ulm already

       They say that If you are looking for a heart pounding adventure with gargoyles, then stop in the city of Ulm along the Danube and climb the 768 stairs to the top of the World’s tallest church steeple at 530 feet. It will take about an hour to get up and down without stopping and catching your breath. I am unsure how long it took me to just get to the top! It`s unimportant i was taking pictures and taking in the scene. 
   It truly was one of the most beautiful steeple climbs I’ve ever done. it would take a lot of typing to list all the spires historic buildings memorials etc, that i have been to in my life,but lets just say this one was special maybe because it was unexpected or the great weather I just enjoyed it 

      Its always a shame doing one of these sort of things alone as you have nobody to chat about the experience with, It was an experience the cathedral itself was stunning and I have been to plenty of these throughout the world to say so! there was a statue to martin Luther he was the bloke whom sort of started the protestant church! it was strange for a Scottish man who was brought up as a protestant society, to see the German beginnings of this movement, for one thing protestant churches in Scotland dont have Jesus on the crucifixion as this is viewed as catholic, it was also strange to  see their memorial to their war dead! something I am now getting more used to the longer i spend in Germany their losses were every bit as big as ours and just as sad, 
     

  after a brief walk around the kirk i went for the ticket machine for the spire it was 5 euros to go up it was also a Sunday morning the kirk services seem to be early morning then  evening. the first section was easy going for me then it opened out to a balcony, the next section was long and winding, because i was fit and fast i ended up behind a couple and just went at their pace while i attached my phone to my selfie pole and took plenty pics, then the steps opened up above the church bells 
    there was a machine here for making a tourist coin in a press, I love these machines and have a collection of pressed coins at home. perhaps this love of pressed coins  is in a small way related to when i crushed a 2P coin in a vice at school and the metalwork teacher belted me for defacing the crown!! regardless how i came to love these pressed coins, I was delighted on this day to find one half way up the spire and this pressed coin will get added to my collection including one from the twin towers which sprung to mind as i ascended the steps

       the next section was long then it finally opened out to a stone deck and narrow balcony where you could clearly see the twisting winding last section to the highest point in the middle the gargoyles and views were excellent i stayed and took some photos while listening to the noise from the city below before the final ascent
     the last section was very steep/narrow/exposed but still guarded! its strange with an airy climb like this very lattice I have done other tower climbs that were totally enclosed and yet others that were around the outside of the spires this lattice section with guarded windows was a mix up but i was rewarded with fine views of the Danube from the very top of the worlds highest steeple, 
     I bought some postcards from the shop once back down and one had a panoramic view of the alps ! I couldn't see the alps? maybe i just wasn't looking for them. as i climbed back down i passed the church bells as they went off! and there was also some organ music the organ of this kirk is huge!
  

            The last section funneled everyone together though the most narrow section; this was not a place to be claustrophobic as you spend a lot of time squeezing past people because traffic goes both ways in the last section. But once you get to the top you are treated to amazing views of the city, the Danube, and the people that look like little ants below in the square.