Rome, Italy - Take II

Wednesday 30th December 2015:

In all honesty, Brendan was less than excited about the prospect of revisiting Rome. When we previously visited back in March, he thought it was dirty, overcrowded, and completely overrated. How a few months and different weather can change things!

We disembarked the ship at around 7:30am at Civitavecchia, a town on the outskirts of Rome, around an hours drive from the city centre. Although the temperature was quite cold, the sun shone down offering rays of warmth.

Most of Rome's major sights are, fortunately, relatively close together and so once we got off our shuttle bus we simply walked around for most of the day.

We went past the Colosseum, and experienced it's grandeur without the hustle and bustle of a trillion other tourists.



The Trevi Fountain, which had been closed for maintenance when we last visited, once again had water cascading down.





Now approaching feeding time, we grabbed some pizza before setting off in search of the childhood street of Brad's uncle, Via Vittorio Veneto. This sweeping tree-lined street is set on a hill not far from the fountain, and today is comprised of several cafes/restaurants and upmarket hotels.



We ended our day in Rome at the Vatican, with the Christmas nativity scene still on display, prior to heading back to the ship for the cruise onto Naples. Naturally, we ravaged the buffet again.

Upon returning to our room in the evening, we discovered a rabbit towel animal, that had even been dressed with Brendan's sunglasses.

Highlights:
- Colosseum
- Piazza Venezia
- Trevi Fountain
- Via Vittorio Veneto - the childhood street of Brad's uncle
- Vatican
- More buffet
- Folded towel rabbit

Barcelona, Spain - Take II

Sunday 27th December 2015:

We landed in Barcelona around lunchtime, and after an incident with people who hadn't moved their luggage and trolley out of the way of a descending escalator (nearly causing a baggage and human pile up), we made it out of the airport.

With our 6 day cruise on the Norwegian Epic departing Barcelona on the afternoon of Monday 28th, we were only spending less than two half days here. This meant that the Penning's were going to get the express highlight reel of our previous visit.

Once checked in to our apartment, we went down La Rambla for a late lunch/early dinner of tapas, sangria and "pay-ay-ah" (paella). We ended up at the same restaurant as where we'd had our final lunch in Barcelona weeks prior, with the same flamboyant host flaunting the same delicious menu.

With limited time and light remaining of the day, the squad moved on to the huge Sagrada Familia. We made our way around the sides, to better appreciate the size and different facades of this soaring structure, detouring so Adam could purchase up a Barcelona football jersey.



As a city with a significant number of tourists, Barcelona is well known as a city of pick pockets. While on the metro platform heading back to the apartment, someone attempted to unsuccessfully pick pocket Brad's backpack. Unluckily for him, the only goodies he would have likely discovered was a jumper and maybe an old snotty tissue.



The next morning we headed to the cablecar for the scenic ride up to Montjuic Castle. Reaching the top, we walked over to the eastern side facing the sea and saw our cruise ship docked at port.



If you include our week spent in Croatia, this was Brendan's second cruise but this time the vessel was like a huge floating 5 star hotel. Once aboard, we did a lap of the ship to explore its many onboard facilities and then hit the buffet for lunch.

After our first night at sea, we started the next day with a couples massage to really get into holiday mode. Between the onboard activities and all-inclusive restaurants, we were kept busy for the rest of our sea day cruising between Barcelona and Rome. We returned to the buffet a shameful number of times as well...

We had a go at bingo, where the prize on offer was an upgrade to a Haven suite (the ship's version of a penthouse) and Brendan got within 2 numbers of winning. For dinner we went to the onboard Teppanyaki bar, returning to our room to be greeted with a towel elephant.

Highlights:
- Tapas, sangria and paella
- Sagrada Familia
- Attempted pick pocketing of Brad
- Cablecar up to Montjuic Castle
- Boarded the Norwegian Epic
- Onboard massages
- Cruise day from Barcelona to Rome
- Buffet
- Folded towel elephant

Week 38 in London - a very Penning Christmas

Week 38: 21 - 27 December 2015

After close to 10 months away, this week we were in the final few days countdown to Roslyn's family arriving from Australia.

Brendan used his remaining holiday leave from the 21st to 24th, while Roslyn wound up at work, with a Christmas party at City Hall (the Mayoral office) and delivering a Christmas card to mayor Boris Johnson.



