Buenos Aires, Argentina

Lots of stamps on this little cover from Argentina. The miniature sheet from 2017 on the left commemorates the 200th anniversary of the crossing of the Andes mountains in 1817. In the middle is a stamp commemorating the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Argentina and Bulgaria. The round stamp on the right is from a 2021 miniature sheet that explains solar eclipses. And the two above the address are "Unidad Postal" stamps from a 2019 (I think) series about national parks: Parque nacional Aconquija on the left and Parque Nacional El Leoncito on the right.

Charleroi, Belgium

Postmarked at the Charleroi X sorting centre outside the city of Charleroi south of Brussels. The row of stamps along the top are a set of semi-postals from 1974 that celebrate Belgian cultural celebrities. In the bottom row are a pair of Belgian bird definitives and the on the lower left is a 2018 coil stamp featuring a gooseberry. It's a nice little cover.

Holiday Greetings prepaid postcard from Canada Post

 

Baku, Azerbaijan

From left to right: a stamp from 2018 commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first Azerbaijan Republic, a 2011 stamp commemorating the tenth anniversary of Azerbaijan joining the Council of Europe, 2020 "Shebeke art"definitive stamps and a 2021 definitive featuring ancient stonework.

Algeria, Fight against forest fires

Foods from Nagoya FDC from Japan

Oishii! One of the twenty stamps that are part of the third series of delicious foods from Japan. This series focuses on the region of Nagoya and this stamp features a bowl of Taiwan ramen. 

 

Åland, The Tall Ship Races 2021

With a nice little Christmas postmark and a 5€ stamp. The annual Tall Ships Races that take place in the Baltic Sea were to feature Mariehamn as one of the host ports during the 2021 races but COVID-19  restrictions changed those plans. The races are designed to "encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing".

Goldorak FDC, France

Goldorak is the French language version of the popular 1970's Japanese super robot anime series "UFO Robot Grendizer". The original series was part of the Mazinger franchise created by manga artist "Go Nagai".

Winsen an der Aller, Germany

The stamp commemorates Willy Brandt who was Chancellor of West Germany from 1969 to 1974. During a 1970 visit to Warsaw Poland he spontaneously knelt at a monument there honouring the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. 

Japan, World of Art series 3

From left to right, Madaraneko (1924) by Takeuchi Seiho, The Amida Falls in the Far Reaches of the Kisokaido Road (1827) by Katsushika Hokusai, and Ducklings (1889) by John Everett Millais. These 84 yen stamps were issued as part of a sheet of ten in September of this year and the artwork on all of the stamps in this series feature the colour green (Seiho's tabby cat has green eyes).

 

Inuvik, Northwest Territories

From the northwest corner of Canada's Northwest Territories. Yellowknife, the capital city of the Northwest Territories, has a similar postmark. Inuvik is above the Arctic Circle but not on the Arcitc coast so I doubt they see many polar bears around town, if any. But there certainly would be polar bears a few kms away on the coast.

Berwick, Nova Scotia

Berwick is a small town in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. They consider themselves to be the "Apple Capital of Nova Scotia" although apple farming declined in the area some time ago.

Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam

The two stamps on the right are 2018 Year of the Pig stamps. And the stamp on the left shows the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs form a stamp series that featured Vietnamese landscapes and architecture.

Brazil: Centenary of the Discovery of Insulin

The blue circle on the envelope and in the middle of the stamp is the universal symbol for diabetes which I did not know before now. This is the first Brazilian stamp to feature a QR code.

Mariehamn, Åland

On the right is Åland's 2020 SEPAC stamp. It shows a 1976 triptych entitled Sabina by Åland artist Henrik Nylund that is now on display at the Parliament of Åland. The stamp on the left was from a 2002 set featuring Iron Age artifacts. This one is the Persby buckle: a small silver buckle found in an 8th century grave near the village of Persby.

Toronto, Ontario

Postmarked at the Atrium in downtown Toronto. Atrium, aka Atrium on Bay, is a large retail and office space on Bay street north of Eaton Center. The stamp commemorates the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto.

