Ulm, Saturday, May 22

We were all meeting at 9:30 this morning to walk to the pedestrian area for the dancing, so we were all on our own for breakfast. With a couple of bakeries on every block serving a variety of food, it was not hard to find a place. Some of us made our way to the market in front of the cathedral. It had all kinds of fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, baked goods, flowers, and bedding plants to take home and plant in your own garden. We didn’t get many of those.


Today was the beginning of the reason for this stop. The Landsmannschaft der Banater Schwaben (the umbrella group for the Romanian Germans) has a gathering here every two years. It begins with displays of traditional dancing in traditional costumes on the pedestrian mall. From there they proceed in a parade to the Mayor’s office, where they are greeted inside, then accompanied to the shore of the Danube by the Mayor for a commemoration of the departure of their ancestors down the Danube. This year was the 25th anniversary of the village of Neupanat. They had a special delegation costumed as the original pioneers. They also arranged to board a modern day facsimile of an Ulmer Schactel raft similar to the ones their ancestors sailed on. It added extra meaning to the commemoration. The people we spoke to said it was the first time they had seen this and many were quite moved by it.

This ended the formal program for the day, so most of us relaxed for a while at an outdoor café, soaking up the ambience, and some beer. We then had free time until meeting at 5 for supper nearby. Frank and Nora Ann met up with Frank’s cousin Erick and spent some time with him and his family. They also bumped into Frank's nephew Gord and his family. They had hoped to meet up, but it was kind of fluky how it all happened. Sounds like they all had a good time.

The weather was great today. It started overcast, but the sun soon broke through and by late morning, it was mostly sunny. By late afternoon it was pretty much clear. It was mild enough to get by without a jacket, maybe low 20s C, about 70 F

Our hotel here is pretty good. The rooms are not as spacious as Sindelfingen, but larger than some of the others. It is clean and modern and well kept. The staff has been very helpful whenever called upon.