The adventure began with a shock to the system at 5.45am when Val and Jean arrived to transport me to Prestwick Airport for a Ryanair flight. As planned we met there with John and Peter, completing our party from Strathclyde University. The onward journey to Friedrichshafen via London Stansted went without a hitch and we were met and transported to Ulm by the colourful character Johannes Loriz in his "Fun Mobile der Fahrservice" through the autumnal wooded and fruit-growing countryside of Southern Germany. There was only a brief stop in our comfortable rooms in the Ibis Hotel, before it was off to the Restaurant Krone to meet the other 25 participants at the seminar - from Ulm itself, from Brno and Prague in the Czech Republic, from Vicenza in Italy, and Bratislava in Slovakia. It was a most stimulating start to what would turn out to be a very informative and enjoyable exchange of information and ideas.

Kloster Wiblingen (Right: The library)

The first meeting was held in the beautiful old Kloster Wiblingen recently acquired by the University. Following individual introductions, there were presentations by partner institutions to help us to get to know each other's work. A guided tour of the Monastery's fantastic Rococo library followed where the pillars, although made of wood, gave the appearance of genuine marble. After this pleasant interlude each partner country described their specific situation regarding Internet use by seniors. Lunch followed at the nearby Gasthaus Loeven. Later a guided tour of Ulm town centre was followed by a visit to the Altentreff Internet training club STIG, where in the ten-seater lab we watched a demonstration of the facilities available to the senior citizens of Ulm. Our positive experiences of the day were further "bonded" during the evening meal in the Restaurant Andechser.

The previous morning's presentations on "Opening of the Internet to Seniors" continued in the "Fakultatsraum" of the University of Ulm. We then experienced the long-forgotten joy of eating in a students' restaurant "Mensa". Some hands-on computer work followed in a state of the art lab so we could use the University platforms for e-communication in the future. Christian Carls presentation on "Internet information campaigns" and "Learning software" completed the working day. A most enjoyable evening was spent at Frau Sibylle Kempff-Schefold "Open House" for the Glasgow group and for the German students who had come to Glasgow on a study visit in the summer.

We returned to the "Fakultatsraum" of the University to discuss strategies for project activities and the next steps - once we managed to gain access, as this was Saturday! A very interesting and copious lunch was served in the "Sommer Palast" Chinese restaurant on the campus. Discussions continued in the afternoon about Brno, Czech Republic - the venue for the next seminar and the work that we had to do was agreed.To round off the event a superb social evening and buffet was held in the most impressive art nuveau "Villa Eberhardt" where we ate, talked, sang and danced the night away!

St Petrus and Paulus

On our return journey - again in the "Fun Mobile" of our colourful driver Johannes Loriz - we stopped at Steinhausen, a Schwabian village with a most beautiful old church and graveyard - St Petrus and Paulus (left) - "Die schönste Dorfkirche der Welt" . We had time in Friedrichshafen to do some sightseeing and stroll along the shores of Lake Constance (the Bodensee) with the snow-covered Swiss Alps just visible in the distance. We were even lucky enough to catch sight of a Zeppelin airship that serves the tourists. Freidrichshafen is of course the home of the famous Zeppelin Museum with its reconstruction of a 33 metre long part of the LZ 129 Hindenburg. Thankfully we travelled home less dramatically by Ryanair.

This first seminar has been a most informative introduction to the EuCoNet Project and has given us an opportunity to reflect on what makes our Scottish project different from the experiences of the other participating countries.

Eric R M Sutherland

Picture captions: Modern Sculpture punctuates the landscape of Ulm University campus. Click here (http://groups.msn.com/3LComputerClub/pictures1.msnw) to view more pictures or click Ofoto (http://www.ofoto.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?UV=333107699109_19957194703) to view the complete online album