2452 - Vienna, Austria

Anita is from Vienna (Wien) but sent a card from Hallstatt. She writes she visited there the weekend prior.

Hallstatt is a small town of just under 800 people located between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See (Lake Hallstatt) and the steep slopes of the Dachstein. Salt production is what Hallstatt has been known for since pre-historic times. However, tourism has become the town's biggest source of income.

Tourism has been a blessing and a curse for Hallstatt. It was named a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1997 and tourist numbers exploded, especially amongst people from southeast Asia. By 2017, local churches were employing bouncers to prevent services from being interrupted by tourists. In 2020 it is estimated the town can see 10 000 to 30 000 tourists per day, mostly from bus tours, who bring tourists in for photo opportunities and then move on. Social media images captioned Hallstatt as the "most Instagrammable town in the world."

Because of over-tourism, day-visitors drive away tourists who would stay longer. It began looking at limiting the number of tourists visiting Hallstatt. Hallstatt began to focus on "quality" tourism. S
tarting last fall in 2020, tour busses were assigned time slots. Only 54 busses would be permitted to come to Hallstatt, which represents about half of what they would normally get. Busses with overnight bookings would receive preferential treatment.

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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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