We arrived in Stuttgart after a long flying day. Both of us were very tired and a little confused about where we were, as well as what was going to happen next.

Our niece Wendy was to pick us up at the airport, but when we got off the plane she wasn’t there! We walked around the airport, thinking maybe she was in a different spot. No sign of her.

We thought that we had maybe screwed up the dates with her, so I sat down and got her number from the computer. We were just about to try phoning when Mona spotted Wendy down the terminal.

Wendy came to the airport with Uwe’s sister Diana. Diana had to pick up 2 cars from Stuttgart, so Wendy came with her and was going to drive us back in the car she used. What do you know – a 2007 Audi A4! Our son’s going to be jealous!

So our first ride on the German Autobahn was in a high-powered luxury car, and for some reason, we seemed to be passing a LOT of cars….go figure.

We got to Tiefenbach, which is a village about 15 kms outside of Ulm, in Bayerne (Bavaria). This is where Uwe and his sister Regina run a horse farm. Here’s some pictures of the farm.

Uwe and Regina have only taken on the full reins in the last year and a half, since their father passed away. They’re working very hard at it, and luckily they have their mother Rhinehilde to rely on for expert advice and administration. Here’s a look at the tarp on one of their horse trailers.

The family has a lot of animals around the place, besides their bread and butter – the horses. I saw a goat, cats, and a pair of Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs. Here’s one of them posing for me now.

Wendy took us into Ulm the day after our loonnng flight from Vancouver to Amsterdam to Stuttgart. The idea was to explore the city of Ulm, and see the sights.

Ulm is a very old city, with many preserved buildings from the 1500's and earlier. One of the most spectacular site, in my opinion, is the old town hall. This building is right in the centre of the old town, and has some spectacular painting on it as well as a beautiful gilt clock tower. It also has some great window sculpture, too. Here's a look at part of the hall. The streets are narrow, so I couldn't get it all in with my lens.

The clock face is very striking, with gilt paint and lots of movement pieces. You can see that it includes the zodiac on it as well. Really nice piece.

I tried to follow all the rules of photography when I was taking pictures here. You know...level horizon and all that stuff . Well, it just ain't gonna work in Europe!

The streets go in all sorts of directions at the same time! You can see the street going down to the town wall at the same time as it curves to the left, and it's on an angle as well. I gave up and just shot pictures. Oh well....