Correios

When I travel to another city/country, one must is visiting the post offices (I also usually visit the hairdresser's, but this is not the issue at hand). I have been recently in Portugal, and I took some pictures I wanted you to see:

I just LOVE this perfect simple mail box!

In Portugal mail boxes are (almost) never alone.
Blue mail boxes are for express mail. 

Two different signs for the post office.

First time I saw a machine selling stamps was in Portugal (15 years ago).
The last picture shows the same red mail box for red and blue (azul) mail!

More about postal service in Portugal: CTT - Correios de Portugal.

The World Needs More Love Letters

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It’s not about stamps.

Not about stationery.

It’s. about. your. neighbor.

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We’re going to tell you that we write and mail love letters, handwritten love letters, to strangers in need all over the world. We’re going to invite you to request a love letter for someone in your life who needs one. And we’re going to insist that you step out of your own shoes of Comfort & join us. You are going to think we are a bit crazy. A tad loopy. But you’ve been looking for a website that leaks love all this time… so we aren’t worried you’ll leave us.

Find out how to get involved in this mail project.

Elusive Postmark

In a letter sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

What a elusive postmark!

Tea Will Warm You

Sent to Micu's mum (Hungary) as contribution to the Challenge #2 of Mail a Smile. The theme of the challenge was A cup of tea or coffee.

Postcard made of tea packaging (English tea bought in Portugal!) and stickers. The postcard is published in the Challenge Gallery.

By the way, I had never published mail from or to Hungary before in this blog!

1st Round Stamp in USA Postal History

I got this stamp and I learnt it is the first round stamp in USA postal history. It is amazing indeed.

I like a lot stamps with different, sometimes strange shapes.

Revolution by Letter

« Mais soyons sérieux : aucune révolution ne s'est jamais faite par lettre recommandée. Tu imagines Robespierre à la poste de la rue du Louvre expédiant un "petit bleu" à Louis XVI l'avisant de fiche le camp en Prusse? »

Fouad Laroui, La vieille dame du riad

People and the Post

The Smithsonian National Postal Museum has recently launched a new website dedicated to the men and women of the USPS.

People and the Post allows the visitors enjoy a variety of post stories. Some of them are even accompanied by a video. The site also invites current and former postal employees to share their stories and experiences about their time with the Postal Service.

Records Related to Mail

More records related to mail:

• Oldest private postal service, in Lundy Island (the UK). 01 November 1929. Lundy Island, situated off the north Devon coast, had its own postal service launched on 1 November 1929 by Martin Coles Harman (UK), then-owner of the island.

• Most letters to Santa collected in a Christmas season, by Canada Post. 01 December 2006. During Christmas 2006 Santa received 1.06 million letters and 44,166 emails (each one responded to with the help of Santa's very special Canada Post elves). More than 11,000 Canada Post volunteers helped respond to these letters in 11 languages, including Braille.

• Largest stamp. 06 November 2007. The largest special stamp measured 600 mm x 493 mm and was made by Koninklijke Joh. Enschedé and issued by TNT Post for Team Nationaal Schoolontbijt in Enschedé, Netherlands.

• Largest postcard, by Deutsche Post and Toyota Cars. 10 August 2009. It measured 48.75 m². The card was made from crinkled cardboard with an even surfaces where the motifs has been printed on. The front side contained a photo mosaic, on the back delivery address and a stamp were placed. I measured the card and inspected the material before it was mounted into a steel display and covered by transparent acrylic plates to make it water resistant for its final stand in front of Olympiastadion Berlin for the duration of the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics.

• Largest mail box, in Gwangju (South Korea). 10 November 2009. The largest mail box in the world measured 7 m high, 3 m long and 3,001 m wide. It has a circunference of 12 m and weighs 6 tons. 200 people worked in it.

• Largest stamp mosaic, by South Africa Stamp Office. 13 October 2010. It measured 162 m² and was created by a joint group of 115 volunteers from the South African Post Office and the Hatfield Tuition College. The mosaic contained approximately 120,000 stamps.

• Most stamps in a series, China. 10 April 2012. The most stamps in one series are the Splendid Peonies series consisting of 1,000 different stamps, released in five consecutive years from 2006 to 2010 for the annual Luoyang Peony Festival in Luoyang City, Henan Province.

Atocha Railway Station

Sent to Heleen (the Netherlands).

These postcards show one of the main railways stations in Madrid (Spain): Madrid Atocha. The first one figures the station right now (more or less), and the second one is almost the same view one hundred years ago (it says 1912).

I like the idea of having two versions of the same place, old and new. Don't you?

Also published here.

Camels

Sent to Postmuse (the USA).

This is not an adopted postcard: I bought it. I read in Postmuse's blog that she loves camels and she has quite a collection of camel-themed items, including postcards. But I had a look to this collection and... I did not found any Moroccan camel (maybe is it not published?).

This picture, according to what is written on, was taken in Agadir. Agadir is more than 800 km far from my home in north Morocco. As I wrote in the postcard, you have the same chance to meet a camel in the city where I live as in your fridge. But still camels are a symbol of this country...

Big Postcard

Sent by Laura (the UK).

Collage made of press cuttings. Extra big postcard! In the right you can see a little the cathedral of Canterbury.

Lovely Postcards

Sent by Nataly and Liliia (Ukraine).

I Am Becoming Famous

As I was the lucky winner of challenge #1 from Mail a Smile, I had the right to choose the theme for challenge #2 and Micu wanted to meet me. But, alas, the trip from Morocco to Hungary was too expensive, so she had to be content with publishing an interview.

