2015 arrives

 2015 arrives with a bang in Berlin. True insanity as night turns to day and explosions fill the air.

 Master of ceremonies....daddy's favourite moment in a German New Year. Fireworks time!

 Away she goes!

And again!

Great fun - lobbing bangers over the balcony onto the street below. Note the sky. This is midnight, and it will be as bright as day for the next hour...

The party

 

New year mouse

Actually, mouse is full of the joys. Waiting for her guests to arrive...

Full of the joys.....

Rosie and Dad prepare for New Year...

Circus time

 A brilliant christmas present from the uncles. A trip to the circus. First time in 40 something years for Daddy. First time ever for mouse.

 Inside the big top. 

Clown child (nose courtesy of Eric Boo the clown). What a brilliant show it was!

Christmas snow.

 Finally...Christmas snow! After the frustration of green hillsides in the Czech Republic last year, proper snow! 

 Fun, games and frozen fingers.

 Not sure who is more excited - mouse or me!

 Rosie's first ever snowman

 Lovely Vienna at its snowy best. 

A true milestone. My first snow angel in actual snow!

Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert Graf von Schönborn

  Our next visit to St Stephens (at Rosie's insistence) happened to coincide with a service given by Cardinal Schönborn. She sat quietly, and listened to the entire service (in German).

 Following the service, mouse queued up and received a blessing from the Man himself. Excellent!

Rosie and her rosary. 

Room service

 Dinner for madame. Her legs were tired, so in-room silver service required tonight.

Stick the telly on and we have the perfect evening...

Sightseeing

 Statues, statues everywhere

A fascinated mouse. All this culture is a long way from Jeddah....

Fascinating on foot maybe, but even better from the top deck of a guided tour double decker

Saint Stephens Cathedral

 Mummy and Rosie in St Stephens cathedral. Ancient and wonderful. Perhaps Rosie's highlight of the holiday. We had to visit three times.

Visit number one spurred three nights of youtube videos on Jesus, and a stream of unanswerable questions about his life and death. 

The Imperial

Christmas lunch with Vienna old money at the Imperial.

 Wood-panelled wonderland with a personal waiter.

 The face of a child who has just realised that the closest thing to chips and nuggets on the menu is braised artichoke. Poor mouse.

 What a hero! Forcing a smile, even in the face of caviar and wild salmon mousse 

Happy Christmas from the old man!

And so to bed....

Christmas pyjamas. Elsa and Ana, naturally. Happy Christmas darling. 

The great unwrapping.

Witness a child shaking with excitement...

 Paper flying in all directions...

A my little pony cupcake cafe! My life is complete.

A Christmas hug for Mummy. 

Christmas eve meal

A lovely old Vienna restaurant. European meat. This is the life...

We made it!

Replacement car in Salzburg (thanks Eurocar!)... and here we are in Vienna! Fully geared up for Christmas. 

 Mouse grinning in the cold, outside the Vienna Museum. 

 A toffee apple. Maybe this will stop her talking about the crash for a few minutes....

Crash

Saltzberg. Oh dear....

Austria here we come!

A small cat, en route to Austria.