Sea View

t2012: Europe - "Visit"

Here is where the tourist and indeed the photographer would head for a view of the Grand Harbour of Malta, the Upper Barrakka Gardens. Only a set of se-tenant stamps can fit it all in - the Three Cities opposite with the Fort of St Angelo in the centre.  In the foreground are part of the Barrakka Garden's 'Saluting Battery', which forms part of Valletta's old fortifications built in 1566 by the Knights of St John.

For a harbour with a more peaceful history lets travel to one of Malta's other islands, Gozo

where the fishing village of Mgarr basks in the sunlight on this miniature sheet. This was a joint issue between the northernmost and southernmost islands in Europe (Iceland and Malta) with the theme of "Fishing Villages".  Unfortunately I don't have Iceland's contribution which was of  Húsavík (see here).  In fact I discovered that I don't have any Icelandic fishing villages amongst my stamps so instead I'll include a stamp that is unrelated to either fish or fishing but is one of my favourites

portraying the hardy Icelandic pony/horse first brought to the island by Norse settlers. It is also an opportunity for me to show some map stamps of the Atlantic Ocean and its islands

1962: Transatlantic Telephone Cable

The first Icelandic telegraph cable was laid linking Iceland to the Shetlands and Faroes in 1906 and it failed in 1962 which by coincidence was the date this stamp was issued to commemorate the inauguration of the Transatlantic telephone cable via Iceland which started near Oban and ended in Newfoundland .  This too would suffer damage in the northern waters by icebergs and fishing vessels.

For two views of the Atlantic across time here is Iceland's stamp issued for their participation in Montreal's World Fair.  Considered the most successful Expo of the 20th century with its theme of 'Man and his world' Canada actually built an island for the event using 25 million tons of rock

1967: World Fair in Montreal : Maps of 1590 and 1967

1952: Portuguese Navigators - Map of c1471

and  I end travelling south  mid Atlantic in the archipelago of the Cape Verde islands.

An entry to Sunday Stamps II theme of - Islands - travel to more on See It On A Postcard here