[Throwback] Final thoughts on my Europe Trip

Before I start, here's a summary of my posts on this amazing Europe trip:

Europe Trip: Italy, Greece, and France
Rome, Italy
Rome Landmarks
Vatican City
Rome Experiences and Memories
Athens, Greece
Experiences and Memories in Athens
France: Paris and Lourdes
Paris
Lourdes, France
France Experiences and Memories
Final thoughts on my Europe Trip

The Acropolis in Athens

This trip was the first time I took my mom abroad on an international vacation. Thankfully, my assignment in Brussels allowed me have enough resources to take her. I had also earned enough miles from previous international flights to get us a free flight from Athens to Paris. (Flights within Europe - at least back then - required very little miles and by then I had earned enough to get us free flights via KLM). I then used the European budget airline Ryanair for our flights from Brussels to Rome and from Rome to Athens.

St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican

It was in this trip that I did the boldest thing I've ever done (and something I had never done again): I didn't book hotels prior to arriving and only relied on booking hotel rooms at the airport! I'm not sure what made me decide to do this. Maybe it was because I was still not an expert on organizing international trips or maybe it's because I had heard from other people that they just book hotels once they arrive at the airport. I wrote about being assisted by a friendly customer service person at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. This was because we arrived late in the evening and the hotel kiosks at the airport were closed. We ended up staying at an airport hotel (Novotel, I believe). Thankfully, the train station from Paris to Lourdes was at the airport so it made it easy for us to bring our luggage to the station. All our hotels were also pretty decent.

Trevi Fountain at night in Rome

We took an overnight train from Paris to Lourdes and from Lourdes back to Paris so we could save a bit on accommodations. Since two of our nights in Europe were spent onboard a train, we didn't need to book a hotel room for two nights.

View of Paris at night from the Eiffel Tower

Finally, I had a really strange yet memorable experience in Paris. I asked my mom to take a photo of me at Notre Dame. However, there was a lady standing right next to me. As I didn't want to have other people in the foreground of my picture, I moved a few steps to the left but then the lady moved closer again. I can't recall if I tried moving again but then she and her friends started talking to me in another language (Spanish, I think?) and they all had a photo taken with me. I'm not particularly sure what was happening but for whatever reason, I'm guessing she must've wanted to have her photo taken with me. (Could she have mistaken me for someone else?) I didn't know exactly how to react back then but my mom still took our picture (while another one of the lady's friends too our photo as well). You can clearly see the look of confusion on my face haha. If this thing happened now, I would probably be a lot more willing and open to have my photo taken with strangers. And I would definitely have a much more sincere smile in that picture.

An unexpected photo with strangers in Notre Dame

It was really enjoyable walking down memory lane and remembering my first ever international trip with my mom. I'm also really happy and very grateful that it wasn't the last. I also returned to Paris a few months later to see more sights. I will write about that trip soon.

[Throwback] France Experiences and Memories

There's a stereotype that French people can be haughty. As many negative stereotypes are, this wasn't true, at least not for me. We didn't really get to experience arrogant behavior from most of the people we interacted with. I will say that there was that one lady at an Information Center in Paris who was had a bit of a surly tone when answering our questions but as far as I recall, she was really the only one like that.

Inside the Rosary Basilica of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

On the other hand, we had a couple of really good interactions. When we arrived at the Paris airport, we asked a woman from customer service if she could help us look for a hotel because the hotel booths at the Paris airport were already closed (I will write more about this in my next post) and she really did try to help us by making some calls. (In the end, we just booked a hotel at the airport; I think it was Novotel). Also, when we were in Lourdes, we had a midday meal in a little restaurant near the sanctuary and the woman who served our food there was very friendly and lovely.

Gargoyles of Notre Dame Cathedral

Also in Lourdes, there was a restaurant next to the train station and we had breakfast there once we arrived. Since we were taking the overnight train back to Paris, we decided to have dinner there as well. Aside from being located right next to the station, it was also quite spacious and this meant that bringing in large suitcases wouldn't be a problem. We must have spent maybe 4 hours there at the end of the day while we waited for our train. While we did order dinner, we actually stayed there for a really long time with all our luggage so I was worried it might be an issue with the owners. Thankfully, it wasn't.

Gave de Pau River in Lourdes

Next: Europe Trip Final Thoughts

[Throwback] Lourdes, France

Lourdes is a town in the South of France. It is an important pilgrimage site for Catholics all over the world because of the Marian apparitions there in 1858. To make our Europe trip an even more spiritual experience after our Christmas celebration at the Vatican, we wanted to visit Lourdes.

