We often zoom past Ulmen as an exit from the autobahn between Trier and Koblenz. When we went to Nurburgring, it pulled up as a close Bed and Breakfast recommendation at http://www.booking.com/. We had no idea it was such a quaint town.
We drove in on this road. At first our GPS couldn't point us to the B&B. Then we realized it wasn't on a street. It was in the middle of the plaza in front of the town fountain. The town is small. The church bells chimed. One person at the B&B spoke English with us there, but otherwise it was a very German experience. We loved it.
We wandered through the small town, through an old arch and down the cobblestone.
What a surprise it was to run upon a lake. They call it a "maar" because it is a volcanic lake. Thousands of years ago in the Eifel region, volcanos went off and left craters. These are lakes today. There are several around Ulmen. We walked around it in about 15 minutes. It was peaceful while you could hear the autobahn still in the background.
