Viktor the Volkswagon was covered in snow when we got ready for the long trip to Budapest. The roads were very snowy and the views were amazing.

   
    
 We stopped at a lovely roadhouse not far from Maribor in Slovenia and the food on offer was extremely fresh and healthy. These road houses are set up in a way that you just grab a plate and a tray and you serve yourself from a buffet-style arrangement. There is everything from soups, hot meats and stews, salad, sandwiches and desserts. A far cry from the fast food style service centres we have to eat at during road trips in Australia. We chose to dine on traditional Slovenian fare of sour soups and sausages and berry pie. 

   
 
  
   
 The snow continued falling in places on the road and Teresa kept as calm as she could while Scott competently drove Viktor VW through some of the worst road conditions. Snow, snow, sludge, ice and more snow on an auto-bahn at 120kph and more.

   

  
  

 
Viktor and Scott negotiated the hairy traffic in Budapest and we finally found our host, Eszter who was extremely welcoming and helpful. The apartment is a quirky and creative space which is very comfortable in the heart of the big city. She has painted various ‘little monsters’ around the apartment which give it a unique touch.

   
    
 
   
    
    
   
Viktor was given a home until we need him again in a garage down the road and we then explored the streets on foot in falling snow. 

Dinner consisted of local tapas in a cool restaurant. Beer and Zybrowka were also consumed. Interesting to see how different countries address dietary requirements in their menus, Slovenia used pictures and numbers whereas here they use pictures on the menu. 

   
    
 We finished up with a trip to Tesco for supplies and then home for an early night. Until then, jó éjszakát!

We walked into the Old Town of Ljubljana and explored the beautiful snow-covered streets. The triple bridges over the river are particularly beautiful as is the view of the Ljubljana Castle in the background.
   
   
   
 

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 We picked up our hire car from Hertz at midday and then took a drive out to Lake Bled.
   
It snowed heavily the whole 45min trip but Scott handled the roads like a pro. Once we were there we were left breath taken. What a stunning place! With the snow falling and a misty fog cast over the lake and its surrounding buildings it was like being stuck inside a snow globe. 

   

  

  

  

  

    
 
  
 Photos really couldn’t capture the awe-inspiring views. We stopped for coffee, a beer and some traditional Slovenien cream cake…

  
..and when we came back out of the cafe the snow had stopped falling and the fog had cleared up, treating us to yet another spectacular view. Such a beautiful place.

   
   
Once back in Ljubljana we walked back into town to have dinner at the Ljubljana Castle. The fernacula tram leading up to the castle at the top of a mountain was broken so we got a free bus ride up instead. 

   
    

For dinner we shared 3 dishes, duck, Seabass and Klebasa with horseradish, all washed down with Schnapps. The grounds outside were lit with bright multicoloured lights that made the snow look even more magical. 

   
   
Once dinner was over Michele and Scott took the liberty of sculpting a beautiful snowman masterpiece on the bonnet of someone’s car while we waited for the bus back down.

    
 A taxi ride back to the apartment cost about 5euro and now to spend our last night in this beautiful town, ready for our next adventure tomorrow….lahko noč 🙂

The day began unnecessarily early where we caught the water taxi in dark, icy and wet conditions to get to San Lucia station to find our way to Ljubljana. We were advised to catch a train to the next station, Mestre, and then in the cafeteria we would find a bus driver who we could buy direct tickets from for a bus all the way to Ljubljana. Of course, Scott and Teresa thought it would be a large bus like we travelled by in Poland but as it turned out it was a 12 seater.The bus didn’t leave until midday so there was a lot of waiting time at the Venice Mestre station, time that could’ve been spent in bed. Of course Scott & Michele are battling the lurgie so they were madly popping pills. Teresa had come through the worst and is feeling much better.

  
We were a bit concerned about the small bus and whether it was the right choice but we have now agreed that it was the best way to travel from Venice to Ljubljana. Scott and Michele had some zzzzzzs while Teresa got stuck into her novel. 

  
As we approached Slovenia there was snow everywhere. The views were stunning with mountains and trees covered in white powder.

The apartment in Ljubljana is perfect and centrally located. Our host and her mother are more than accommodating, even providing chocolates and Slivovich on arrival.

   
   
   
    
 We have entered a magical winter wonderland.

Time for dinner. We found a lovely traditional restaurant where we ordered more peasant food than we could eat… But it was sooooo good.

   
    
    
 

   
    
 Doggy bags for brekky! 

It’s cold walking around but not so unbearable because there is no wind.

