2026 – Europe

Day 20 – Experiences in Varazdin

Our guide picked us up from the hotel and we headed out to the town of Varazdin. Varazdin is known as Croatia’s “Baroque Capital” and “Little Vienna”. It briefly served as the nation’s capital from 1767 to 1776 but lost the title to Zagreb after a devastating city fire that started at the blacksmiths shop… Continue reading Day 20 – Experiences in Varazdin

Day 19 – Travel to Croatia

We were up and out of the hotel in Amsterdam by 8 this morning to catch our flight to Zagreb for the penultimate leg of our trip. Amsterdam airport is quite spread out and our check in gates were almost in a little annex. After security, our boarding gates were in the furthest end of… Continue reading Day 19 – Travel to Croatia

Day 18 – Classic Holland

It’s our last day in Amsterdam and we had a tour booked to take us out to a traditional Dutch village with windmills. We met the tour guide near our hotel and then headed out of Amsterdam. We visited a town called Zaanse Schans which was created as a tourist destination. They transported traditional windmills… Continue reading Day 18 – Classic Holland

Day 17 – Dutch Experiences

We started the day with a Dutch pancake making course. I had misread the tour titled and assumed we would be doing the course in a Dutch Canal Boat while meandering through, however it was just in a house that overlooked the canal. It was weird but the kids loved it. We were in someones… Continue reading Day 17 – Dutch Experiences

Day 15 – Driving to Holland

One of the things that I really wanted to do was to drive across international borders and the trip from Brussels to Amsterdam seemed like the perfect opportunity. We checked out and took an Uber to the Brussels South train station to collect our rental car. Fortunately we have been provided with a Volvo almost… Continue reading Day 15 – Driving to Holland

Day 12 – Hello Brussels

We had a few hours to kill after breakfast before our car was to take us to the airport. We went for a final walk through the town of Salzburg and especially to their famous Christmas shop which sells decorations all year round. It was quite an experience with intricately carved and designed decorations. They… Continue reading Day 12 – Hello Brussels

Dining like Monks

We visited the Augustiner Brau  Mulln for dinner which was founded in 1621 by Augustinian monks. It operates the oldest continuously active brewery and Austria’s largest beer tavern. The beer is still traditionally drawn from wooden barrels and served in stone steins. Visiting the tavern is a unique, self-service experience that operates on centuries-old tradition.… Continue reading Dining like Monks

Ultimate Beer Garden

We went to Schweizerhaus for dinner which is a huge beer garden that had been in existence since 1776. The beer garden is divided into smaller sections named after the different districts in Vienna. We were seated in District 23. The beer garden can cater to 2,400 patrons and they have a speciality beer which… Continue reading Ultimate Beer Garden

Day 8 – Culinary Creations

The mercury is expected to touch 40 degrees today which is not something I ever expected to experience in Austria. By 7 am when we awoke the sun was already beating down on the windows and you could sense how hot it was going to get. Our itinerary for today includes a tour of Naschmarkt,… Continue reading Day 8 – Culinary Creations

Rollercoaster Dinner

I had booked dinner at a Rollercoaster restaurant which seemed like a fun thing to do with the kids. We decided to take the train there as our hotel was adjacent to a station. We bought the tickets at the station and found that there is no requirement to scan the tickets on boarding or… Continue reading Rollercoaster Dinner

Day 6 – Arrival into Vienna

We landed in Vienna at about 5.30 in the morning and everyone was immediately surprised with how bright the sun already was – it felt like it should be about 9.30 in the morning instead. There is a severe heat warning in place as the temperatures are expected to get up to 34 degrees today.… Continue reading Day 6 – Arrival into Vienna

Day 5 – Jurassic Experience

And just like that its our final day in Bangkok. We didn’t have an early start and hence had a “lazier” morning which gave us a chance to start repacking for our onward journey. After breakfast we took a “Grab” to the Jurassic World Experience. Set up on multiple levels, combining videos with animatronics, it… Continue reading Day 5 – Jurassic Experience

Food Tour in a Tuk Tuk

One of the things we look forward to the most is a food tour wherever we visit – especially ones that take us to local eateries rather than tourist destinations. We end up going to places where you would never otherwise frequent. We had a similar tour booked for tonight, which also included getting around… Continue reading Food Tour in a Tuk Tuk

Dinner, Show and Drama

Originally I was going to add our dinner excursion as part of the overall post for Day 2, however given the experience we had it deserved a post in its own right. I had planned for us to visit a restaurant called “Mocking Tales” which is themed on Harry Potter and has strong wizarding world… Continue reading Dinner, Show and Drama

Day 2 – The Ancient City

We all seemed to have slept quite well and no one got up too early in the morning. Hopefully keeping everyone awake till a normal bedtime last night helped us acclimatize to the change in time zones. We headed down to breakfast and were suitably impressed by the expansive buffet. I couldn’t go past a… Continue reading Day 2 – The Ancient City

Day 1 – Getting to Bangkok

We left home yesterday after school and drove up to Sydney for the bought as we had an earlier departure today. Coincidentally Ben had the night off work and so he came down from Newcastle to join us for dinner. We visited our regular Japanese restaurant which has become a bit of a staple before… Continue reading Day 1 – Getting to Bangkok