Norway: Jan Mayen

Finally, after over half a year of waiting, my cover from Jan Mayen, Norway arrived. Jan Mayen is a volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean and a part of Norway. It is 55 km (34 mi) long (southwest-northeast) and 373 km2 (144 sq mi) in area, partly covered by glaciers. It has two parts: larger northeast Nord-Jan and smaller Sør-Jan, linked by a 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide isthmus. It lies 600 km (370 mi) northeast of Iceland, 500 km (310 mi) east of central Greenland and 1,000 km (620 mi) west of the North Cape, Norway.

The cover was canceled with the updated Jan Mayen-Postmark on its First Day (01.04.2016)

Stamp:
Tourism - Oslo Viking Ship Museum (from a set of 3) - Issued: 28-04-2014



♁ 71°00′N 8°30′W

Singapore: Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay is a nature park spanning 101 hectares (250 acres) of reclaimed land in central Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir. Gardens by the Bay is part of a strategy by the Singapore government to transform Singapore from a "Garden City" to a "City in a Garden". The stated aim is to raise the quality of life by enhancing greenery and flora in the city. The park is quite popular, with 6.4 million visitors in 2014, and it had its 20 millionth visitor in November 2015.

Stamp:

50 Years of National Day Parade (from a set of 6) - Issued: 08-08-2016

Thanks again to Vivian for this great card!

Singapore: Marina Bay

Marina Bay is a bay located in the Central Area of Singapore surrounded by the perimeter of four other planning areas, the Downtown Core, Marina East, Marina South and Straits View. The area surrounding the bay itself, also called Marina Bay, is a 360 hectare extension to the adjacent Central Business District. On the left side of the card you can see Marina Bay Sands. Marina Bay Sands is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay built by the South Korean company Ssangyong Engineering and Construction and completed in 2010. The resort includes a 2,561-room hotel, a 120,000-square-metre (1,300,000 sq ft) convention-exhibition centre, the 74,000 m2 (800,000 sq ft) The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands mall, a museum, two large theatres, "celebrity chef" restaurants, two floating Crystal Pavilions, a skating rink, and the world's largest atrium casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. The complex is topped by a 340-metre-long (1,120 ft) SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150 m (490 ft) infinity swimming pool, set on top of the world's largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower by 67 m (220 ft).

Stamp:
Definitives - Vanishing Trades (from a set of 4) - Issued: 26-11-2014


Many thanks to Vivian for this nice card!

USA: Harvard University

Harvard University is a private, Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, established in 1636, whose history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the world's most prestigious universities. Established originally by the Massachusetts legislature and soon thereafter named for John Harvard (its first benefactor), Harvard is the United States' oldest institution of higher learning. Harvard's alumni include eight U.S. presidents, several foreign heads of state, 62 living billionaires, 335 Rhodes Scholars, and 242 Marshall Scholars.To date, some 150 Nobel laureates, 18 Fields Medalists and 13 Turing Award winners have been affiliated as students, faculty, or staff.

The card shows the the Logo and the Motto of the University which is "Veritas" and means "Truth".

Stamps:

from the left:

State Flags "Nevada" (from a set of 5) - Issued: 23-02-1976

Eid Greetings - Issued: 10-06-2016

Mount Rainier National Park - Issued: 02-06-2016

American Design "Silver Coffeepot" - Issued: 16-03-2007

American Toleware - Issued: 31-05-2002

Many thanks to Arnold for this great Card!

Spain: Bilbao

Bilbao is a municipality and city in Spain, a major city in the province of Biscay in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. It is the largest municipality of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country and the tenth largest in Spain, with a population of 353,187 in 2010. Bilbao is home to the famous Guggenheim Museum of contemporary art, designed by Frank Gehry and opened on 19 October 1997.

Stamp:
Protected Fauna (from a set of 3) - Issued: 18-07-2016


Many thanks to Jaime for this card!

Belgium: Antwerp

Antwerp (Dutch: Antwerpen, French: Anvers) is a city in Belgium, the capital of Antwerp province in the region of Flanders. With a population of 510,610, it is the most populous city proper in Belgium. Its metropolitan area houses around 1,200,000 people, which is second behind Brussels. The inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific señor or French seigneur, "lord", referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century. The city also hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics.

Stamp:
Swallowtail (Papilio machaon)  - Issued: 25-06-2012


Thanks Sabrina, Michael and Niklas for this nice card!

UK: Eilen Donan Castle, Scotland

Eilean Donan (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Donnain) is a small tidal island where three lochs meet, Loch Duich, Loch Long and Loch Alsh, in the western Highlands of Scotland. A picturesque castle that frequently appears in photographs, film and television dominates the island, which lies about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the village of Dornie. Since the castle's restoration in the early 20th century, a footbridge has connected the island to the mainland.

The castle was founded in the thirteenth century, and became a stronghold of the Clan Mackenzie and their allies the Clan Macrae. In the early eighteenth century, the Mackenzies' involvement in the Jacobite rebellions led in 1719 to the castle's destruction by government ships. Lieutenant-Colonel John Macrae-Gilstrap's twentieth-century reconstruction of the ruins produced the present buildings.

with matching stamp:

Stamp:
Universal Mail UK - Scottish Icons (from a set of 5) - Issued: 07-2013


Thanks to Roswitha & Gerhard for this card!

Chile: Return-to-Sender from Punta Arenas

Punta Arenas (or Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antartica Chilena. The city was officially renamed Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to Punta Arenas. It is the largest city south of the 46th parallel south.

Located on the Brunswick Peninsula north of the Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas was originally established by the Chilean government in 1848 as a tiny penal colony to assert sovereignty over the Strait. During the remainder of the 1800s, Punta Arenas grew in size and importance due to the increasing maritime traffic and trade traveling to the west coasts of South and North America. This period of growth also resulted from the waves of European immigrants, mainly from Croatia and Russia attracted to the gold rush and sheep farming boom in the 1880s and early 1900s.

Since its founding Chile has used Punta Arenas as a base to defend its sovereignty claims in the southernmost part of South America. This led, among other things, to the Strait of Magellan being recognized as Chilean territory in the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina. The geopolitical importance of Punta Arenas has remained high in the 20th and 21st centuries because of its logistic importance in accessing the Antarctic Peninsula.

I sent this cover on 13th May and it arrived back after 148 days on 8th October, unfortunatly with a lost/stolen stamp.

Stamp:
The 500th Anniversary of the German Beer Purity Law - Issued: 07-04-2016