bern

a city with mountains

The taller spire, on the far right, is the Munster, and the shorter one in the middle with the green top is the Church of St Peter and Paul (I think). The bridge in the foreground may be the Kornhausbrucke.

a southern European city for Thursday Postcard Hunt 

not always h

 

With four official languages in Switzerland, trying to fit Schweiz, Suisse, Svizerra, and the Romansch Svizra would take up most of the room on a stamp, so they settled on the Latin name 'Helvetia' (official name Confederatio Helvetica- why the CH as the international country code).  Interestingly, in Irish Gaelic and Romanian, the name for Switzerland is closer to Helvetia than variations of Swiss.

'Croatia', on the other hand, is from the Latin name for the country. Hrvatska is derived from the Slavic name, which is used by the people themselves.  The international country code is HR instead of CR because it was already taken by Costa Rica.  I admit, I often initially mistake HR for Hungary

another country with a non English name on their stamp (we'll get to that one with 'M')

I found an interesting article explaining how Croatia/Hrvatska came to be. The original Slavic name was Horvatska, later into Hrvatska.  Latin does not really pronounce the letter 'h', and starting the name with just an 'r' wasn't quite right, so they made it a 'ch' which became just a 'c'.  A 'v' after an 'r' is easy for Slavic speakers but not Latin, so it was transformed into a vowel 'o'.  So now we have a Slavic 'Horvat'  which became Hrvat, which became a Latin 'Croat' with the usual Latin ending for Slavic countries 'ia'

cents

 20 centimes coin from Switzerland showing the head of Liberty (designed in 1879)

 

2 cent stamp from Netherlands  (1946)

small animals

 red fox and red squirrel

an exasperated mama cat

 

 

 

those eyes...

ranges

 

The Tatra National Park showing the High Tatras along the border of Slovakia and Poland.

and a few hours to the west, we come to the Emmental mountains in the western Alps.

 

Both of these ranges are relatively low in elevation with the Tatras slightly beating out the Emmental with a highest peak of 2,655 m to 2,350 m.

For Sunday Stamps - mountains

young and old

a couple of  young chicks

and a couple of old dinosaurs







for Sunday Stamps - the colour yellow

terraced vineyards

A World Heritage Site since 2007
Lavaux, Vineyards Terraces stretch for 30 kms along Lake Geneva can be traced back to the 11th C when Benedictine and Cistercian monateries controlled the area.

Sunday Stamps - H

2006, Switzerland, traditional flora
designer: Flavia Travaglini

The Spatlauber is an old variety of rare apple cultivated in Switzerland since around 1750 and able to be stored for extended periods of time without shrivelling. These days, it is known for its anti-aging stem cells use in cosmetics.

for the letter H - Helvetia / Switzerland

Sunday Stamps II - 145

2017, Switzerland, Postcrossing
illustrator: Max Spring

A brand new stamp, issued September 7, 2017, this is the international rate stamp showing a postcard flying off to various parts of the world. Switzerland uses four different variations of its name - Schweiz (German), Suisse (French), Svizzera (Italian), Svizra (Romanish) and for official purposes adds 'Confederation of' in front of the country name. The latin name Helvetia comes from the Helvetii who were a Celtic tribe that were settled in the area during Julius Caesar's time, and CH (Confoederatio Helvetica) is used for all banknotes, postage stamps, and the internet.

for the letter H - Helvetia

Sunday Stamps II - 104

1965 Switzerland
designer: Edi Hauri

Edi Hauri (1911-88) was from Basel and a prolific graphic designer whose works included travel posters, maps and stamps. The Matterhorn straddles the main watershed and the border of Switzerland and Italy. It overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt and the Italian town of Breuli-Cervinia. In Italian it is known as Monte Cervino  At 4,478 metres (or 14692 feet) it is one of the highest peaks in the Alps and in Europe.

for mountains

Sunday Stamps II - 97

1984 NABA ZURI National stamp show Jun 22 - July 1
 se-tenant stamp showing a panorama view of Zurich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and was 'founded' by the Romans in 15BC, though there is evidence it was settled more than 6400 years ago. Each stamp shows one of the four major churches in the old town. On the far right you can see the Grossmünster, followed by the Predigerkirche, St Peter's and the Fraümunster. The Limmat river and the Münsterbrucke are front and centre.

Sunday Stamps II - 22

issued February 2014 from Switzerland
designed by Karin Hänni

Strobilomyces streobilaceus is also known as 'old man of the woods'.
The cone fungus has dishevelled scales covering its cap and stem and is found in mixed beech woodland. Do not snack on this mushroom - it has a bitter taste and is not edible.

get ready

received 2014

Dear folk, get ready, here comes the beautiful Easter time!

Jungfrau

Mt Männlichen and Jungfrau

unsent, circa 1910 

real photo

Interlaken

sent July 30, 1928 Interlaken Switzerland to Wichita USA

Dear Cousins, this shows our hotel in Interlaken - the one at the left, in fact all that building. In the distance is the majestic and beautiful Jungfrau - the 'belle' of the neighbourhood - always covered with dazzling white snow.
yours, E