Ulm and the Donau and some excitement

Following our trip to explore the local Schwäbish Gmünd city yesterday, today we took a trip over to Ulm - about 1 hour 20 minutes drive.  On our last visit here, we only had a very brief time to visit Ulm on our way to Cologne.  This time, we are determined to see a little more of this interesting city, whose icon is the songbird.


As with many towns in Europe that were developed long before the convenience of cars, parking is at a premium. If you want street parking close to where you will visit, then the price is that you need to re-visit the parking meter every hour. We usually try to get close to the old town.
The Munster was our first stop - as they often are. By the time we had ambled down to the site, we had lost just under our first half hour. We can't get inside as there is a Concert playing at the moment and so we begin with some exterior shots.

Now, there is a real story to today's visit . . .
As usual, Michael heads straight for the tower. I remind him that we have a half an hour to spend up the tower and off he heads.  I head in to the body of the Munster to marvel at the beauty and the history of the interior.  I am sitting in the front pew admiring the nave when after 15 minutes Michael returns. 
"Did you go up?" I ask. 
"Only halfway" was his response, adding "then a little boy running up the stairs knocked me." 
"Where is your phone?" 
"It fell!"
"How far?" (thinking of course that it will be smashed to smithereens).
"Not sure, but I heard it land." 
At this point he looks pretty shattered.
And he then spends the next hour trying to get access to the scaffolding where they are working on the exterior of the Munster to try to retrieve it.  Finally, the lady in the Munster Shop - because they all sell souvenirs - phones a friend - or a least one of the workers who says he can be here in 30 minutes.  He comes, and accompanies Michael to retrieve his undamaged phone.  Talk about the power of a prayer!!
In the hour and a half, we were there in the end, I got pretty well acquainted with some of the fine details here. And with his rescued phone in hand, and a complimentary ticket to re-start his climb up the Munster Tower, Michael asks for the camera as well.  "Please don't drop it," I say as I hand it over!!  He gives me 'the look' (probably deservedly) and heads off.
The photos that he eventually gets almost rival my internal shots - including the collection of the men and women of the choir.

The 'lacework' style to the construction of the steeples is just amazing. They seem to be so delicate, and yet they stand the test of time. The Munster Tower is one of the highest vantage points in Ulm, and the views are just amazing. I don't have a head for the stairs, so unless there is a lift, I remain forever rooted to the flagstone floors while Michael makes the climbs. And while I admire the views from the camera, I just wish that I could see the view with my own eyes.

 All in all, it was trying and exhilarating visiting the Ulm Munster.  We finished and made our peace with this imposing edifice and went back to move the car as by now we had reached the maximum stay. 

But there is still so much to see in this City on the Donau River (the Danube River) that empties in to the Black Sea in Romania where we were last week.

With parking a right pain, we give in and head into the underground car-park.  No cheaper, but we don't have to continually feed a meter. And it is closer to the original market square and the Fischerviertel - the fishermen's and tanner's quarter.

But the day has been racing and we are now quite hungry so our first port of call is for a late lunch at the Ratskeller Restaurant that operates from the former Rathaus. What a stunning building and two great burgers to sate our appetites!

The Butcher's Tower is near where we have lunch and this leads down to the Donau riverside.

We pass a toy store who's front window is a depiction of this part of Ulm - all in Lego - talk about stock unsold and the patience of Job to construct the display. Looks fabulous!

Along the Donau (Danube) riverbank are painted other destinations along this major European River and the distances to them.

And in the Fischerviertel which was once home to two of the dirtiest trades in the City, there are now very cosmopolitan restaurants lining waterways that no longer stink of rotting fish or urine.  All very nice.


More wandering, getting lost in the past and forgetting time as a measure.
And for a final good measure, I spy this shop selling the Ulm Ring. Admitted through locked doors, I am fitted with the second largest size they make while poor Michael, keen to have one too, misses out because of the bananas on his hand!!

After 6, we head for home in the late afternoon light. Not content with travelling the same way, we turn off trying to visit another castle we saw this morning, not to find it, but finding a shortcut over the mountain top and through the horse stud area of this part of Germany.  And as we head back in to Schwäbisch Gmünd we watch hot air balloons silently drifting across the very scenic area.

All together, a very good day.

