At times it felt like the movie "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles", but a 20 something hour trip saw us travel from YQQ to YVR then on to YYZ and finally to FRA, but we weren't done...then by train from Frankfurt to Ulm.

We were greeted warmly by our host families...there were lots of signs and happy cheers at the Ulm Hauptbahnhof :) Our first day at St. Hildegard saw us gather in the cafeteria for a greeting with Frau Dr. Lepre...and a snack

The rest of the day was spent at school...a bit of a long haul for some as the jet lag kicked into high gear (although Zack found vanilla milk and it made him smile). On the next day we took a walking tour through the town

Our first stop was the Neues Kaufhaus (City Hall) with the astronomical clock (created in 1520)

Then we took a walk down to the Danube

Through the walls at the Metzgerturm (Butcher's Tower)

and over to the historic Fischerviertel

Stopping at the Schiefes Haus

and through the rest of the old city

past the Schwörhaus and the new synagogue

Before making our way to the star of the city the Ulmer Minster...more on that in another post

One claim to fame is that Ulm was the birthplace of Albert Einstein...

And of course it is hard to miss the Ulmer Spatz (Sparrows). According to legend, the inhabitants of Ulm needed a particularly large beam for the construction of Ulm Minster, but couldn't get it through the city gate. They noticed a sparrow carrying a straw for its nest; which turned it from crosswise to lengthwise in its beak. Legend was born