Dante's Purgatory

From Pordenone, Italy. The postmarks commemorate the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri and mention the second part of The Divine Comedy: "Il Purgatorio". In the background of the postmark is a representation of mount Purgatory from the poem. The stamps from left to right: Italian singer/songwriters Pino Daniele and Lucio Dalla, and the 70th Sanremo music festival.

 

Singapore's Botanic Gardens

From Bukit Batok in the west part of Singapore. The Botanic Gardens was established in 1859 and was the first UNESCO designated heritage site in Singapore.

Mykines, Faroe Islands

Mykines is the westmost island of the Faroe Islands. The stamp is Posta's 2021 SEPAC issue with theme "Historical Maps".

 

Rilhac-Rancon, France

The stamp on the left commemorates the life of French poet Charles Baudelaire and on the left, Hunspach: France's favourite village in 2020

Art Classics from Finland

Recent stamp issue from Finland featuring classic Finnish paintings. From left to right: "Skaters Near the Shore of Kallela" by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, "Echo" by Ellen Thesleff and "Sheep Girl" by Hugo Simberg.

Cheese from Brazil

A selection of cheeses from Brazil. From left to right, top to bottom: butter cheese, artisanal cheese from Minas, artisanal cheese from São Paulo, cabacinha cheese from Araguaia, cheese from the region of Diamante and artisanal serrano cheese.

USA, Star Wars Droids FDC

 

Fox Valley, Saskatchewan

Fox Valley is a rural village of 250 people in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. 

Barentsburg in Svalbard, Norway

The souvenir sheet is Norway's 2020 "Ancient Postal Routes" Europa issue. Barentsburg is a Russian coal mining settlement on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. About 500 people live there, mining coal for the Russian Arktikugol Trust. The postmarks appear to have been updated since the last cover I received from there almost 10 years ago. 

Mladějov na Moravě, Czechia

The postmark commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Mladějov na Moravě post office. And the stamp commemorates Czech artist Ota Janeček.

Woodland Caribou of Quebec

The caribou on the stamp is a Peary caribou. Not the same as the woodland caribou that roam across northern Quebec.

Åland, Life at Sea

Åland "Norden" issued from 2012. The theme that year was "Life at Sea"

Henryk Arctowski and International Lighthouse Day

The stamp on the right commemorates the 150th anniversary of the birth of Polish scientist and explorer Henryk Arctowski. The postmark commemorates International Lighthouse Day. On the postmark is an image of the Arctowski Lighthouse on King George Island which sits off the coast of the tip of the Antarctic peninsula. There are several research bases on the island, including Poland's Henryk Arctowski Station.

USA Yogi Berra FDC

Famous New York Yankees catcher Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra. MLB All-Star and Hall of Famer. Winner of 10 World Series championships. The FD postmark location is Little Falls, New Jersey: the location of the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center.

Pyramiden, Norway

Pyramiden was a small Soviet coal mining town 50 km north of Longyearbyen in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. It was abandoned in 1998 but has since become a tourist destination with a single hotel that houses a museum, gift shop and post office. This updated postmark was put into use in May of 2021.

Nanjing, China

The two stamps on the right are from a 1998 joint issue with Switzerland. The stamp on the right is a scene of the Slender West Lake (Shòuxīhú) in Yangzhou. And in the middle is Chillon Castle on Lake Geneva.

Windsor, England

From left to right: The Royal Albert Bridge from a 2006 set commemorating British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Ely Island in Lower Lough Erne, Northern Ireland from 2004, and the mini skirt from the 2009.

Vila-seca, Spain

On the right is a small sheet featuring the town of Miranda del Castañar in Salamanca. It's from a 2021 set featuring "charming towns". And on the left is a stamp commemorating the The Federation of European Philatelic Associations (FEPA) Youth Exhibition "Juvenia" held in Avilés in 2017. Below that is a stamp featuring "jet" which is an organic carbon gemstone. This stamp actually has traces of jet from the Asturias region in northwest Spain, stuck to its surface.

