#1762 Hiiumaa, Estonia

Sent on: July 4, 2019

Received on: July 8, 2019

#608 Sweden

M/S Finnfellow was built in 2000 in Spain. Today Finnfellow is operating on the route Kapellskar - Naantali.

More info in Finnish - fi.wikipedia.org

Date of Issue: August 22, 2013

 Carl XVI Gustaf 40 years as Head of State

On September 15, 1973, King Gustaf VI Adolf passed away and Sweden gained a new Head of State, Carl XVI Gustaf, who is the seventh monarch in the Bernadotte dynasty.

This year the 40th anniversary of this historic event is being celebrated throughout the country. As part of the jubilee, the Royal Couple will be travelling to all of Sweden’s counties and will arrive in Värmland and county seat Karlstad on the same day as the stamps are issued, August 22.

The stamp-proofs are the King’s monogram, a portrait photo of the King in left profile – the classic pose on stamps with the monarch’s picture – and a previously unpublished photograph of the King and heirs apparent Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Estelle.

The stamps are framed by a pattern of crowns and stars at regular intervals against a subdued blue background, which is the main part of the graphic profile designed specifically for the jubilee year.

Posten.se

Aitäh, Aivar !

Sent on: May 23, 2014

Received on: May 26, 2014

#580 Saint-Nazaire, France

Belem is a three-masted barque from France.

She was originally a cargo ship, transporting sugar from the West Indies, cocoa and coffee from Brazil and French Guiana to Nantes, France. By chance she escaped the eruption of the Mount Pelée in Saint-Pierre de la Martinique on 8 May 1902. All Saint Pierre roads were full of vessels, no place to anchor the ship. Captain Julien Chauvelon angrily decided to anchor some miles further on in a beach - sheltered from the exploding volcano.

She was sold in 1914 to Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, who converted her to his private luxurious pleasure yacht, complete with two auxiliary Bolinder Diesel engines 300 HP each.

In 1922 she became the property of the beer baron Sir Arthur Ernest Guinness, who renamed her the Fantôme II (French spelling) and revised the rig from a square rigger. Hon. A.E. Guinness was Rear Commodore of the Royal St. George Yacht Club, in Kingstown, Ireland from 1921-1939. He was Vice Commodore from 1940- 1948. Hon. A.E. Guinness took the Fântome II on a great cruise in 1923 with his daughters Aileen, Maureen and Oonagh. They sailed the seven seas in making a travel round the world via the Panama and Suez Canals including a visit to Spitsbergen. During her approach to Yokohama harbour while sailing the Pacific Ocean the barque managed to escape another catastrophe - an earthquake which destroyed the harbour and parts of Yokohama city. Hon. Arthur E. Guinness died in 1949. The 'Fantome' was moored in the roads of Cowes, Isle of Wight.

In 1951 she was sold to the Venezian count Vittorio Cini, who named her the Giorgio Cini after his son, who had died in a plane crash near Cannes on 31 August 1949 . She was rigged to a barkentine and used as a sail training ship until 1965, when she was considered too old for further use and was moored at the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice.

In 1972 the Italian carabinieri attempted to restore her to the original barque rig. When this proved too expensive, she became the property of the shipyard. In 1976 the ship was re-rigged to a barque.

Finally, in January 1979, she came back to her home port as the Belem under tow by a French seagoing tug, flying the French flag after 65 years. Fully restored to her original condition, she began a new career as a sail training ship.

Wikipedia.org

Date of Issue: May 4, 2014 | Europa 2014 'National Music Instruments'

The harp represented on the stamp is manufactured and sealed by the stringed-instrument Master Maker J.H. Naderman in 1787. Diatonic instrument on which it is possible to play only seven notes of the range, the harp , from the Renaissance on, will be endowed with a second or even third row of ropes, offering to the musician the access to the twelve semitones of the octave.
Posteurop.org

Thank you, Stef !

Sent on: May 12, 2014

Received on: May 15, 2014

#174 Saint Petersburg, Russia | RU-1439606

The Scarlet Sails (Russian: Алые паруса) is a celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia, the most massive and famous public event during the White Nights Festival. The tradition is highly popular for its spectacular fireworks, numerous music concerts, and a massive water show including battles between dozens of boats full of pirates on the waters of the Neva river. The Scarlet Sails show celebrating the end of school year.

This tradition began after the end of World War 2, when several Leningrad schools united to celebrate the end of the school year in connection with the symbolism of the popular 1922 children's book Scarlet Sails by Alexander Grin. During the first celebration, a boat with scarlet sails sailed along the English Embankment and the Admiralty Embankment towards the Winter Palace. Although it was designed to update the rusty revolutionary propaganda, the "Scarlet Sails" tradition eventually evolved into a massive demonstration of freedom from "schools and rules" and has become the most popular public event annually celebrating the end of school year.

Wikipedia.org

Date of Issue: May 4, 2012 | Europa 2012 "Visit ..."

Thank you, Danya (Danila57914) !

Received on: January 24, 2012

Travel time: 26 days

Distance: 236 km (147 miles)

#165 Hong Kong, China

DUK LING is typical of the junks built here 150 years ago - a reminder of Hong Kong's origins when the taipans and opium traders settled on this "barren rock".

Date of Issue: December 31, 2006 - Common Kingfisher

Date of Issue: December 31, 2006 - Collared Scops Owl

Thank you, Bibiana !

Sent on: January 3, 2013

Received on: January 15, 2013