среда, 29 апреля 2009 г.

New stamps

2009. May, 15.
The 175th anniversary of installation Hydrometeorogical service in Russia


пятница, 24 апреля 2009 г.

Postcard from France



Photo by Michel Perez

четверг, 23 апреля 2009 г.

New stamp

New stamp "Astonomy" from "Europe" set will be available since 5th March 2009.



In 2009 "astronomy" became a theme of traditional annual issue, organized by Association of the state post operators of Europe (PostEurope). The principal reason was that this year has been declared as the International year of astronomy (IYA2009) by the Association for the United Nations. In 1609 Italian astronomer Galileo Galiley for the first time looked in telescope, having begun modern astronomy. Nowadays the primary goals of astronomy are studying and explanation of apparent motions of heavenly bodies, finding of laws and reasons of these movements, studying of heavenly bodies structure, their physical and chemical properties, construction of models of their internal structure, solving problems of origin and development of heavenly bodies and their systems, studying of the most general properties of the Universe, construction of theory of observable part of the Universe ? Metagalaxies. Stamp represents Terskolsk observatory of the Institute of astronomy of Russian academy of science and on armillary sphere against the background with Big Dipper concellation.

среда, 22 апреля 2009 г.

Postcards from Netherlands





Rotterdam - city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country (behind Amsterdam).

The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe. From 1962 to 2004, it was the world's busiest port; then it was superseded by Shanghai. Rotterdam is situated on the banks of the river Nieuwe Maas ('New Meuse'), one of the channels in the delta formed by the Rhine and Meuse rivers. The name Rotterdam derives from a dam in the Rotte river.

Postcard from Germany



The Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe.

The Rhine and the Danube formed most of the northern inland frontier of the Roman Empire and, since those days, the Rhine has been a vital, navigable waterway, and carried trade and goods deep inland. It has also served as a defensive feature and has been the basis for regional and international borders. The many castles and prehistoric fortifications along the Rhine testify to its importance as a waterway. River traffic could be stopped at these locations, usually for the purpose of collecting tolls, by the state that controlled that portion of the river.

Rhine

Postcard from Italy



Santa Maria delle Grazie (Milan)


Santa Maria delle Grazie ("Our Lady of Grace") is a famous church and convent in Milan, included in the UNESCO World Heritage sites list.

The church is also famous for the mural of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, which is in the refectory of the convent.

The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci


Thank you Lorenzo!


Santa Maria delle Grazie
The Last Supper

суббота, 18 апреля 2009 г.

Russian Easter post cards










Easter/Pascha



Pascha is the fundamental and most important festival of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches. Every other religious festival on their calendars, including Christmas, is secondary in importance to the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is reflected in rich Paschal customs in the cultures of countries that have traditionally had an Orthodox Christian majority.



ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕСЕ!


Easter

пятница, 17 апреля 2009 г.

Stamps

New stamps set devoted to 65th anniversary of victory in Great patriotic war (1941--1945) will be available since 27th April, 2009. Weapons of victory. Small arms.

воскресенье, 12 апреля 2009 г.

Cosmonautics Day

Cosmonautics Day is a holiday celebrated (mainly in Russia) every April 12 to commemorate the first manned earth orbit. It was established in the USSR on April 9, 1962.

It is celebrated in honour of the historic first manned space flight made on April 12, 1961 by 27 year old Russian cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin of the USSR, who made one complete orbit around the Earth (lasting 1 h 48 min) aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1.

Soviet stamps dedicated to Cosmonautics Day from my collection:




Cosmonautics Day

среда, 8 апреля 2009 г.

Postcard from USA




Fairbanks is a Home Rule City in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States.

Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage. It is the principal city of the Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of the Fairbanks North Star Borough and is the northernmost Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States.

Thank you Kris!

Fairbanks

Postcards from Great Britain



Robin Hood is an archetypal figure in English folklore, whose story originates from medieval times, but who remains significant in popular culture where he is known for "robbing the rich to give to the poor" and fighting against injustice and tyranny. His band of merry men includes a "three score" group of fellow outlawed yeomen – called his, "Merry Men." He has been the subject of numerous films, television series, books, comics and plays. In the earliest sources, Robin Hood is a commoner, but he would often later be portrayed as the dispossessed Earl of Huntingdon.





