Then by train, bus and vaporetto to Venice…..

For reasons I am still not entirely sure of it was not possible to get a train direct from Vienna to Venice and instead we had to take the train to a town near the border then change to a bus for the balance of the jourmey. Once again it all went smoothly and the train journey through the Alps was very beautiful.

We arrived late afternoon in the train station near Venice and a vaporetto ride had us at our hotel within an hour. We were fortunate enough to book a newly renovated very old residence on one of the canals (complete with rather slopey flooring and exposed beam ceilings- the shuttered windows of our room opened directly onto the canal) and an easy 5 minute walk from Piazza San Marco. We wandered out in the early evening and found our way to a little restaurant for dinner – complete with a dog at the next table!

Our kids, all seriously missing Jasper at that time, went all ga-ga for the dog whilst Dad bristled at the idea of a dog being inside the restaurant. But hey, when in Rome......(or at least Venice!)

I was awake early the next morning so took myself out for a sunrise photographic expedition – Venice in the predawn morning is pure M.A.G.I.C- so whilst the family peacefully slept I wandered and snapped away.

When I returned to the hotel we had a buffet breakfast and then headed to the Doges Palace and did the tour. In the afternoon we took Callum to find his model knights – his pre-planned souvenir from the trip. The balance of the next couple of days were spent exploring Venice, wandering the streets, the Rialto Bridge and late one afternoon doing a gondola ride through the canals.

One morning the kids saved some bread rolls from breakfast and we headed to Piazza San Marco to hand feed the pigeons- it was brilliant. Having only visited Venice during the day before it was a pleasant change to see the city without the overload of tourists (yes, I know, we were tourists!!! But you know what I mean). On our last evening we walked across to the front of the Doges Palace and took advantage of the dusk lighting for some more photo magic. We were surprised by a visit from Santa complete with an elderly St Bernard and a sleigh. Santa gave Riley a plaster nativity scene and a certificate (in Italian) with a picture of the Pope and a wax seal . Riley rushed back to ask for one for his brother "pleeeease" and so Liam was thrilled he got one also.

Early then next morning we took a vaporetto back along the Grand Canal and headed to the train station once again.

We traveled by train to Vienna…..

And it was E.A.S.Y. This was the first leg of our Eurail passes and we were a little anxious about how it would all work. Turns out 1^st class train travel is a breeze…and they even have a drinks trolley…who knew?

I have to admit this aspect of the trip was probably what gave me the most anxiety before our departure. But enough about trains…..

Vienna, one of my most favourite cities by far and especially at Christmas in time for the amazing Christmas markets. This visit she delivered everything we had hoped and MORE giving us an amazing morning of snow on our second day. We had fun snowmen building in the park across from our hotel and of course snowball fights as well. We visited the markets, again and again. We went to Schonbrunn Palace and did the audio-tour then traveled back into Belvedere Palace. Oh and did I mention both palaces have their own Christmas markets J

Maddie, Michelle, Callum and I bought tickets for the Spanish Riding School Performance which I loved. I think Callum is prepared to tick that one off as something he has done and doesn’t need to revisit. LOL

The pony rides in the children’s Christmas market was much more his speed when it came to horse related activities!

Maddie went to the Barber of Seville in the beautiful Vienna Opera house but poor thing got sick in the first half and we had to rush her back to the hotel. That didn’t stop her from buying this seasons Vienna Opera Season T-shirt .

It was rather COLD especially wandering the markets but there are so many lovely treats, steaming mugs of gluwein, hot cinnamon nuts, pastries of all descriptions (some like oversized donuts which they pump full of hot vanilla or chocolate custard), sausages dripping with cheese served with fresh bread and mustard…OK you get the idea!

So Vienna remains one of my favourite cities…….we loved sharing it with Michelle and we were all sad when we departed and Shelly flew back to London.

Then flew on to Prague.

Our first Prague day was actually spent doing the travel between Rome and Prague and it turned out to be a loooong day. Long story short…Lufthansa was delayed out of Rome and then our short transfer in Frankfurt became even shorter- yes, running through the terminal, then when we finally got the bus to the plane on the tarmac it was delayed so sat there a good while then delayed in a holding pattern into Prague and then you guessed it the transfer got stuck in traffic so we sat for 30 minutes literally around the corner from our hotel .

We finally arrived close to 8 pm to find a very smiley Michelle waiting in the hotel lobby for us. The next two days in Prague gave us some snow which the kids LOVED and we got to enjoy the very beautiful city. We explored and did a walking tour and took ourselves up to the castle to see all of Prague laid out before us under a mantle of snow. Poor Liam had a fall on the icy Charles bridge so he was fairly stiff and sore the next few days and moving very gingerly with a sore back. Maddie was lucky enough to find her new viola in a lovely little instrument store at the Castle end of the Charles bridge and so her Christmas gift was all sorted, she just had to manage handling the case through the rest of our journey.

We had pre-booked tickets to La Traviata for the last evening and were disappointed to learn that day they had cancelled the performance in favour of the ballet Cinderella due to strike action by the Opera company. We attended the ballet instead and enjoyed our box in the very beautiful old Opera Hall. We all loved having Mark’s cousin Michelle along as part of our group and we managed to convince her to join us as we set out for Vienna by train.

We started in Rome....

After a 14 hour flight and little sleep, on the back of a full day of school and work, we arrived early morning and checked into our hotel. After settling in and freshening up we decided to head out and find some breakfast and explore. Our hotel was a few minutes walk from the Spanish Steps so we found ourselves an easy walk from the Trevi Fountain where we had the first of MANY gelato stops on our holiday (even though it was only about 5 degrees). After exploring the shops around the Piazza we made our way back towards our hotel and we stopped for some lunch in a little trattoria whilst it poured down rain then set off again once the rain stopped, back to our hotel via the Spanish Steps.

We rested for an hour or so then walked back down to the River Tiber to try to take advantage of the golden hour of light around dusk, so Mum and Dad got to indulge in their photography whilst the kids were very patient soaking in the sights and sounds of Rome. We wandered along the banks of the Tiber, across Pont St Angelo and past Castel St Angelo. After dinner we head back to the hotel and we are all very tired after a full day of walking on top of that 14 hour plane journey…the kids are absolute troopers .

Our second day in Rome started early with an 8.30 am walking tour which ended up being just our family. Our guide Fabrizio was very good and knowledgable and we explored the Colosseum, the Forum and through to the Pantheon. We loved learning more of the history of Rome.

We finished our tour in time for lunch and found a little pizza /pasta university bar which had great food and atmosphere tucked in behind the Pantheon. The waiter was a bit of a clown and kept us entertained and we finished with complimentary ice creams for the kids and a light bubbly glass of red wine for Mark and I.

The afternoon slipped away as we explored then prepared to leave the hotel tomorrow morning for our flight to Prague, via Frankfurt.