The Ordinary versus the Extraordinary – A year of travelling with three children: 21 April 2015

The tulips are giving way to pansies, the daffodils are giving way to daisies and the magnolia flowers are falling down as their green leaves are opening up. There are bees buzzing and happy spring birds joyfully sing. Ah, life in rural southern Germany has been wonderful!

Wildflowers!

We are pushing forward with school and ticking boxes and hopefully learning as we go. The kids' general knowledge is certainly increasing and I often reflect on how many words have snuck into our family vernacular from our travels. On my walk this morning with Tim I reminded him that this trip away will be part of his life story from here on in and we talked about the fabulous experiences we've had so far. We have all learned so much.

Rubbish disposal is an art form in Germany!

Luke also had a lovely play with Mara, our neighbour and her little cousins. He looks so big next to the little girls but loved their company and their Lego! He happily watched "The Gruffalo" in German with them! It certainly motivated him to work knowing he could play with the girls when he had finished what we required of him!

One of the places we have thought we should visit locally was the Schloss Salem, so this afternoon we did! It is handy to have our car as places like this would be quite difficult to visit by public transport. It was so impressive even before we had entered the gates!

Tim walking along the bike racks...as you do!

The only way to see the palace is to go on a tour. In our case, the next tour was in German, but we thought we would partake in the small group with our English translation on paper. This meant we had 20 minutes to check out the mazes and beautiful gardens before the tour commenced. Schloss Salem is also the site for an exclusive boarding school which has students from 40 nations and costs a huge amount. From what we could work out, they are taught in German.

Schule Schloss Salem is really for the rich and famous and we didn't know that until afterwards! The students we saw were polite and friendly and who knows how many princes and princesses we saw! Prince Phillip attended there as did many other European royals. They offer the International Baccalaureate in English in the latter years and have several campuses. It would be a lovely environment to live in.

Schloss gardens

Beautifully manicured!

Spring blooms

The first stop was the late Gothic Minster. Construction started in 1285 but it has had a few additions over the centuries and it basically a cruciform shape. There are 27 altars inside the church, several organs and amazing alabaster carvings from the 18th century. It was part of the monastery until1802 when the Minster then became a parish church. It has been open to the public since 2009.

Schloss Minster

Ornate carving

Inside the Minster

The main altar

Original mosaics on floor

Sitting in the choir stalls

Incredibly ornate - alabaster and marble everywhere

This old door intrigued me but I couldn't get to ask what was behind it!

Connected to the Minster by an old wooden door which our guide unlocked the door with a big old key, was the St Bernard's cloister. We continued along the prayer corridor and were intrigued and delighted each time another door was unlocked.he last room we were let into was the Summer Refectory, a grand old room with a Majolica Stove from 1733 being the highlight. It is made from hand painted tiles depicting the Benedictine life alongside Biblical stories.

St Bernard

Prayer corridor

Beautiful tiled oven

The roof was not spared superb artwork!

So intricate, every little nook and cranny

From the floor to the doorway - all planned and all perfected!

The monastery was constructed in 1697 after a terrible fire. The exterior has beautiful stucco work is superbly maintained. Luke took charge of my camera and started taking photos. He did look extremely cute and serious about his new found passion!

Luke outside the monastery with all its stucco work

The official tour was over but there was lots more to explore in the grounds: a goldsmith, a blacksmith, an artist, a glass blower and a fire engine museum as well as a magnificent play ground. we spent a really fantastic afternoon there and were glad we had gone! To Annika's delight, she found a card with her name on it in the gift shop - we had to buy it!