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

In 1858, while gathering firewood with her sister and a friend at the Massabielle grotto, Bernadette Soubirous saw the image of a young lady who was believed to the the Virgin Mary. This became the first of 18 Marian apparitions that were witnessed in this area. The young lady shared the need for prayer and penance and asked that a chapel be built. The Catholic church investigated these claims and deemed the apparitions to be worth of belief. Bernadette was canonized as a saint by Pope Pius XI on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 in 1933.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes was then built in that area because it is what the Virgin Mary had requested.

Dome ceiling of the Rosary Basilica

One of the most important places in the sanctuary is of course the Grotto of Massabielle. There is a spring at the grotto where visitors can take and drink water. What I very distinctly remember when I was at the grotto was how holy the atmosphere there was. It was very quiet and peaceful and it felt like everyone was praying. It was a truly spiritual and transcendent experience.

Massabielle Grotto

What makes Sanctuary of our Lady of Lourdes even more special is that it is located in the Pyrenees. The Gave de Pau river flows through here and the beautiful landscape surrounding it adds to the mysticism, making any visit even more extraordinary and memorable.

Gave de Pau River

This was the last stop of our Europe trip. We spent a day in Lourdes and in the evening, we had dinner at a cafe near the train station before getting on our overnight train back to Paris. From there, we took the speed train from Paris back to Brussels. My mom still spent a couple of days in Belgium and she even took a day trip to Amsterdam (I didn't accompany her because I had to work) before she headed back to the Philippines.

Next post: France Experiences and Memories

[Throwback] Paris

There is a lot to see in Paris but as we only had a day, we only visited a few of its most popular landmarks.

Eiffel Tower

As I wrote in my previous post, we arrived in Paris in the late evening. The next day, our first order of business was to purchase overnight train tickets to Lourdes. Once we secured our tickets, we headed out to see a bit of the city. We made our way to the Arc de Triomphe for a quick photo op.

Arc de Triomphe

We then headed to Notre Dame Cathedral. We didn't go in but we did take some photos outside. As this trip was a really long time ago, I still got to see Notre Dame before it lost its spire and roof during the 2019 fire.

Notre Dame Cathedral

My mom visited Les Invalides when she went to Paris before (I got to see more of this place a few months later, and I will write about it in a future post). While we didn't go there, we did catch a glimpse of it...

Les Invalides

...from Pont Alexandre III, one of the most beautiful bridges in the city.

Pont Alexandre III bridge

We also got to see the River Seine.

River Seine

From there, we headed to our last stop in Paris: Tour Eiffel or the Eiffel Tower.

Eiffel Tower

We got there in the late afternoon and we decided we wanted to go up. Since it was winter, the sun set quite early and it was dark when we got to the top (the tower has three levels and we stopped on all three). From there, we got to see some beautiful views of Paris.

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

We then went back to our hotel to get our luggage (we had checked out earlier in the day) and then headed to the station to board our overnight train to Lourdes.

Next: Lourdes, France

[Throwback] France: Paris and Lourdes

The main purpose of visiting France was to see Lourdes. Which is a bit surprising since most people would normally have Paris as the first city they would want to see when visiting France. So what drove our decision?

Upper Basilica of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

First, my mom had already been to Paris before. We only had a short vacation around Europe so it would be best for my mom to see places she hadn't seen before. Second, I was living in Brussels at that time and it was just about an hour away from Paris by high speed train. It would be quite easy for me to revisit Paris. Finally, we really wanted to visit the Sanctuary of Lourdes, which was the site of the Marian apparitions seen by Saint Bernadette.

Me at the Upper Basilica

However, to get to Lourdes, we had to go through Paris. We arrived in the late evening and we would be taking the overnight train to Lourdes the next night. This meant that we had a full day to go around the French Capital. So we did.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

Next: Paris

[Throwback] Experiences and Memories in Athens

My original plan was for us to stay in Athens for 2 full days. In fact, I had already booked our flights so that we would fly out 3 days after we arrived. However, when I shared this plan with my mom, she said that one day should be enough. Thankfully, the airline - KLM - agreed to rebook our flights from Athens to Paris a day earlier at no additional cost (I guess airlines were a lot more lenient then; today, many flights won't allow rebooking or they will require the passenger to pay a rebooking fee). I also remember sorting this out just over the phone. Thankfully, KLM customer service was extremely helpful. I didn't even have a print-out of this confirmation but we didn't run into any issues during our departure.

