Gomel, Belarus

Gomel

Blurry photo of an ugly building. Quite honestly, I don't know why someone would even produce a card like this, let alone purchase it. One of the things I have on my wishlist is the sender's favorite place in their country, and the sender of this card states that they chose this one because they like Gomel very much. I am sure they do, but I am still mystified why they would choose this ugly card to represent a place that has a number of nice places.

However, the sender did write me a nice message and used lots of stamps. :)

The green ones are a 2012 definitive from the series on architectural monuments, this particular one being Niasvizh Castle, a UNESCO site in the city of Niasvizh. The purple one in the middle is from the same set, this one showing the Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle  in the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi. The flower on the right is a lily from a 2008 set on garden flowers.

Lake Naroch, Belarus

BY-159003, which also happened to come from my favorites! :) I like forests *almost* as much as I like mountains, and this particular forest reminds me of those here at home. This is the river Stracha in Lake Naroch National Park in northwest Belarus (near Minsk). The park, established in 1999, is home to some 900 plant species and 243 animal species, including a herd of 50 royal stags.

There isn't a lot of information in English, but one blog post I found expostulates, "Mother Nature had intended this picturesque place to become a resort area with high attendance." I doubt Mother Nature had any such plan in mind. I think Mother Nature intended it to remain just as it looks on this card... natural.

Of the stamps, only the rabbit in the middle is new to us. It's a hare (Lepus europaeus) from that same 2008 set of wild animals.

Night Train

From exmellie for the June 2010 RR. I got to choose this from her offers album and I really like it. She says the piece is called "Night Train," but didn't say who the artist is. Anyone?

Two copies of a racoon from a 2008 issue on wild animals, plus two from a set of garden flowers: tulip and lily.

Happytravel.by

BY-75212 from Alesya

This is one of the few ad cards I've received as an official, and I really like it. It's a card advertising a Belorussian travel website.
Минск - Куала-Лумпур = Minsk - Kuala Lumpur = Watermelon
Гомель - Мапе = Gomel - Marie = Pomegranate
Брест - Афины = Brest - Athens = Pineapple

Поиск отдыха по новым технологиям
"Search holiday on new technologies," according to Google Translate.

All three stamps were issued in 2008, the two on the right from a series of five wild animals, here European mink (Mustela lutreola) and wolf (Canis lupus). On the left is the peony (Paeonia lactiflora), from a set of eight garden flowers.