It's Vienna to Look a Lot like Christmas...

...everywhere you go...

This weekend we headed to beautiful Vienna, Austria to visit some of their famous Christmas markets. We expected to sample some delicious food and see some amazing architecture (check, and check), but we did not account for freezing cold temperatures and icy wind. Here's how it played out.

After we arrived at our apartment and Marion got in her mandatory afternoon nap, we headed straight out to our first Christmas market located in a square called Karlsplatz. There were of course hot alcoholic beverages, sweet and savory crepes, and many beautiful handmade crafts. But the most interesting part of this market had to be the llama lady. For a small fee children could lead (not ride) this llama around the market while the llama lady followed behind. Well, ok then.

After the first market we quickly realized how poorly we had dressed Marion for the cold weather, so we headed over to the downtown shopping district to pick up a couple of winter weather items, including this stunner from H&M.

After we got Marion suited up for the cold, we went to the next market on our route, held in the famous Maria Theriesen Platz square. Here we grabbed some hot punch, and even let Marion try some Kinderpunsch (a.k.a. hot apple cider).

We kept the party going and walked down toward the Vienna Rathaus (city hall) to one of the larger markets held there. Along the way we saw some impressive buildings, including the stately Parliament building.

Here were some scenes from the Christmas market at the Rathaus.

We let Marion try some bratwurst for dinner. Her face pretty much says it all.

The next morning we grabbed some breakfast and headed out to the nearby Stadtpark to let Marion burn off some steam at the kiddie playground. She loved riding the hippo with Mom.

And also playing on the giraffe-themed climbing structure with Dad.

And at this point we would like to pause so that we can point out the number of benches available to park-goers at Stadtpark. Literally any time there was a walking area next to a grassy area, there were benches. And not just a few benches, we're talking like, mad benches.

After our jaunt in the park it was time to see some real animals, at the Schonbrunn Tiergarten (zoo) located next to the Schoenbrunn palace. A lot of the plants and animals were inside large glass buildings like this one - the massive palm tree house.

This is how Marion kept warm while strolling around.

And this is apparently how the small primates keep warm.

After the zoo we walked around the palace grounds and took some selfies in the gardens.

We stopped at the palace's Christmas market to grab some grub and admire the beautiful handcrafted goods.

Next was a nap for Marion, then we went right back at it, visiting yet another palace - the Belvedere - to check out both the grounds and the market.

The gardens were beautiful, but the ramps were steep. 

We ended the night with a traditional Viennese dinner at a local brewpub. The schnitzel and potato wedges certainly didn't disappoint.

The next morning we jumped back on a plane to Amsterdam. Auf wiedersehen Vienna!

Here comes Sinterklaas!

One of the Netherlands' most famous holiday traditions is the arrival of Sinterklaas in Amsterdam on November 15th. His story is based on St. Nicholas, and he is one of the figures that inspired current-day Santa Claus. Apparently he comes to Amsterdam from Spain on a steamboat, and he stays in the Netherlands until early December. He also brings with him a handy helper named Black Pete. Allegedly Pete's face is black from climbing down into all the chimneys to deliver toys for Sinterklaas. 

But enough with the backstory, here is our adventure - the arrival of Sinterklaas!

We arrived a few minutes before his scheduled arrival along the parade route near the Heineken museum. We waited for quite a while, and Sinterklaas was running late, so Dad and Marion decided to go for a walk.

We found a canal.

And a park.

And a big funny-looking tree. 

 And the backside of the famous Rijksmuseum.

And then we went back and joined Mom in the crowd to wait for Sinterklaas to show up.

But Sinterklaas didn't show up. So went to a nearby cafe to grab a snack. And they had a carousel, which Marion quite enjoyed.

Eventually the parade started to arrive so we headed back to catch a glimpse. The first thing we saw was Black Pete. And then another Black Pete. All together there were 600 Black Petes in this parade. This is an example of a typical Black Pete costume.

