Europe November 2016 - Flawless Chaos

Markus and I took my girls (ages 10 and 12) to London, Vienna and Budapest for Thanksgiving this year. What a trip it was! To see everything through their eyes and have them recognize what a big amazing diverse world we live in. It was their first trip outside the US/Canada and they were such great travelers.

If you are taking kids to Vienna, a day at Schoenbrunn is a must. It’s the oldest zoo in the world and the best I have ever seen! Not to mention the palace and surrounding gardens – truly amazing. It’s a bit more spectacular in the summer time, but still a great place to see anytime of year.

On our way to Vienna, we had a quick day spent in London, which we all really enjoyed. We rode the Underground into downtown and spent the day seeing the biggest landmark’s, and fit in a great lunch of fish & chips.

Budapest was an interesting couple of days, too. We stayed right downtown at the Hotel Gellert, which is a landmark because of it’s historic mineral pools and bathhouse. The view of the city from the Citadel was breathtaking, despite the fog.

We spent Thanksgiving day cooking a traditional dinner for our Viennese family and friends. Despite some minor modifications, dinner was a huge success! Example – Europe grocers do not carry poultry seasoning, or pie crusts, or condensed milk, canned pumpkin, cream of mushroom soup….not to mention all labels are in German and measurements are in metrics. It was a challenge but my girls and I figured it out!

Towards the end of the trip we took a hike in the mountains south of Vienna, and visited a petting zoo along the way. It was open and free – really cool example of how respectful the people are.

As I’ve blogged about, the Christmas markets were my favorite thing about this trip. The market in front of Vienna’s city hall. also had ice skating. Very fun despite the minor injuries!