Lanškroun, Czech Republic

Mountain Rescue Ireland

An FDC I recently acquired from the Irish Republic. I never get mail from Ireland but I was there very recently.  I should have sent myself something.

These stamps, which were issued by An Post on 4 June 2015, commemorate 50 years of the Mountain Rescue service in Ireland. The Mountain Rescue association consists of 12 volunteer rescue teams whose members are dispatched to assist hikers or climbers in distress.

Erich von Drygalski postmark

A philatelic postmark from Germany which I believe was commissioned by Arbeitsgemeinschaft POLAR PHILATELY eV, to commemorate 150 years since the birth of Erich von Drygalski.

Drygalski was a German geographer and polar scientist who led the first German expedition to the Antarctic in 1901. They discovered new land before returning home 2 years later. Half of their time away was spent trapped on an ice sheet. This is an aerial photo of their ship, Gauss, taken by a balloon used during the expedition.

450th Anniversary of Rio de Janeiro

Took me a while to realize that the faces on these stamps and the envelope are made of the numbers 450.

50 Years of German-Israeli diplomatic relations

Pori, Finland

From Pori, Finland, with a Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät stamp on it. PKN is a Finnish punk band whose members all have some degree of developmental disability. They represented Finland in the 2015 Eurovision contest but didn't make it to the finals.