Since Zach turned 25 this year (as did his girlfriend Allison), we said we’d take them to Europe as a combined birthday/Christmas gift. After some discussion, we decided on Christmas Markets in Austria and Northern Italy. After the first week of the trip, the kids flew home and Teresa and I continued on to Rome for six nights. Here was our itinerary: Vienna...
We arrived Saturday night around 5pm. It was already dark, and a bit chilly (35 degrees F) but not too bad. We were exhausted, so found a place for dinner (Gasthaus Damir) near our apartment then headed for bed. I had Wiener Schnitzel, while Teresa and Zach both had spinach tortellini. (Allison was too exhausted to join—straight to bed for her!) A bar at the Vienna...
We went to Café Leo for breakfast, since it was close to the apartment. We all had the Viennese Breakfast, which consisted of a soft boiled egg (in an egg cup), soft roll, cheese, marmalade, cucumber, and tomato. It was more filling that it sounds, and a great way to start the day! Mozarthaus One of the days highlights was Mozarthaus Vienna (also known as the Figaro...
We took a morning train to Salzburg, which was a 2.5 hour trip. After getting settled in, we went to a nearby Christmas Market at Mirabellplatz, which was a short walk from our hotel. It’s a small market, but cozy, and they had good mugs for the glühwein (so we bought one, which would become a recurring theme—we came home with three mugs!) There were some...
The Sound of Music If you’ve seen The Sound of Music, you know that it’s set in Salzburg, and much of it was filmed in and around Salzburg. We began the day with the “original” Sound of Music Tour. The company, Panorama Tours, really can make the claim as the original, since they were contracted by the production company of the film to take...
We took the train from Salzburg, up and over the mountains into Italy, stopping in Vipiteno, which is in South Tyrol. We spent a few hours in Vipiteno before heading on to Verona. Vipiteno was super charming and quaint. The main drag in Vipiteno, with mountains in the background. [click to enlarge] It’s a very tiny town, with a very tiny train station, and one...
Teresa and I visited Verona in 2021, in late November, but they didn’t have the Christmas Markets that year due to COVID, so we wanted to return. The Christmas Market did not disappoint! There’s been some internal debate about which was our favorite market, with both Verona and Salzburg getting votes—I can’t decide between the two, as I liked them...
After a final breakfast at the wonderful Cafė Carducci in Verona, we all headed for the train station. The kids’ train to Milan hit a snag, as a portion of the track en route was closed for some reason. So, they put everyone on a bus. Two buses later, the kids arrived in Milan, where they’ll fly out very early the next morning. Rooftop view from our hotel...
We got up at 6am and headed straight to Trevi Fountain (a 6 minute walk from our hotel). Instead of hundreds of people packed like sardines, there were maybe a dozen or so early birds (including an annoying “influencer” and her partner who must have taken over 100 photos and acted as if they owned the place—I may or may not have wandered into their shot a...
We met our guide from Enjoy Rome at 8:45am for a 3-hour tour (cue Gilligan’s Island theme song) of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. I had tried to get tickets from the official website, but the guided tours all sold out immediately. They go on sale 30 days in advance, and I was up in the middle of the night (morning, Rome time), but no luck...