European Adventure - Part VIII - Nuremberg

Nuremberg is known for being one of best Christmas markets in europe so we thought we should check it out...  It was rather busy but yet another pretty, historic city....  Bought some yummy gingerbread and always hot chocolate as we strolled the markets....  on to Munich ......

European Adventure - Part VII - Berlin

My hazel eyed ones really wanted to go to Berlin...My hazel eyed boy had studied German through high school and is was yet another diverse city... It definitely touched our hearts and souls....We stayed in a lovely apartment and walked a lot of the city....A lovely local restaurant on our first night was definitely a highlight with three young carolers singing Christmas carols while we waited for our meal.... We explored the memorial of the berlin wall, the holocaust memorial, the Brandenburg gate and so much more.... next stop Nuremberg.... 

European adventure - Part VI - Prague

One of the most magical cities of the trip... Apartment on Paris street {extremely cheap through wotif and it couldn't have been more perfect} in the old town centre...  Short walking distance to town square and the incredible old astronomical clock, christmas markets, charles bridge...  We went on a tour of the rest of the city in an old red vintage convertible which was beyond cool...Dinner in an old historical pub...Not enough time here.... and the adventure continues...

European adventure - Part V - Vienna

No matter what was going on, on this trip my beautiful ones always made me smile...They loved on each other so much... After a rather long drive from Venice to Vienna and with no accommodation booked we drove to the centre of Vienna and picked one that was central so we could walk and explore the city as that is how we like to do it.... It is an incredibly beautiful city.  We explored the city a little on tram and visited a  huge fresh produce market/flea market that we enjoyed so much with warm soup in a local pub to end our day... The Christmas markets were magical with hot chocolate on a pretty cold winters night.... On to Prague....and the adventure continues....

European Adventure - Part IV - Venice

Venice {10 - 13 December} is so beautiful you could photograph it all day long....  A water taxi to our motel and exploring all the little streets, eating the yummiest food and just taking it all in... Each of the cities we traveled through coming into Christmas were just so magical with all the pretty lights just to add to all the beauty that was already there.  On the road in our hire car ...... across the border into Austria and the beauty Vienna ......

European Adventure Part III - Verona

Aaah - Verona....my heart home..... I am not sure what it is about Verona but as soon as we pulled up at Anne's beautiful apartment (la dolce vita) I just felt like I was home again....Anne welcomed us with open arms and she is a gorgeous french lady living in Italy and her apartment is so very special to us... We spent 2 nights there on our last trip and 4 nights this trip.  On our first night we had a lovely tea at a little local restaurant and then walked into the main square to the christmas markets.... So beyond magical.. Then the next day we explored again and went to a Monet exhibition, re-visited Juliets balcony bought some yummy provisions and cooked in Anne's kitchen.  The next day we took a day trip to Lake Garda and it was so pretty you just wanted to sit and take it in...I bought myself a lovely little leather wallet at one of the markets along the water and the boys tried some of the local food.... We awoke the next morning to a very sick hubby in a huge amount of pain and within a short while we knew we needed to ring the ambulance all a little scary when you don't speak much italian and he needs help straight away.... Anne was INCREDIBLE and sent some friends to go with us to the hospital we waited for about 5 hours and with lots of  medication on board they let him leave.... My hubby had knee surgery 6 weeks before the trip (as well) and he works so very hard that we so wanted him to be able to take it all in and enjoy everything....(unfortunately his health wasn't great for all of the trip but he is such a wonderful strong man and he tried to enjoy it all)...  We had beautiful italian food in a little cafe and ate gelato for our last night in Verona...and had a yummy hot chocolate with Anne before we left....on our way now to the beautiful Venice .... and the story continues...

Our adventure in Europe - Part II - Como Italy

After picking up our hire car (well actually it was more like a van with 5 people and 5 large suitcases) we headed towards Como we spent most of the day there exploring and taking a trip up the skyrail for the most incredible views...I have 2 boys that are not very fond of heights so it is always a challenge but well worth it and then we hopped back in the car for our drive to my favourite city VERONA...and to meet our dear friend Anne..... more soon....

Our adventure in Europe Part I - Milan

I think everyone dreams about something....Travel has always been high on my list and when my hazel eyed girl was little we always talked about going to Paris when she graduated.... Just the 2 of us at first but then we knew we had to do it as a family....  So in 2010 we adventured to the other side of the world for the first time...and what can I say it changed my heart... It was all those beautiful images from all the movies you watched but even better and people were beyond lovely even though we didn't speak much of their languages.... My beautiful hazel eyed boy graduated in November so now it was his turn to choose where we would venture.... So after a long flight (not really keen on the flying for 26 hours) we arrived in Milan, Italy... We wandered the streets, the weather was very cold but the light was so very pretty... We visited Duomo, the christmas markets and ate at a Pizzeria on our first night and then went to bed to try and quickly get over the jet lag.... Next day we wandered the streets again, through a castle, a flea market and savoured the local hot chocolate that your spoon could nearly stand up in, another yummy dinner and bed as we needed to pick our rental car up early the following morning.... to be continued ......

Welcome 2014.... We are home !!!!!

Happy New Year my friends !!!

It has been a long time since my last post.... We have spent the last five weeks in europe and I will share more photos and posts about our adventure in coming weeks....  A little jet lag to get over first....