[Throwback] Europe Trip: Italy, Greece, and France

I had the great fortune to have a work assignment in Belgium over the winter months many years ago. I had an opportunity to go back home for the Christmas break but I asked my mom if she wanted to go around Europe during the holidays instead and she thought it would be a good idea. It was the first time I took my mom on an international trip (and many years later, I'm happy to say that it was certainly not the last). My mom had been to Europe before that so I decided to take her to some cities that she hadn't seen yet. This included Rome in Italy,

The Colosseum in Rome

Athens in Greece,

The Parthenon in Athens

and Lourdes in France.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

The logical way to visit Lourdes would be to go through Paris so we spent some time here as well.

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

My mom flew to Brussels first since that was where I was assigned. Our itinerary:

Day 1: Travel from Brussels to Rome
Day 2: Rome
Day 3: Vatican
Day 4: Travel from Rome to Athens
Day 5: Athens
Day 6: Travel from Athens to Paris
Day 7: Paris, overnight train to Lourdes
Day 8: Lourdes, overnight train to Paris
Day 9: Return to Brussels via High Speed Train

Pope John Paul II at the Vatican

This trip lasted a little more than a week and we spent around 2-3 days in each city. I will be writing in greater detail about this amazing holiday in Europe over the next several posts.