This was our last day in Germany and we unexpectedly discovered what was to become one of our favorite towns in Europe. The plan was: Alice would do laundry while I went to climb a tower, then we'd leave town. I found a laundromat just one mile from the Ulm Minster (Ulmer Münster), which is the tallest church in the world (530 feet). Having previously climbed the second tallest (515 feet) -- in Cologne (Köln), Germany -- I wanted to climb the highest. Alice, having no desire to climb towers, was very content to do laundry -- and we actually finished at about the same time. HOWEVER, having seen the town square in Ulm, I insisted that we both go back. We both LOVE Ulm.
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| First of all, on the way to the town square, you cross this picturesque canal. |
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| Then, you walk into the town square and face the tallest church in the world -- the Ulm Minster. Its construction began in 1377 A.D. -- and it was financed by the town instead of the Catholic Church. In 1530, a referendum was held and the town converted to Protestantism, so the Minster became Lutheran. There are 3 levels. The first is about halfway up (230 feet/392 steps) -- where you see the fencing if you click on this picture. I climbed to that point and was about to quit when I saw a sign: |
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| So, I climbed to the second level (335 feet/560 steps) -- where the cone on top begins. I looked up and saw this: |
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| Even if there had been another sign, I wouldn't have climbed that! But, I had already climbed more steps than the "mere" 509 of the Köln Cathedral, so I quit. The last 208 steps are for those much braver (and less acrophobic) than me. |
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| But Alice was more interested in the open-air market in the town square. Imagine eating and shopping at the base of the Ulm Minster. |
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| And here's the view of the open-air market from 335 feet in the air. |
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| From the second level of the Minster, you can see gargoyles and (what I later found out was) the Danube (Donau). We hated to leave Ulm (and hope to go back someday), but we wanted to get to the chocolate outlet store before it closed. |
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| As you drive into the quaint little town of Waldenbuch (population 8559), it's hard to imagine that it's the home of the Ritter Sport factory, museum, and outlet store. |
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| But it seems appropriate that our last stop in Germany was to purchase German chocolate. Here's Alice with her goodies. She started throwing out the travel books (that we had already used) to make room in our suitcases for chocolate. (Unfortunately, she threw out "Let's Go France" as we were about to reenter France.) |
