Blaubeuren, Swabian Alb, Germany

Yesterday was the first of my program's two planned excursions. For our first trip, the whole group took the train to Blaubeuren, a tiny town about 15 minutes outside of Ulm in the beginnings of the Swabian Alb (yes, Alb) an area of very jagged hills (very old mountains really) and pretty valleys created by the Danube river.

Here's a view of the town from one of the surrounding hills:

And this is one of the cute fountains we passed as we walked through the town:

Blaubeuren is famous for its beautiful spring, it's medieval abbey, and its caves. Our trip was dedicated to seeing the caves, which are located on the tops of the hills surrounding the town. They've found evidence of Neanderthal and Early Human dwellings in these areas!

Here's Katie (from Milwaukee!) and I, about to enter the cave
(they made us wear the hardhats)

This is the Cave we got to see...

And here our guide made a fire using only tinder, a stone, a mushroom and grass ...

Clearly they've got us Americans pegged for cheap entertainment :)