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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3566 - Bakhmach, Chernihiv, Ukraine

Bakhmach is locarted in northern Ukraine. I'm taking this next paragraph straight out of Wikipedia: During the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 26, 2022, at least 65 units of Russian military equipment moved through Bakhmach, with about a hundred more on the outskirts. Local residents tried to stop the convoy on their own by blocking tank tracks with makeshift objects and convincing Russian soldiers not to move towards Kyiv . One man attempted to climb onto a tank and block the road with his body (he was not hurt). However, the military equipment continued to move, and Russian forces fired several shots into the air. Слава Україні!

3564 - Kassel, Hesse, Germany

A wonderful message on this card that translates to to those wh o can wait, everything comes with time.

2352 - Cologne (Köln), North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Cologne is home to the twelve Romanesque churches. All are Catholic churches and all are found in Altstadt (old town). All were severely damaged during the 262 Allied air raids on Cologne. All twelves have been restored. St. Andreas was consecrated in 974. The crypt of the church as a sarcophagus that dates back to the third century and it holds the remains of St. Albertus Magnus, who died in 1280. St. Apostein was consecrated in the 800s. St. Cecilia was built in the 800s and it the current home of the Schnutgen Museum for Medieval Art. It still holds Catholic Mass on rare occasions. St. Georg's was built near the end of 1000s. It was extensively restored after the Second World War. St. Gerion's was established in 612. St. Kunibert was consecrated in 1247. Cunibert, the 9th Bishop of Cologne, is buried here. St. Maria im Kapital was built between 1040-1065. It was also heavily damaged during the war and restoration was finally completed in 1984. St. Maria Lyskirchem is the ...

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