We do tourism stuff too!

Easter Sunday meant even the staff of Buchinger Wilhelmi got some time off, so some new friends took three of us along to tour the monastery and palace at Salem, aka Kloster und Schloss Salem. The day couldn't have been a lot better, but in the interest of peeling onion layers (oops, did I say normal tourist stuff? Well, normal tourists explore their inner experiences too, don't that?) there were two noticeable slips from glorious:

1) when the tour guide delivered a Trunchbull-esque verbal slapdown to our friend Shiva because she had the absolute gall to help out those of us non-German speakers with an English translation from time to time during the guide's powerful but seemingly both fixed and uninterruptible presentations (Vicky was herself terrorised by this, and it wasn't even directed at her - her (VERY) sotto voce comment to me was "this is what scary Germans are like"), and
2) even though it was a sunny April day, still only about 45F so the huge blocks of stone that made up the palace were still probably close to refrigerator-fresh temperatures. Seriously, the longer we stayed inside the palace, the lower my core temp until it was almost teeth-chatteringly unpleasant.

All that said, it was gorgeous - have a look at some of the below - and once back outside where we soak up some radiant heat, all was fine. The other obliquely funny things (to me, I know!) were that I felt my first serious hunger pangs in the whole week when we were being chilled down inside, and that afterwards, walking out, I really really really would have loved a nice afternoon cappuccino - however dry and calorie-light! - probably for its warming contribution too, but also because, yep, I was missing coffee. Quelle horreur.

The other note for you royal family-watchers out there is to know that the boarding school at Salem - still an institution for the well-heeled youth of Europe - was where Prince Philip (RIP) did two years before sending all of his sons to the UK inheritor, Gordonstoun up in Scotland. Current King Charles III didn't much like it, referring to it as "Colditz in kilts" but its founder, Kurt Hahn, was a revolutionary educator - seriously, if you read nothing else from this, follow up that link to get a little taste of what he intended as 'expeditionary learning' and don't ask yourself too much where Philip got all of his ideas about the whole Duke of Edinburgh outdoor and character education program...(hint: it was Hahn, and the Schule Schloss Salem). Before I'm done with this longer and longer digression, it's worth reflecting on the tragedy (pointed out by my new German friends here at the clinic) of Hahn having to leave Germany and found the next school in Scotland because he was Jewish...no matter the Oxford degrees and visionary leadership.

But enough jaw-jaw - how about some photo-photo? From the blooms...

 ...to the great hall (man, the acoustics in here, not to mention to skate-able shiny floors!)...

...to (of course) my favourite room in any house/Palace!, the library:

And of course, the church and monastery (let's not forget the poor monks, including the zillions of monk-steps that had to have worn down these stairs...)

Shulamit, Shiva, Vicky and Rama in cathedral

Just one of the glorious halls monks would tread in SILENCE

And finally, my arty shot down from the VIP floors of the palace - and yes, looking over that rail did have my knees aquiver - it was a long way down to a very stone-y ground...

And that's Easter in Überlingen and Salem - thank you again, Shiva and Rama, for taking us along on such a wonderful outing.