Staying in Ulm, Germany

[miss daisy]

Hi Guys I might have the chance to travel soon to Ulm, Germany and I wanted to know some basic information about Ulm.
for example, how the weather is in July, any festivals in that month.
Also I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me more about the cost of things there..Basic grocery, clothes (should I buy from chain stores or ordinary shops) and so on

Any help would be appreciated thanks in advance

[Frankie Jasmine]

Hi, Miss Daisy! You have been missed in the General Discussions section!

I lived in Bavaria, where Ulm is located. It's a wonderful area, friendlier than in the north of Germany. Bavaria has one festival after another once Lent in over!! That continues until the 11th month on the 11th day at 11 a.m. TRULY!! In some towns there is a ceremony--like a day of death! But late-spring, summer, through fall are many festivals in the many little towns. Well worth visiting!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulm

Still, I wanted to let you know that clothes in Germany were well-made but very expensive in the 1980's (when we were there--I know--I'm ancient!). At that time the dollar was very strong against the German mark--3.5 - 4.0 DM to $1.00 U.S. Even then, I found clothing very expensive compared to the U.S. I tried to find things on sale because I wasn't accustomed to spend that much on clothes. Now that Germany is re-united and with the Euro as widespread currency, the economy of Germany is even tighter overall (I've heard from my old friends). So I would think that clothing would be quite costly. If I were moving to Germany again from the U.S., I would buy lots of clothes before going there as well as shoes. (Shoes were not as expensive, but the shoe styles were unattractive in Germany at that time.)

IKEA is the place to go for things like house-goods--furniture, kitchen utensils, bedding, dishes, etc., and just to look around is nice if you'll have plenty of time in Germany.

One of the summers we lived in Germany, I never wore summer clothes--it stayed cool! I needed long pants, an overcoat, and umbrella to go to work. However, the summer before that was unusually warm for Germany (the Germans mowed their grass in their underwear!). Light layering of clothing would work. That way, you can add to, if its cooler, rainier . . . or just wear the light layer if it's very warm.

http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/10838.html


There wasn't much negative about Germany. It is a lovely country with so much to see! Wonderful restaurants (which were not expensive at that time; I can't say now), sites to see, and just being there was a pleasure! Also 'Volksmarch' time is in the summer. All the little villages have several Volksmarch--this is a community walk through the countryside, not usually very long or strenuous. And it is not a "race" as we have here in the U.S. It is each person or family going at their own pace, and at the end you get some kind of memento for completing it. A glass, cup, or maybe a little hanging painted picture for your window.

We used the trains a lot, so don't worry if you do not have transportation. If you will be there for a while, you might want to look into getting a "pass" for the train for a month or the summer. That way it's all paid ahead of time. Public transportation was not expensive when we lived there, but having a pass was really good for getting around by train. Trains were nice, clean, and always on time. You could visit many towns/cities in Germany during your stay there. There are many castles both in cities and villages. Also, the Germans sometimes took bus tours themselves to various historic towns. That would be another economical way to sight-see--go with an organized group with a tour guide (in your own language, if you don't know German). One of our favorite towns was Augsburg--not a large city, very historic, much character and quaint, and not far from Ulm. We loved it. Also Munich is required for visitors, of course!

http://wikitravel.org/en/Ulm

You will not be bored! It will be relaxing and fun, especially if you are meeting friends or familly there, who know what's going on. If not, ask me questions by PM and I'll tell as much as I can.

http://www.google.com/search?q=ulm+g...w=1304&bih=661

Have fun! Oh, and I have to clear out my mailbox here and I am too busy to do so now. But if you send a PM next week, I can answer you!

[miss daisy]

Hey Frankie! Thank you, I know I've been away for a while Studies, College, no free time :/
Thank you so much for the information, they were really helpful

Actually, if I go, it will be a 3 week trip to study German, it's organized by my University
I'm really excited about going, I just which it was in the summer

[Tahira]

Hi Miss Daisy, sommerweather is very changenable here. You can have real hot sommer weather and also cold and rainy. Everything is possible. So you must have jeans and a jacket with you. CLothes can be cheap in certain shops where they sell clothes made in far east (china, bangladesh and so on). So you can find T-Shirts starting at a price of 1,99 Euro. Brand name Shirts start a about 15 Euro and Jeans trousers about 49 Euro.

