Europa! In 2 weeks or less

Back in June, Zoe took her hard-earned Girl Scout trip to Europe, thanks to two fearless troop leaders who bravely took 12 eager teens across the pond–and thanks to many of YOU who supported her through cookie sales for the past three years.

There are SO MANY pictures that I won’t be able to do the trip justice here, but I’ll share a few highlights, and here’s their itinerary for posterity’s sake:

  • June 17 – 20: London (England)
  • June 20 – 23: Paris (France)
  • June 23 – 25: Adelboden (Switzerland)
  • June 25 – 26: Lucerne (Switzerland)
  • June 26 – 28: Florence (Italy)
  • June 28 – 30: Rome (Italy)

That’s quite a lot to see in just 2 weeks, and believe me, they didn’t miss a thing. I don’t think Zoe’s ever walked more in her entire life, but this trip has inspired her to add “study abroad” programs to her college requirements. We’re thrilled!

Along the way they took in pretty much every sight most would consider a “must see” for the cities on the route, in addition to visiting two Girl Scout World Centers: Pax Lodge (England) and Our Chalet (Switzerland). With time zone challenges and a non-stop schedule, we parents barely got updates.

But as the nerdy mom I am, I packed up the entire list of planned activities, through which they had a dedicated guide to keep them on track, and put them all on a calendar so we could live vicariously, moment by moment.

Sit back and imagine being 15 and getting to see all this in two short weeks:

  • London guided sightseeing tour: Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace. Followed by Afternoon Tea and shopping at Harrods, ending with a West End theater performance of My Neighbor Totoro.
  • More London with a Girl Scout pinning ceremony at Pax Lodge Headquarters, followed by a Tower of London visit and a London Eye ferris wheel ride.
  • A Eurostar Chunnel crossing from London to Paris, with a guided sightseeing tour of the Arc de Triomphe, Champs‑Élysées, Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides, and the Opera House. Très jolie!
  • More Paris including a Versailles Guided Excursion of the State Apartments, Hall of Mirrors, Gardens of Versailles; then a Montmartre tour of the Sacré‑Cœur, Place du Tertre, and Moulin Rouge.
  • Even more Paris with Louvre Museum visit (see Mona Lisa below!), followed by an evening Seine River cruise.
  • Up next, travel to Basel, Switzerland on the TGV (one of Europe’s fastest trains), then travel to Adelboden for another Girl Scout pinning at Our Chalet lodge.
  • More Switzerland with travel to Lucerne for a guided tour of Chapel Bridge, Lion Monument, Jesuit Church, Weinmarkt and Kornmarkt Squares, then a Mt. Pilatus excursion for a bird’s eye view of the city and the Alps.
  • Travel continued to Florence, Italy for a cooking class (PASTA!), then hitting the high points the next day with tours of the Accademia Gallery, Baptistery Doors, Chiesa di Santa Croce, Duomo, and the Ponte Vecchio.
  • Final destination was Rome, Italy, with a guided tour of the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Piazza Navona and the Vatican.

And now, for the best part: THE PICTURES! I was inclined to make up a sassy caption for each (since I lack all the detailed stories that would make these most interesting), but I restrained myself. You’re welcome.

If a picture’s worth a thousand words, that’s 19,000 for you, by my count. But before I seem like a completely useless storyteller, here are a few things I DO know:

  • A favorite moment was going up in the Eiffel Tower at night. Duh. What can’t Paris do? She was also inspired to learn some French. Je suis fière.
  • Shopping at Harrod’s was a hit for the whole troop, and Zoe brought home small thoughtful souvenirs from Europe for the whole family, including a spoon ring for me. Though every girl showed up with a huge suitcase for the trip, Zoe was smart and packed light, since I reminded her that whatever she brought she’d have to carry on/off every plane, train, and bus for two weeks…
  • I received an unscheduled FaceTime call upon their arrival in Adelboden to show me that the view outside their window looked like the landscape in The Sound of Music movie. It really did.
  • She loved Switzerland; they got to go into a shallow river in Bern where in the summer commuters pack their office clothes, shoes, laptops, and phones into specialized waterproof dry bags and “float” home from work.
  • They got to see the POPE speak at the Vatican! What are the chances of that? You can see him (barely) in the final photo above in the window. Squint.

In fairness, I got a fast-tracked, few-word run-through of her photos one afternoon while Bart and Ella were in Japan (I’ll write about that next, with an equivalent lack of detail). I’ll take it.

I’m pretty sure the details in my Zoe stories will be fewer and farther between as we go on from here. Yes, I put that in writing, and yes, it makes me sad/happy. I remember being desperate to have my own space, identity and freedom–and I now know the tradeoffs of that. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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