Christmas is a time where Justin and I reminisce about childhood days of winter weather, holidays lights and music, and hot drinks to keep up warm. Unfortunately, since moving overseas to hot December climates, we have not had that type of Christmas nor have our girls ever experienced that type of Christmas. So this year we decided to travel to Europe in hopes of a winter wonderland. The girls were so excited and had high hopes of snowball fights, snow men, snow angels, and sledding. What they did not expect was for snow to be so cold! On the flight over to Europe, the girls told me that they wished they lived in Europe so they could see snow any time they wanted. Then the moment we stepped foot in the cold winter, they realized how cold this type of weather actually is. Taelyn eventually decided that she wanted to live in warm weather, but visit the cold over some holidays.
We started our vacation in Bratislava, Slovakia where we stayed in a friend's home whom we knew and taught with in China. This became a great home-base for us as we travelled to other cities nearby. In total, we visited Bratislava; Budapest, Hungary; Prague, Czech Republic; and Vienna, Austria.
Budapest
Our first trip from Bratislava was in Budapest; we absolutely loved this city! We had a great two-story apartment in the heart of downtown and just along the bus and train lines. Here we went to a very large ice rink with an old, medieval castle in the background. It was gorgeous! Because the rink was so big, it was a little difficult to skate while holding the girls, so Taelyn took it upon herself to try to skate alone. She was determined to learn to skate and worked at it until we finally told her it was time to go (to which she pleaded for more time to skate).
We also visited the "House of Terror" - a museum about the horrible history of Hungary from the Holocaust to an equally devastating dictatorship that existed after the Holocaust.
One of our favorite parts of Budapest was the Christmas market. The shopping was incredible, and this was our first taste of the infamous mulled wine and enormous cinnamon towers (chimney stacks) that we have heard so much about. Both definitely lived up to the reputation. The girls even got to try the hot chocolate as we walked around and shopped.
The absolute highlight, however, of Budapest was Aquaworld. It is an indoor water park with lots of water slides, various pools, hot tubs, and kiddies pools. We all had an awesome time here! The girls spent a good deal of time in the kiddie section, but then ventured over to the some of the larger water slides with Justin. Taelyn also discovered how to do a somersault in the water and surprised us with that new feat.
Bratislava
We came back to Bratislava in between each of the other cities. Here we hung out in a nice two-story house with a fire place and back yard. It was quite relaxing and felt like a home away from home. This is also where we spent the week of Christmas with our good friends, the Jettner's. Together, we made a delicious Christmas feast including a honey-glazed ham and home-made mulled wine! On Christmas Eve, we spent a couple of hours at a nearby park with playground equipment, a ropes course, and a zipline. The park was packed with families as everything else in town was closed for the holidays. It was one of the only sunny days in Bratislava, and the family atmosphere was perfect for Christmas.
While in Bratislava, we also enjoyed another Christmas market and a small ice rink. The rink was not cleaned off all, so it looked like the top was covered in snow. We were actually thankful for this because the girls got to say that they saw snow in Europe. They even formed some snowballs out of it and threw them at their daddy!
One of our favorite parts of Bratislava was the many, many dirt trails through the woods. Justin and I ran down a different path each day, relishing in the cold and viewing fallen leaves, frost, and the occasional patch of snow. It was beautiful.
Prague
After Christmas, we said good-bye to the Jettner's and headed over to Prague, Czech Republic. We stayed directly downtown, about 20 meters away from the Christmas market. Prague was incredible - there were only walking streets where we stayed, and the medieval castles and town life all around us were romantic and enchanting. The Christmas market was, by far, the prettiest market we went to during the entire trip. The girls especially loved the donkeys in a stable and made sure to visit them each night and feed them.
One day in Prague, we visited an old castle where we got a chance to walk through the ballroom, former King's bedroom, and view the ancient crown jewels. The girls really like that part. We also walked through an old church with the most beautiful stained-glass windows I have ever seen. After that, we went through a small, medieval building that held old sets of armor, fit for a knight and dresses for maidens of both wealth and peasantry.
On another day, Justin took the rest of us for a walk to locate a few of the famous sites and statues in Prague. The first site was a water fountain of two men facing each other, peeing. We didn't tell the girls this ahead of time and just walked up casually, waiting to see their reaction. Taelyn wasn't really phased by it. but Kaelia's reaction was pretty funny. She stood there, staring at the fountain for a little while, until her face started to cringe as she cried out, "Ewwww. He's peeing! He's peeing on his feet!" After that, we went to a small park with several huge statues on naked babies in a crawling position. The girls thought it was funny to climb on top of the babies. Other sites we saw were Charles Bridge and a long, old fence full of thousands of locks attached to the outside railings. The theory is that people are supposed to attach a lock for good luck. We also visited a pub called the "Beer Museum" with some of the best beers we have ever tasted and an old beer hall was the oldest and strongest beers in Prague.
Vienna
We did not spend a lot of time in Vienna but did check out the Christmas market there. The highlight was the many soup in a bread bowl options and the unique hot drinks such as a ginger, lime, and spice cider. Both pictures below are from the Vienna Christmas market.
Christmas In Europe
While in Bratislava, I mentioned that we celebrated Christmas with the Jettner's. This was the closest we have ever come to having a Christmas that felt a little more like the US. On Christmas Eve, all three girls opened up a couple of pre-Christmas presents: matching Christmas pajamas, The Polar Express book and DVD, and hot cocoa with marshmallows. They loved the gifts and got right in to their new PJ's, snuggled up on the coach, and watch their new movie while sipping hot cocoa. Before bed, they each drew pictures for Santa and left cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. We even checked out a great website throughout the day that showed us exactly where Santa was at that moment in time, delivering presents. The next day, the girls ran downstairs to find their cookies and carrots gone, a message from Santa, and three stockings filled to the brim. Santa told them that he would bring their presents to South Africa when we all got home; he was very accommodating to our travel plans this year!
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