On Tuesday evening we visited Winter at Southbank Centre, hosting twinkling lights, market stalls, a roller disco and the Scandinavian-inspired Rekorderlig Cider Lodge.





Twas the night before Christmas on Thursday eve,
We went to Heathrow airport, Roslyn's family we were to receive.
To see them in the terminal was quite surreal,
A near 10 months apart, it was the real deal.
Onto the tube and back to our home,
For a few days in London, before Europe we roam.



We awoke on Christmas Day, sadly not to snow :( Upon opening of the presents, a range of wonderfully awful British Christmas jumpers were revealed. Following a champagne breakfast and quick Skype with Brendan's family, we donned our Christmas jumpers and headed down to The Falcon for a Christmas pub lunch.



Not sure if it was the richness of the traditional figgy pudding or simply the disappointment of our "white Christmas" being a mere shade of grey, but Brendan became unwell during the night, affecting his appetite for several days after.

On Boxing Day we took Brad, Suella and Adam across to the London Eye, giving them a birds eye view across the city and quick introduction to the London landmarks. From there we got back onto the tube and headed across to Oxford Street.

Once we'd elbowed our way through the typical Oxford Street crowds, we made it to Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park. As we will not be visiting Germany on #PenningsFirstEuroTrip, we went into the Bavarian Village area for a sample of Germany - pork knuckle.


At 2pm, Adam and us went ice skating. For a place that sometimes actually snows for Christmas, and is in such close proximity to other winter sports countries, it was a little surprising for us to be accompanied by every other person in London who didn't know how to ice skate. Adam at least made it off the wall for a few proper laps around the rink. After skating, we walked across to the shopping experience that is Harrods.



Rising early on Sunday, we caught an Uber (you may remember we explained this concept back in Week 16) to South Kensington. Although one of the key points of Uber is that you link your account to your credit card thereby meaning there is no requirement for cash, Brad still tried to pay the driver with cash... Brad wasn't convinced by Uber prior to coming over, but we think we have converted him now.

From there, it was onto a train back out to Heathrow and on to Barcelona, Spain.

Highlights for the week:
- Brendan on holidays from work
- Roslyn's Christmas party at City Hall (Mayoral office)
- Rekorderlig Cider Lodge
- Penning family arrived on Christmas Eve #penningsfirsteurotrip
- Christmas lunch at The Falcon
- London Eye
- Oxford Street
- Winter Wonderland
- Ice skating
- Harrods
- Brad attempts to pay for an Uber with cash
- Departed for Barcelona

Week 37 in London

Week 37: 14 - 20 December 2015

Due to having a conference on one day and two days of remaining holiday leave (you can't roll it over to next year here...), Brendan only actually spent two days in the office at work.

On Thursday we had Christmas dinner at home with Lauren and Adam, before they departed for Austria on Friday afternoon.



Friday was Christmas Jumper Day, and Roslyn's work was onboard. Akin to Jeans for Genes day, Christmas Jumper Day is a British tradition to raise money for charity. Friday was also Brendan's last day at work for the year, although the people at his work were more tastefully attired.



Although we haven't done a lot of it since leaving Australia, one of our favourite pastimes is going out for breakfast/brunch. We went to a cafe at the end of our street called Scoffers Kitchen, which looks pretty much the same as any other cafe. That is until you enter inside and are lead around the corner, where you are greeted by a tree growing inside the dining area. We sat, and enjoyed brunch under the opt of the tree with Christmas lights twinkling overhead.

Highlights for the week:
- Christmas dinner on Thursday
- Confirmation of Roslyn having passed and completed her final HR assignments
- Christmas jumper day
- Brendan's last work day for 2015
- Brunch at Scoffers Kitchen, a cafe with a tree growing inside

Week 36 in London

Week 36: 7 – 13 December 2015

We touched down back in London on Tuesday afternoon, ready for work again on Wednesday.

Roslyn’s work Christmas party was on Wednesday at the Rainforest Café. The three course dinner took place in the eatery fully kitted with shrubbery, life size gorillas and jungle sound effects plus a cheesy DJ.

Thursday was Brendan’s Christmas party, scoring a cork hat from his secret Santa because apparently all Australians wear them… ;)

We went out for lunch on Saturday and saw this pimpin’ metallic purple and gold wrapped Suzuki. #swagon

The rest of Saturday was spent working on Roslyn’s final assignments for her Diploma of Human Resource Management, eventually getting them submitted by the end of the weekend.