Ulm is a very nice city with an old history.

THis is the official homepage of Ulm http://tourismus.ulm.de/tourismus/de/index.php
I see that they have an international festival called Donaufest (Donau is the river there; english name: Danube)
Usually those festivals have a very multi-cultural character concerning music and meals.

As Frankie JAsmine said you can easily drive to other cities by train. Munich and Augsburg are about one hour to drive. I am sure they also provide daily trips to Schloß Neuschwanstein (if you like to see it) http://www.neuschwanstein.de/index.htm

Just ask if you any specific questions. I`ll try to help!

[miss daisy]

WOW! Thank you so much Tahira for the info, and the websites are really helpful
I might get the chance to go to Munchen during my stay In Germany, any specific places that I should visit?

[citlalli]

In Munich you mean? I'd recommend a visit to the city centre (Marienplatz & surroundings) and the Olympic Park and Nymphenburg Palace. There are also plenty of interesting museums to see (the most famous and largest one being the Deutsches Museum).

http://www.olympiapark.de/en/home/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphenburg_Palace

http://www.deutsches-museum.de/index.php?id=1&L=1




Visits to the lakes near Munich and to the castles of King Ludwig II of Bavaria are also very popular with visitors and locals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Starnberg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6nigssee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrenchiemsee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linderhof


The Alps are also only about one hour from Munich, and if you like nature I think you'll love spending a day hiking around those beautiful mountains You can also take a day trip to Salzburg (Austria) from Munich.

[miss daisy]

hey Citlalli Thank you soo much!
Yes I meant Munich. Munchen in Munich in German "me, flaunting my basic knowledge of German language'' :P
ooo, I totally forgot about the alps! That's a must-do! and thank you so much for all the other info <3

[Tahira]

When you arrive in Munich central station you are in the very center of the city. There is also a tourist information they can help you.
Look here there is a summer festival - you can reach it on foot
http://www.tollwood.de/sommerfestiva...onth/20120719/


Regarding Ul as your "main place" you can also check the possibilities to go by train to lake constance (it´s called "Bodensee" in german). There you have the alps, a big lake, Austria, Switzerland... all in one :-)
There must be a direkt train line; it´s not more than 1 oder 1,5 hours to travel there. For example the small town Lindau is very cosy:
http://en.lindau2.de/index.php?sid=1027

If you go by train you have to check carefully or ask for help an the central station. There are special tickets: 1 person pays but upt to five persons can drive. YOu just have to stay together while travelling by train. You can really ask for help they will not cheat you.

[citlalli]

Ya Miss Daisy! 3arfah München=Munich bs I thought you might have meant places to see in or around Ulm (of which I've got no idea at all )


Ahhhh, you'll be close to the famous Black Forest too

http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/


I agree with Tahira about those tickets, they are one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get to other towns if you don't have a car at your disposal. Have a look here:

http://www.bahn.de/i/view/DEU/en/pri...bersicht.shtml


There's also a service called "Mitfahrzentrale", where you pay a small fee and can travel in somebody's car. For example: Citlalli is driving from Munich to Frankfurt and has room in her car for 1 passenger, so I tell this to an agency, and later on Miss Daisy calls the same agency and says "I need to go from Munich to Frankfurt", so they tell you "ok, you can go with Citlalli" I used this service a couple of times a long time ago, and it was fine and cheaper than the train, but I always did it with a friend of mine and even though Germany is pretty safe I wouldn't advise you to jump on your own in a stranger's car.

[Frankie Jasmine]

I agree with all of the above, except "Mitfahrzentrale" (which I know nothing about--in the U.S. that would be called, "A good way to get yourself killed"!! ) I agree that many years ago Germany was far safer than the U.S. I know nothing about Germany today . . .

Yes, the Black Forest is also lovely. You might want to decide if you want more exposure to architecture/history or the natural scenery. Probably you want some of both. Personally, I would choose the Alps over the Black Forest because they are so dramatic; again, the Black Forest area is charming, though, and it's close as citali says.

Tahira puts forth a good idea for an overnight or weekend trip--Bodensee/Lindau can be an unforgettable experience, beautiful scenery, relaxing, charming. I concur with Tahira's proposal.

