Nördlingen  was first mentioned in recorded history in 898, and in 1998, the town celebrated its 1100th anniversary. Today it is only one of three Germany towns that still has a completely intact city wall. The Bavarian Train Museum (Bayerisches Eisenbahnmuseum) is in  Nördlingen . It has over 100 original railway vehicles. In the move Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory  the final scene, where Charlie, Willie, and Grandpa are in the glass elevator,  Nördlingen  is the town they see below them. 

New Postcrosser, Alina, sent me a card from a Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso exhibition. She is from Podol'sk, ( Подольск ) an industrial city just outside of Moscow. During Czarist Russia, Podol'sk was one of the most industrialized cities in Russia. During Soviet times, the city received the Order of the Red Banner of Labour in 1971. There were 70 factories operating it Podol'sk at the time of the award. Almost all the citizens worked in one of the factories. Today, Podol'sk is the site of the Central Archives of the Russian Military of Defense. 

I love looking up hockey information about the cities of the cards I receive. Novosibirsk was introduced to hockey in 1948 by Ivan Tsyba. Within the year two ice rinks were built to accomodate the sudden popularity of the game. The local sports society, Dynamo, established a hockey team soon after. In 1962, Dynamo merged with another team in Novosibirsk - Khimik. The Khimik team, although they played in a lower division than Dynamo had better equipment than Dynamo. The Khimik team was run by a chemical production factory. The newly amalgamated team became known as Sibor Novosibirsk. In 2009-10, it joined the newly formed Kontinental Hockey League. In 2015, it was the bronze medal winning team in the Gagarin Cup Playoffs, losing to the eventual champions, Ak Bars Kazan.

Jämsä  is a town of about 20 000 people and 465 lakes. The three largest lakes are   Päijänne ,  Koljonselkä,  and  Lake Kuorevesi .

Fred sent me a "Keep Calm and Drink Coffee" card. He lives in Encinitas with his wife and pets.  While looking up what Encinitas is all about I came across "The Surfing Madonna." The Surfing Madonna is a 3m x 3m square concrete mosaic that was originally installed on a concrete wall under a railway bridge. Mark Patterson, the creator, and friend, Bob Nichols, installed it covertly on 22 April 2011. It features the Virgin of Guadeloupe on a white surfboard, hands in an attitude of prayer, with her green cloak waving in the wind. The words "Save the Ocean" are featured on the mosaic.  The City of Encinitas considered the artwork graffiti and ordered it removed, Patterson was fined $500 and had to pay $6000 to have it removed intact. Patterson kept the mosaic. "The Surfing Madonna" is now located and displayed across the street where it was originally installed. It inspired the creation of a non-profit society - created by Patterson and Nichols - ca...

Naaldwijk is a municipality about 10 km from The Hague. The largest economic sector is greenhouse horticulture. It reminds me of Redcliff, located a couple of kilometers from where I am in Medicine Hat. Redcliff is considered the "Greenhouse Capital of Canada." 

Streamwood is a village of 30 000+ and is a northwest suburb of Chicago. Streamwood is a part of the so-called Tri-Village - Streamwood, Bartlett, and Hanover Park. An interesting tidbit about Streamwood that surprised me is it is home to the Streamwood Cricket Club. Most of the players in the club are from Streamwood and Hanover Park. The club is the 2009 American Cricket Conference Champions.  Look at all the great stamps!

Debby from Taipei sent me a card of the Great Buddha of Baguashan, found in Changhua. It is a huge statue of the Buddha and stands at 24 meters high and was the world's largest Buddha statue when it was completed in 1961. The interior of the statue is separated into six different floors, where visitors are allowed to climb the steps to reach the very top. Each floor contains a series of life-size statues that tell the story of the Buddha. This ink stamp was on the back of the card.

Joan lives in Columbia, Missouri, and is a university town with about 126 000 people. She sent me a "Missouri History" card of Jesse James. Jesse James (1847 - 1882) is a giant in the folklore of the American West. For many, James is a Robin Hood-type figure who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. There is, however, no evidence that James and his gang gave any of their booty to anyone other than family. Many scholars, in fact, say that James was one of the many criminals inspired by the ex-Confederates following the American Civil War, not as a victim of economic injustice or of frontier lawlessness. James was the leader the James-Younger Gang which consisted of Jesse and his brother, Frank; the Young Brothers - Cole, Jim, John, and Bob; as well as numerous others. The gang disolved when the Younger Brothers were captured after trying to rob the Northfield First National Bank in Minnesota. James decided to get back into his criminal activities in 1879 when he formed a n...

Bielefeld is Germany's 18th largest city at 340 000 citizens. It is home to international companies such as Dr. Oetker, Gildemeister, and Schuko. The Bielefeld Conspiracy is a satirical conspiracy theory that claims Bielefeld does not actually exist, but is an illusion propagated by various forces. It was first posted in 1994 on the German Usenet. The city started using the conspiracy in it's marketing. The theory poses three questions: Do you know anybody from Bielefeld? Have you ever been to Bielefeld? Do you know anybody who has ever been to Bielefeld? A majority of respondents say 'no' and anyone claiming any knowledge of Bielefeld is disregarded as being in on the conspiracy, or of have been decieved themselves. The origins of the theory are speculated to include the CIA, Mossad, or aliens who use Bielefeld University to hide their spacecraft. Even Chancellor Angela Merkel referenced the theory in public when she mentioned she attended a town hall meeting in Bielef...

Gomel is the second largest city in Belarus. In April of 1986, it suffered from radioactive contamination due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. This caused a sharp decline in living standards and a gradual depopulation until the early 21st century. A scientific centre and practice for radiation medicine and human ecology was established in Gomel to overcome and study the consequences of Chernobyl. Gomel is also home to HK Gomel, who play in the Belarusian Extraliga (hockey). The team was founded in 2000 and won the Extraliga in 2003, and the Belarusian Cup in 2003, 2007, 2012, and 2017.