A week ago, Paulo and I were in Prague for a special Postcrossing meetup, and we took the Little Mail Carriers with us, so they could tell you all about it! Here they are:
Ahoj from Prague! It’s sunny and lovely – perfect for adventures!
Ever since we saw a picture of Prague’s main post office on this post from February, we’ve been demanding to be taken there, so that we could see it for ourselves. And what do you know – six months later, the perfect opportunity presented itself: we were invited to attend the yearly Sběratel/Collector’s fair! :)
The fair, which takes place in Prague, welcomes collectors from all over Europe, who come to peruse the stands and enrich their collections. But this year, the fair had a special event taking place: a Postcrossing meetup!
The organizers invited us to come and meet the local postcrossers – we were honored and very happy to do so! Lots of people turned up and we got to meet many new postcrossers, shake their hands, answer many questions and sign a ton of postcards too. A computer and volunteers were at hand to explain Postcrossing to newcomers, and guide them through the signup process. There was even a special postcard and cancellation mark, designed just for the occasion!
We oversaw the stamping process and made sure everything was shipshape!
Meanwhile, the exhibition hall was buzzing with excitement. There were many people walking between the stands, perusing and scanning boxes and folders — it felt like a huge treasure hunt!
Afterwards, we came back to the city center, to finally visit Prague’s gorgeous post office! Ladies and gentlemen, look at that:
The walls are exquisitely painted with themes related to communications and post: in a corner, a young lady seems to be reading a love letter, on another, people call each other on the telephone, while postmen do their rounds. It’s just stunning!
Mr. Kostka from the Czech Post told us the building used to be an old monastery — the central hall is now where the old inner courtyard used to be. This is why there are so many vines and natural elements surrounding the figures on the walls.
Just before leaving, we still had time to meet some very old Czech postmen and peek at the overflowing philatelic counter.
It might well be one of the nicest post offices we’ve ever seen! Plus, it’s open every single day, from 2am to midnight! Wow… can you believe that?!
We really enjoyed our short stay in Prague, but soon it was time to go back to our envelopes and start the journey towards another exciting location… Goodbye Prague and see you soon everyone! :)
29 comments so far
Yeah..... I've got a card from there !!!!
Thank you Petra Petula07 for the great postcard sent from this meeting!!
What a lovely story. The Little Mail Carriers sure do lead an exciting life, don't they? Where will they be next, I wonder . . . . . . . . . .
. . . we were happy to have you in Prague!
Thank you, Ana and Paulo for this wonderful story and the lovely postcard you sent.
I got another of those cards from there :D
Ah, that sounds like a great event, hope you enjoyed it! I´m so sorry I missed that (eventhough an invitation was sent to my e-mail, thanks a lot). Hope to be there for another occasion.
Thank you for this interesting story! Wow, from 2am to midnight... crazy opening hours!
Many thanks for the meet-up postcard, Janza!
Wow! Beautiful post office.
Even bigger wow! Open 2 am until midnight??!! That is a postcrossers dream. : )
Thank you for the story. I visit Prague in October and want to see this post office.....
Thank you for coming, signing cards and chatting with us! It was great! :)
wow! what a place :-)
Lucky little mail carriers :-D
happy postcrossing!
Great story! I have just received a card from the event. It was a special card and postmark :)
I've just received a official postcard with the special postmark from this meetup - http://www.postcrossing.com/postcards/CZ-510245 - thank you to majkafa(or Mária). I am thrilled to have been lucky enough to get one.
Oh what a wonderful post-office!!! We don't have offices like these anymore in Germany :''( ! Saw another wonderful post-office in Lublin, Poland.
Ana and Paulo, many tx for the nice information and especially your insights from "czech way" . I‘m glad to see you in Prague (meeting, fair and main post office in Prague...). Already looking forward to the meeting Sběratel/Collector 2015, which is certainly better than the first. Your article and photo are made available (and translated): http://expo-net.blogspot.cz/ Regards to all, Bret
What a wonderful story!! I collect stamps so this has been very exciting for me. Hopefully ill be a lucky one to receive the postcard. Thank you for your story!! Happy postcrossing!!
So cute!
How do you get a chance to host the little mail carriers?
It was great to meet you!!!
Thanx for sharing the story! :)
What a production: postcard, postmark, postcossing meeting, and more... Congrats to each that made all this possible!
I also got a great card from there with a stunning stamp. Thank you Janza! :)
Just a note to the opening hours - they are that long because it is the main post office of the country with lots and lots of services. A couple of years ago before it was made possible to send tax returns electronically, people would queue here before midnight on the last day in order to submit their taxes on time (the envelope had to have the cancellation mark with the correct date). There were special counters open just for the tax people and anybody who got into the queue by midnight received the correct cancellation eventhough they had to wait for their turn a couple of hours into the next day :)
I need to visit that post office one day!
What a fun meetup! Thanks for sharing
One day I hope to meet the little puppets!
Dear Ana and Paolo, and MeetUp organizers. Thank you for this event, I sent 12 postcards from there (some still on their way), and it was great pleasure to meet you and spoke with you. Postcrossing is such fun.
I visited the post office of Prague, but it is difficult to become stamps and air-mail stickers....
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