Could you post what month you will be going to Ulm? Are you more interested in seeing magnificent castles or nature? Depending on the time of year, the weather may lend itself to more sightseeing of castles, museums, etc.

You seem to have quite a few ATL people very interested that you see and experience the best! So, we're all here to help any way we can!

[miss daisy]

Yes that's true Frankie I'm lucky I know great people like you all

I'm going in July. I'd like to get a taste of both, architecture and nature. However, I'd like to focus more on natural sceneries since they'll be a change after living in Cairo the City!

Also, I'd like to ask you about going to neighbor countries while I'm there. What do you recommend?

[Tahira]

First of all I would rather recommend to visit lake constance than the blak forest region. Black forest region is very cosie, and a nice region if you want to go for trekking in the nature.

Lake constance is the border to Austria and Switzerland. I have seen there is a direct railway line from Ulm to Lindau (lake constance). You should reach this in a max of 2 hours. Being in Lindau you can take a little boat (there are a whole lot of them all over the lake with different destinations) and go across to Bregenz (Austria). I think it takes only 30 min to cross the lake.
From Friedrichshafen (another town a the lake constance) you can take a ferry boat to Romanshorn (Switzerland) it takes only 20 min.

I like the area around lake constance a lot; We have been there for holidays many times. YOu can go for trekking there, boat tours, swimming, you have the alps, cultural programms (museums, castles etc). THere is also an island in the lake which is called "Mainau" and this is a huge botanic garden.

However its a touristic place and rooms (bed and breakfast) are not that cheap (1room for 2 persons about 60 Euros per night). I do not know about youth hostels, but they must be cheaper.

Austria and Germany have the same currency and almost same prices. Switzerland is a little bit more expensive.

[Tahira]

http://www.constance-lake-constance.com/

On this site there is a film about the lake constance... and it really looks like that in reality.

There are also mayn films on youtube, go for searching with the word "bodensee"

Something about Ulm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRH9g...feature=fvwrel


While searching something interesting for you, I found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlLDK...eature=related
which I found pretty interesting all the things she said, and they are true.

[Frankie Jasmine]

Miss Daisy, I have to agree with Tahira on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) trip. This puts you already near the other countries and in the Alps! You would in NO WAY be disappointed! It is a wonderful recommendation. There would be sooo much to see and do!!

I might ask the others--can reservations be made ahead of time for other cities' hotels/hostels at the local Ulm train station, for example? I cannot recall. I know when you arrive at your destination, likely that is still the case. But you may wish to plan ahead, especially as July is a big month for foreigners/visitors/travellers; hotels may be full. I think I mentioned earlier that we always stayed at what the French call "pension"--small, privately owned places that rent rooms either with or without a private toilet/bath, and they were always clean, fresh, and quaint; also affordable at that time.

Could anyone address booking of accommodations for Miss Daisy? How/where/when is best to do so? At the time, I don't recall paying a fee if we booked at the city's own train station; if there was a fee, it was small.

Also in Germany is a very heavy Turkish population, most of whom are German citizens. The influx of Turkish people came after WWII, as special workers to help rebuild the country. I don't know all the details--if citizenship was granted after a period of time or if the Turkish people chose to raise their families there. Perhaps at that time there was a higher quality of life in the 1950s, 1960s. Anyway, there are generations of Turks there. I mention this because of Islam. The Turkish people there were always friendly, kind, and hospitable. It may give you a religious link in case you are Muslim.

Finding people of my religion would be essential for my weekly life if I were visiting a foreign country. If you follow any religious dietary restrictions, advice could be given you on where/what to purchase appropriate items. E.g., I do not eat meats or foods with blood in them--yet the Metzgerei (Meat Shops) and restaurants sell/serve certain foods with blood in them. If you find your religious community there, they could help you with whatever needs like that you may have.

[miss daisy]

@ Tahira: Thank you so much!! I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the info you're giving me!

