2372 - Encinitas, California, USA

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 - called the "Surfing Madonna Oceans Project. Since 2013, it has raised and donated over $100 000 to local ocean/beach/park and humanitarian projects.

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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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