1140 - 1149 (Early December 2013)

1140 – Anastasia sent me this new map for my collection. In case you are wondering what the symbol for Minsk is (in the centre) it is the new National Library Building.

And beautiful stamps

And a patriotic sticker…

 

1141 – Tina, a Canadian Postcrosser (CA-393330), sent me this card.

The royal family stamps are just perfect.

1142 – Amit in India not only sent me smiles but also another UNESCO WHS card. 

Hampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other monuments belonging to the old city. The ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as the Group of Monuments at Hampi.

The “Stone Chariot”, as it is often referred to, is the flagship tourist attraction of Hampi. This is not a chariot ,as the name suggests, rather a shrine built like a chariot. This is located inside the Vittala Temple campus.  The chariot is built on a rectangular platform of a feet or so high. All around this base platform is carved with mythical battle scenes. Though the chariot is not resting on it, the four giant wheels attached mimic the real life ones complete with the axis shafts and even the brakes. A series of concentric floral motifs decorate the wheels. It appears from the marks on the platform, where the wheels rest, the wheels were free to move around the axis.

1143 – Danielle and I both like cats but there are limits!  This photo of ‘The Katzes (with Moe at centre) 1981’ is great but I’d not like to have to live with all those. 

Aren’t the tiered baskets great?

And even the pictures on the walls are of cats.

A Christmas stamp.

 

1144 – A Christmas card from Damien in France.

With one of the Véhicules postaux EUROPA stamps on it.

1145 – Another beautiful post-box maxi-card from Sini in Finland.

 1148 - And another post-box from Siggi in Germany -

1146 – From Susanne in Germany comes this beautiful old-fashioned Christmas card.

I love the stickers Susanne uses…

1147 – The background to this great map card from Rita in Denmark is the Danish flag.

The Flag of Denmark (Danish: Dannebrog) is red with a white Scandinavian cross that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side. The cross design, which represents Christianity, was subsequently adopted by the other Nordic countries; Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Åland Islands and the Faroe Islands, as well as the Scottish archipelagos of Shetland and Orkney. During the Danish-Norwegian personal union, Dannebrog ("Danish cloth") was also the flag of Norway and continued to be, with slight modifications, until Norway adopted its current flag in 1821.

According to legend, the flag came into Danish possession during the Battle of Lyndanisse in 1219. The Danes were on a failing crusade in Estonia, but after praying to God a flag fell from the sky. After this event, Danish King Valdemar II went on to defeat the Estonians. The first recorded uses of the flag appear some one hundred years later.

1149 – Another card from Rita – this time a Christmas card.  God Jul is, of course, Merry Christmas.