Ulm to ....

Can you spot our tent? It's the yellow spot on the right near the big trees. The local canoo club has given us permission to camp in their background right accross from the Cathedral.

It is with considerable sadness and disappointment that I announce the end of our cycling adventure. After almost 2700km, our journey has come to a screeching halt due to unforseeable circumstances. Indeed, probably as a result of the long flat section along the Danube, I have recently been suffering from a worsening case of nerve damage in my right hand. Only a slight tingle in the little finger to begin with, it has quickly evolved into numbing the little and ring fingers as well as causing cramping, difficulties with precise tasks and reduced strenght and sensitivity in the whole hand. To make it short, after some consideration, we decided that it wasn't worth losing the use of my right hand for 3 more weeks of cycling. Nerve damage can take a long time to heal and we decided that we should take these symptoms seriously. We are very upset by it all but we tell ourselves it is for the best...


I don't need to explain this

We decided that we had to turn this unfortunate development into a positive experience and therefore, we are headed to Paris in a couple days where we hope to stay for about 10 days, exploring the in and outs of a city I love and want to share with Chris. We now have our train tickets and after 5 hours on the high-speed train, we will arrive in the heart of the city of lights, in the early afternoon. This will be the Grand tour I have been promising him for the last 6 years and it should be an awesome mix of friends, family, long walks and dark strong coffee. Any compassion you might have had after the first paragraph is gone by now, I assume...


Detail of the Ulmer Münster

In any case, now that the cycle has been taken out of the equation, we are now back to tourism and have been doing a thourough job of it in Ulm. To be perfectly honest, the first thing we did after buying our train tickets was to run to H&M and get some essential pieces for adequate camouflage in Paris. Unfortunately for us, padded lycra shorts are not considered cool off the Danube and our minimalist (not by choice) wardrobe is starting to show signs of wear & tear after 7 months on the road. The final stages of our make-over will happen tomorrow when I get a pair of shoes (the shoes I have been wearing for cycling cost us $7 in Denmark and are not hot) and Chris gets a haircut. He doesn't believe his current slightly mulletish golden fro will impress my Parisian friends. I think he is wrong but he won't listen.


The threatened fro

Today though, we took the bull by the horns and devoted ourselves entirely to the cause of our own cultural fullfillment. Hope you're sitting down because this morning, filled with giddy excitment, we joined the salt & pepper crowds and went to the 9:30am mass in the Ulmer Münster, the magnificient cathedral which dominates the town. The occasion was slightly special as they were celebrating the completion of some major restauration work done to one of the spires. The pews were full and the sermon, although incomprehensible, was energetic and from what we could gather, mainly about the cathedral itself. The organ was played loudly and the bells rang proudly at regular intervals. We escaped after 1.5 hours wondering if the service would ever end.


The view from the top

We followed that up with a quick coffee and the visit of a few old buildings around the town centre having an open-house day. The old merchant buildings now serve as contemporary art galleries and were quite interesting to walk around quickly. Then, we did the unimaginable and headed back towards the cathedral to climb the south spire. Thinking we would get a little work-out and a good view, we were not expecting to be taken on a full-on tour of every aspect of the renovation. It was an unrivalled way to explore the hidden parts of a magnificient building, climbing up narrow twisting staircases and walking between layers of thick stone walls all the way into the very top of the spire. On the other hand, listening to long detailed explanations in German every step of the way made us regret chosing lunchtime to go up. By the time we got out, another 1.5 hours later, we were completely famished and being sunday, had to contend ourselves with a very average sandwich from one of the few open bakeries. One thing is certain, it is the first time I spend 3 hours inside a cathedral. As for Chris, he still has vivid memories of a certain Easter service in Adelaide and I am not sure how he will cope with the renewed experience.


The view into the top

We now have one more full day to spend in Ulm before catching our train out of here. This means one last german morning coffee and our last chance to make ourselves presentable for the big smoke so, let's just say, it will be a busy day! Next time I write, we will be in Paris, bébé!