0365 Europa Cept covers 2020 Romania ancient postal routes

Self prepared FDC - during Coronavirus shutdown - Bucharest 

Circulated - one day time of travel

Sent 09.04.2020

Received 10.04.2020

And on this link -  you can find also other similar cover sent to France :) To my friend Eric Contesse 

https://timbredujura.blogspot.com/

And here to Germany - Holger Kaufhold: 

0297 Europa 2020 Ancient Mail Routes cover Russia

Sent: 25.02.2020
Received 09.03.2020
Travel time 13 days

Sent by Salvatore Cacciatore (thank you!)

0294 Russian Tea Drinkers

Sent: 03.03.2020

Received: 17.03.2020

Travel time: 14 days

Sent via postcardunited platform (thank you, dear Svetlana!)

0197 Anniversary Cover 25 years from first Europa issue of Moldova Post

Sent: 29.12.2018

Received: 07.01.2019

Travel time 10 days

Sender: IMPS - Niall Murphy - the president of IMPS, thank you so much! Such great cover, celebrating 25 years from first issue Europa of Moldova Republic post! 

IMPS is an evolution of the highly successful project "MoldovaStamps", first developed by our President, Niall Murphy, in 2003 and developed continuously since then. MoldovaStamps succeeded in it's objective to be one of the best online single-country philatelic web sites in the world. It has enjoyed the support of people from over 160 countries and has earned a considerable reputation. MoldovaStamps is one of the most popular philatelic web sites in the world.

In March 2018, it was decided to evolve MoldovaStamps into an international philatelic society, with the primary objective of promoting world-wide awareness of Moldova, her history and culture, through the medium of philately.

Unlike traditional, formal philatelic societies with their strict rules and procedures, IMPS want to take a fresh, modern attitude. More info on link below.

You can become too member of International Moldovan Philatelic Society here http://www.moldovastamps.org/

0194 Bosnia and Herzegovina (Poste Srpske) Europa stamps cover

Sent: 02.06.2018
Received 11.06.2018
Travel time: 9 days

Sender Miro Jelecevic from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

About stamps - you can find more info here:

http://europa-stamps.blogspot.com/2018/04/bosnia-and-herzegovina-serb-post-2018.html

Serbian Post in BH official site: http://www.postesrpske.com

Wiki:

Pošte Srpske (full legal name: Preduzeće za poštanski saobraćaj Republike Srpske ad) is one of three companies responsible for postal service in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other two are BH Pošta and Hrvatska Pošta Mostar.

0161 Luxembourg Flag of country FOTW100

Sent : 10.08.2016 (?)

Received 12.08.2016

Travel time (?)

Sender Anne Hippe , a friend from Luxembourg.

Get yours here: http://postcardsmarket.com/product/luxembourg-fw/

Wiki:

The flag of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuerger Fändel, German: Flagge Luxemburgs, French: Drapeau du Luxembourg) consists of three horizontal stripes, red, white and blue, and can be in 1:2 or 3:5 ratio. It was first used between 1845 and 1848 and officially adopted on 23 June 1972.

Luxembourg had no flag until 1830, when patriots were urged to display the national colors. The flag was defined as a horizontal tricolor of red, white, and blue in 1848, but it was not officially adopted until 1972. The tricolor flag is almost identical to Flag of the Netherlands, except that it is longer and its blue stripe and red stripe are a lighter shade. The red, white, and blue colors were derived from the coat of arms of the House of Luxembourg.

0147 Ireland Flag of country FOTW88

Sent: -

Received: 14.03.2017

Travel time - 

Sender Lea from Ireland

http://postcardsmarket.com/product/ireland-fw/

The national flag of Ireland (Irish: bratach na hÉireann) – frequently referred to as the Irish tricolor (trídhathach na hÉireann) – is the national flag and ensign of the Republic of Ireland. The flag itself is a vertical tricolor of green (at the hoist), white and orange.

