On December 1st Buddy , hubby and I flew over to UK to meet up with our daughter. I had not been well all summer long so I was a bit worried but my old body decided to allow me this pleasure. we stayed at her tiny cosy home. On December 8th she sent hubby and I on a three day visit to Vienna, a dream come true for us. Buddy stayed with her.
EasyJet got us there by 11 am and our Best Western Tigra hotel room was ready for us upon arrival. Once our bags were in our room we set off to the town hall Christmas Market right around the corner. We sipped Glühwein and downed a wiener on a bun followed by yummy apple strudel with whipped cream. Next we headed to the Palais Auersperg for a Mozart and Schubert concert that was fun. It incorporated some ballet and arias to add to the amusement.
Not being far from the Market we bought a few goodies and walked back to our room to retire.
The next day started with the most elaborate buffet breakfast included in our room price that we'd ever experienced!! Everything was fresh and the variety was out of this world.
The hotel being in the heart of old city we saw their fabulous old churches and even sat in on a Mass just for the love of it. We took a horse carriage tour on the cobble stone roads and also a cab tour of the city. Walking around the parliament buildings gave me the shivers of pure joy. One of my ancestors was an architect who was involved in it's creation way back in the early 1800's.
The late afternoon was spent at the Opera House for an early performance of Tosca. We were lucky to get box seats right up front. Hubby was so thrilled. The performance ended at 7 giving us time for a lovely dinner of Schnitzels and little noodles along with a local wine.
The following morning after another super breakfast we headed on foot to see more of the inner city area, the streets full of shops and more Christmas Markets. All was so delightful and our flight back to UK came too soon that evening.
On Dec 11th it was time to fly with Buddy to Hannover Germany to see my 94 year old auntie at her residence where we had a small apartment of our own.
Hubby and Buddy had not visited Germany in many years so we did some touring by cab of the many places of interest . There too were many Christmas markets and we stopped to take in some sights. tea time and supper were spent at the cafe with auntie.
On Dec 14 we drove to Celle, a very old city with buildings from the 1500's. Buddy and hubby loved it.
On Dec 15 we headed back to UK to prepare for our trip home on the 16th. It was a smooth flight but we missed our relatives.
We have rushed to get ready for today with the tree up and turkey bought. Tonight we shall celebrate the eve as usual.
There are many pics but my laptop was not willing to let me post them. I need to solve that issue but today there's no time.
We wish all of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
PS The link to my other blog under the header will take you to a time in December when our travels led us to Saudi in 2010. It's An Unusual Christmas in 8 parts.
