In our family, we promised each other to try to do “ordinary things“. That we live like normal people enjoying simple and uncomplicated things in life.These ordinary things are oftentimes so hard to achieve ,given life´s daily struggles and commotions.From lazy sunday mornings to sipping coffee in our garden at home up to almost doing nothing—we are trying our best.

Our goal is to spent a day in a Zoo or Botanical Garden.The last time I´ve visited a zoo was 7 years ago, that was in Nürnberg , the time when we just came here in Germany. My daughter was still sitting in a stroller and I bet she doens´t have a recollection of seeing the Manatees, zebras and the cool sea lion show there. After all, Tiergarten Nürnberg was one of the largest zoo here in Bavaria, and probably also one of the best Tierpark we´ve seen.This time, we´ve explored another hidden gem in Bavaria —Augsburg.

Last weekend since I was lucky enough to have both days free from work, we decided to have some quality family time and do ordinary things.We drove to Augsburg after breakfast and right on time, just before 10 am, we are at the gate of Augsburg zoo.The Botanical garden was just beside it so I really find it so convenient to combine these two attractions on one daytrip.There was enough parking space (for free!) and the location itself is excellent.

After seeing lovely botanical gardens, like the Keunkenhof , Orchideen Hoeve in the Netherlands, and Munich´s Botanical Garden or the amazing Cloud Forest in Singapore, my expectations for Augsburg´s botanischer Garten is low.I didn´t expect much to see since it´s still early spring.But then, overall, we were satisfied & was quite impressed.It was smaller, yet compact and well landscaped.Ideal to explore within 1-2 hours including rest breaks.

We started walking through the garden and we were amazed by the colorful spring blooms that welcomed us. There´s a water fountain at the entrance and lovely rows of colorful tulips .The sun is shining brighlty and many people are busy hovering through the flowers.Though my child is a little bit bored, she had fun in the playground inside the garden.We enjoyed together this lovely japanese garden where we need to cross the paths of stones, gazed at the Cherry blossoms like Hanami season in Japan, and make quirky poses.There´s even a woman dressed in Kimono so that really complete the mood.

It is early spring so most of the blooming flowers are spring blooms like tulips, cherry blossoms,magnolias, daffodils, violets, and other spring perennials.The red telephone booth that´s turned into a mini library caught our attention and the Pagoda as well.There are shady nooks under the tree which has chairs and tables where you can have a picnic or read a book is something quite unique in this garden.The overall ambiance is super cozy.

Over 3,000 plants grow here within 6.5 hectar in size.We haven´t even managed to see the Rosengarten (Rose Garden) since it´s still early spring for roses, but we had a glimpse of over 1 Million flower bulbs that blooms here.No wonder that this place is visited by almost 700 guests per day!

We spent lovely walk through the garden and I was just busy being surrounded by beautiful flowers.Seeing everything so colorful, alive and blooming makes me happy.I was even thankful for the wonderful weather that makes walking under the sun bearable.

The kids are having a blast in their very modern play area, right in the middle of the field, with shady areas and chairs. People are spreading their picnic mats and just enjoying a lovely weekend. This is what an ordinary day looks like. Family time, great talks, and just watching the kids shouring and beaming with delight.

We went in shortly to their Greenhouse. They approximately 1,200 species of tropical and subtropical plants that grew here. This is quite smaller than the huge Greenhouses in Munich but they have quite a selection of plants inside. I spotted this orange Hibiscus which reminded me of the Philippines. I used to make a juice out of chopping its leaves and play with it.

Almost all color and shades are present in this garden. I can´t get enough admiring the proud tulips, anemones and more perennials that showcase their beauty.

One of my favourite is this Red Anemone and it has its purple variants. They really looked so lovely.

I can totally relate to Claude Monet´s words ;

“I must have flowers, always and always!”

Inside the garden are various resting spots and Beer garden. We have tried the Kastanien Garten where we cooled ourselves with some refreshing drink and a slice of cake.

Our next stop was the Zoo. Here are some snapshots of what you can see inside.

My daughter enjoyed looking out for birds, monkeys and chimpanzees. She got lucky to glimpse the tiger walking beside the fence, but the one that brings us so much fun was watching the Rhinos beating their head off.It was a first time for me to see them up close! We are surrounded by so many birds, we can hear them chirping from every corner. This zoo has the largest number of nests on top of the trees that I have ever seen in my life. It´s really a wonder to see the animals being brought back in the daylight after a long winter and hybernating.

A lovely petting zoo area where little kids can feed and touch the goats is situated just beside the playground and restaurant areas. There are pelnty of swings, slides and climbing parcours for the little ones to enjoy while the parents relax and sit in the shaded area.

In the early days of spring, I find it really fascinating to see how nature wakes up and de-camouflaged…the state of being alive again.In this garden, I was able to see the unfolding phase of many plants, wild grasses and shoots from the ground, everything is thriving to live, holding on to life.I am not a professional gardener but I love gardening and plants. I have observed this simple and ordinary miracles happens in our small garden. I´ve written this post to share the “ordinary joys” we´ve had while watching the animals and plants go out again, bloom and have a new season to live…and that is itself–priceless!

What was the “ordinary thing” that you have done and enjoyed lately?

Until then, Tschüß!