Me at the Theatre of Dionysus

Unlike our stint in Rome, we did get to enjoy a Greek meal here. I honestly don't remember what I ordered but I remember eating at a restaurant that was quite near the Acropolis.

The Parthenon at the Acropolis

That said, we also had our fair share of fast food meals, specifically McDonald's. The most interesting thing we ordered here was the Greek Mac, which is the Greek version of the Big Mac. It has the same contents - two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions - but served in pita bread instead of in a sesame seed bun. Pretty cool! I'm not sure if this item is still available now.

Passing through the National Garden in Athens

Our visit to Athens also happened around the time of the Athens Olympics so there was a lot of Olympic merchandise there. I bought myself a nice shirt which I have since donated to charity. I'm now kinda regretting that move and I wish that I kept it and gave a different item of clothing instead. This is what it looked like:

A rare pic of me wearing my Athens Olympics shirt

My mom did get a mug that we still have at home. We also bought a few more souvenirs including a refrigerator magnet that we also still have.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Next: France (Paris and Lourdes)

[Throwback] Athens, Greece

We wanted to visit Athens because of its historic significance. While most of the important places to see in this capital city of Greece are ruins, these landmarks tell the story of why Athens is, to quote wikipedia, "referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy." The great thing about Athens is that there are so many places of interest all within walking distance of each other.

The Parthenon

The first place we visited was the Acropolis. History.com describes tells us that this UNESCO world heritage site has been "a home to kings, a citadel, a mythical home of the gods, a religious center and a tourist attraction."

The Acropolis

Several ancient monuments can be found here including the Parthenon, which was a temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena.

Me at the Parthenon

The Erechtheion is also quite memorable for its caryatids, which are female sculptures that serve as columns.

Caryatids at the Erechtheion

The Acropolis provides visitors with excellent views of the city.

View of Athens from the Acropolis

On the southwest slope of the hill on which the Acropolis stands, you can find the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, which was an ancient Roman theater. It continues to be used for concerts and theater productions. (Yanni's Live at the Acropolis was performed here.)

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The Theater of Dionysus sits on the southeast slope of the Acropolis. According to Vision Roma, "the first row of seats was reserved for those spectators who, by decree of the assembly, enjoyed the right of proedria, i.e. the right to sit in the front row during the contests of tragedies."

Theater of Dionysus

Our next stop was the Temple of Olympian Zeus. It was named as such because it was dedicated to the Greek God Zeus who was the king of the Olympian gods. In ancient times, this was the largest temple in Greece. Only a few of its original 104 columns remain, but they were still quite a sight to behold.

Columns at the Temple of Olympian Zeus

We then visited the Panathenaic Stadium. It is important for two main reasons. First, it continues to be the only stadium in the world that is built entirely out of marble. Second, this is where the first modern Olympic games were held back in 1896. Despite my inappropriate attire, I couldn't help but do this lame but fun pose for a photo op inside the stadium hahaha.

Me at the Panathenaic Stadium

Finally, we made our way to the Ancient Agora of Athens. An agora is a public space for community assemblies and markets. There are many ancient buildings and ruins here, including the remains of the Odeon of Agrippa...

Odeon of Agrippa

...and the Temple of Hephaestus.

Temple of Hephaestus

Next: Experiences and Memories in Athens

[Throwback] Rome Experiences and Memories

Our trip to Rome could have started out as a bit of a disaster. Right next to the Trevi Fountain was a small church - Santa Maria in Trivio - that we decided to enter. After some prayers, we stepped out to see more of the city when I realized that my camera wasn't with me anymore. I instantly knew that I left it inside the church so we hurriedly went back. It wasn't at the spot where I sat down so I asked someone from the church if they had seen a camera and they did! We made a small donation to the church as a token of our gratitude and said another prayer.

Santa Maria In Trivio Church

I still didn't have as much financial freedom back then as I do now so most of the meals we had were fast food. I actually don't remember having any pasta or pizza during this trip. However, I did make sure to get some gelato that I purchased from a gelato stand along the streets of Rome. I don't remember what flavor I got but I do remember that it was really good!

Fontana del Nettuno or the Fountain of Nepture, in Piazza Navona

While we didn't get to go inside the Colosseum, we saw many people in gladiators costumes outside and we decided to have a photo op with them.

