2301 - Kasterlee, Antwerp, Belgium

I received a neat card from Belgium. The photo shows the cyclist, Eddy Merckx. I had never heard of Merckx so I did some research.

Merckx, nicknamed The Cannonball, is considered one of the most successful riders in the history of cycling. He participated in road racing and track cycling. He won 11 Grand Tours - the three big races - Tour de France (5), Giro d'Italia (5), and the Vuelta a Espana (1)

He also won the Five Monuments - the five 'classic' races - three times. One of three that have done that (all Belgians), but the only one to win them all twice. The Monuments consist of: Milan-San Remo (at 298 km, the longest one day race), Tour of Flanders (de Ronde), Paris-Roubaix (one of cyclings oldest races), Liege-Bastogne-Liege (La Doyenne, which dates back to 1892 and is the oldest of the Monuments), and Giro di Lombardia (Il Lombardia)

Merckx won 80 races as an amateur before turning professional in 1965. Over his 18 year cycling career, he won 525 times.

Merckx's son, Axel, also became a road racer and won the bronze at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He married a Canadian and they live in Kelowna, British Columbia.

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3227 - Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Mölln is a small city of about 20 000 located in northern Germany. The Elbe-Lübeck Canal flows through the town, and there are eight small lakes that surround the city. It was founded in the 12th century and was a part of the Old Salt Route. Salt that was produced in the salt mines of Lower-Saxony was shipped to the Baltic Sea. Till Eulenspiegel, a legendary trickster known for exposing vices and provoking thought, is said to have lived in Mölln the last year of his life. He apparently died of the plague in 1350, but his existence has never been proven. Mölln has several monuments dedicated to him.

3322 - Hamburg, Germany

Happy birthday to me! What a lovely handmade card from the sender. Beautiful penmanship. Am Rothenbaum is the site of the main court of the German Open Tennis Championships. The International German Open has been played at the Rothernbaum since 1892, making it Germany's longest running tennis tournament. The current stadium was built in 1999 and can hold 13 200 people.

3232 - Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States of America

The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal North Pierhead Light was built in 1882. There were nine keepers of the light until 1897. It was redesigned in 1903 and is 12 meters high. The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal was started in 1872 and wasn't opened for large-scale watercraft until 1890. The canal is 2.1 kilometers long that goes from Sturgeon Bay in Lake Michigan to Green Bay. There are no locks on this canal. The canal was sold to the United States government in 1893 and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the canal.

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