Luminous Nature from Antwerp, Belgium

The stamp on this cover from Antwerp is from a 2024 sheet of 5 stamps that feature things in nature that glow in the dark. On this stamp it's a firefly. The stamp has spots of glow in the dark ink applied to the back-end of the firefly, the denomination (2) and a blob in the bottom right corner which is part of the wing of an insect in the background image on the stamp sheet.

Liège, Belgium

From the Belgian city of Liège with a lonely 2013 King Philip worldwide priority mail definitive.

Zele, Belgium

From the Belgian town of Zele, situated between Ghent and Antwerp. The stamp on the left from 1988 commemorates the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Belgian Royal Escort. And the 2024 stamp on the right commemorates the Paris Olympic Games of that year.

Beernem, Belgium

From the rural municipality of Beernem in West Flanders. The stamp on the left is a 2003 "A heart for the police" stamp. And on the right, a 2013 chocolate stamp. Chocolate sprinkles I believe. The gum and varnish on this stamp are infused with chocolate. Ten years after it was issued and after being stuck to an envelope and mailed across the Atlantic it still has a faint chocolate smell to it. But mostly it just smells like an envelope that was mailed across the Atlantic.

Ghent, Belgium

Cloud stamps cut from a 2022 sheet. Cumulonimbus capillatus, half way to a thunder storm, on the left. And Cumulus congestus, a nice rain cloud, on the right. The postmark was applied at the large Belgium Post mail processing facility (Gent X) in Ghent. 

Charleroi, Belgium

Postmarked at the Charleroi X sorting centre outside the city of Charleroi south of Brussels. The row of stamps along the top are a set of semi-postals from 1974 that celebrate Belgian cultural celebrities. In the bottom row are a pair of Belgian bird definitives and the on the lower left is a 2018 coil stamp featuring a gooseberry. It's a nice little cover.

Belgian Tour de France Winners

From the municipality of Beernem in Belguim, stamps from a 2017 sheet of 10 featuring Belgian Tour de France winners between 1912 and 1976. The cyclists on these stamps are Maurice de Waele, (1929), Romain Maes (1935) and Sylvère Maes (1936 and 1939).

Antwerp, Belgium

Kittens from Belgium. Making out the postmark was difficult but I'm pretty sure it says "Antwerpen X" which refers to the BPost sorting center in Antwerp.

Beernem, Belgium

The stamps on this cover from Beernem are from a 2011 "This is Belgium" sheet entitled "Strength through Humor", with stamps illustrated and signed by famous Belgium cartoonists.

Evergem, Belgium

It's hard to make out, but the postmarks appear to be from Evergem, just north of Ghent in East Flanders.

Belgium, Earth Hour

From Essen in Belgium. One of the best machine cancels I've seen in a while. The stamp is from a sheet issued by bpost last year to commemorate Earth Hour.

This stamp is watermarked in a unique way. Under UV light, a power switch symbol can be (somewhat) seen in the middle of the Earth and the designers name and year are visible in the bottom right corner. 

Flémalle, Belgium

Gastronomic delights from Belgium. Chocolate... of course, Mussels and fries, and Eel in green sauce.

Mechelen, Belgium

Princess Elisabeth Station

This is from Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Station in the Antarctic. Mail from this ultra modern station is sent out by ship through Cape Town in South Africa.

The station sits up on a rocky ridge (a Nunatak) known as Utsteinen, in Queen Maud Land, over 200km from the coast. The base has accommodations for up to 16. During the summer months, several research teams setup camp behind the station.

Beernem, Belgium

Beernem is a town in North-West Beligum, not too far away from Brugge.

IceCube Neutrino Observatory, South Pole Station

This was sent to me from the Belgian team participating in the IceCube project this year at the South Pole station. The project was developed and is currently managed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Several other universities participate in research on the project including the Belgian universities Université Libre de Bruxelles, Université de Mons, University of Gent, Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

IceCube is a large sensor array designed to detect neutrino particles as they pass through the array. In fact, they pass right through the Earth. The array is made up of long strings of sensors that are suspended over 1500m deep in shafts drilled into the icecap near the South Pole. The entire array occupies a cubic kilometer of ice.

Ross Dependency - YROSIAE

This cover is from the Belgian team in the Antarctic studying sea ice near Scott Base. YROSIAE stands for Year Round survey of Ocean-Sea Ice-Air Exchanges.

Belgium Christmas FDC

2012 Belgian Christmas stamps on a first day cover. Very nice and much appreciated.

Alfred Faure, the Crozet Islands, TAAF

From Alfred Faure in the Crozet Islands, posted from aboard the Marion Dufresne. This was sent to me by a team from Belgium's National Botanic Garden who were headed down to Crozet to carry out  some research. Their cachet and signatures are on the front of the cover.

The other interesting mark on the cover is that of the team heading to Kerguelen to catalog items of historical importance: "Inventaire du patrimonie des TAAF".

An interesting side note for this cover. The Marion Dufresne ran into some rocks on its way to Crozet on 14 November 2012. Everyone was evacuated and the ship had to be temporarily repaired. It was decided that the Marion Dufresne should return to dry dock for permanent repairs so they had to end the rotation early at their first stop in Crozet.

M/S Mary Arctica

This was sent back to me from the M/S Mary Arctica from Cape Town, South Africa, while on its way to Belgium's Princess Elisabeth research station in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. The Mary Arctica is an ice hardened cargo vessel, owned and operated by Greenland's Royal Arctic Line A/S.  

M/S Mary Arctica webcam image: http://www.ral.dk/webcam/mary.jpg