France, Harry Potter Miniature Sheet

Here is a beautiful real posted cover from France with beautiful Harry Potter miniature sheet. Harry Potter is one of my favorite characters in books and movies. I recommend Harry Potter books to everyone who is reading this post. The movies are also good but not as classic as the books. The set of 7 Harry Potter Books is a must-read for every book lover. The miniature sheet was issued in 2007. "Fete Du Timbre 2007" printed on the miniature sheet means "Celebration of Stamps 2007" or "Stamp Celebration 2007". Thanks Marie for the quick translation.

The remaining stamps pasted on the cover were also issued in 2005. The French stamps of 0.01, 0.05 and 0.10 Euro feature Marianne. Marianne is a symbol of Republican France. A marianne is a portrait of a proud and determined woman wearing a "Phrygian Cap". She symbolises the attachment of the common citizens of the revolution to the Republic - Marianne is liberty, egality and fraternity. The one shown on these stamps is Lamouche Marianne. Thanks to Michael Adam for this beautiful cover.

Another View Of Al-Masjid Al-Haraam, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Here is another viewof Al-Masjid Al-Haraam in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

This post card is from Saudi Arabia and basically it featuresthe dome and minaret of Al-Masa'a. It is the third postcard with the same masjid in fact.

After this I will be uploading other postcards as well.

Love.

Al-Masjid Al-Haram (Holy Mosque), Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Hello and Assalam-o-Alaikum!

Here is my first post card for the blog.

I chose this nice piece from my little postcard collection as my first here. The postcard features the World's largest mosque and the holiest place for the Muslim World. It is also the prime destination of the Hajj pilgrimage.

The mosque complex covers an area of 356,800 square meters and can accommodate up to 820,000 worshipers during the Hajj.

The Haram was built in the 7th century and has been modified, rebuilt, and expanded on a regular basis ever since. Major expansions took place in the 1980s and further work is going on today.

The mosque is built around Holy Kaa'ba or qibla which is considered to be the home of Allah (Almighty God) on Earth. So all Muslims around the globe say their prayers facing towards Holy Kaa'ba. The Holy Mosque is the only mosque that has no qibla direction, since Muslims pray facing the Kaa'ba in the central courtyard. I mean to say that the direction like West, East or North are not specified like in any other mosque but the worshippers face the qibla for their prayers.

I planned to start posting post cards a little later but I am posting my first postcardon the request of a fellow collector Marie who is organizing an event on her blog by the name of 'Postcard Friendship Friday'. So today on Friday, 30th of January 2009, I post this postcard as my first on the blog.

I hope that all of you will like it.

Best Regards

7th Men's World Handball Championship 1970, France

Today I will share this beautiful FDC from France. The FDC was issued on the eve of 7th Men's World Handball Championship which was held in 1970 in France. The FDC features a beautiful stamp depicting a handball player. Three other players are also shown on the FDC envelope. 

An interesting thing which I noticed is that on the envelope, the shirt number of the player(in blue shirt) making the shot is inverted "9"or may be double-inverted "6". What do you say?

The FDC was issued on 21 February 1970 and it has been cancelled in the beautiful city of France - Paris.

The Championship was won by Romania getting the Gold medal, where as East Germany and Yugoslavia got Silver and Bronzemedals respectively.

Pakistan FDC: 2001: 9th SAF Games, Islamabad

Hi friends!

Here is another INTERESTING FDC from Pakistan. The FDC was issued on 9 Aril 2001 to honor the 9th SAF Games (South Asian Federation Games) scheduled to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan in2001. The interesting part was that the Games were NOT held in 2001 due to extreme tension & escalation of armies on the border between Pakistan and India. India refused to send its contigent to Pakistan for the games. The games were postponed again and again, until they were finally organized in 2004. 

I have already shared the extremely BEAUTIFUL FDC issued in 2004to commemorate 9th SAF games with you. If you have missed that cool post then you can read it by following this link:

SAF Games 2004 - FDC from Pakistan

You definitely can not afford to miss this one.

Pakistan: FIFA Centenary Celebrations 2004

Here is a beautiful FDC issued by Pakistan Post on the eve of FIFA Centenary Celebrations on 21 May 2004.  The FDC sports a set of 3 stamps with Rs 5denomination each. The cover depicts three abstract soccer players running after the magic ball. The beautifulpostmark cancellation also shows a football in the center.

Football is considered an easy game to be played by any faction of the society. The love of football can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere, no matter how skilled a player you may happen to be. You just require a football to enjoy the ecstacy of this magic game.

Over the past 100 years, football has taken root as the world's most watched and played sport, encompassing whole regions, people and nations. With approximately two hundred million active players in the world, it has become a national obsession in many countries making players superstars and clubs powerful brands.

These stamps issued from Pakistan marks the centenary of FIFA, (The Fédération Internationale de Football Association) which was founded on 21 May 1904 featuring the FIFA Centenary logo.

Here I would like to add one thing: Pakistan is one of the largest exporters of hand-made footballs in the World. Although Football is a hugely popular game among the people in Pakistan yet Pakistan Football Team has never brought any laurels at the international arena. PresentlyPakistan is ranked 167 in FIFA Rankings.

While talking about football, I just remembered a picture I took last year. It would definitely be a pleasure to share it with you. This is my younger daughter - Maha's picture playing with a football while eating a banana in the kitchen. So even the children enjoy FOOTBALL -the best game played in the World.