We are catching up on laundry here at our Airbnb apartment and enjoying Slovenian TV. In Italy, they dub everything, even Marilyn Monroe speaks Italian! But here in Slovenia they add subtitles so we can watch shows listening to the English. 

We are looking forward to celebrating Irene’s birthday with some shopping tomorrow! 🎉

A beautiful day spent wandering the canals of Venezia. We awoke to minus 2 degree temperatures and began with coffee, sandwiches and beer at a little street cafe, then we proceeded to walk through the multiple alleyways and canals through Venice. The colour of the buildings and the water added to the beauty of the city and we fell more and more in love with every turn of the corner.
   
 
   
   
We found some lovely little places to stop for the occasional bite, and Michele discovered Aperol Spritzes…. a new favourite beverage. Teresa and Scott enjoyed a lunch of sardines and squid at a sun-drenched cafe, all washed down with a large beer (one litre!).
We then jumped on a water bus and had a tour along the opposite side of the city to what we saw yesterday.
   
   
   
   
   
   

  

   

   

  
After this it was time to go home for a rest. Even though Teresa and Scott are feeling a bit better than yesterday, they are still not 100%, and they have finally managed to share the germ with Michele (so kind). Needless to say that we are all a sniveling mess to be around at the moment. 

Dinner was spent at a beautiful Italian Restaurant where mother had soup, Michele had spaghetti with chilli and Scott had an amazing whole Seabass. In bed early tonight as we have to get off early tomorrow. Arriverdercci 🙂

  

David was open today so we took ourselves down to see him early and admired his …..err.. form, as well as viewing some very old paintings and other sculptures. We then left our wonderful accommodation and made our way to the train station. That’s where the fun began! All trains and buses to Venice were fully booked today. Eek!

  
So we now had to find a way to get to Venice.

Teresa feeling unwell wasn’t helping matters. Scott went off in search of alternative transportation while Michele kept mother occupied with a steady stream of caffeine. 

Scott managed to find a rental car that could take us to Venice. It was a manual Lancia and he handled it really well despite the wet, miserable conditions. The cost of €240 was quite reasonable and very similar to what we would pay business class on the train between us all. The roads were OK but the weather was shite!

  

  
If we couldn’t get to Venice today we would still have to pay for the booked accommodation. So, Road trip!!!

Once we dropped off the car we had to catch a ferry to meet the man who would take us to our accomodation. 

  

     
The boat ride is a treat in itself as you move along the canals, admiring the beautiful buildings and residences along the way. Once we arrived at San Stae we met Marco and he led us through a labrynth of bridges and cobblestone alleyways to our final destination which was a beautiful old apartment right on a canal. 

  
After a hectic morning and an unexpected long drive Scott was in dire need of a rest, and although Teresa could have fallen asleep too someone had to occupy the only non-sicky. So off in search of dinner we went. Trying to navigate Venice in the dark was a little challenging but we managed to find takeaway pizza and some wine to bring back to the apartment ready for a much needed night in. It is worth noting that few places in the heart of Venice take credit cards so cash is very handy to have on you! So far every person that we have come into contact with in Italy have been more than helpful and quite friendly. Looking forward to exploring more of Venezia tomorrow, hopefully the weather (and flu) clears up a little! Goodbye and arrivederci for now.

   

  

   

We wanted to find David today but sadly he was having a day off (maybe penalty rates were an issue?). 

   

  

 

   
 
   
   
So we walked around Florence and viewed some great buildings and bridges on a clear and sunny day. 
   
   
Church bells ring often in this town, even now at 9pm as we write.

   
    
    

Lunch was in a lovely sun drenched cafe on the river Arno and then back to our place for some R&R. 

We went to a bar which had a lovely atmosphere and then dinner in a restaurant which was a little below average but had a couple of Aussie families eating there. 

Teresa & Scott have caught the dreaded lurgie which Teresa is most disappointed about. Maybe a good night’s sleep may help. 

Now we are awaiting a prearranged call and then planning to track David again tomorrow before heading off to Venice for the next leg of this journey. 

We could not ignore our need for hair care any longer. After our breakfast of croissants and coffee we set out to find a last minute blow dry. We were hopeful despite the fact that it was NYE. Of course it was easy to find and we were successful at the first hairdressers.

  
Also on the cards was finalising the last week of our travels to Croatia. It is very expensive to fly from Vienna or Bratislava to anywhere in Croatia as there are no direct flights and some quoted 20 hour trip just to fly around 300km. So with further research we will catch the train to Zagreb from Vienna and then fly internally to Split. From Split we have booked the ferry across the Adriatic Sea which is quite exciting. This will take us to Ancona on the east coast of Italy where we will then catch a train back to Rome ready for our flight home.

