April 24, 2013
Munderkingen to Ulm ☀
45 kilometers (193 km total)
 

Anker Hotel €120 per night ($155) 2 bedroom apartment incl. breakfast

A group of 7 retired men on a 7 day cycle tour along the Donau stayed at out hotel, had breakfast at 8 am, and left around the same time we did.... 9 am. They ranged in age from 68 to 81! Wow! All were retired and had to get back wives and family and other obligations.

Today took us on beautiful paved path through farming communities with neat and stretches of broccoli, wheat and freshly plowed fields. The trail also wound through several protected nature areas where birds appeared especially chirpy. Many trees are showing leaves and many blossoms. People were working flowerbeds in their gardens and flower pots are being readied for window sills.
 

 
April 25th, Ulm R&R Day ☀☀☀ Warm and sunny today

Ulmer Münster (Ulm Minster Gothic Church)

Today was a "Rest" day??? Really? Is climbing 768 steps to reach a gallery 143 meters (469 feet) up rest? 

We started our day by climbing the highest church the highest church-steeple in the world, 161.53 meters (530 feet), for a most amazing view over Ulm and surrounding countryside. We paid our 4 euro and spiraled up a dizzying narrow circular stair led up and up and more up, allowing us to get up close and personal with several scary looking gargoyles that appeared to support the pillars and eves along the way. 


The sky was void of clouds and the view from the top was amazing. The way up triggered a fear of heights. The768 step spin down triggered a dizzying feeling of motion sickness. It was truly disorienting.

Afterwards we stopped inside the huge 600 year old church and admired the beautiful stained glass and several of the many altars. The church was started in the 1300's but the top spires were completed in 1890, a 500 year project was finally finished. Junko and Hiro lit a candle in memory of his mother.


 
 
Museum der Brotkultur in Ulm, dedicated to the 6,000-year history of bread
 
Next we enjoyed our lunch on plaza next to the Minster church and gave our legs a rest before heading to the Museum of Bread Culture. There, we learned about the ancient history of bread-making. Apparently the people in the Stone Age made some type of bread. The private museum is worth a stop. 

We were given audio guide in English and Japanese for the tour of three levels of displays! It took some time but it was all interesting. The ancient Egyptians baked 50 different kinds of bread. Now I want to make bread again. I miss not making bread. Bread baking and smelling it is so comforting, so homey. No lack of great bread here dough ;)
 
But another and more serious message the Museum brought loud and clear is the fact that many people in the world do not have enough to eat. And that bread used to be 80% of our daily diet, now meat takes the bulk of our daily calories. I forgot the exact numbers but it used a lot more resources to produce a kilo of meat than grains. I will try to at least make one day a week a vegetarian day, eggs and fish allowed. In India it was easy to live vegetarian lifestyle. In many places there plainly was no meat allowed. And for me, no place was vegetarian food better than Rishikesh.

Junko and Hiro chose Ulm for a rest and recover spot on our 3 month cycling journey. And it was a great choice. We asked them to add a paragraph to our blog for our Japanese readers! 



Hiro's and Junko's Ulm Experience 
   
空白の一週間後(英文Family
Emergency参照)季節は冬から春に変わっていた。春の息吹を感じながらドナウ川沿いを再び走り始めた。ゴージャスとしかいいようのない緑のカントリーサイドを鳥の声を聴きながら走る。遠くに城や教会を望みながらまるで絵本の中にいるような気分。この爽快感。深く息を吸い込み、自分の足でこの地を走っているのだという心からの満足感。そうこうしながらドナウエッッシングから走り始めて初めての都会らしい町ウルムに着いた。リトルヴェニスと言われる古い街だ。モーツァルトもアインシュタインもここで生まれたという。ここでのハイライトは世界一高い教会の塔を持つ聖堂だ。塔のほとんどてっぺんまで、廻り階段をひたすら登った。怖い。本当に怖い。160メートルだという。何という景色。その昔この塔を作った人々のことを思った。500年もかかってどれだけの人が建設に関わったのだろうか。晴れていればアルプスまでのぞめるという。あとで下から見上げてあそこまで登ったのだと思っただけで、ぞっとした。が、あの高さまで行けたのだという達成感もあった。



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References: 

....1) The Danube Cycle Way; Donaueschingen to Budapest by John Higginson
... 2) Bikeline Maps & Guides; Donau-Radweg 1, (5 books in the series)

Our plan in a nutshell; 2900 total kilometers at 50 km per day - 2 days riding for 1 day off for a total of 58 riding days & 90 total days - April to July, 2013 :)