2492 - Gloucester, England, United Kingdom

Steve from Gloucester sent a souvenir card on a recent trip to London. A couple of London's famous attractions - the red double decker busses and Big Ben.

Double deckers busses have a long history in London. The first was a horse-drawn double decker omnibuses. Double deckers are favoured in the United Kingdom because of the shorter length and larger seating capacity. They are also safer to operate through the narrow streets and tight corners common in the UK. Most of the busses are between 9.5-11.1 meters long. The red double decker buses in London have become a national symbol of England. Starting in 2007, a hybrid power double decker entered service. Many more were purchased and used in 2008. In 2015, five all-electric double deckers were added to the fleet.

Big Ben was completed in 1859 and became the largest and most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world. The tower is 96 meters tall. The official name of the tower Big Ben is on was called Clock Tower, but the name was changed to Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the diamond jubilee of Elizabeth II.. The largest bell in the tower weighs 13.5 tonnes. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

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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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