Raivavae - Austal Islands

 

Pacific Ocean -Austral Islands -Raivavae At long last . I had this trip booked in March 2020 , but with covid it got cancelled at the last minute. These islands are sub tropical as they are on the Tropic of Capricon. Raivavae was my first stop en route from Paris , French Polynesia Tahiti and then a few hours flight down here. Not many visitors as only local accommodation . Was here for 3 days and enjoyed it very much. PS unfortunately this postcard is not showing the island of Raivavae 

Always love the clear postmarks of the French Territories. A small but very nice Post office awaited me. A good selection of stamps. No postcards for sale. 

Paris France

 Europe-France-Paris What is not to like about Paris. It is special in so many ways. Delighted to be back and spending a couple of days prior to my departure to French Polynesia 

The Post office near the Bourse is excellent. It is not big, but has a philatelic display and easy to select what stamps you want. Loved this miniature sheet featuring windows of Notre Dame. 

Ios - Greece

 Europe-Greece-Ios This is the beach I spend the afternoon on. It was very nice , but the water was a little too cold for me. 

Posted at the local Post office. 

Chora - Ios Greece

 Europe-Greece-Ios-Chora This is the main town on the island of Ios. It was a 45 mins ferry ride from Santorini . It feels like a completely different world there. Simple and rustic like. 

Found the Post Office in the centre of town. 

Santorini- Oia

 Europe-Greece-Santorini-Oia I have to say this is the most beautiful town on Santorini. It has pure amazing sights and the colours against the sun are spectacular. Did not stay here , but visited twice. Loved it. 

Loved the message on these stamps showing diversity and the way they are drawn. Unfortunately these did not get postmarked. I put these in a post box instead of at the post office. 

Fira Santorini

 Europe-Greece-Santorini-Fira My first holiday outside Ireland in nearly 2 years. It was great to get away. Since there was now direct flights from Dublin, took the opportunity to visit Santorini. A destination with a lot to live up to. I have to say for certain it exceeded my expectation. This area Fira is where I stayed. Loads of nice places to eat and great views day or night. 

This card was posted in the main post office in Fira. They were very helpful and had a good selection of stamps including new issues. Very clear postmark. 

Adare .Co Limerick .

 Europe-Ireland-Limerick-Adare  Passing through here on the way back from Kerry. It is a beautiful heritage town. I stayed here many many years ago and hopefully will do again . A very nice  afternoon was spent here. 

I am never fond of stamps with just text on them . A message on this from the head of the Irish Government to the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland.

Kerry and Westmeath - Ireland

 Europe-Ireland-Kerry-Dingle It is not often that reality and a picture postcard is the same. But in July the weather was fantastic and spend a few hours here on this golden beach. Could not stay any longer would have got sunburnt  ! This beach is in the Dingle peninsula in County Kerry. 

The Irish Post office has been very active in promoting Pride . For the last number of years post boxes in the Dublin  city centre have been painted in the rainbow colours. Some of the delivery vans the same. 

Europe-Ireland-Westmeath-Athlone  Considered to be the centre of Ireland Athlone's main attraction is the River Shannon. 

A climate change stamp is postmarked here from the Athlone mails centre which handles most of the mail in Ireland . 

Kerry and Cork - Ireland

 Europe-Ireland-Kerry-Killarney . With Covid restrictions in place at this time it was holiday time at home and this time off to the beautiful county of Kerry. Spend a few days in Killarney and enjoyed every minute of it. The weather was glorious and being able to eat in restaurants was great , after such a long lockdown. Here is a photo of part of the Ring of Kerry . 

The stamp features Lady Jane Wilde who was the mother of the famous Oscar. Most Post offices are part of shops now . The was the case for the one I visited in Killarney. 

Europe-Ireland-Cork-Glengarriff. During the hols in Killarney made a visit  here. The surrounding area in West Cork and the village of Glengarriff was fantastic . Loved it all. Will have to go back. Went on the short boat ride to Garnish Island. Italian gardens and visited the house there. A very interesting and historic island . 

I am not particularly fond of stamps with just inscriptions on them. But this has an important date on it that most people now dont know. 11 July 1921. The day that there was a truce with the Government forces ( British) and the Republicans. This led to the signing of a treaty in December 1922 and the British Forces leaving the then Free State , later to become Republic of Ireland 

Newcastle Co.Down , Northern Ireland

 Europe-Northern Ireland-Newcastle-Co.Down  I had not spend much time in this part of Northern Ireland before . It is on the East side just after the border. A seaside area with beautiful surrounding countryside. 

