3044 - Kemijärvi, Lapland, Finland

A great cycling card from Leila. Even more interesting is the postage stamp of the 100th anniversary of baseball in Finland. Baseball in Finland? I didn't know either.

It's not baseball in Finland, but Finnish Baseball, otherwise known as Pesäpallo. Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala invented it in the 1920s and is based on other ball-batting teams games and North American baseball.

The offence tries to score by hitting a ball successfully and running through the based, while the defence tried to put the batter and runners out. The ball is pitched vertically, which makes hitting the ball, as well as controlling the power and the direction of the hit much easier. The offensive teams has more variety, speed, and tactics compared to baseball. This sounds a lot like what is called slopitch.

There is a Superpesis - the top professional Pesäpallo league in Finland. Both the men and women's top division is called Superpesis. There are 13 men's teams, and 12 women's teams. And like other European professional and amateur leagues, teams can be regulated to lower division, or promoted to higher divisions.

I've included a video that helps explain what Pesäpallo is.

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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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