The proportions of the flag are 1:2 (that is to say, flown horizontally, the flag is half as high as it is wide). Presented as a gift in 1848 to Thomas Francis Meagher from a small group of French women sympathetic to the Irish cause, it was intended to symbolize the inclusion and hoped-for union between Roman Catholics and Protestants, the significance of the colors outlined by Meagher was, “The white in the center signifies a lasting truce between Orange and Green and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood.”

It was not until the Easter Rising of 1916, when it was raised above Dublin's General Post Office by Gearóid O'Sullivan, that the tricolor came to be regarded as the national flag. The flag was adopted by the Irish Republic during the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921). The flag's use was continued by the Irish Free State (1922–1937) and it was later given constitutional status under the 1937 Constitution of Ireland. The tricolor is used by nationalists on both sides of the border as the national flag of the whole island of Ireland since 1916. Thus it is flown by many nationalists in Northern Ireland as well as by the Gaelic Athletic Association.

0146 Italy Flag of country FOTW87

Sent: 07.07.2016

Received 19.07.2016

Travel time 12 days

Sender Myself from Imola, during my trip in Italy

http://postcardsmarket.com/product/italy-fw/

The flag of Italy (bandiera d'Italia, often referred to in Italian as il Tricolore; Italian: [il trikoˈloːre]) is a tricolour featuring three equally-sized vertical pales of green, white and red, with the green at the hoist side. Its current form has been in use since 18 June 1946 and was formally adopted on 1 January 1948.

The first entity to use the Italian tricolour was the Cisalpine Republic in 1797, which supplanted Milan after Napoleon's victorious army crossed Italy in 1796. The colours chosen by the Cispadane Republic were red and white, which were the colours of the recently conquered flag of Milan; and green, which was the colour of the uniform of the Milanese civic guard. During this time, many small French-proxy republics of Jacobin inspiration supplanted the ancient absolute Italian states and almost all, with variants of colour, used flags characterised by three bands of equal size, clearly inspired by the French model of 1790.

Some have attributed particular values to the colours, and a common interpretation is that the green represents the country's plains and the hills; white, the snow-capped Alps; and red, blood spilt in the Wars of Italian Independence and Unification. A more religious interpretation is that the green represents hope, the white represents faith, and the red represents charity; this references the three theological virtues.

0139-140 Iceland Flag of country FOTW83

http://postcardsmarket.com/product/switzerland-fw/

Sent: 17.05.2017

Received: 22.05.2017

Travel time: 5 days

Sender Jurgen from Switzerland

. This Europa 2012 Iceland stamp was one of the most interesting stamps in that year. More details about the stamp you can find here: http://europa-stamps.blogspot.com/2011/11/iceland-2012.html

Sent: 30.05.2017

Received: 08.06.2017

Travel time: 9 days

Sender Rosmarie from Switzerland

0134 Greece Flag of country FOTW79

Sent: 20.07.2017

Received: 03.08.2017

Travel time: 14 days

Sender myself from Hersonissos, Crete - from my holiday :)

https://postcardsmarket.com/product/greece-fw/

Wiki: The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "sky-blue-white" or the "blue-white" (Greek: Γαλανόλευκη or Κυανόλευκη), officially recognized by Greece as one of its national symbols, is based on nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. There is a blue canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolizes Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the established religion of the Greek people of Greece and Cyprus. The blazon of the flag is Azure, four bars Argent; on a canton of the field a Greek cross throughout of the second. The official flag ratio is 2:3. The shade of blue used in the flag has varied throughout its history, from light blue to dark blue, the latter being increasingly used since the late 1960s. It was officially adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822.

According to popular tradition, the nine stripes represent the nine syllables of the phrase "Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος" ("Freedom or Death"), the five blue stripes for the syllables "Ελευθερία" and the four white stripes "ή Θάνατος".  The nine stripes are also said to represent the letters of the word "freedom" (Greek: ελευθερία). There is also a different theory, that the nine stripes symbolize the nine Muses, the goddesses of art and civilization (nine has traditionally been one of the numbers of reference for the Greeks).

