Trams, Belgium

this week's theme at Viridian's is Streetcars, or any kind of public transport. As someone might guess, i was on the verge of posting something related to trains (again) but i do have these set of 3 tram stamps, so it would be the best occasion to use them now :)

So here we have the tram set from Belgium issued in 2008.

the first one shows De kustttram, or the Belgian coast tram, which is a public transport service connecting the cities and towns along the entire Belgian (West Flanders) coast, between De Panne near the French border and Knokke-Heist near the Dutch border. At 68 km in length, it is the longest tram line in the world, as well as one of the few interurban tramways in the world to remain in operation. The service makes 70 stops with a tram running every ten minutes during the peak summer months, during which it is used by over 3 million passengers.

the second, 0,90 stamp shows a tram operating in Brussels, whose system is one of the ten largest in the world, with 17 routes totalling 133.4 km.

the third, 0,80 stamp portrays the Charleroi Metro, which is a 25 km express tram network in Belgium, consisting of a horseshoe-shaped line around central Charleroi and two branches towards the suburbs of Gilly and Anderlues.

the technical details regarding the stamps:

- Date of Issue: 14 April
- Width:            40.2 mm
- Height:          27.66 mm
- Perforations: 11.5 by 11.5


for more rides around, get off at the Viridian's station, by clicking on the button below:

Smurfs' 50th Anniversary, Belgium

I know that I have been neglecting this blog much more than my postcard one, but I promise I will try to change that...problem is, I often am in doubts of what to post here exactly, and eventually I end up posting nothing...and my indecisiveness has proved once more to be a bad way of solving things....

So here we are today with this fantastic miniature sheet portraying one of the most famous cartoon characters, The Smurfs

The set of stamps + one mini sheet was issued by the Belgian Post in 2008 in order to commemorate the Smurfs' 50th Anniversary. I have to say that the sheet looks just amazing!


Issue date: 29/09/2008
Sheet size: 186mm x 156 mm
Denomination: 0,54
Composition oh the sheet: 5 stamps

The commemorative stamps include five Smurf Stamps: 1) Smurf Kissing Smurfette Stamp, 2) The Smurf Handshake Stamp, 3) Smurf Cake Stamp, 4) Smurf Eats Chocolate Cake Stamp, and 5) The Party Smurf Stamp.

The whole big picture is a celebratory Smurf Party! The Miniature Sheet depicts Smurfs having a fun time with party hats, streamers, great food and a little bubbly!

Spa Autoraces, Belgium

Due to the fact i had many Belgian penpals back in time, I also have a lot of lovely Belgian covers....this is one of the many favourites...

In 1996 the Belgian post issued 4 stamps in order to commemorate the 100 years since racing has taken place on the Spa Francorchamps circuit. All stamps have a value of 16 Belgian francs. Here on the cover, my former penpal Lies, used two of those, showing Ferrari 330P from 1967 (the left stamp) and Alfa Romeo P2 from 1925 (the right stamp). Lovely!