Day 17 - Fri 13th July by Katherine & Jenny.

After packing a collection of yodelling bears, cow bells, badges, beer steins & dolls in national costumes into our already stuffed suitcases we left Bad Tölz behind us & hit the road once more. Driving through the countryside of rolling hills, fir tree forests & fields of colourful crops, we headed towards Ulm.

At Ulm we were able to spend our lunch allowance on some more of that fine German fare. We were then left with only a short amount of time to work off the lunch before reboarding the bus. So what fitness activity could we possibly find in Ulm? Cycling? Rowing? Swimming? Or how about stair climbing? For some of us, the CCDB European Fitness Tour continued with a hike up 768 stairs to the top of Europe’s tallest church spire at the Munster Cathedral. Spiralling upward, ever upward, we trudged, puffing and blowing, chasing our goal - 360 degree views of Ulm, its surroundings, & possibly the whole world. Finally, stopping just short of the clouds, we pulled up, wobbly legged in the tallest pigeon nest in Europe. After spending a few minutes spying on the people below, there was nothing left to do but make the long descent back down. Hey!, the views were good, but for 4DM I expected to be treated to a massage after all that climbing.

With our lunch well digested, we put our lives in Herbie’s hands once again & began our drive to Dotternhausen. Having learnt our lessons well in Italy, we threw our watches out the bus window & arrived in Dotternhausen 2 and1/2 hours late. Parking the bus just inside the city gates, we patiently waited while Herbie investigated the street on foot. It soon became evident that the whole town was expecting us, receiving waves from every passing car. About 5 minutes later Herbie came trekking back up the hill followed by the Dotternhausen marching band. The smiles of the musicians could not be disguised even by the most well trained of embrouchures. In the cooler German air there were no complaints this time as we were asked to march behind the band all the way into the Rathaus. We were accompanied by a very enthusiastic welcoming committee & the paparazzi lurking in the bushes.

The speeches were, gladly, brief & we didn’t wait long before meeting our hosts for the next few days. This is always a slightly uncomfortable moment, but good humour, pride & hospitality can be found in most people & this quickly surpasses any misgivings.

Our joy was short lived though, when the CCDB members were gathered together to receive some sombre news on the condition of Andrew, who, due to illness, was unable to join us in continuing the trip + was resting in hospital at Bad Tolz. The news of the seriousness of our friend’s illness was difficult to bear for each + every band member. We wished Stephen God’s speed & sent him laden with our prayers + good wishes as he headed back to Bad Tolz to be with Andrew. The band then dispersed to our hosts in order to freshen up + continue the tour in the same manner in which it had begun.

The party at the Festhalle was noisy with the excited chatter of the first moments of lifelong friendships. Good food, good drink & good humour were in abundance. Gradually the long days and short nights got the better of us & we began heading home to bed. For the few of us die hards who just don’t know when to give in, there was one more cultural experience to be had before bed time:- a German party game. An umbrella loaded with balloons was passed from person to person, back + forth, and up + down the long trestle tables. In the style of musical chairs, this continued until the music stopped, at which point, the holder of the umbrella had to face a challenge. Of course, there were two different sorts of balloons in the game - the ones for us marked ‘Aus’ contained challenges written in German + the ones for them, marked ‘Deutsch’ were written in English. Those ‘oh so whacky Germans’ had us singing nursery rhymes (great job Pete), doing sit ups (go Mark), skulling bottles of beer (oh Grant, you’re dribbling) + smoking cigars (look, it’s Groucho Paul). This all capped the night off perfectly + we raced home for our 1st sleep in our new homes.

A warm welcome and an exciting bunch of people to stay with.

P.S. Ulm has many banks...only 1 changes travellers cheques.

Kat. a person of few words
He He.
Jenny said it all.