The First Swedish Astronaut

The block of stamps on the left were issued in 2009 and they feature scenes from December 2006 when Sweden's Christer Fuglesang became the first Swede in space. During his time at the ISS he carried out three space walks. The stamp on the right is from a 2020 set showcasing Swedish doors. 

German Pets, FDC

A love bird is featured on this first-day postmarked 2026 pets stamp from Deutsche Post. It's part of an annual series that started in 2023 I believe. I think the postmark is just as cute as the stamp.

A Journey Through Italy's Most Beautiful Villages

The postmark commemorates Poste Italiane's publication of the book "A Journey Through Italy's Most Beautiful Villages. One Hundred Portraits of Wonder Through Philately". It is the third and final volume in a book series that promotes small towns in Italy by presenting stamps and postmarks that commemorate them. And the stamp on this cover is a 2023 issue that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Arena di Verona opera festival.

Falkland Islands Queen Elizabeth II Reissue

Postmarked in Stanley: the capital city of the Falkland Islands. The stamp lower left was originally part of a 2021 set issued to commemorate the 95th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. But after her passing the set was reissued in 2023 and this stamp is from that reissued set. The two stamps on the right are from 2021 and feature paintings of settlements in the Falklands painted by Mike Peake.

Tokyo Skytree

I finally received the last postcard I sent myself from Tokyo. This one I sent from the 350m observation deck of the Skytree. It is the tallest broadcast and observation tower in the world. All mail dropped off in the special mailbox on the observation deck goes to the nearby Mukojima Post Office where they apply a special postmark. The postmark shows the Skytree as seen from the Sakurabashi pedestrian bridge with the Sakurabashi monument in the foreground.

Quite a few post offices around the Skytree have postmarks that feature the tower which makes sense since you can see it from quite far away. We wandered past a couple of those post offices during our travels.

 

The postmark on the card above came from the main Asakusa Post Office. It features the Kaminari Gate of nearby Sensoji Temple and the Skytree in the background. The outline of the postmark is in the shape of a Japanese paper lantern known as a Chochin. The other handstamps on this card I found at the Asakusa tourist office across the street from Kaminari Gate.

And here's another postmark with the Skytree on this card featuring Kaminari Gate. I had this postmark applied at the Honjo-Azumabashi Post Office which is between the Skytree and the Azuma bridge that crosses the Sumida river. You can see the bridge in the postmark as well as the Asahi Brewery headquarters. I believe the frame that outlines the postmark is in the shape of a cherry blossom. And the Skytree eki stamp came from the stamping station next to the postbox at the Skytree.

Sri Lankan UNESCO World Heritage Site Sigiriya

The stamps on this cover postmarked in Colombo are a 2023 set depicting the rock fortress Sigiriya: a UNESCO world heritage site. Sigiriya means lion rock. The granite column was once the site of a 5th century palace. The complex on and around the rock are well preserved and are a popular tourist destination.

Spring Greetings FDC from Shizuoka, Japan

A pair of stamps from this year's Spring Greetings issue from Japan Post, first-day postmarked in Shizuoka. I believe that's an otter holding a fish in the first day postmark.

Diplomatic Relations between Portugal and Egypt, FDC

The souvenir sheet on this cover, first-day postmarked in Lisbon, commemorates 50 years of diplomatic relations between Portugal and Egypt. Thank You Pedro! The stamp on the left shows the Douro River with Porto and the Luiz I Bridge in the background. The stamp on the right shows the Nile River with Cairo in the background. There are a pair of postmarks on this cover. The one on the left has the official date of issue. But the one on the right has a later date and we're not really sure what that date represents.

Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima Japan

I sent this to myself last month from the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, Japan. In the postmark is a view of the atomic bomb dome as seen through the peace memorial. The dome is a surviving structure from the atomic bomb blast that devastated the city in 1945. The blast was nearly over top of the building and somehow it was not toppled. Also in the postmark is a maple leaf, because there are lots of maple trees in the area. And the reconstructed Hiroshima Castle.

In the Peace Museum, across from the gift shop where they sell postcards and stamps, is a special mailbox. All mail sent from there receives the special peace memorial landscape postmark.

Porto Cristo, Spain

On this cover postmarked with the Hams' Caves (Cuevas dels Hams) postmark from the Majorcan town of Porto Cristo are a 2014 UNESCO World Heritage issue showcasing the fountain at the Palace of the Lions in Granada and a pair of butterfly stamps from 2010. The Juan Carlos I definitive stamp at the bottom was issued in 2012.

Japanese Minerals, Takamatsu Japan

The Japanese city of Takamatsu is the capital of the Kagawa prefecture: Japan's smallest prefecture. It is a port city that sits on the north-east coast of Shikoku island which is the smallest of Japans four main islands. The stamps on the cover and the enclosed card are from a 2022 set that showcased popular gem stones and minerals. Peridot and tourmaline on the cover and rhodochrosite on the card.

Finland's Elias Lönnrot

The souvenir sheet issued in 2002 on this cover from Helsinki commemorates the 200th birth anniversary of Finnish polymath Elias Lönnrot. He is known for authoring the botanical text Flora Fennica in 1860 and Kalavela in 1835: a Finnish national epic featuring a collection of ballads and poems that helped shape Finnish national identity.  The stamp on the left from 2005 commemorates veterans of the Second World War.