2004 Summer Olympics

Cyprus issued the stamps on these three maxi cards. The stamps are part of a set of four. Unfortunately, I don’t have the fourth. These wonderful maxicards were given to me by Merja.

A brief description about the three cards wont be out of place. These pictures are a representation from an ancient Greek pot (courtesy the British Museum). Track events such as the 100m race, the marathon, javelin throw, shot Put, discus throwing and a few others are normally the highlights of any Olympic Games.

The next card (lower left) depicts Equestrian Events. The horse was used in athletic competition for the first time in Ancient Greece in 68o BC in chariot races and in 684BC in horse races.The Modern day Olympics feature Show Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. And finally the card at lower right depicts boxing.This was one of the most spectacular Olympic events in Ancient Olympia.

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries. There were 301 medal events in 28 different sports. Athens 2004 marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance. It was also the first time since 1896 (other than the since-downgraded 1906 Intercalated Games) that the Olympics were held in Greece.

A new medal obverse was introduced at these Games, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since the 1928 Games. This rectified the long lasting mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue. The new design features the Panathinaiko Stadium.

Famous Sailing ships of Finland

The Jacobstads Wapen is a modern replica of an 18th century galeas built in Jakobstad, Finland between 1988-1994. She is built according to blueprints by the Swedish warship architect Fredrik Henrik af Chapman (1720-1808) dating from 1755, the oldest vessel blueprints found in Finland. She is classified by the Finnish national board of navigation as a passenger, special-purpose vessel. The 18th century galleon Jacobstads Wapen was sold off in Amsterdam. She has been used as a symbol for Jakobstad but as of late has had financial problems. She participated in the festivities at the 300 year anniversary of St. Petersburg, Russia in 2003. In 2005 it was discovered that some of the woodwork had deteriorated and is currently awaiting renovations. The galeas is a small type of trade ship, which was common in the Baltic Sea and North Sea from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. The characteristics of the ships depend somewhat from where the ship originated. Swedish (and Finnish) versions had two masts and were rigged as ketchs, sometimes as schooners. The galeas was developed from the Dutch galliot, which was rigged in a similar way, but was equipped with a rounded stern. The Swedish galliot was sometimes called "Dutch hoy" or "English dogger". The galeas has a galliot's rig, but a square stern.

Sigyn, built in Göteborg 1887, now museum ship in Turku, is the last remaining wooden barque used for trade across the oceans. At the time she was built there were thousands of similar vessels, but she was one of the last ones built. She was quite small even for her time, considering she was built for long-distance trade, but well built and considered fast and beautiful. The SigynSigyn is the only remaining vessel of that kind. represents a type of vessel that during the second half of the 19th century was the most common type of deep-water cargo-carrier, the three-masted wooden barque.

Famous Rune Singers of Finland

Before the advent of the written word, storytellers had to use creative methods to ensure that their stories were not forgotten. That is why they introduced alliteration, rhythm, hymns and repetitions. The verses would be sang or repeated in the kind of droning voices that monks use to remember long texts. This is how the Edda, the Iliad, Beowulf and Ramayana survived until the stories could be written down. This is also the story of Finland's national epic, the Kalevala. All over Finland "rune songs" with different stories were sung from 1000 B.C until the 1500's when the Lutheran Church following the Reformation, banned them as being pagan. Although the tradition soon disappeared from the western parts of Finland, there was a foothold of the songs and singers in Karelia and in Archangel's Karelia on the Russian side. A few of these songs were recorded in the 1600's, but it is thanks to Elias Lönnrot and his eleven trips to the region that we have the Kalevala with the rune songs from the last generation of singers. A Finnish family may not be intimately familiar with the Kalevala but it is constantly reminded of it through hundreds of names, - even a harvester and an icebreaker, all bearing names relating to Kalevala. The maxi cards displayed commemorate two of the greatest rune singers of Finland.

Pedri Semeikka (1821 or 1825 – 1915) was a famous rune singer in the border regions of Karelia. Besides his poems, he was famous for his impressive incantations.

Larin Paraske (December 27, 1833 – January 3, 1904) was an Izhorian oral poet. She was the foremost rune singer and legend teller of Finland. She is considered a key figure in Finnish folk poetry and has been called the "Finnish Mnemosyne”. Paraske is also one of the people on stamps of Finland.

These stamps on the maximum cards were issued on the occasion of The 150th Anniversary of the Kalevala. These important maxi cards in Finnish culture were given to me by my dear friend Merja.