Catching up with the extended family

Last night, the staff of the Hotel Krone told us that breakfast would not be served until 8 am today as they would have a late night!  What a fantastic night it was.
We have decided to leave the Hotel a day early and head to Munich tonight as our 10 am flight to Cluj in Romania would necessitate a 4 am departure. We have booked in to the only hotel at the airport - the Hilton, to make life a little easier.
And this morning we are condensing our clothes in to one suitcase to take with us - there is absolutely no point taking two.

We head over to give a bit more of a hand with the packing and this afternoon will head down to Schorndorf to visit with Steph's Uncle Rudi and Aunt Olga. It will benice to see them again after so many years.

Robyn is online this morning telling us to travel carefully as heatwave conditions are expected across southern Europe for the next 5 days - believe us, we know - the warnings here are often. We are heading first to the mountains of the Mamures, so hopefully it will be a little cooler. I have booked us rooms at a wellness resort - complete with pools, so hopefully we will be ok!!

This morning starts interestingly - with a blackout. Right across town the hotel owners tell us. Looks like there will be no breakfast. But no, they insist that they can do breakfast ad they have a gas cooker in the kitchen to boil water for coffee.  Its a much slower start to the day for the hotel staff. I quiz them on what time the Jazz Party finished last night and they tell us that it was early - only 1:30 am.  I had been pumping zzzs for almost 3 hours by then - right above it!
I explain that I too play the double bass and am told that father and son both play, AND that they have three basses if I want to 'jam'.  I beg out as it would mean cutting my nails.  I did comment on the beautiful sound of the bass played last night and was told that it is more than 100 years old - and English!

Breakfast done and dusted and its back to the packing - I am feeling so much better today so get busy wrapping ornaments, glasses, pots, plates etc. Michael and Felix head back to the cellar and Steph heads for the kids rooms.  Its all a-go at high speed today.
Second interesting bit, Felix gets Michael to pack his wines in a box.  Felix later picks the box up to find the base would not hold the weight and lost two nice reds. The bigger problem was cleaning up the spilt wine and glass when there is chaos all round.  And Michael, in the midst of it became heady enough to have to go outside to the fresh air.

In readiness for the cleaning of the house after the workmen finish today, and the uplift of the houseful of furniture next Wednesday, the kids are off to stay with Steph's Uncle Rudi and Aunt Olga.  Oma and Opa to the kids.  So after lunch, we and Steph and the kids head for Schorndorf - 25 minutes away.  We are hardly at the top of the stairs in their home when we are enveloped in warm bear hugs. It is SO nice to see them again after so many years. We have been invited for afternoon tea and Michael samples every one of the cakes Olga has provided. Great coffee, some great laughs and reminiscing and all too soon it is 5 pm.

We have decided to come in to Munich tonight so our day is less frantic tomorrow. We program the GPS with Munich Airport and we head back through Schwäbisch Gmünd, Aarlen, skirt the edge of Ulm and come in to Munich from the north west. In Spain there is El Toro, the Bull, adorning the roadside.  Here is it deer!

And this week is the first of the six week summer break, so there are plenty of caravans, motor homes and even a Citroen with a jump seat!

By 9 pm we have returned the hire car and are ensconced in the Hotel Hilton - right between the two terminals.
Michael is chuffed to find a wurst van set up in a Pratt engine!  Who says take away food has to be boring!

Dinner is in the Charles Lindburgh Restaurant - wait for it - a Route 66 themed american style buffet! Still, it fills the hole.
Now I am off to cjeck in for our flight in the morning.  Gut Nacht! 

Ulm - from disaster to fantastic

We made a good start towards Ulm this morning, getting away just before 11 am. After changing our minds, we are travelling towards Stuttgart along the motorway. This one is still being built and we often are turning into re-directed lanes that snake from one side of the road to the other. Then as if to laugh at our decision to take the fast route, we find ourselves coming to an almost screaming halt about 40 minutes into the trip and for the second time in a few months, we are being held up by a burning truck. It is about 800 metres from where we are and there are about 40 cars between us and it. Everyone rushes to pull to the outer edges of the lanes leaving space for the emergency vehicle (that we know will come) to travel down the centre between us. They do come eventually, but are travelling down the other side of the barrier.
This time the truck is carrying palleted goods, and boy, do they burn. The smoke starts thick and black and for a while we can’t even see the traffic lined up in the other direction. Then the smoke clears to white before a very loud explosion signals the petrol tank going and again the smoke turns black. The roads workers have a back hoe and they are trying to pull the burning load off the truck bed, but every time they move it, it allows more air in to the fire and up she goes again.