On to Sunday and we headed across to Hyde Park for Winter Wonderland. Winter Wonderland offers a variety of market stalls, show rides, as well as an ice skating rink and ice kingdom of ice sculptures. A lot of the displays were German themed, making it quite reminiscent of Oktoberfest.

Unlike ‘the show’ in Australia, Winter Wonderland is free to enter and wander around - you only pay for rides or the ice attractions. The only cash we parted with on Sunday was for lunch, however we are booked in to return on Boxing Day to go ice skating with Adam once the Penning’s arrive for their winter Christmas.

After Winter Wonderland we wandered across to Harvey Nichols, another high-end department store, to check out their colourful Christmas display.

Highlights for the week:
- Returned from Innsbruck, Austria
- Roslyn’s work Christmas party at Rainforest Café
- Brendan’s work Christmas party, now has a new cork hat
- Roslyn’s final HR assignments submitted
- Winter Wonderland on Sunday
- Harvey Nichols

Innsbruck, Austria

Saturday 5th December 2015:

In order to make our 7am flight, we woke early on Saturday for a 4am train to Gatwick Airport. We flew in over some amazing scenery including ice capped mountain peaks and landed in Innsbruck, Austria at around 10am local time.

The close proximity between the airport runways and the mountains is a little unsettling, but certainly there are far more dangerous airports in the world. Unlike most places worldwide the airport is conveniently located close to the city centre, it only took us around 15 minutes on the shuttle bus.

We reached our accommodation at the Ibis Hotel, a rather unusual and modern looking building, resembling a big black glass box that appears to float in the air. The hotel was also in the ideal spot, adjacent to the central bus and train station and within walking distance to the city centre.

After dropping our bags, we headed towards the city centre. We passed the Triumphforte (Triumphal Arch) and continued along the main shopping strip, Maria-Theresien-Straße, to the visitor information centre. We purchased an ‘Innsbruck Card’ each, which gave us perks such as unlimited use of public transport and entry into numerous tourist attractions, as well as a ski package.

After returning to the hotel for a nap, we ventured out to the Christmas markets that sprawl throughout the town. The markets at the marketplatz, or market square, sat alongside the river with colourful houses on the other side and were complete with a Swarovski crystal tree.

We also saw this interesting number plate.

Meandering through the streets and alleyways, we discovered Stiftskeller, a large traditional Austrian pub/restaurant and stopped for dinner – a selection of dumplings (spinach, onion, cheese) and Wiener (Vienna) pork schnitzel.

On Sunday we made use of our Innsbruck Cards, which can be purchased for 24, 48 or 72 hours of validity. First off was a ride up the Nordkette mountain range on board the Innsbrucker Nordketten Bahnen (Innsbruck Nordkette railway) cable car. Considering the usual ticket price of a single trip on the cable car is €30.50, the value of the €33 Innsbruck Card was immediately obvious. Ascending to a height of 1,905 m or 6,250 ft above sea level, we reached Seegrube station. There is a restaurant and sun chairs laid out on the snow to relax and enjoy the beauty of the surrounding mountains and exceptional views out across Innsbruck. Despite being high in the alps and surrounded by ice, the sun up was putting out some heat!

Although there were a few people around, the snow season hadn’t officially started just yet. The snow sports store was open and offering free use of toboggans, so we picked 2 up and started sledding down the slopes.

We then continued to the highest peak of the cable car to Hafelekar at a height of 2,256 m or 7,400 ft, before returning to the base of the mountain in town. Finding lunch was quite difficult – even though there were heaps of people out walking the streets, the majority of stores and even the indoor shopping centre were closed.

We boarded a hop on hop off bus tour (part of our Innsbruck Card), passing again through Triumphforte. Empress Maria Theresa had the Triumphforte built to celebrate the marriage of her son, the Duke of Tuscany, later Emperor Leopold II, to Maria Ludovica from Spain. Unfortunately Empress Maria Theresa’s husband, Francis I Stephen of Lothringen, died during the marriage festivities and so now the southern façade of the arch celebrates the joy of the wedding while the northern side depicts mourning and loss.