The Pancyprian Gymnasium

The Pancyprian Gymnasium was founded in 1812 by Archbishop Kyprianos at a time when Cyprus was still under Ottoman occupation. It was originally called the Hellenic School (Ελληνική Σχολή) and is the oldest high school still in operation on the island. The school was expanded in 1893 to incorporate a lyceum when Cyprus was under British occupation and changed its name to its current one in 1896. In tribute to the school's contribution to education the Cyprus Post office issued a commemorative stamp in 1993.

It is located opposite the archbishopric within the walls of the old city of Nicosia. The original building was destroyed in a fire in 1920 and parts of the school were completely rebuilt in neoclassical style. Of particular historical interest is the crypt of the school located beneath the main entrance. This is where Archbishop Kyprianos was said to have held secret meetings with representatives of the Philiki Etairia in the early 19th century. The school also incorporates a substantial collection of artifacts, art and books. The Severios Library which opened in 1949 holds over 60,000 manuscripts.

The stamp depicts the portal to the institute. The owl on the postmark signifies perfection in learning. It also brings back nostalgic memomories of my days at the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, which also had an owl as its logo. Thank you dear Merja for this nice maximum card.

Through benevolent donations the school has become very wealthy. On an educational level it is highly regarded and considered a model school. Many influential figures have studied and taught here.

1929 Packard 626 - "speedster roadster"

This long wheelbase 1929 Packard wears a coach-built phaeton body. Wealthy customers often bought bare chassis from luxury car makers and had custom bodies installed by companies like Brunn and Dietrich. This vehicle features a separate cowl and windshield designed to protect rear seat passengers from wind and debris during spirited driving. The straight eight cylinder power plant replaced the V-12 in 1923 and would power Packard cars until the 1930s. The Packard family coat of arms appeared on the radiator emblem for the first time in 1929. On enquiry from friends in the States I was given to understand that this car would be worth about $65000, if at all it was available for sale.

The stamps Carrick affixed to the card are very pretty too. They are part of the 2011 “Forever” series of non-denominated postage issued by the United States. I will talk a little more about these non-denominated postage stamps a little later in my blog “letstalkstamps”.

Dover Castle - The Key to England

Dover Castle is a medieval castle in the town of the same name in the English county of Kent. It was founded in the 12th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. It is the largest castle in England.

Dover Castle is a Scheduled Monument, which means it is a "nationally important" historic building and archaeological site that has been given protection against unauthorised change. It is also a Grade I listed building, and recognised as an internationally important structure. The castle, secret tunnels, and surrounding land are now owned by English Heritage and the site is a major tourist attraction. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is officially head of the castle, in his conjoint position of Constable of Dover Castle, and the Deputy Constable has his residence in Constable's Gate. The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Museum is located in the castle.

Between 2007 and 2009, English Heritage spent £2.45 million on recreating the castle's interior. According to figures released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, nearly 350,000 people visited Dover Castle in 2010. Margaret sent this Nice picture card of the historically important Dover Castle to me. And Don't forget the really pretty stamp affixed to the card. This stamp is one of a wonderful set of stamps of characters in the TV Serial “Thomas the Tank Engine”. Daisy is a diesel railcar who came to work on the branch line when Thomas needed repairs. The Fat Controller decided to keep Daisy when she proved she could be useful. Her face is decorated in make-up, including eyelashes, red lipstick, and purple eye-shadow. To tell you a little secret – I loved this TV serial and was sad when The Cartoon Network Channel took it off the air in India.

Horse-drawn single-track lines - 1890–1900

Today, Helsinki is the only city in Finland to still have tram traffic. Two other Finnish cities—Turku and Vyborg (now part of Russia) — have had tram systems. Vyborg abandoned its trams in 1957, after the city had been ceded to the Soviet Union following the result of World War II. Turku withdrew its trams in 1972.

The first proposals for the construction of a tram system into Helsinki were made in 1870s, but they were at the time unsuccessful. Public transport in Helsinki was initiated in 1888 by using horse-drawn omnibuses. In 1889 Helsingin Omnibussiosakeyhtiö acquired the right to construct tram lines in Helsinki. The following year the company changed its name in Helsingin raitiotie- ja omnibussiosakeyhtiö (abbreviated HRO). Electric traction was considered as a power source for the new system, but due to lack of funds and the city council's negative attitude towards electric trams, the decision was made to use horse-drawn trams instead. The new system was built to a rail gauge of one metre. Test traffic started in December 1890, but the network wasn't officially opened for traffic until June 1891. The capacity of the horse tram system soon proved insufficient, but the changeover into electrified trams was postproned while waiting for the price of electrification of the network to drop.

This lovely stamp was issued on May 23, 1988. My dear friend Merja sent me this pretty maxicard.