Milan.. Why Milan you ask? Well.... It’s all about Fashion..Lots of wine and pizza.. Italians....should be a great place to visit... hmm... high expectations set for Milan... We managed to get fairly inexpensive train tickets from Zurich and off we were on a 7am train ride The ride from Zurich to Milan was arguably the most beautiful train ride..The Swiss Alps were breathtaking and the small villages covered with Snow were postcard worthy. Talar and I did take turns dosing off for about an hour or so but David was a diligent photographer through the entire 6 hours. We got to Milan around 1p and were pretty impressed with the Milan train station.. It reminded me of a grander Grand Central. After trying to get some info on the location of our hotel with no avail, ... read more

The plan was to hang out at home for the first part of the night.. have some drinks, then head out to Stephensplatz where the annual Wien SilvesterStadt festivities take place. After getting hold of a program schedule the day before and seeing how elaborate the plans were, 11 different stages of all kinds of music and dances scattered in a 2 mile radius of the city, we decided to head over there in the afternoon check the stages out.. then come back at night to welcome the new year. I am so glad we went! The second stage we walked up to was the "Rock" stage.. it was more like 80's music and we were blessed with a special performance by two gentelmen.. and we are so thrilled to be able to share this unique ... read more

Christmas time in Vienna is amazing. Aside from the beautifully lighted streets and various Christmas markets with the mouth watering scents of Brutwursts, roasted chestnuts and warm spiced wine, the hustle and bustle of the city on Christmas eve is extremely charming. On the 24th we walked to the Nasch market (about a 10 minute walk from the apartment), to do our Christmas dinner shopping and pick us a Christmas tree. The Nasch market is a huge permanant farmer's market. The vendors are mostly Turkish and there are Shawerma and falafel stands every few feet. It's a good place to buy vegetables, great cheese and spices. They also have homemade fresh ravioli that we have become addicted to. The Nasch market on the afternoon of Christmas eve was alive and kickin! Vienese had gathered in large ... read more

We are leaving for Prague tomorrow and had a free day.. We visited Hechem and his wife Samar at their salon.. as always they were being very generous and asked if I wanted to get my hair done.. I gave in (twist my arm..right?).. It was such a treat! specially since the hot water at the apt lasts all of 6 mins and it's always quiet the challenge to wash my hair. Samar washed and massaged my head for 15 mins!!!! I was in heaven.. She then cut layers and blow dried it.. It really was a wonderful treat! Hashim had finished up with a customer and he motioned David to a chair for a haircut.. we are all ready for our trip to Prague with brand new fancy do's..we are very lucky! After promising to ... read more

The Italians are coming! The Italians are coming! Yes, yes... this is a joke. We just arrived back from an amazing (yet wet) trip to Salzburg, Austria. In which we traveled by train on the OOB. The total trip took 3 hours with about 5 stops. Upon arrival at Salzburg main station, we grabbed the local Bus 3 to Old Town (aka New Italy). I say this because as soon as we stepped off the bus in Old Town there was no longer German anywhere being spoken. Apparently the first two weekends in December the town is besieged by tourists, which happened to be about 90% Italian. This is no big deal for a beautiful place with the local charm of the quant Christmas welcoming Salzburg. The problem was that due to the droves of visitors ... read more