Robert E Howard postmark from Cross Plains, Texas

Maybe I should have used a bigger envelope for this one. The giant handstamp on this envelope is so bold you barely notice the machine-applied postmark running into the top of it. Robert Ervin Howard was a pulp fiction author in the 1920's and 30's. He is regarded as the father of sword and sorcery fiction and the creator of Conan the Barbarian. The postmark commemorates his death on June 11, 1936.

Colnago, Italy

Colnago is a village in the province of Monza and Brianza midway between the cities of Monza and Bergamo, northeast of Milan. The two stamps commemorate the 900th anniversary of the death of The Blessed Gerard who died on September 3, 1120.

Europa Island

From the Scattered Islands of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. Europa is a small island in the Mozambique channel between Madagascar and the African coast. I'm pretty sure I sent this down there early in 2020. The stamp from 2020 shows a Dimorphic Egret. It's a type of Heron that can be found on the island.

Raipur, India

This souvenir sheet celebrating Diwali was a joint issue with Canada from 2017. The Canadian version of the souvenir sheet has both Canadian and Indian 25 rupee stamps.

USPS Star Wars Droids

The planes on these cards are actual passenger planes flown by Japanese airline ANA. The C-3PO themed jet is a Boeing 777-200. ANA currently uses this plane for domestic flights. The first day postmark on this card went on pretty much exactly where I wanted it.

The R2-D2 card I'm not as happy with. Not so much because the postmark is a little crooked but just the card itself. It feels a little too crowded at the bottom. Maybe I should have went with a different card for R2. The jet is a Boeing 787-9 with 215 seats and is used by ANA for long haul flights.

Valencia, Spain

The stamp on the right is a Christmas stamp from 2016. It actually looks like there is a stamp within the stamp. A self-adhesive souvenir sheet and I think the Virgin Mary can be separated from the sheet. I believe that is the actual stamp.

Prague, Czech Rebpublic

The artwork on these stamps featuring Prague castle was designed by Alphonse Mucha and used on the first Czechoslovakian postage stamps in 1918. And the postmarks commemorates the 133th anniversary of the Czech Tourists' Club.

Aarhus, Denmark

Endangered butterflies on this cover from Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark. These stamps are part of Denmark's 2021 Europa issue.

Caxias do Sul, Brazil

With stamps from 2019: A Christmas stamp on the left, 200 years of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and Brazil in the upper right and 100 years of diplomatic relations between Finland and Brazil below that.

 

Rüschlikon, Switzerland

On the left is a Swiss "Pro Junentute" stamp. Proceeds from the sale of this stamp went towards a children benefit. And in the middle is a Pro Patria" stamp. The sale of this added-value stamp contributed to the social and cultural benefit of the Swiss public. Both of these charities have been raising money through added-value stamps for well over 100 years. The upside-down stamp on the right is Marsupilami: a Franco-Belgian comic character.

Malmö, Sweden

An "Ermine Mustela" on the right. A stamp from a 2020 set titled "Winter Animals". And next to that a stamp from the 2021 set "Precious Nature". The five stamps in the series promote environmental protection and feature nature scenes by artist Henning Trollback. And the pair of stamps on the left are from a 1977 booklet featuring wild berries of Sweden. They look like lingonberries.

Saronno, Italy

In the middle, Cioccolato di Modica IGP.  Modica chocolate is made following an ancient recipe giving it a unique flavor and texture. And on the right, a stamp commemorating the 900th anniversary of the death of Blessed Gerard, the founder of the Order of St John of Jerusalem.

Gothenburg 400th Anniversary

 Stamps from a recent Swedish booklet commemorating the 400th anniversary of the city of Gottenburg.

Trigny, France

Stamps from a booklet issued in France last year, thanking and honouring the heroes of the health crisis. Trigny is a small commune in Marne in north-eastern France. It's a few kms north-west of Reims.