After a bunch of very strange floats (actually there were tractors, delivery vans, and Black Petes on rollerblades) Sinterklaas finally made an appearance. He rode in on his horse named Amerigo and waved hello to everyone in the crowd.

Then he came around toward us and we got a good look at the Sint.

But Marion got scared and needed a hug and kiss from Mom.

After Sinterklaas departed, we were treated to some Black Pete DJs on a soundstage, who were playing a remix of Psy's legendary hit Gangnam Style. "Heyyyyy, Sinterklaas-eh. Op, op, op op." Believe it.

Thanks Netherlands for a holiday tradition we will never forget.

When in Rome...

...do as the Todas do. 

Obviously.

Our trip to Rome started with a quick 2 hour flight and a less than stellar 1 hour wait for our bags to show up at the carousel. Which was followed by another exciting hour in a Roman taxi. Come on Rome, get it together. But once we got into the city and checked into our apartment, we wasted no time ordering some pizza from the "best place in the city" as described to us by our Airbnb host. The place was called Giacomelli and it did not disappoint.

The next morning we got up early and headed out for coffee and breakfast, stopping at 2 cafes on our way to Vatican city. We had signed up for a guided group tour that would let us into the city before the regular folk, which sounded like a good idea. Here are Val and Marion posing in front of the entrance to the Vatican Museums.

But what started as a great idea quickly turned into a hot mess, as Marion made it abundantly clear that she did not want to travel the halls of the Vatican and "keep her voice down" while doing it. So she and Mom decided they would head outside and take their own personal tour of the city, while Dad stayed with the tour group and soldiered on. Inside the Museums one could find many hallways and galleries that looked like this one.

That one guy literally held his iPhone face up and took a video of the entire ceiling as we walked through this hallway. While Dad was inside the Vatican, Mom and Marion found their own artwork as they traveled the city.

After Dad left the tour group we all reunited and headed back into the city for a bite to eat. We found a place that was almost open called Un Angolo di Sicilia, or A Corner of Sicily. We say almost open because we showed up 15 minutes before they were supposed to open but when we asked if we could sit down, the owner - who was covered in flour - invited us in to eat anyway. The restaurant was empty and stayed that way for an hour, but the food was amazing. We had fresh pastas with pesto and a tomato-garlic sauce, and Marion chomped on some delicious breaded chicken. 

After lunch we walked down to see some famous Roman landmarks in the heart of the city, but unfortunately almost everything we went to was under construction or being repaired. For example, the Spanish Steps.

And the Trevi Fountain.

And the Pantheon, which was open despite its construction work, but was too busy for us to go inside.

We did however find the Fountain of the Four Rivers located in the Piazza Navona quite by accident, but it was a welcome surprise on a day where we missed so many other cool spots. It seems the Romans have a thing for obelisks.

After all the sightseeing we had worked up quite an appetite, so we grabbed a bite to eat at one of those little places in a dimly lit alleyway with tables outside and a decent crowd of people inside. Our entrees were fine, but the meatballs we had as a starter stole the show.

And Marion subsequently stole all of the meatballs.

The next morning we took a quick walk back to St. Peter's square so that we could take a family selfie against the Basilica. We were all very impressed by the size of this open area and the super-cool architecture.

After that we saw the Colosseum, which Dad basically fawned over for 45 minutes while Mom and Marion battled over who should be pushing who in the stroller.

After the Colosseum we stopped at a little cafe across from the Altare della Patria, or Altar of the Fatherland, to grab some cappuccinos and take in a great view. Devon was again impressed with the architecture and would not stop talking about how amazing everything was.

On our way back to the apartment we happened to go past the Pantheon again, and this time we arrived just minutes before it opened. So we stuck around and waited for a few minutes so that we could jump inside and check it out. 

Then we started the long journey home. A synopsis of that journey would go something like this: Marion didn't get to take a nap, our plane was delayed an hour on the runway, the airline lost our stroller at the Amsterdam airport, after an hour they found it, Marion cried in the cab all the way home and finally fell asleep right as we arrived back at our house. Thanks kiddo. We love you too.