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.

Dublin take dhá

A third weekend of rugby! Not that we are rugby heads, but the chance to watch all three All Blacks tests seemed too good to pass up.  Up early Saturday morning for our Ryanair flight.  In typical ruanair fashion we were lined up at gate 440, when over the PA it is announced we will now be boarding from gate 443.  A mad human crush followed as people rushed to keep their place in line.  Oh how I wish for allocated seating. A short flight later we landed in Dublin and let the gunniess flow!  We went to the temple bar to watch the Kiwi league teams last minute semi-final win over the English.  We then walked around the city, taking in Trinity College (the oldest university in Ireland) and two Cathedrals.  Nath and I headed back to our hostel for a nana nap later in the afternoon before heading out for dinner with my cousin + girlfriend and Scott + his friends.

Next morning Nath and I headed to Jameson's Old Distillery home of the famous Irish Whiskey.  We didn't think it would be open at 10:15, but it was, and we had our first whiskey of the day at 11am!  The whiskey hit us in the head so we grabbed a bite to eat before slowly making our way to Aviva stadium.  We stopped at a pub called Oil Can Harry's and had a guinness with some pretty funny older Irish guys.

Game time and what an amazing atmosphere.  The Irish supporters were writing off their team before the match and were stunned to score an early try - an then another and another to take the lead at half time.  Luckily the Irish scored no points in the second half and the All Blacks were able to win the match in over time.  What a game! An Irish supporter gave me his scarf afterwards and shook my hand - so lovely.  We celebrated our victory at a massive pub called O'Neills where we had Irish stew to warm ourselves up.  Time to take the bus to the airport and board our last ever ryanair flight.  The best of the three rugby weekends by far.
Ah Dublin you were grand!

All Blacks V England @ Twickenham

Off to our second rugby game in as many weekends.  It was a lovely sunny day so we met Aaron along the river for some pre-match guinness (preparing for next weekend) then walked to the stadium to watch a pretty exciting game of rugby.  The opening quarter was very action packed and NZ was dominating.  Unfortunately England was able to put a stop on our point scoring, and at one point even took the lead. The All Blacks never looked in doubt and came back to win 30-22.

After the game we walked along the river from Twickenham to Richmond.  Of course we stopped at a lovely old pub along the way.  Nathan and I went to Acton to catch up with my brother as he left London the very next day for life back in NZ.  

Paris take deux

 We traveled to Paris on the eurostar to watch the All Blacks play France.  As the game didn't kick off until 9pm we had some time to sight see.  We started at the catacombs, which is an underground ossuary holding the remains of roughly 6 million people.  I was totally fascinated by all the bones and loved every minute of the visit.
The remainder of the day was spent lunching (had the yummiest croque monsieur), stopping off for a quick drink at an Aussie pub (it was not our intention to have a drink but when we saw that pub we thought it would be rude not to), having a few pre game drinks in our hotel room before leaving for the game (detour via the eiffel tower so we could photos of lit up at night).

The rugby game itself was pretty ho hum.  Not the best game of rugby; but we did have amazing seats and the stadium looked like a UFO.
We started Sunday off with a leisurely French breakfast (coffee and croissant) before taking the metro to Notre Dame. After the regulation jump shot we walked along the seine to the eiffel tower, stopping off to buy some authentic art works from river side artists.  After more regulation jump shots at the tower we then walked to the arc de triomphe to see the crazy round-a-bout.  We fitted in a cheeky beer at an Irish bar before boarding the train back to London.  Au revoir Paris.

Our Engagement!

I have been waiting a long while to write this post as I was waiting on photo's to be sent from Vincent who made my ring.  He took photo's of the ring in making.  However, I was disappointed with his photos as they are not quite what I expected them to be. 

The proposal: Nath proposed on our last night in Santorini.  The sun was setting over the Caldera and we were drinking a bottle of wine enjoying the view from our private balcony when he popped the question.  To celebrate we finished our bottle of wine and went out for a lovely alfresco dinner. 

So far we have no wedding plans.  It is likely we will get married in New Zealand, but I do love the idea of getting married on a Greek Island!

 

 

The ring: we got the ring hand made at The Diamond Shop in Hatton Garden.  We met Vincent and discussed with him the style that we wanted and our price range.  Vincent then ordered in diamonds that met our criteria and Nath and I had a meeting with Vincent to choose the exact diamond we wanted in the ring.  I narrowed it down to 3 diamonds and left Nath to make the final decision and sort out the nitty gritty details with Vincent. The ring is beautiful - it is so shimmery and it just isn't done justice in the photos!

The ring in the making

 

The finished ring :)

Madrid

We celebrated Nathan's birthday by spending a long weekend in Madrid.  It was very chilled out (read sleep-ins) but action packed with tourist activities.  We did a 3 hour walking tour around Hapsburg Madrid with a local guide, and along the way came across the oldest restaurant in the world! We started at Plaza Mayor, the main square in Madrid, and finished outside the Royal Palace. From here Nath and I went to San Miguel markets to find some lunch before returning to do a tour through the Palace.  The Palace is magnificent and it is a shame it is not used anymore by the Royal Family.  The most impressive display was all the armoury, especially all the protective armour for the horses!  We were recommended a Mexican restaurant for dinner but it didn't open until 9 so we had some drinks in the square close to our hotel until the restaurant opened.  Weird eating so late. 

Today we were up earlier as we were going to Toledo.  Toledo is a UNESCO heritage site and they are always worth visiting.  Toledo used to be the Capital city of Spain and is known for its co-existence between Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures.  There were many religious buildings (churches and synagogues) devoted to the three religions around the city.  We visited the very impressive Cathedral and walked up the bell tower of another church to get a view over the city.  There were very narrow alley ways that were fun to explore but it was easy to get lost and lose our position on the map.  As we visited on a Sunday many of the museums and galleries had free entry.  We visited the Army museum which gave the history of the cities battles which was interesting.  On walking back down to the train station we saw esculators that we could have taken up in the morning to save us walking up the hill to reach Toledo.  We both commented on how hot it was, when I spotted a digital sign saying 38 degrees! Time for a beer as we waited for our train back to Madrid.

Our last day was filled with another walking tour - this time we were our own guides as we had picked up a map from the tourist office and walked around the more modern areas of Madrid.  We walked past some pretty impressive architecture, including City Hall, and spent some time relaxing in the park.  We found the best tapas bar for a long lunch - €3 bucket of beers and €3 calamari sandwich big enough for the two of us. Bargain.
An excellent summer of travels has come to an end for me as I'm back at work next week.  This coming weekend will be my only weekend at home for the whole of summer so I guess that is pretty awesome.  We might walk along the Southbank or check out the Pompeii exhibition at the British Museum.