(Wow, I'm becoming famous in the snail mail world!)

I also won a letter-surprise, but it has not arrived yet. I'm impatient!

A Cup of Tea or Coffee

Maybe it is a bit late to post this, but you are still on time to participate in challenge #2 of the Mail a Smile blog. I explained the project here: it consists in making mail art and sending it to a people who needs a little smile. This time is Micu's mum (the one in the rigth... ;))

The theme for the challenge is A cup of tea or coffee (which can be freely interpreted, of course). I hope you all participate, as I was the lucky winner of challenge #1 who choose the theme! You have until 31st March to send your mails.

Birthday Mermaids

Sent by Laura (the UK).

Birthday postcard. She knows well I just love mermaids!

Trains on Stamps

I got this amazing stamp on this letter. 

It is not the first stamp I got of this fantastic British set. Look at this one featuring the metro station at Canary Wharf (London, the UK). I travelled in the brand new Jubilee Line some time ago, and I was impressed by this station. You think you are really in the future!

And there are some more old and new trains on stamps. I just love all them!

From Belarus

From Germany

From Finland

From Italy

From Japan

From Lithuania

From the Netherlands

Of course the last one is a big favourite!

Thomas (from the UK)

If you like to see more trains and railways in stamps, I recommend you a visit to one of Ravindra's blogs: Discover the World on Trains.

London

Letter and postcard sent by Laura (the UK). They arrived within two days. I think they are sister mails!

I know that the capitals of the countries are arbitrary and changing. But still I like to collect postcards about this subject. There are still a lot of countries left to finish this world map. 

Political Mail Box

I'm so familiar to yellow postboxes that is always a surprise when I travel and discover yellow is not the universal colour for mail. So is really strange to discover that in Madrid there is this blue postbox.

Well, in fact I ignore if it is still alive. It appeared last Monday morning as part of a non organised (so far) political protest. It seems that some members of the Spanish Government have been receiving envelopes with undeclared incomes (umpteenth corruption case). So somebody, anonymously, painted the postbox with the colour and the logo of the ruling party.

Of course I disapprove vandalism. Especially against defenceless postboxes. But somehow it is a disturbing and at the same time inspiring idea...

The Letter is a Mirror

«The letter you write, whether you realize it or not, is always a mirror which reflects your appearance, taste and character.»

Emily Post

(Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home, 1922)

Postcards Crossing Europe

My friend Aarón is crossing Europe rigth now. I never know where he is exactly, because we barely keep the online contact this days. But he is sending me postcards so I can follow his steps more or less. Some days ago I have showed you the first postcard he sent me. I have got more postcards from him! So far:

 

There are some funny thinks about this trip: 

• It is completely unpredictable, as my friend himself. He has changed the plan thousands of times so far (but the destination seems to be Cyprus);
• I can not answer the postcards as he has no address right now;
• I am not receiving the postcards in the right order (that is the reason why I made the map!);
• I have added two countries to my list: Slovenia and Serbia;
• We had never exchanged postcards so far!

And now the postcards:

Barcelona
His mobile phone was stolen (nice starter!).

Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan (Italy). 
He wrote they exist only two things there: fashion and soccer.

Aperitivi in Florence (Italy)

Ljubliana (Slovenia)
This city is in my wishlist of trips since long time ago.

Big postcard of Belgrad, the capital of Serbia.
It arrived a bit damaged in way.

 

Update: He arrived in Cyprus!

March 8

Sent by Tanya (Belarus).
Postcard to commemorate March 8, International Women's Day.

And stamps related to this topic from Italy and France:

Postcard from Iran

Sent by Ann (Iran).

Postcard featuring Khajoo bridge, a bit damaged during its way to Morocco (six weeks, more or less...). It is always a pleasure to add a new country to my list. I guess it is not easy to get a postcard from Iran.

By the way, I cannot understand the postmark. 91?!? (update: see Heleen's comment).

Update 21/10/2016: I added this postcard to Maria's linky party Postcards for the weekend. It is a postcard received a long time ago, but I still think is is a very special card, and it is the first that came to my mind when I read the theme: Reflections on water.

Martinique

Sent by Sandrine (Martinique, France).

This is just the second letter I have got from Martinique (in fact, France. But it is so far away from Europe...). Inside this awesome envelope I found a non less amazing postcard: marvellous beaches, the summer during the winter... My friend is so lucky to have been there on holidays!

Below, the first postcard I received from Martinique (long time ago), also sent by Sandrine:

Postcrossing Spotlight

Last Saturday I was featured on the Postcrossing blog! I always read the interviews to other postcrossers, and it is an honour to see me in this long-running series! You can read the interview here. 

Back to the School Run

Sent by Laura (the UK).

Collage made from a catalogue of toys and some stickers, showing the Playmobil school. My friend sent this postcard on 5th January, to complain (slightly) about the end of the holidays. Well, today I am coming back to my Arabic lessons after one wonderful week of holidays. So this postcard must be appropriate, mustn't it?

By the way: have you noticed that this lucky teacher is having a cup of tea during the lesson?!?

This Is Where She Goes

Canadian Based Artist Laura Bucci recently put out a call for mail artists to contribute to an exhibition held at Britannia Art Gallery—a community art gallery– in Vancouver during November 6 to 29 2013. The theme is This is where I go. To participate you must sent a handmade mail art piece on a postcard before September 15th. Visit The Project Page to find out more.