Showing posts with label Europa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europa. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

W. A. Mozart - booklet





Catalogue number 0695
Date of issue 31.8.2011
Face value 20 CZK
Print sheets á 6 die-cut self-adhesive stamps
Size of picture 52 x 30 mm
Graphic designer Marina Richterová
Engraver Martin Srb
Printing method multicoloured offset

Expressively conducting Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an original copy of the Don Giovanni score and the Prague's Estates Theatre in the background.
A stamp identified with the letter E corresponding to the price of Ordinary Item up to 20 g - European countries in international priority service (current price according to the Price List of Basic Postal Services: CZK 20).
Price of the booklet as of the date of issue: 6times CZK 20, i.e. CZK 120.
Stamps identified with a letter can be used alone or in combination to mail any sort of domestic or international products.

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Men's European Volleyball Championships


Catalogue number 0690
Date of issue 31.8.2011
Face value 20 CZK
Print sheets á 50 pcs of stamps, sheets are marked with bar code
Size of picture 23 x 40 mm
Graphic designer Pavel Švejda
Printing method multicoloured offset

Following the 2010 FIBA Basketball Championship for Women in Brno, Ostrava and Karlovy Vary, a most successfull event for the Czech players who won the unexpected silver medals, the Czech audience will get a chance to see players of another ball game, even more popular than basketball, viz. volleyball.
The Czech men's representation team won the surprising 10th place at the 2010 World Cup in Italy after they had beaten the previous world champions, the US team, 3:0, but had unluckily lost 2:3 to the new world champions from Brazil.
The championships will be hosted in Austria and the Czech Republic. The anticipated tough events will take place in two Austrian and two Czech cities. The Austrian cities are Vienna and Innsbruck. The two host cities initially chosen by the Czech organizing committee, i.e. Prague and Liberec, were recently changed to Prague and Karlovy Vary, maybe because the latter was a successful host of the basketball championship finals.
Jan Svoboda, coach of the Czech representation team, used the following words to assess the position of the Czech players in Pool B: "We did not want to get Russia or Serbia before the drawing took place. Now we are in one group with Russia, Portugal and Estonia. Portugal has also been one of the top European teams, and we were very glad we had managed to win the World Cup qualification event after the 3:2 heartbreaking finish. And Estonia would not have been our choice from the fourth, easiest group, either. It is a tough pool, and it will not be an easy task to go through. But it is our aim."
The top European tournament comes back to the Czech Republic exactly after ten years. The Czech team won the fourth place in Ostrava in 2001. Four pools, each of four teams, means sixteen teams. The winners (first position) of each pool will go directly through to the final eight matches, the runners-up (second and third positions) will fight for the next four places out of the final eight, and those finishing on the fourth position will quit the tournament. So the task for the Czech team is to end up as second or third in the pool, with the possibility to face further competitors from Pool D, i.e. Poland, Germany, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

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Friday, July 1, 2011

Europa - Forest: Alluvial Forests



Catalogue number0680
Date of issue4.5.2011
Face value20 CZK
Print sheets6 stamps
Size of picture33 x 33 mm
Graphic designer
Line detailing
Printing method
Adolf Absolon
Martin Srb
multicoloured offset


This year's central theme for the annual EUROPA issue, announced by the Association of European Public Postal Operators PostEurop, is "Forests".
An alluvial forest is a hardwood forest found on low levees, ridges and terraces with a high level of underground water within the floodplains of streams and rivers. This type of forest grows in areas that are slightly elevated above floodplain swamp and are usually flooded for a portion of the growing season. Formerly a normal biotope, it has been disappearing with the growing number of river realignment projects.
The largest alluvial forest in the Czech Republic grows at the confluence of the Morava and Dyje rivers. Residual alluvial forests can be found in the area of the confluence of the Labe and Cidlina rivers (Libický Alluvial Forest Natural Reserve), and on the banks or in the headwater area of the Morava and Dyje rivers. 
The presence of a stream or river, or a high level of underground water leads to a lower amount of oxygen in the soil and subsequent reduction processes. The products of the processes contribute to the typical bluish colour and special smell of the so-called gley soil. 
Primary trees found include poplar (Populus L.), oak (Quercus L.) , ash (Fraxinus L.) , elm(Ulmus L.) , alder (Alnus L.) , willow (Salix L.) , lime tree (Tilia L.) . Shrubs and small trees, such as cherry (Prunus serotina) , honeysuckle (Lonicera) , cornel (Cornel) , viburnum (Viburnum) , elder (Sambucus) , are present at places with more light. 
The mix of plants found in alluvial forests depends on the shadow prevailing in the lower layers of the forest. Creepers, such as hop vine (Humulus lupulus) , try to penetrate into the upper layers. Other plants, such as ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) , bramble (Rubus) , catchweed bedstraw (Galium aparine) , spread by vining stems. 
Light-demanding herbs flowering before leaves bud on the surrounding trees give the forest so-called spring aspect. Spring snowflake (Leucojum vernum) , snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) , lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) , yellow star-of-Bethlehem (Gagea lutea) , starwort (Stellaria holostea) , lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) , early-dog violet (Viola reichenbachiana) , hollowroot (Corydalis cava) , are among the herbs most commonly encountered in spring. A mix of grass species and other shadow-demanding herbs such as wild angelica (Angelica sylvestris), true forget-me-not (Myosotis palustris) , yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) , enchanter's-nightshade (Circaea lutetiana) , European birthwort (Aristolochia clematitis) , moneywort(Lysimachia nummularia) , creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens) , common comfrey(Symphytum officinale) , common figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) , touch-me-not balsam(Impatiens noli-tangere) , cover the ground in summer.
The patchy mossy underground tends to cover maximum 10% of the forest floor.
Soil fauna in alluvial forests is relatively rare due to the high amount of water in the soil. Earthworms and harvestmen are among the most common species. Amphibians are frequent in wet areas. Birds typical of alluvial forest include yellow throat, different species of warbler, chaffinch, whitwing, robin, starling, stork, silver and night herons, bee eater, buzzard, kite, hawk, falcon, sea eagle.

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