But before then we have Florence, Venice, Ljubljana, Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna to explore.

We caught a fast Trenatalia train to Florence, upgrading to business class and enjoying complimentary prosecco and espresso while playing Uno. 

    
      
We finally met Scott and started on our NYE Adventure. 

The streets were abuzz with people and bright lights and the occasional firecracker. Dinner was in a nice Italian place where Sam, the waiter doted on us.

Our Airbnb accommodation is of a high quality Italian central apartment where  

  

  

  

  

  

 We all have our own bedroom(finally!)

   
 

  
Our hosts have excelled themselves with the hospitality, providing Nespresso coffee, a fridge full of food and beverages plus a traditional fruit tart (not Michele). 

 Sadly we did not make midnight but we did celebrate with Sydney earlier in the day.

Happy New Year to all!

 Today was our first proper day sight-seeing. We began with breakfast (included with our Spagna Hotel room). This consisted of a selection of croissants, pannaforte, panne tone and washed down with cappucino.
   
   
So began our Roma adventure. We walked for a full working day (20000 steps!). Our stops included: The Spanish Steps and Square
  
    

   
 

  

 The Trevi Fountain (very clean!)

   
 several amazing Basilica (churches) with elaborately painted ceilings and detailed architecture

   
   
The Pantheon

   
    
   
and the Colosseum. 

   
  As we walked around we marvelled at the ancient ruins and humongous buildings with columns and bronze statues. 

   
    
    

      
     
 

  
We visited these amazing places alongside half the population of Europe! Central termini was an experience where we went to buy our tickets for the fast train to Florence tomorrow. 

There are people trying to sell us selfie sticks everywhere but our own personal selfie stick(Scott) will be joining us tomorrow in Fiorenze!

On the way back to Spagna we stopped at a little deli and bought some salami, truffle spread and pecorino to enjoy with some prosecco. 

  
Mauro, our host has been very helpful, as well as being amused by Michele’s lack of ability to use the keys to open the doors in the hotel! 

An evening stroll gave us one last look at the beautiful decorations and lights still left over from Christmas…we may or may not have bought a bottle of Limoncello to complete the experience. 

   
   
A lovely adventure so far but looking forward to tomorrow when we finally see Scott. Buona notte! 

We were very lucky to get a window seat on the second leg of our journey, so we could finally view the landscape we were flying over. Thankfully the clouds disappeared and we were treated to a spectacular vista of the Middle East. As we flew over the brown desert mountains, they gradually became more rugged and snow covered. Just beautiful!

   
   
   
    
  Arrived into Rome and found our driver with the ‘Renneberg’ sign. Thanks Margaret Richmond for the advice about getting a hotel with transfers, recommended to anyone wanting to cut out any hassle and confusion at the airport!

Beautiful sunny day to greet us in Rome and a cheery and cheeky host welcomed us into our accommodation at Spagna Deluxe. Mauro was an air Stewart for 20 years with Al Italia and has made many a trip to Australia so his hospitality is of a high quality and he was able to give us good advice about what to do whilst we are here. 

   
 After a short walk through the beautiful but crowded streets of Rome we stopped for an early dinner at a restaurant called Gusto (recommended by Mauro) where we had a caprese salad 

    
(just a giant ball of buffalo mozzarella surrounded by sliced tomato and no-way-near-enough basil leaves) and a Margherita pizza 
(Nothing to write home about).

   
 Michele is now on a mission to find the best pizza in Italy! (Just an excuse to eat lots of pizza? Yes of course! Hell, let’s throw in a best red wine competition as well! ;D)

It is now 6:40pm and has been dark outside for at least an hour, we are both deriously tired and lagged and trying very hard to at least stay up until 8 before going to sleep. The Presecco that we picked up from the supermarket on the way home is definitely helping. 

   
   
That said, we both can’t wait to sleep horizontally for the first time in 30 hours. The small luxuries that you miss when you are denied of them. Until tomorrow, good night and arrivederci!

   

Our 15 hour flight to Abu Dhabi was pretty smooth and despite having no window seats and being stuffed into “cattle class” we could not complain about the food or facilities (although up the spiral stairs in first class would have been nice too!).  

  
Now for a couple of hour’s layover before boarding to our final destination (thank goodness the coffee isn’t too bad here). Pizza, pasta, gelato and red wine here we come! 

  
We made a friend at the airport 🙂