Travelling can be lots of fun and really interesting too! Every country has their own culture, and many have different languages too. The other difference is often the weather. In December 2023 we took a break from the Summer heat and humidity of Queensland, Australia to experience a European Winter Christmas and New Year. We stayed in six different countries and 10 different cities, with day trips to even more cities! It was really interesting to reflect on a snowy Winter climate verses a hot, humid climate. Here’s Troggg checking in on us enjoying a magical snowy day in Zermatt, Switzerland.
We made a few of these videos comparing the discomfort of Summer heat, humidity and sweat with the wonder and whimsy of Winter ice and snow. It’s important to remember that those who are used to the cold climate will often crave an escape to a warm Australian beach. It’s really just what you’re used to. This is us at a school vacation care performance in the early part of the 2023 Summer Christmas holidays, followed by us just a week or two later in Zermatt, Switzerland.
Even Scrambles wanted to check in on us! He makes mention of the songs we sing at Christmas time about sleighs and snowmen and reindeer not really making much sense to us here in sunny Queensland, Australia. But over the course of our trip, even beyond our time up in the Swiss Alps (as shown in this video), we did discover horse drawn sleighs with jingling bells, and we even made some snowmen. Santa’s warm Winter coat made much more sense in Europe as well than it does in Australia.
After finally getting used to the colder climate, and enjoying being able to rug up in Winter coats and thermals, we soon made friends with a little puppet dog named Piccolo Como who joined us on our holiday. We found him at the Christmas Markets in Como, Italy and he spent the rest of our trip reporting from lots of different places around Europe. Here he is on the night we found him!
In Venice, Italy we were able to enjoy a ride in a gondola – which is the thing everyone must do in Venice. Everywhere we went we enjoyed local food and culture. Here’s Piccolo Como in Venice.
It wouldn’t be a holiday of discovery and wonder for puppeteers if we didn’t check out some puppetry stuff wherever possible. So in Ljubljana, Slovenia we went to the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre (Lutkovno gledališče), which is the premiere Slovenian theatre for puppetry. Sadly, as Piccolo Como points out, tickets for the puppet shows were long booked out many months in advance. But we at least got to see the building and then ride the funicular (just next door) up the mountain to Ljubljana Castle.
The great news is – at the top of the mountain within the castle itself was the Ljubljana Museum of Puppetry. And it was open! So we went inside and got to enjoy displays of many puppets of different styles. We even got to have a go of some marionettes. Naughty Piccolo Como went inside a shadow puppet theatre as well.
Piccolo Como sure had fun in Ljubliana, Slovenia. That’s where we celebrated Christmas in 2023. In many parts of Europe, particularly in Slovenia as we discovered, the magic of Christmas seems to last much longer than in Australia, with markets and celebrations taking place right up until the 7th of January! Even on Christmas night and the following night also – the streets were packed with families all having a great time.
We had a nice, quaint and quiet break from the bustling crowds once we got to Osijek, Croatia. A friend of ours who lives there showed us around this lovely town which is not very touristy. We visited war memorials, local restaurants and shops, enjoyed a delicious home cooked fish dinner, and also got to check out the Christmas markets. Piccolo Como came along too, of course, always “having a nice time” wherever he goes.
What a nice adventure he had as we travelled between countries. Unlike every other travel day between countries where we wrangled luggage between buses and trains, our trip from Osijek, Croatia to Budapest, Hungary was a lovely car ride.
By the time New Year’s Eve came around we were enjoying several days in Budapest, Hungary. We went on so many funiculars up mountains during our five week holiday, and this next video was filmed up another one which took us to the grounds of a massive castle. It was also fascinating to find Christmas well after Christmas Day. We found a magical Christmas market on New Year’s Eve in Budapest, which messed with our minds a bit because we were about to ring in a new year, and yet we were surrounded by carols and tinsel and lights and a lovely big tree.
It was so nice to experience falling snow in Europe on a few occasions. We found ourselves surrounded by snow covered pine trees and filled with wide eyed wonder in the Winter Wonderland of Hallstatt, Austria, as seen here with Piccolo Como.
We stayed for a few nights in Vienna, Austria where Piccolo Como is seen here enjoying the Prater Amusement Park, which is open for all to enjoy every day and night of the year, even in Winter.
Innsbruck was a very beautiful town in Austria. We both wish we could’ve spent more time there. Lovely colourful buildings (we stayed in one of those!) with looming snowy alps behind them. The town itself was filled with very old medieval buildings, some with dates from the 1300s and 1400s written on their front walls! Such beauty there, particularly the natural environment. Stop eating the snow, Piccolo Como!
We started our holiday in Milan, Italy and that’s where we ended it too. And on one of the days we went on a day trip to Saint Moritz in Switzerland for some more snow fun (including a frozen lake) and a ride on the Bernina Express red train that goes through the Swiss Alps. Here’s Piccolo Como having a nice time in Saint Moritz.
And then we wound down in Milan, Italy and psyched ourselves up for the epic 40 hour transit back to Brisbane, Australia via two Middle Eastern airport stopovers – Muscat and Doha. Here’s Piccolo Como’s last video in Europe before heading home.
Travel is very enjoyable, and videos like this are a fun way for children to learn about what other parts of the world we can discover that are different from our own. It might inspire them to think about travelling overseas someday too.
You can find even more videos of our travels – minus the puppet – on our Larrikin Puppets TikTok account – https://www.tiktok.com/@larrikinpuppets (TikTok handle is @larrikinpuppets).