Blue and white have been interpreted as symbolizing the colors of the famed Greek sky and sea.

0106-107 Cyprus Flag of Country FOTW62

Sent:22.06.2017

Received: 17.07.2017

Travel time: 25 days

Sender Krisztina from Hungary

http://postcardsmarket.com/product/cyprus-fw/

Sent from North Cyprus - using specific stamps: 05 December (Aralik) 2017

Received - 19.12.2017

Travel time: 14 days

Sender a friend from Turkey

The national flag of Cyprus (Greek: σημαία της Κύπρου simea tis Kipru; Turkish: Kıbrıs bayrağı) came into use on 16 August 1960, under the Zurich and London Agreements, whereby a constitution was drafted and Cyprus was proclaimed an independent state. The flag was designed by art teacher İsmet Güney.[1] The flag deliberately chose peaceful and neutral symbols in an attempt to indicate harmony between the rival Greek and Turkish communities, an ideal that has not yet been realized. In 1963 Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities separated because of Cypriot intercommunal violence.

The state flag features a map of the entirety of the island, with two olive branches below (a symbol of peace) on white (another symbol of peace). The olive branches signify peace between the Turks and Greeks. The map on the flag is a copper-orange colour, symbolising the large deposits of copper ore on the island (chiefly in the form of chalcopyrite, which is yellow in colour), from which it may have received its name.

0100-103 Moldova Rep MaxiCard & FDC Europa 2018

Sent: 08.02.2018

Received: 13.02.2018

Travel time: 5 days

Sender Ala Nicoreanu- a friend from Chisinau.The items were sent one from Pohorniceni, Orhei, and one from Ungheni, in the same day -day of first issue of emission.

The stamps are described also here: http://www.moldovastamps.org/ro/catalogue-stamps-issue.asp?issueID=3001

The Eiffel Bridge (Romanian: Podul Eiffel) is a bridge over the River Prut and a checkpoint between Moldova and Romania. The bridge is located between Ungheni and Ungheni, Iași.

On May 18 [O.S. May 6] 1872 a Russian diplomatic agent, Ivan Alekseevich Zinov'ev, and Gheorghe Costaforu signed a rail junction convention, which was ratified on January 21 [O.S. January 9] 1873.[1] and the Iaşi-Ungheni railway was opened on August 1, 1874. The railway Chişinău-Corneşti-Ungheni (built 1871–1875) was opened on June 1, 1875 by the Russian Empire in preparation for the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). Ungheni customs were established in 1875 after putting into operation the Chişinău-Ungheni-Iaşi railroad. The railway Chişinău-Corneşti was already opened in 1873.

In 1876, after the spring flooding of the river Prut, the railway bridge that linked Bessarabia and Romania was almost destroyed. The Railway Department invited Gustave Eiffel to Bessarabia (Moldova) to redesign and rebuild the bridge, which was opened on April 21 [O.S. April 9] 1877, just three days before the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). On April 23 [O.S. April 11] 1877, Russian troops entered Romania at Ungheni and, the next day, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire. Today, the bridge remains a strategically positioned construction under the supervision of border guards.

In the nearby city of Iaşi, Gustave Eiffel also built the Grand Hotel Traian (1882).

The Pohorniceni bridge is a very old bridge built in a local traditional way, and it can be cross only by pedestrian. The bridge is crossing Raut river.

Răut, also referred to as Reut (Romanian: Răut, Ukrainian and Russian: Реут (Reut), Yiddish: רעװעט‎ (Revet)) is a river in Moldova, a right tributary of Dniester. Răut, generally navigable until 18-19th century, is navigable today only by small recreational boats.

The towns Bălți, Orhei and Florești are located by the river.