A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 31 March 2026 - T for Montana, a boxer and a car inspection

 Hello lovely peeps,

The last day of March! How time flies! 

I have a black & white postcard for you today:

It's right up my street as I have a thing about railways.

It comes from Helena in Montana. On the back of the card is this information:

And on the Internet I found this:

The town went wild as the first long-awaited locomotive steamed into Helena on June 13, 1883. The momentous arrival of the Northern Pacific linked Montana to national markets and assured Helena a permanency not previously realized. 

I have tried to find a picture on the Internet of what this location looks like now. This is what I came up with

This building has two storeys, so it could be the part at the back of the building on the postcard. (I don't know)

AI comes up with this information: The Helena Railroad Depot Historic District in Montana is a preserved commercial area featuring early 20th-century architecture, anchored by a 1903 depot designed by Reed and Stem. Located along Railroad Avenue, it features historic frame buildings, trolley tracks embedded in brick pavement, and Beattie Park (1930). The district reflects Helena's boomtown era and transportation history.

So the red building in the Internet photo is a depot built in 1903. Not the depot on the postcard...

The stamps are really special:

Top left there is a stamp with Cassius Clay (Or Mohammed Ali as he was later known)

The USPS writes: The U.S. Postal Service honors Muhammad Ali, known as “The Greatest,” with two stamps. Ali once said, “I should be a postage stamp, because that's the only way I'll ever get licked.” Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. in Louisville, KY, Ali was known across the globe as a champion in and beyond the boxing ring. He was a champion in the ring and for humanity causes.

Top right there is a stamp with a bare tree and a mail carrier. USPS writes:

Issued to celebrate a major U.S. Postal Service anniversary, 250 Years of Delivering is an illustrated pane of 20 interconnected stamps representing the ubiquitous presence of USPS throughout the years — and the vital role the postal system has played in connecting Americans since 1775.

The meticulous artwork shows a bird’s-eye view of a bustling town. Each individual stamp is a frame of sequential art, telling the story of a mail carrier’s journey as she walks her daily route. Laid out in four rows of five stamps, the story progresses through a year’s four seasons, from top-left to bottom-right.

What have I been doing this week? 

I had to take my car in for the annual technical inspection (called ITV in Spain). There are special stations to have your car tested. Every town has one and they are all exactly the same. In the photo I hasd finished he drive-through process and was waiting for the attendant to give my my sticker, so I got out of the car and took a photo.

The rest of the week was quite uneventful and on Saturday I met with the Intercambio group. We practice English and Spanish through conversations and we talk about all sorts of things. I think on Saturday we talked about Easter traditions in different countries.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant for a drink:

As it is T for Tuesday today, I am showing you some drinks. Mine is a white wine (as per usual) And there are some beer bottles and a Fanta bottle on the table too. With every drink we get a free tapa. In this case it was half a baked potato each with a large dollop of aioli.

The next morning, Sunday morning, I went to church and discovered I was an hour late! I had completely forgotten that the clocks went forward that weekend. Silly me. 

That is all from me today,

Happy T-Day,

Lisca