One police car,
1 fire truck, 2 fire truck, 3 fire truck, 4.
5 fire truck, 6 fire truck, gosh, do we need more?!
1 fire chief, 1 ambulance make up the score!
And foam, lots of foam seems to be the answer.

An hour after we first stop, the traffic in the opposite direction is led slowly past us by the fire chief. We however are still at a dead stop. They will need to clear some of the debris and much of that foam before we can move. The traffic from the opposite direction has now cleared and there is no more coming passed so we can only assume that they are diverting the traffic at the next junction. Behind us, the traffic stretches for kilometres – as far as we can see. Too bad there is not a spot to turn and re-trace our steps back to the last exit, although that was miles back.

It is 1¾ hours before we move. Once we get near the mess that was once a truck, the roads crews have forced open the barrier between the traffic lanes so we can cross to the other side and then a little later cross back in again. We reach the next exit about 3 kilometers further down the road and see that they are indeed diverting the traffic in the other direction. It is crawling at a snail's pace - much slower than we are going because they are being forced onto much smaller roads. And even though it is moving, the queue is a further 8 kilometres long!

We finally arrive at Ulm at 3 pm after crossing the Danube River. There is quite a haze covering the whole city and I guess that where there are industries, by the end of the week there is going to be some build up of pollution. Its a real pity because the countryside is lovely and green and the autumn leaves colour the landscape with a kaleidoscope of colours that is so different to the myriad of greens we saw here in the summer. We had come through here in July and had a very quick look at the Ulm Cathedral – just long enough to know that we wanted to come back and see more. Once we find our way into one of the underground car parks we head first for the Town Hall just off the main square.

This is one impressive building! Part is set with gothic windows and the surrounding walls are decorated with sculptures. But the north and east facades are covered most wondrously with paintings depicting human virtues and vices. The south east corner has a magnificent embedded oriel window and there is a pulpit of homage and an astronomical clock - and it dates back to 1491. Well sort off. It was destroyed by bombing in 1944 and rebuilt to the original plans and decorations in 1951.

There is the impressive 'Syrlin Fountain' of which we can just glimpse the top as is has been shuttered over for winter. We later find another in the courtyard of the police headquarters that was once the 'Neu Building' where the Swabian circle sat. (regional council)

The Cathedral too is an amazing building and boasts being the world's tallest church. We have seen some tall ones including Notre Dame, Cologne and Salisbury but this one really does take the cake. Check it out here. Michael is determined to climb the 768 steps to have a look today. When he comes back down, he tells me that he actually counted 772 steps.

Begun in 1377, it grew from small cathedral to grander and grander until all works were halted in 1534 with the arrival of the reformation. Work did not start again until the 1840s and the cathedral was not completed in its present form with the spire and twin towers until 513 years later in 1890! It is filled with stained glass windows from across the centuries, a 15th century tri- polytryptic altar and the most amazing carved choir stalls. And the views out over the twin cities of Ulm and Nue-Ulm from the steeple are fantastic as you can see!

By the time Michael gets down from his climb up the steeple it is 4:45 pm and the light is very quickly fading. We stop for a hot chocolate and coffee because with the dimming light, the temperature is heading south very very quickly! Then we walk around to the Fisherman’s Quarter. This quaint reminder of days past houses narrow little streets and crooked little half-timbered houses that were once the residences of local fishermen and boatmen who shipped goods and emmigrants to Hungary and other eastern Europe destinations.

Very foggy tonight and leaving Ulm I have programmed Kate to take us on the fastest route to 'home' - Steph and Felix's in Schwäbisch Gmünd. I though that this would have been motorway and major roads, but no, it is on back lanes through small villages, up hill and down dale - and all at a crawl - sometimes we are only going at 40 kph - all because of the thick enveloping fog. And it did not help that we climbed up and over the northern most tip of the Schwäbian Jura mountains in that fog - round and round the hairpins. Gosh, what a day!

Its great to see Steph again. She looks really well and a holiday in the States recently has given her a little colour. She has cooked a stir fry for dinner with VEGEs. Yum. We sit over a meal and shared bottle of red chatting about all that we have seen and done since re left here in July. Gosh it really has been a trip and a half. It is as cold as here - only 3 degrees outside. Thankfully, the heating is on and we warm up pretty fast.