Photo op outside the Colosseum

I also bought a tripod. We passed by a camera shop on our way back to the hotel on our first day there and I decided to go in. I saw this lightweight 3-foot-tall travel tripod that could be collapsed into a pretty small size when it needed to be kept. I used it a couple of times during that trip but more than that, I used it for many more trips after, especially whenever I was a solo traveler. I can't seem to find it anymore but it really did serve its purpose many times.

I took this photo of me at the Arch of Constantine using my tripod

Next: Athens, Greece

[Throwback] Vatican City

The highlight of our trip to Rome was visiting St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Day.

Pope John Paul II at the Vatican

I was still an inexperienced traveler back then so I didn't think of checking mass schedules online before planning our visit. Despite this, we still headed to the St. Peter's Basilica because even if we weren't able to hear mass, it would still be an incredible spiritual experience to be there for Christmas.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

We got there in the late morning and when we went inside the church, there was no mass. We said some prayers and then spent our time going around the basilica, enjoying the resplendent interior. Standing majestically inside is Baldacchino di San Pietro, or St. Peter's Baldachin. Designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, it marks the tomb of St. Peter which lies beneath it.

St. Peter's Baldachin

As grand and marvelous as the baldachin is, it was Michelangelo's Pieta that absolutely took my breath away. I can't imagine how a very hard piece material such as marble can be manipulated to look so soft and delicate. This sculpture is truly a masterpiece!

Michelangelo's Pieta

We stepped out of the church before 1pm and when we got out, we were surprised to see a huge crowd. Something was about to happen so we decided to stay.

St. Peter's Square on Christmas Day

As it turned out, this was the annual Christmas message from the Pope. I wrote about this in greater detail before (you can read it here). It's amazing how we didn't plan for this and yet my mom and I got to see the Pope from just a few meters away. We wouldn't have been this close to the Pope if we didn't step out of the church when we did. And we wouldn't have gotten out of the church when we did if we arrived in St. Peter's Basilica much earlier in the day. I'm just really happy we got to have this fantastic and very spiritual experience.

Next: More Rome Experiences and Memories

[Throwback] Rome Landmarks

I can't quite recall what time we arrived in Rome but it must have been after lunch. We checked into our hotel and it was only in the late afternoon that we had a chance to go around. Since it was already quite late, we decided to visit the Trevi Fountain. I didn't know what it looked like but I remember being completely astonished the moment I saw it. It was massive and a lot more magnificent than I had expected! The statues were so beautifully and expertly sculpted.

Trevi Fountain

The tradition here is to throw a coin into the fountain over your right shoulder using your left hand. If you do this, it is said that you would find your way back to Rome. I didn't quite know what the details were so while I tossed a coin into the fountain, I don't think I did it the right way. Maybe that's why I haven't been back haha. (That said, I have been planning for a return trip for a while now so hopefully that plan comes to fruition soon!)

Our first stop the next day was the Vatican Museums which includes the Sistine Chapel. While we planned to go to St. Peter's Basilica the next day for Christmas, I think the Vatican Museums wouldn't be open that day. I was very happy I got to see the Sistine Chapel, including its well-renowned ceiling painted by Michelangelo. Unfortunately, photos inside aren't allowed (although I know some people still sneak in a shot or even a video). The only photo I was able to take in the Vatican museum was this beautiful stained glass panel (my research now tells me it might be Madonna Enthroned by Giuseppe Bertini).

Stained Glass Panel inside the Vatican Museums

Next up was the Pantheon. This structure used to be a Roman temple before being turned into a Catholic church. It is supposed to have the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.

Pantheon

We then made a quick stop at the Victor Emmanuel II Monument to take photos. This structure has also been called "The Typewriter" because of its supposed resemblance to a typewriter. (I can kind of see it haha.)

Victor Emmanuel II Monument

We then headed to the Colosseum. Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there. I think there mmay have been renovations or repairs being done at the time. Because of this, we were only able to take photos from the outside.

Colosseum

Beside the Colosseum is the Arch of Constantine, which was built in honor of Emperor Constantine the Great.

Arch of Constantine

On our final day, we got to see a few more places. First was Castel Sant'Angelo, which is just a short walk from the Vatican. We didn't go inside but we did take a couple of photos outside.

Castel Sant'Angelo

Our next stop was Piazza Navona. The most significant point of interest here is the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or Fountain of the Four Rivers designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. While not as grand as the Trevi Fountain, it was still very awe-inspiring.

Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona

The last place we visited in Rome was the Spanish Steps. It seems that this landmark gets its name from the Spanish Embassy which is located there. These steps became famous when they were featured in the film Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.

Spanish Steps

Next: Vatican City