This is a very nice cover (now is special!) sent to me in April 2011 by my philatelic/partner "Prott", from Ukraine, as part of the Maxicard Round Robin at http://www.forum.postcrossing.com.
Here's how the tunnel vision worked, between alphabets
Her "mistake" was that she added the destination country abbreviation, USA,
in the Cyrillic alphabet: США.
My postal forensic explanation is that an Ukrainian postal worker has interpreted
США as CUBA!!!
So what if, right above США, the cover is inscribed
United States of America?
"I don't know.
I don't care.
I just work here, at the post office."
Was that the attitude? :)
So, off it went to Cuba!!!
What Correos de Cuba did was to postmark it: REVUELTO AL REMITENTE (Return to sender) and send it back (to Ukraine, I guess).
Then it finally arrived to me, in USA, two days ago.
One of the (if not THE) most passionate collectors of RETURN TO SENDER covers, either "sent for real", or "sent intentionally to a fake address, to be returned with postmarks and postal markings from that exotic place", is my fellow blogger Riccardo Amarante (Italy) http://coverspostcards.blogspot.com/
Please explore his fascinating collection, and learn from his experience.
Notice how he mentions, sometimes, on the cover:
"Please return to sender if undeliverable", or so.
You, too, can send and receive back such items from the mostgodforsaken exotic places on earth.
Is THAT the greatest thing?
No - the greatest thing would be to find a real person/partner/friend in every such place, who could exchange with you a cover, postcard, etc.
But, if that is not possible, then you can always resort to a mailing of a cover or postcard to a fake address, so that it will be RETURNED to you, as undeliverable, with all those local postmarks and postal markings of RETURN, etc.
One of the (if not THE) most passionate collectors of RETURN TO SENDER covers, either "sent for real", or "sent intentionally to a fake address, to be returned with postmarks and postal markings from that exotic place", is my fellow blogger Riccardo Amarante (Italy) http://coverspostcards.blogspot.com/
Please explore his fascinating collection, and learn from his experience.
Notice how he mentions, sometimes, on the cover:
"Please return to sender if undeliverable", or so.
You, too, can send and receive back such items from the most
Is THAT the greatest thing?
No - the greatest thing would be to find a real person/partner/friend in every such place, who could exchange with you a cover, postcard, etc.
But, if that is not possible, then you can always resort to a mailing of a cover or postcard to a fake address, so that it will be RETURNED to you, as undeliverable, with all those local postmarks and postal markings of RETURN, etc.
Attention, postal workers from around the world! As you sort the mail, please look at the whole mail piece, not just at the apparent destination country. :)
Inside the cover, besides a Chinese maxicard, was this Ukrainian maxicard:
"Ukraine (
i /juːˈkreɪn/ ew-krayn; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ];Russian: Украи́на; Crimean Tatar: Ukraina) is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the largest contiguous country on the European continent.[7] Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland,Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It was formerly known as The Ukraine.[8]"
i /juːˈkreɪn/ ew-krayn; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ];Russian: Украи́на; Crimean Tatar: Ukraina) is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the largest contiguous country on the European continent.[7] Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland,Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It was formerly known as The Ukraine.[8]"
"The Swallow's Nest; the Crimea hosts many seaside resorts and historic sites".
See some nice stamps from Ukraine:
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"Cuba has a 99.8% literacy rate,[12][13] an infant death rate lower than some developed countries,[14] and an average life expectancy of 77.64.[12] In 2006, Cuba was the only nation in the world which met the WWF's definition of sustainable development; having an ecological footprint of less than 1.8 hectares per capita and a Human Development Index of over 0.8 for 2007.[15]"
"Beach on Cayo Largo del Sur in the Canarreos archipelago"
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"The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 308 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area [there are still disputed lands between China and India, in the Himalayas], and the third largest both by land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multiculturalnations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries.[6]"
"Through the 19th century, the United States displaced native tribes, acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii."
"Wooden walkways allow visitors to closely approach the Grand Prismatic Spring."
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U, as in Ukraine, and USA.
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