As I have said before finding regional stamps in Northern Ireland is not easy. I was lucky to find this stamp in a remote Post Office. This stamp was only issued in later 2020 . 

Europe-United Kingdom-Northern Ireland-Co.Down . This is the hotel I stayed in . It is very famous and was opened in 1898  when Newcastle was a railway stop on the Dublin-Belfast line. No longer there. But the Slieve Donard Hotel certainly is. Nearby attractions include the scenic Donard Park, beach and promenade. 

Featuring stamps with Paul McCarthy of the Beatles and Wings fame. I think I had the Ram album on the right when we all had LPs and record players. 

Mountains of Mourne - Northern Ireland

Europe-United Kingdom-Northern Ireland-Co. Down  This is the beautiful Mountains of Mourne. I had never been before despite that I am only living less then 2 hours away. Spend a few days here as part of the holidays in June 2021 . Lovely to get away . 
 

The Philatelic section in Belfast has a very poor selection of stamps. Managed to get these Paul McCarthy stamps. I think I had bought that LP when it came out. Hard to see the postmark with the dark stamp. 

Belfast - Northern Ireland

Europe-Norther n Ireland-Belfast Here we have Belfast City Hall. Built in 1906. It is a beautiful building and it stands right in the centre of Belfast. I have been lucky to been there at a reception meal event for a dinner when I was a Badminton Umpire  many years ago. 

It is challenging to find Northern Ireland stamps in Northern Ireland . The stamp on the left is the only one I could find . The rest are UK definitive stamps 

Ireland - Doolin County Clare

 

Europe-Ireland-Co.Clare-Doolin This area was my only holiday in 2020 ! Little did I know how long the issue with Covid19 would last. Luckily the weather was beautiful and a good time was had. Very few international tourists were here due to restrictions as normally this area would be packed in July. 

Posted in the local area post office , but as usual in Ireland got a sorting office postmark. 

Lahinch Co Clare Ireland

Europe-Ireland-Co.Clare-Lahinch Famous for its link Golf course. A nice town on the west coast of Ireland. Passed here on the way to Doolin where I was staying. 
 

Love the old suitcases on this stamp. Those were the days before wheelies and limited baggage. I think then you could nearly bring as much as you want on a plane., well at least at Dublin airport in 1969 . 

Welcome back 2021

Europe-Ireland-Co.Offaly  Greetings all. It has been over one year since I put up a new postcard. How the world has changed. All my trips for last year got cancelled . I am sure many of you have been in the same boat.. Well upwards and onwards for 2021 . Last year I did manage to get some local staycations as we call them. This trip was on a boat on the river Shannon. It rained for all the 3 days and so Clonmacnoise was not as picturesque as this postcard view is. This can be seen from the river. 
 

This was posted in a post office near Athlone. In fact this is were the majority of mail in Ireland get sorted. 

Benidorm Costa Blanca - Spain

Europe-Spain-Benidorm This card has a look of the 1970s about it. But it is really like this right now. Spend a nice few days here in October and the weather was great. Not full of tourist attractions, but great for just relaxation. 

Spain seems to issue a number of tourist related stamps . I had one previous with flip flops. Here we have sun glasses. The cancellation was on the bottom of the card.. ... 

9/11 Memorial Museum New York

North America-United States of America-New York I have wanted to visit this 9/11 museum for some time. Very impressive and delighted to visit. However there is such sadness at what happened. Never to be forgotten what happened and the many heroes there was on that date and beyond. 

Posted in New York with more of the Sesame Street puppets . These are lesser known . 

Grand Canyon National Park - Wooden Postcard

North America-United States of America-Arizona-Grand Canyon National Park This is a wooden postcard made of birch. I have a few of these now. Love them. 

Got a lovely crisp postmark on this card. Always have to hand these wooden cards into the postmaster direct to make sure they understand what I like and not forget to do any postmarking. 

Grand Canyon National Park

North America-United States of America-Arizona-Grand Canyon This is a World Heritage Site and I have to say it is truly amazing. It was one of those places on Earth I had been asked what it was like and I had to say I had not been. So it was s true delight to visit . It exceeded my expectations. The colours and the view.. Not to be missed. 

There was a Post office on site and delighted to visit. They close early so I just about made it on time. They had a selection of stamps. I asked to post staff to handstamp the cards to make sure they get a Grand Canyon stamp. 

Route 66

North America-United States of America-Arizona-Kingman Passed through this area on my way to the Grand Canyon. Had a coffee stop and could not resist sending a postcard. Route 66 , perhaps the most famous road route in America ? .

A lack of postboxes makes it sometimes difficult to mail cards. This was sent from New York. .