Christmas 2013

It was with great excitement that I embarked on yet another winter Christmas trip - this trip I was accompanied by parents who were about to have their first ever winter Christmas.  We met at Heathrow where Mum & Dad had just flown in from NZ for our early morning flight to Budapest where the trip was to start from.
Mum & Dad weren't too jet lagged so we were able to make the most of our first day in Budapest.  After checking into our apartment we headed straight to the Christmas markets for some goulash in a cob loaf.  Our next mission of the day was to find the international train station and buy tickets to Prague.  On arrival a the station we had to print out a ticket number and wait for an hour until our number was called.  It was ridiculous as only two windows were open selling international tickets.  The wait was worth it as the cost was only €19 each for a 6hr journey.   We headed back to the markets to find dinner and mulled wine.

Over the next few days we did a city walking tour and soaked in the thermal hot pools.  Mum and Dad also visited the terror museum and did a late afternoon cruise along the Danube.  I visited a cat cafe where I had a cat-puccino and there were cats sitting in couches and chairs that I could pat.  There was a very cool cat with an awesome mustache.

The train journey to Prague went very quickly.  It is fun travelling by train as you can look out the windows and see lots of country side and little towns, plus there is the added benefit of being able to walk around the train if you wish.  Mum fell in love with the beautiful buildings of Prague. Dad was impressed by the hams roasting over the coal fires.  I was awed by the view from the clock tower looking out over the main square where the markets were set up.  I enjoyed re-visiting a little micro brewery that we found on our first trip.  They have lovely beer (at cheap prices) and yummy prunes wrapped in bacon that I could not resist!

We also spent some time at the Prague castle and bought decorations for the tree in the markets.  We went to a brewery recommended by Lonely Planet and we ordered a tasting tray.  We tried some very random beers including cherry, vanilla, nettle and a very tasty champagne beer which Mum and I shared in honour of Alice's birthday.

Our first meal in Germany

Another long train journey, this time from Prague to Munich.  I was excited to be back in the land of weiss beer and schnitzel.  Mum even switched from ordering wines to beer by the end of the German leg of the holiday.  Nath flew in to meet us in Munich and join us as our driver for our holiday through Germany. We embarked upon another city walking tour where I stood on the same platform that Hitler used to deliver some speeches. We climbed yet another tower to get some beautiful views of the city and enjoyed trying beers from the different brew houses.

 Mum and Dad went to Neuschwanstein castle for the day while Nath and I walked through the Olympic park and then a big city park and watched people 'surfing', and ended up at the Augustiner brewery for some very cheap beers - €2.30 for 500ml!

From here it was onto some of the smaller towns of Germany.  We had a lunch stop in a beautiful little town called Dinkelsbuhl where they had the most gorgeous buildings that looked like big scale doll houses.  We stayed in Rothenburg which has some very pretty Christmas shops that open all year.  There was even a Christmas museum but we didn't go in.  Again we climbed a tower, this time the Town Hall, to get views over the town and surrounding valley.  

We spent Christmas in Nuremberg - the home of the Christmas markets. It was here in the markets that we did secret Santa, where we had 15 minutes to spend €5 on the person we pulled from a hat.  I got Mum which was the easiest one to buy for as any decoration would do - she loved them all!  It was fun exchanging gifts on Christmas day.  We even had a tree in our hotel room as Mum grabbed some branches that were being thrown out from the markets in Rothenburg (as they were closing down).  We had Christmas dinner in a lovely old building that was built across the river. I had schnitzel for Christmas dinner - a tradition I hope continues!

We had a stop off in Bamburg on our way to Weimar.  Weimar was a good stop along the way to Berlin as there was a concentration camp close by that we went to visit.  Mum and Dad had not been to one before so it was something we had to do. We spent about three hours at Buchenwald concentration camp.  It was very exposed to the wind so I can imagine how cold it would have been for the prisoners in their thin clothing and no heating in the buildings.  

We had an epic four days in Berlin as its a cool city with so much to do. It will be quicker for me to list what we did: a tour of the Reichstag, walked through the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, had some jumping photos in front of the Brandenberg Gate, saw the murals at the East side gallery (the longest remaining part of the Berlin wall), the Pergamon museum, the German history museum, Charlottenburg Palace, and check point Charlie. Sadly Nath flew back to London from Berlin as he had to be back at work.

 

Our last stop off involved an early morning flight to get there - Copenhagen.  We could have taken a seven hour train trip, or the option of the flight for one hour and only £40 including checked baggage. Flight it was. After checking into our hotel which we were able to do very early, we went to Nyhaven where all the canals are.  Mum and Dad took a canal cruise while I wandered around finding the best lunch spots.  We had a Nana nap in the afternoon as that night was New Years eve.  We had a late dinner and then headed out the square to join in the celebrations.  Nothing official is organised with people letting off their own fire works in all sorts of directions.  We left the square as more people were cramming in and we felt it was getting a bit dangerous when we saw a guy let off a sky rocket in his hand! We walked back towards the hotel stopping at a bridge to watch the fireworks from a safe distance.

The next day we walked around Christiana which is a free state where people don't pay taxes and smoke weed.  It is really grotty and there was lots of rubbish lying around.  After, Mum wanted to see the Little Mermaid, which is perched on a rock miles out of town.  So off we all went to see this midget statue that really wasn't really worth the trek out there. Our last day of being on tour ended with a train trip (45min!) across the bridge to Malmo in Sweden! Even though the two countries are really close Malmo had a different vibe to Copenhagen.
We tried to have an early night as we had a 7:35am flight to London, which meant getting up at 5:00am! At the metro station we did not have enough coins to pay for our ticket to the airport and the machine was declining our bank cards.  So we had a nervous ride out to the airport.  However, once at the airport Mum and I were delighted to discover we had enough coins to buy a bottle of bubbles.  What a good way to end a great holiday.