The bus continued through the streets, to the modern Bergisel Ski Jump Stadium. This comprises an open air stadium, and ski jump plus the adjoining tower which houses a restaurant and viewing terrace. Construction was completed in 2002 making this quite a modern facility, and the unique design means that while yes, the jump and tower are connected, from the right distance and angle the jump almost appears to swirl up and into the tower itself. The jump has been used for the 2012 Youth Winter Olympic Games and although without any snow cover looked merely like a steep grassy slope, surely must be exciting during competition.

Back on the bus, we passed by the Winter Olympic Ice Sports Stadium and made our way back into the city centre.

On Monday morning, we boarded the shuttle bus to Austria’s largest ski resort and one of the only ones open this early in the season, Stubaier Gletscher (Stubai Glacier). Located around an hour outside of Innsbruck, Stubai guarantees snow from October through to June making it one of the most popular ski resorts. The ski vouchers we’d bought included gear as well and conveniently we were able to pick up our boots, skis and poles and step straight out onto the slope – no having to carry it from the bottom of the mountain like we did at Perisher last year.

By the time we’d reached the main station and been fitted with our equipment it was close to 11am. Uncertain of our abilities at something that Roslyn did quite a lot as a child but less so in recent years, and that Brendan has only done twice before, we headed into the ski school to enquire about lessons. Apparently their only class for the day started at 10am so our options were either pay through the teeth for private lessons at 1pm or have a go and see if we remembered anything.

The end result, only 2 tumbles (both Brendan) once on his first time using the J-bar and again on his very last attempt.

We ended the day with schnapps on the terrace and then boarded the bus back into town. Once in town, we returned again to Stiftskeller for dinner.

Brendan’s birthday was on Tuesday, and we started the day with a champagne breakfast at the restaurant of the swanky aDLERS Hotel nearby. Positioned on the 12th floor by the window, we had a clear view across the rooftops to the mountain ranges behind.

To end our stay in Innsbruck, we climbed the 31 metre high City Tower (Stadtturm). The tower was a former guard’s watch tower, while the lower levels once served as a prison. A narrow and winding staircase of 148 stairs leads to a small hole that we had to crawl through, out to the single person wide viewing platform wrapping around the tower and overlooking the centre of Old Town.

Over the four days we had been well rugged up. Although temperature was cold, the clear skies with shining sun and still air meant the weather was really pleasant for our entire stay.

Highlights:
- Flew in over ice capped mountain ranges
- Stayed in an actual Ibis Hotel, not a hostel!
- Saw Triumphforte
- Strolled Maria-Theresien-Straße shopping street
- Christmas markets
- Purchased Innsbruck Card
- Cable car ride up Nordkette mountain range
- Tobogganing
- Bergisel Ski Jump Stadium
- Skiing at Stubai Glacier (Stubaier Gletscher) without lessons
- Brendan’s first time using a J-bar
- Champagne breakfast for Brendan’s birthday
- Climbed the City Tower

Week 35 in London

Week 35: 30 November – 6 December 2015

This week we were guaranteed to see some snow, as we were headed to the Austrian Alps for a snow birthday for Brendan. Lauren and Adam are also heading to Austria in the coming weeks and so their own hunt for cold weather clothing the weekend before proved to be very helpful and timesaving for us!

One of the big discount outdoor retailers had a sale on “snow packages”, which includes jacket, trousers, gloves, beanie and socks all for only £80 each. The regular price for the jacket alone came close to that, and so we thought these were a worthy investment and would see plenty of use, with skiing in Austria, our upcoming visit to Iceland, and also just to wear out on the weekends around around London (just kidding, London weather isn’t quite that bad).

The Christmas tree we had purchased had been sitting naked and bare in our living room for several weeks, and so on Wednesday evening as a household we decorated it. Due to a lack of tools or equipment, in order to place the star on top improvisation was needed in the form of a bread knife.

On Thursday evening Roslyn went out for drinks with her former RCPsych colleagues, as a farewell for Cara who’s 2 year Visa was approaching its end and her return to New Zealand imminent. She eventually made it home just before 3am, rising again at 7.30am to struggle through Friday.

Highlights for the week:
- Purchased our own snow gear
- Decorated the Christmas tree
- Hacked the top off with a bread knife
- Roslyn stayed out late on a school night
- Flew out to Innsbruck, Austria