3234 - Ahlainen, Satakunta, Finland

I great card of ski jumping facilities in Lahti. The sender, seeing I was from near Calgary, mentioned he remembered watched the Calgary Olympics in 1988. The Finns had high hopes for ski jumper, Matti Nykänen. Nykänen won 4 gold medals, and one silver medals at the Sarajevo (1984) Olympics and Calgary (1988) Olympics.

Nykänen was married six times. His first wife was a 'sausage heiress" named Mervi Tapola. They were married in 2001; divorced in 2003; and remarried in 2004 only to finally divorce again in 2010, after Tapola's 15 request for a divorce. The marriage was unhealthy and because they were both famous, in the news. Nykänen assaulted Tapola in 2000 and he was given a suspended sentence. While on probation he abused her again. He was sent to prison for four months. When he was released, he stabbed a man at a pizza restaurant. On Christmas Day in 2009, he assaulted he wife with a knife and tried to throttle her with a bathrobe belt. He was arrested but the charges were dropped a few days later for insufficient evidence. Nykänen did spend 16 more months in prison for grievous bodily harm on his wife. In 2004 he was sentence to 26 months in prison for attempted manslaughter on a family friend.

Nykänen also became a singer after his ski jumping career ended. He won a golden record in Finland for his first album, but his next one didn't do well. Financial trouble caused him to work as a stripper for a short time, before making a comeback, releasing a third studio album

Nykänen died in 2019 from pancreatitis and pneumonia.

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.

Search This Blog