dublin but right in the city.This time in Istanbul the weather was lovely compared to my previous trip when it was full of snow but still lovely but very cold and not easy to get around. This is the Blue Mosquue an outstanding sight. |
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| It took me some time to find the Philatelic shop in Istanbul. A full shop with all the selections one could ask for and helpful staff. We dont get that enough when you visit a regular Post Office. |