Robin Hood memorial statue in Nottingham.


Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England and is one of only eight members of the English Core Cities Group.

Nottingham is famed for its links with the Robin Hood legend and, during the Industrial Revolution, obtained worldwide recognition for its lace-making industry. It was granted its city charter as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria in 1897 and has since been officially titled the City of Nottingham.

Nottingham
Robin Hood

воскресенье, 5 апреля 2009 г.

Postcard from Serbia



Serbia is a country in Central - and Southeastern Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central part of the Balkans. Serbia is bordered by Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; the Republic of Macedonia and Albania to the south; and Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to the west. The country's capital, Belgrade, was titled "City of the Future of South Europe" in 2006.

Serbia has eight cultural sites marked on the UNESCO World Heritage list: Stari Ras and Sopoćani monasteries (included in 1979), Studenica Monastery (1986), the Medieval Serbian Monastic Complex in Kosovo, comprising: Dečani Monastery, Our Lady of Ljeviš, Gračanica and Patriarchate of Pec- (2004, put on the endangered list in 2006), and Gamzigrad - Romuliana, Palace of Galerius, added in 2007. Likewise, there are 2 literary memorials added on the UNESCO's list as a part of the Memory of the World Programme: Miroslav Gospels, handwriting from the 12th century (added in 2005), and Nikola Tesla's archive (2003).

The statue of Prince Mihailo III on Republic Square, mid 19th century.


Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies on two international waterways, at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkan Peninsula. Belgrade is the largest city in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, second largest city on the Danube river and the fourth largest in Southeastern Europe, after Istanbul, Athens, and Bucharest.

Serbia
Belgrade

Ана, спасибо, что не забываешь меня :)

Postcards from Surgut, Russia

Surgut is a city in Russia, the largest in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and second largest in Tyumen Oblast.
Surgut is one of the oldest Siberian cities. It was founded in 1594 by order of Tsar Feodor I.
The name of the city, according to one tradition, originates from the Khanty words "sur" (fish) and "gut" (hole, pit).





Khanty / Hanti are an endangered indigenous people calling themselves Khanti, Khande, Kantek (Khanty), living in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a region historically known as "Yugra" in Russia, together with Mansi peoples. In the autonomous okrug, the Khanty and Mansi languages are given co-official status with Russian. In the 2002 Census, 28,678 persons identified themselves as Khanty. Of those, 26,694 were resident in Tyumen Oblast, of which 17,128 were living in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and 8,760—in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. 873 were residents of neighbouring Tomsk Oblast, and 88 lived in the Komi Republic.

The Khanty's traditional occupations were fishery, taiga hunting and reindeer herding. They lived as trappers, thus gathering was of major importance.

Khanty are today Orthodox Christians, mixed with traditional beliefs (shamans, reincarnation).
Their historical shaman wore no special clothes except a cap.

Surgut
Khanty people

Postcard from Japan



Maiko Girls in the Garden of Kyoto



Maiko is a Japanese word for dancing girl and is an apprentice geisha.
Geisha, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.

The kimono is the traditional clothing of Japan. Originally the word "kimono" literally meant "thing to wear" (ki "wearing" and mono "thing" but now has come to denote a particular type of traditional full-length Japanese garment. The standard plural of the word kimono in English is kimonos, but the unmarked Japanese plural kimono is also sometimes found.

Kimonos are T-shaped, straight-lined robes with collars and full-length sleeves that typically are wide. Both genders wear their kimono so that the hem falls to the ankle. Kimonos are wrapped around the body, always with the left side over the right (except when dressing the dead for burial) and secured by a wide belt called an obi, which is tied at the back. Kimonos are generally worn with traditional footwear (especially zōri or geta) and split-toe socks (tabi).