[miss daisy]

@ Frankie: My accommodation is already available since I'm going with my university, so I'm staying in the University guesthouse

As to the Turkish population, that's really nice because I really like the Turkish culture and meeting Turkish people would actually give me the chance to practice a little bit of Turkish language Also I have to admit that I was a little bit worried about my safety considering the fact that I'm a veiled Muslim girl and some people might not like that. But since there's a turkish population, it seems my worries are pointless

I think the only thing about Islam that I'll have to make sure of is to not eat ham. That's a word that I'll have to learn so that I can tell them in the restaurant not to serve it

[Frankie Jasmine]

Miss Daisy, the key word for pork is "Schwein" or "Schweinefleisch" in German; my German has deteriorated! The translator gave me these words though: Schinken; Schenkel; Schmierenkomödiant for "ham." "Ham" is only part of the animal--Scweinefleisch would include any part of it, I think. On menus in Bavaria, I usually saw, e.g., "Schweineschnitzel" for a pounded flat piece of pork that was then battered and fried. "Jaegerschnitzel" would be prepared similarly with gravy, but with animal meat such as a "hunter" would bring home--not pork. Perhaps German ATL members or those with more current experience/better language skills can help you better than I.

You know the word for no is "nein." And the adjective is "kein." So you would say something like, "kein Schweinefleisch, bitte." Oder (pointing to menu item) "ist das Schweinefleish?"--asking "is this pork?" But I think you need someone else's German input, because adherence is important to you.

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Oh, Miss Daisy, I don't mean your accommodations IN Ulm. I am asking if--when you want to TRAVEL TO ANOTHER TOWN/CITY--can reservations be made at your own main Ulm train station (Zugbahnhof) for hotel/hostel/pension in another city? That is what I'm not sure of. We usually just travelled by train to the city and got our accommodations at the Zugbahnhof when we arrived in another city--even in other countries--Paris, etc.; but summer might be very busy in Bodensee. You might need to get your room ahead. Oh, I do hope you can spend 2 or 3 days there! It would be wonderful!

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Oh, yes, I lived in a very small village--Sulzbach am Main, near the larger town of Aschaffenburg. I knew nothing about living in Germany. I did not know for a long time that the women with the beautiful scarves were not typical "German" but Muslim! My American friend and I bought German scarves and tried to tie them like the "German women" did! Isn't that funny! We thought it was beautiful, though, and wanted to look like them! Then about six months or a year later, I caught on that the pretty women in scarves were different from the German women--and were Turkish. But at first everything was so "foreign" that I didn't know the difference. I recall my friend saying, "They are so beautiful; I want to be like them" and I felt the same! Ulm will probably have people from many countries living there and running businesses--Greeks, Italians, and now maybe some people from the former Soviet Union! At the time I was there, they were there illegally, and few in number.

Sadly, the scarves I bought in Germany so I could look like you (!) had to be thrown in the trash after we got back to the U.S. At that time, a warning came out that even reached the U.S.--the reason they were inexpensive is that they were made somewhere like in China or something and were highly flammable. Many women's heads/faces had been burned by them. I doubt they are allowed to sell that kind of material now, but the Turkish women from there can tell you. (Remember I said clothing was expensive? But I loved my scarves, which I could afford, and wanted to keep as mementos!)

[miss daisy]

Thanks a lot for for helping me with the pork/ham issue! That's something that I will definitely have to use!


Oh, got it now I don't know if we can do that either But I think I can check with employees in the guesthouse I'm staying in. I can also do some research online

hahaha It's so cute how you wanted to tie the scarves like Muslim Turkish women! I'm already veiled, so I'll probably be able to buy some good scarves from there

From what I found online, Ulm has a lot of foreign students like me, which is again a good thing

[Tahira]

You won't have any problems when you wear your scarve. Even muslim girls who are born in Germany wear them.
So we are used to veiled girls.
I think at least 10% of the german populations has a foreign background. We call this "mulit-culti" (multi-cultural) society.

HAM = Schinken in german.
We eat a lot of pork. But you can get everything. Veal, beef, fish and lamb. But lamb is expensive, people do not eat it a lot and so its expensive and there is only a small amount at the boutcher and in the restaurants. But you can always ask to be sure. I am very sure that Ulm must also have some arabic restaurants and arabic snack bars where you can have typical arab food.

I´ll be back to this thread later, I have to go now.

[miss daisy]

@ Tahira: Thanks a lot for reassuring me I wouldn't want to create a fuss around me there

About the Ham, I'll have to ask the waiter to make sure that there's no Ham or alcohol used in cooking So could you tell me what I should say to ask if there's alcohol used?