Today, kimonos are most often worn by women, and on special occasions. Traditionally, unmarried women wore a style of kimono called furisode, with almost floor-length sleeves, on special occasions. A few older women and even fewer men still wear the kimono on a daily basis. Men wear the kimono most often at weddings, tea ceremonies, and other very special or very formal occasions. Professional sumo wrestlers are often seen in the kimono because they are required to wear traditional Japanese dress whenever appearing in public. They commonly wear the kind of casual Japanese attire that is referred to as yukata, which is of plain unlined cotton.

Women's Kimonos

Kurotomesode
a black kimono patterned only below the waistline, kurotoroko are the most formal kimono for married women. They are often worn by the mothers of the bride and groom at weddings. Kurotomesode usually have five kamon printed on the sleeves, chest and back of the kimono.

Furisode
furisode literally translates as swinging sleeves—the sleeves of furisode average between 39 and 42 inches (1,100 mm) in length. Furisode are the most formal kimono for unmarried women, with colorful patterns that cover the entire garment. They are usually worn at coming-of-age ceremonies (seijin shiki) and by unmarried female relatives of the bride at weddings and wedding receptions.

Irotomesode
single-color kimono, patterned only below the waistline. Irotomesode are slightly less formal than kurotomesode, and are worn by married women, usually close relatives of the bride and groom at weddings. An irotomesode may have three or five kamon.

Homongi
literally translates as visiting wear. Characterized by patterns that flow over the shoulders, seams and sleeves, hōmongi rank slightly higher than their close relative, the tsukesage. Hōmongi may be worn by both married and unmarried women; often friends of the bride will wear hōmongi at weddings and receptions. They may also be worn to formal parties.

Tsukesage
has more modest patterns that cover a smaller area—-mainly below the waist-—than the more formal hōmongi. They may also be worn by married women.

Iromuji
single-colored kimono that may be worn by married and unmarried women. They are mainly worn to tea ceremonies. The dyed silk may be figured (rinzu, similar to jacquard), but has no differently colored patterns.

Komon
"fine pattern". Kimono with a small, repeated pattern throughout the garment. This style is more casual and may be worn around town, or dressed up with a formal obi for a restaurant. Both married and unmarried women may wear komon.

Edo komon
is a type of komon characterized by tiny dots arranged in dense patterns that form larger designs. The Edo komon dyeing technique originated with the samurai class during the Edo period. A kimono with this type of pattern is of the same formality as an iromuji, and when decorated with kamon, may be worn as visiting wear (equivalent to a tsukesage or hōmongi).

Uchikake
is a highly formal kimono worn only by a bride or at a stage performance. The Uchikake is often heavily brocaded and is supposed to be worn outside the actual kimono and obi, as a sort of coat. One therefore never ties the obi around the uchikake. It is supposed to trail along the floor, this is also why it is heavily padded along the hem. The uchikake of the bridal costume is either white or very colorful often with red as the base color.

Susohiki / Hikizuri
The susohiki is mostly worn by geisha or by stage performers of the traditional Japanese dance. It is quite long, compared to regular kimono, because the skirt is supposed to trail along the floor. Susohiki literally means "trail the skirt". Where a normal kimono for women is normally 1,5-1,6 m or 4,7-5,2 ft long, a susohiki can be up to 2 m or 6,3 ft long. This is also why geisha and maiko lift their kimono skirt when walking outside, also to show their beautiful underkimono or "nagajuban" (see below).

суббота, 4 апреля 2009 г.

Postcards from Poland



Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland. Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship (1975-1998). It is the capital of Sandomierz County (since 1999).
Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction.



Krasiczyn is a village in Przemyśl County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Krasiczyn.
In Krasiczyn stands the Krasicki Palace, a Renaissance palace built for Stanisław Krasicki by Galleazzo Appiani.
Adam Stefan Cardinal Sapieha, whom Pope John Paul II described as 'my model', was born in Krasiczyn, in the castle.



Rzeszów is a city in south-eastern Poland. It was granted a town charter in 1354, the capital and largest city of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously of Rzeszów Voivodeship (1945–1998).



Thanks Kazimierz for postcards and stamps!